St. Petersburg, Russia

We left our hotel earlier than usual because we'll be crossing the border to Russia.  Our first stop in St. Petersburg is the Peter and Paul Fortress where the Peter and Paul Cathedral is located.  We were able to go inside the cathedral where the remains of Russian Emperors and Empresses were buried.

On our way to our next destination, we passed by St. Isaac's Cathedral and the statue of Peter the Great called the Bronze Horseman.  We arrived at the Moika Palace, also called the Yusupov Palace because it belonged to the House of Yusupov, a wealthy Russian noble family.  The building is also the site of Grigori Rasputin's (a.k.a. the "mad monk") murder, and they also have a wax figure exhibit of the murder scene in the exact rooms where it happened.  The whole palace is amazing!  Starting from the marble grand staircase with intricate ceiling designs, and each room has it's own theme, there's a music room, Blue Bedroom, Ballroom, Red Drawing Room, Blue Ballroom, Private Theater, etc.  After that, we went back to our hotel and had a buffet dinner at the hotel's restaurant.

The next day is another city tour, we saw the old lighthouse in the city that according to our local guide is usually not lighted but because they're celebrating St. Petersburg day that day, it was lighted. ^^  We had a short stop to take pictures of the Tsar's Winter Palace, next at the Church of the Resurrection of Christ, and next at The Russian Museum.

Driving further, we finally arrived at Peterhof Palace, where you'll see so many different fountains and gardens in different forms and figures.  There's the Triton Fountain, Dragon/Chessboard Fountain, Roman Fountain, The Bench trick fountain, The Adam fountain, and just below the Grand Palace is the centerpiece, The Grand Cascade.

Our next destination is the Catherine Palace in Pushkin, the summer residence of the Russian tsars.  Inside the palace, the rooms are made of gold and other precious stones.  We entered through the main staircase, then to each unique room, The Great Hall, White State Dining Room, Portrait Hall, Green Dining Room, and the amazing Amber Room.  Back at our hotel, we crossed the street to the supermarket to get some food for dinner and to celebrate our friend's birthday! =)

More of St. Petersburg in my next post, and our next stop, Novgorod. ^_^