This morning we got on a mini bus and went to the amazingly beautiful Peterhof, palace of Peter the Great modeled after the legendary palace at Versailles. The fountains and gardens are just unbelievably gorgeous. It's impossible to describe. The big palace is lovely, and the little palace and the Gulf of Finland is so exquisite. Sorry that I'm not putting pictures up until I get back to the states...you'll have to wait to see it all. Then we went to Pushkin, a summer palace for Tsarina Elizabeth. Also quite beautiful. We got to go inside this one and see some of the rooms that were restored to the original after WWII based on photographs. This place was total gold overload. The ballroom-type hall was lovely though. So gold and sumptuous...right out of the castle in Beauty and the Beast. Colin and I did a little dance to commemorate the dancibilty of being in this room.
We're all just chilling out now, resting up before we go to the ballet to see Swan Lake tonight.
Tomorrow we have a free day in St. Petersburg. Not exactly sure what I'm going to do yet. I want to do some souvenir shopping and definitly see the HUGE bookstore called книги дом. Then we are meeting up around 5 to head back to Novgorod. I really like St. Petersburg...it's beautfil with the palaces and canals and rivers, but I miss Novgorod. It's not so big and congested. I'm looking forward to going back tomorrow because Novgorod already feels like home.
Gotta go start getting ready for the Russian Ballet!
Love,
Francesca
I Moved On
12 years ago
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