![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.carolgreene.com\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/img_0793.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Catherine the Great and her lovers<\/p><\/div>
<\/a>Church of the Spilled Blood where Alexander ll was assassinated<\/p><\/div>
<\/a>Peter the Great, Catherine the Great, and other members of the family buried here<\/p><\/div> I like this beautiful rose chandelier that was in the restaurant where we ate lunch<\/p><\/div> The pink building was Stroganoff’s palace.<\/p><\/div> Return of the Prodigal Son by Rembrandt, his last painting<\/p><\/div> Armor exhibit<\/p><\/div> Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg<\/p><\/div> This morning we met out city guide, got on a small bus, and she pointed out a few highlights of St. Petersburg. There was very little traffic because it is Saturday. St. Petersburg was built in the 18th century by … Continue reading
\n<\/a>Next we went to a restaurant which served us borscht soup and Beef Stroganoff for lunch. The Duke of stroganoff had bad teeth so all of his meat and vegetables had to be cut up for him. That was how Beef Stroganoff was created.<\/a>
\n<\/a>
\nThis afternoon we were guided through the best of the best of the Hermitage Museum. According to our guide, it would take eleven years to see everything, so she expertly showed us paintings and sculptures by artists like Leonardo DaVinci, Michelangelo, and Goya. There was a room of knights in armor on horseback. It made me think of the Stibbert Museum in Florence, Italy. I was very impressed with the collections in the Hermitage.<\/a><\/a><\/a>
\nThis evening we went to the folk show. We had originally thought that we would like to see the ballet, but the ballet company that was performing tonight is supposedly not very good. The folk show this evening was excellent! Linda and I found perfect seats in the front at the side. We could see the instrumentalists playing traditional instruments like a huge bass balalaika, accordion, and some unusual small percussion. The dancers certainly had beautiful costumes and a lot of energy!
\nAt the intermission we sipped champagne, ate tiny canap\u00c3\u00a9s, and multilayered white cake. Linda and I each bought a large square flowered scarf with fringe that was like the female dancers wore. Linda also bought a CD made by the excellent male singers. What a fun evening!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"