Tsarskoe Selo

Today we woke up pretty early, had our usual breakfast and headed out to Tsarskoe Selo-- you can only imagine how excited I was. When we first arrived at the town (which is now called Pushkin), I caught sight of the Alexander Palace from the corner of my eye and it was this weird flash of recognition.

Anyway, the bus pulled up outside the Catherine Palace. It was absolutely magnificent-- bright blue and gold. Anyway, it was really crowded and there were a lot of tour-groups shopping at the usual kiosks in the lobby. We had to pay 2p to go to the bathroom.

Finally, our tour guide came to let us in. We had to wear special slippers over our shoes so we wouldn't ruin the floors. And absolutely no pictures were allowed. The main staircase was absolutely beautiful. IT was all carved white marble with blood red curtains. A cupid sleeping and cupid waking were at each side of the staircase where the sun rose and fell. The palace as a whole left me absolutely breathless (literally). It was as decadent as Versailles and all done in Russian Baroque and Classical Styles. There were rooms such as the Chinese room with that as its motif, etc. Anyway, the palace overall was unforgettable!

After that we went to have lunch at a small area on the lake (pond?) with tables. (We brought lunch.) And after lunch we split up to walk around. Ally, Katherine and I went together and we took tons of pictures. We walked through the park for about two hours. It started to drizzle just as we were making our way back to the Catherine Palace to meet the group.

Once assembled, we all headed over (by now rather damp) to the Alexander Palace--to where Nicholas lived. It was just reopened this year. Inside, I walked in the rooms that they lived in, saw their clothes, their things, their home! I'm not even sure how to describe what it was like here because I can't, and besides I know it inside anyway.

When we were getting ready to leave, it started to pour, heavier than I've ever seen and there were repeated loud and foreboding claps of thunder. I still hadn't taken pictures outside the palace though, and there was no way I was going to miss it, so I ran out into the rain like a lunatic and took pictures. My jacket was wet after that for two days. Shortly after that, the bus took us home.

We just hung out at the dorm in the evening and then went to sleep.