About 25 km. south of St. Petersburg, Catherine the Great's summer palace at Tsarskoe Selo (" Tsar's Village," called Pushkin during Soviet times) is even bigger than Peter's.  The interiors are only partly restored, but what is there was more than enough for us.  This is palace that contains the notorious Amber Room that was dismantled and taken away by the Germans.  Currently a German firm is financing the restoration of the Amber Room.   It's possible to get there by suburban train and bus, but our Russian friends suggested a local tour bus, which turned out to be very practical if a little hurried.  We weren't bothered much by the continuous narration since we hardly understood any of it.  Click here for a close-up view.



The Grotto in the the palace's gardens.



The palace at Pavlovsk, about 5 km. from Tsarskoe Selo, was built in strict Classical style for Catherine's son, Paul.

The palace is classical, but the surrounding park is ultra romantic.  We got completely lost and almost missed the bus back to town.