Buffets intimidate me. There is just so much food and so many delicacies and if you eat too much, you get a stomach ache. That's the experience right now trying to summarize the last three days here. It has been rich, bountiful, and humbling. From the grounds of Peterhof where Peter the Great designed several ''trick' fountains to the tour of the Russian museum where it was like a ghost town (foreigners don't come here - they don't want to see Russian artists, says Julia) where I saw treasure after treasure to another day extending well beyond midnight as we meander back to our hotel from the best dinner we've had yet in Russia after the ballet - we are stuffing ourselves with the sights, tours, exhibits and even the car time is spent noting one after the other monument, palace or bridge where someone was conquered or victorious. In a single day, we stand at the banks of the Gulf of Finland from the rooms Peter the Great occupied and hours later, in the very salon where Rasputin was murdered. (The Rasputin exhibit includes a wax dummy, but authentic papers from his autopsy as well as black and white photos of his corpse.) I have vertigo from so much history raveling and unraveling each day.
Russia has inspired longings to write poetry, paint with oils and season with dill. I have also learned to drink Vodka neat, mumble Thank You, Please, You're Welcome, Excuse Me and Goodbye quite adequately in Russian, and manage rather with one carry on bag. I am thankful I brought my unattractive, but comfortable gym shoes and left the fashionable high heels in the closet. I have also discovered a bathtub is a decent washing machine if one supplies concentrated liquid detergent and some sweat equity.
Today we flew from St. Petersburg to Kiev. Reflecting on the last 8 days in Russia, I am struck by the richness of this culture. I feel a deep connection to my own heritage and imagine/fantasize there may be some distant link between the Zimberoffs and the Romanovs. I can never imagine these people as a threat to us. Which was my mindset coming over here. Russians are sturdy, straight forward, passionate, nuanced, resourceful and very clever. They don't have much of a sense of humor, but certainly appreciate irony. There is much to respect and admire and I have done my share of both over the past week.
Hopefully our pictures will do better justice to our experiences than my words did.
Peterhof - view from the palace to the Gulf of Finland.
Peter the Great had dozens of fountains on his estate. The gardens are glorious.
Lead ballerina in Swan Lake. As it turns out, seeing this performance was on my bucket list. Grandfatheréd in!
Another bride. Finding brides and grooms has become an objective of my wanderings around each city. She was the best.
View from Peter's ''smaller'' palace. He was very strategic and placed his palace on the banks of the Gulf of Finland so he had a great view of approaching enemy ships.
One of his surprise fountains. You step on cobblestones and get sprayed. All of these fountains operate solely based on gravity. Absolutely no electricity. Sheer engineering and design genius.
This is the real swan lake. It is in the Summer Garden.
Birdhouse in Peterhof.
Statue of Adam. Sorry boys, your parents are corny!
Photo of Rasputin after he was murdered.
One of the fountains operating purely through gravity.
The children here are absolutely gorgeous.
Another bride and groom.
Brent didn't have to die to go to heaven when we pulled up to the Russian Vodka Room #1 Restaurant, which also houses the Vodka Museum.
Peterhof - this is where the royals lived.
Vodka Museum - one of the only places Brent didn't sit out much of the tour. He sipped his way through it.
They called St. Petersburg the Amsterdam of Russia. Yep.
Inside of the private theatre in the home of the duke who killed Rasputin.
Brent got soaked by one of the trick fountains.
Our guide Julia.
The art gallery at Peterhof.
We took a canal ride on Friday night. This was at 10:45 p.m. All naural light. I am obsessed with the White Nights. One of the best parts of this trip thus far has been the fact that we stay up past midnight and we're not watching TV or working on the computer.
Party boat on the canal during our river trip.
View from the river at 11 p.m.
Workers outside. Almost midnight!
Sky at midnight.
Russia has inspired longings to write poetry, paint with oils and season with dill. I have also learned to drink Vodka neat, mumble Thank You, Please, You're Welcome, Excuse Me and Goodbye quite adequately in Russian, and manage rather with one carry on bag. I am thankful I brought my unattractive, but comfortable gym shoes and left the fashionable high heels in the closet. I have also discovered a bathtub is a decent washing machine if one supplies concentrated liquid detergent and some sweat equity.
Today we flew from St. Petersburg to Kiev. Reflecting on the last 8 days in Russia, I am struck by the richness of this culture. I feel a deep connection to my own heritage and imagine/fantasize there may be some distant link between the Zimberoffs and the Romanovs. I can never imagine these people as a threat to us. Which was my mindset coming over here. Russians are sturdy, straight forward, passionate, nuanced, resourceful and very clever. They don't have much of a sense of humor, but certainly appreciate irony. There is much to respect and admire and I have done my share of both over the past week.
Hopefully our pictures will do better justice to our experiences than my words did.
Peterhof - view from the palace to the Gulf of Finland. 
Peter the Great had dozens of fountains on his estate. The gardens are glorious.
Lead ballerina in Swan Lake. As it turns out, seeing this performance was on my bucket list. Grandfatheréd in!
Another bride. Finding brides and grooms has become an objective of my wanderings around each city. She was the best.
View from Peter's ''smaller'' palace. He was very strategic and placed his palace on the banks of the Gulf of Finland so he had a great view of approaching enemy ships.
One of his surprise fountains. You step on cobblestones and get sprayed. All of these fountains operate solely based on gravity. Absolutely no electricity. Sheer engineering and design genius.
This is the real swan lake. It is in the Summer Garden. 
Birdhouse in Peterhof.
Statue of Adam. Sorry boys, your parents are corny!
Photo of Rasputin after he was murdered.
One of the fountains operating purely through gravity.
The children here are absolutely gorgeous.
Another bride and groom. 
Brent didn't have to die to go to heaven when we pulled up to the Russian Vodka Room #1 Restaurant, which also houses the Vodka Museum.
Peterhof - this is where the royals lived.
Vodka Museum - one of the only places Brent didn't sit out much of the tour. He sipped his way through it.
They called St. Petersburg the Amsterdam of Russia. Yep. 
Inside of the private theatre in the home of the duke who killed Rasputin.
Brent got soaked by one of the trick fountains.
Our guide Julia.
The art gallery at Peterhof.
We took a canal ride on Friday night. This was at 10:45 p.m. All naural light. I am obsessed with the White Nights. One of the best parts of this trip thus far has been the fact that we stay up past midnight and we're not watching TV or working on the computer. 
Party boat on the canal during our river trip.
View from the river at 11 p.m. 
Workers outside. Almost midnight!
Sky at midnight. 
Love the pics! Awesome!! Thanks!
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