12:00-1:00 pm Travel to Tsars’ Village
We passed apartment blocks some old some new, houses, churches more palaces and parks.
1:00-2:00 pm Traditional Russian lunch
We were dropped off outside the restaurant on a busy street. Once up the steps we were lead to a long table where our party was to have lunch.
After lunch we had a few minutes on the pavement to take in the views. Opposite us was a beautiful Orthodox church.
2:00-3:30 pm Inside guided tour of Catherine Palace with the Amber Room
When we reached Catherine Palace we waited outside with lots of other tourists for our tickets before going inside.
After a short walk we were soon in front of the Palace with more buildings to our right that were (I believe) where the kitchens were.
We crossed the courtyard and looking back we could see the other tourists queuing to enter the Palace,
My shoes had to be covered to protect the floors.
The ballroom.
One of the exhibits.
We had to put cameras and phones away while we were in the Amber Room – no sneaking images as we were there when the room was almost empty. We left and went out to walk through the grounds.
As we left the grounds we encountered a photo shoot with a very uptight model.
Our last view as we walked back to the mini-bus.
We climbed aboard the mini-bus and set off for our drive back to the city.