Yes, need a break from the palace grandeur, opulence and gold leaf - I am being blinded by all the gold! On the drive back from Catherine Palace yesterday I spotted this woman walking and thought it looked the colors of the Russian flag!Below is why we will not drive here. There are no street or road signs in English, only the Cryllic alphabet which I cannot at all decipher.
This is Ross and Katerina at Catherine's Palace in the town of Pushkin - just beautiful and so is the town. Katerina tells me she loves being a guide and is busy in the "season" but eventually will need to find a job with health insurance and pension, "I won't like it as well". Her 8 y/o daughter spends the summers with her parents where they have some "grass, trees, and domesticated animals". She had a headache yesterday and stopped at the coat check at the Palace speaking to the attendant in Russian who brings out a bag of various medications but apparently couldn't find a suitable one. I offered a couple ibuprofen which she took, cured the headache but developed an allergic reaction (sneezing, runny, stuffy nose) - I thought maybe she would klonk out and I would be in a Russian jail but she said this happens and she had forgotten her allergy med. Hope she shows up today to take us to the train station with Alexii:)
Yes, this is indeed an ambulance, "older" per guide, stuck in the heavy traffic again. I walk very carefully, slowly down the stairs and don't drink the water and hold my breath if someone is coughing or sounds ill nearby! - not paranoid just don't want the Russian medical experience.
So - these are not tourist pictures but more like the real Russia. Off to the breakfast room now and then a boat ride on the canal (trying to do this ourselves) and will leave the hotel about 2 for a 3:30 Aurora Express train to Helsinki. Brand new train just started in December and is fast - should be there in 3.5 hours in time for dinner.
This is Ross and Katerina at Catherine's Palace in the town of Pushkin - just beautiful and so is the town. Katerina tells me she loves being a guide and is busy in the "season" but eventually will need to find a job with health insurance and pension, "I won't like it as well". Her 8 y/o daughter spends the summers with her parents where they have some "grass, trees, and domesticated animals". She had a headache yesterday and stopped at the coat check at the Palace speaking to the attendant in Russian who brings out a bag of various medications but apparently couldn't find a suitable one. I offered a couple ibuprofen which she took, cured the headache but developed an allergic reaction (sneezing, runny, stuffy nose) - I thought maybe she would klonk out and I would be in a Russian jail but she said this happens and she had forgotten her allergy med. Hope she shows up today to take us to the train station with Alexii:)
Yes, this is indeed an ambulance, "older" per guide, stuck in the heavy traffic again. I walk very carefully, slowly down the stairs and don't drink the water and hold my breath if someone is coughing or sounds ill nearby! - not paranoid just don't want the Russian medical experience.
So - these are not tourist pictures but more like the real Russia. Off to the breakfast room now and then a boat ride on the canal (trying to do this ourselves) and will leave the hotel about 2 for a 3:30 Aurora Express train to Helsinki. Brand new train just started in December and is fast - should be there in 3.5 hours in time for dinner.
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