Catherine's Palace

Not far from Peterhof is Catherine's Palace - as in Catherine the Great.
These royals loved their gilding, embellishments and bright paints.

It is tradition for brides to hire a driver and haul their photographer all over St. Petersburg to take photos of them on their wedding day. We saw four or five brides in one day.
Nothing like three or four hundred strangers looking on.

These porcelain structures usually found in corners were their heating systems.

They were doing some restoration on the palace and put up this lovely cover to hide all of the nastiness. I liked this idea. I saw it on other buildings in town also.

There is a little lake/pond in the complex.
They were holding some boat races there that day.

Another lovely bride.