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| A detail from Catherine's palace |
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| As much of the facade as I could get with my camera. The palace continues at a right angle at the furthest point on this picture. |
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| Room after room of gold filigree (real gold, not paint), parquet floors made of fifteen different kinds of wood, huge crystal chandeliers and beautiful furnishings. The palace has recently been restored to its original splendor, thus the glitter and shine seen here. |
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| An especially intricate parquet floor mostly covered up by a rare and huge rug, Audubon I think. |
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| I think the guide said the Palace has 300 rooms. Not all were this huge, but many were. |
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| Almost every room has a Delft stove which was used for warmth. This small detail from one of the rooms shows how the Palace would have been set up for entertaining. Catherine had quite a sweet tooth and there are elaborate representations of some of the cakes and sweets that she would have served to herself and her guests. |
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| Like this one--this beauty would have been completely edible, including the golden fruits. The table wound around in a serpentine shape and this was just one of the elaborate confections. |
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| Which, unfortunately, being irresistible, resulted in Catherine's expanding girth. Special chairs like this one had to be custom made for her. |
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