Touring - Hermitage

So, finally was the Hermitage (and dinner).  The Hermitage (also known as the Winter Palace) used to be 1000 rooms (or at least that was the rumor), but after a fire long ago, it was reduced to its current modest 400 rooms.  And, folks, these are not 400 of our rooms... these are palace rooms, Ie: HUGE.  The Palace was build by Catherine the Great.  And, as her art collection expanded, so did the Hermitage.  When the museum was first opened to the public, it was by invitation only, so maybe 100 people a year would be invited.  Now, our guide (Julia) informed us, 10k-30k will visit in one day!!  We went in the afternoon, as Julia said that it would be just a "river of people" in the morning.  So, again, here are some pics to tell the story, but this doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of what we saw there.  We moved at a pretty good pace and it took us 3.5 hours to get through all the rooms.  Julia said that an ongoing muse is that someone spent 3-hours in the Hermitage and was asked what he looked at and replied, "I was looking for the exit!"  She also stated that one note of interest is that if you spent just 1-second looking at every item on display at the Hermitage, it would take 6-years to see everything!  So, again, an immense museum and colection.  Ok, now pics...

Just one facade of the Hermitage ... and this isn't even the whole facade.  I could not get back far enough to get it all in!  Just one of 4 building

Small throne room.  Here guest would greet Peter the Great... from a distance.  He was not in today.  :-)

This room (immediately after the Small Throne Room) was used for State dinners.  A large table would be set-up, then taken down to allow for a ball.  Musicians would be all around the room on the balcony.

Just one of the many long hallways

Field Marshall's Room.  This room had paintings of many of Russia's Field Marshall's  As I understand correct, these portraits were all painted by the same artist and some of these men waited 16yrs or more to be painted.  Some died before the opportunity for them to be painted, which is why there are empty frames (their names are below the frames)

St. George Hall (or Large Throne Room)... Catherine the Great commissioned this room when she heard of the pregnancy of her daughter-in-law and she officially opened it on the day of her grandson's birth for a huge celebration.

A huge vase ... top is made out of one solid piece of jasper from Siberia

This is the birth place of the Soviet Union.  It is said that when the Bolshvieks stormed the palace the Romanoffs were in this room sitting at this table.  This is where Nicholas was arrested and where the Bolshvieks pronounced their victory.  It was really something to be in a building, let alone a single room, where so much history has taken place.

Phew!!  This is just a very small glimpse of what we saw.  It's just too much to put all here and it wouldn't mean as much unless you just saw it!  :-)  Ok... it has gotten late now.  So, I am off to bed...  More pics later.  Tomorrow, we plan to go-it alone; we plan to try the metro (subway) and check out a few of St. Petersburg's "main" streets.