Today we had a chance to sleep in as our activities did not start until 10am but the day was then going to be busy. We needed to pack our bags and also pack an overnight bag as our driver would be driving our bus to Moscow with our bags overnight. We will be going by train tomorrow and it is apparently much easier for everyone if we do not have to take our bags with us. It will speed up security checks and make it easier to negotiate the busy train stations in both St. Petersburg and Moscow.
 
Our first visit today was to the Hermitage located on Palace Square. The State Hermitage Museum consists of 5 buildings, 4 of which are joined together on the square (. We think this museum is the Russian equivalent of The Louvre (Paris) and The New York Met. There are about 3 million items on exhibit and it would take days if not weeks to see them all. Our local guide took us to the highlights some of which were the buildings themselves, a collection of Rembrandts, peacock clock, 2 Da Vinci paintings etc etc. We were then given some time to wonder around on our own, get some lunch and then meet to take the bus to Catherine's Palace. 
 
Most of the collections at the Hermitage were left behind by overindulgent aristocracy as they fleed the country during the revolution in 1917. Most of them only got out with their jewellery and the odd painting.
 
Catherine's Palace was yet another fantastic palace. Named after Peter the Great's wife Catherine the 1st it was built in 1717. It was later expanded by her daughter Elizabeth who thought it was outdated. She also added the gold leaf to many of the outside fittings. Located 25 kms outside the city it had been intentionally damaged by the Nazis during WW2 and has since been beautifully restored although work is still ongoing. One of the amazing rooms was the amber room of which photography was not allowed. The amber walls and ceiling of this room had been removed and hidden prior to the invasion by the Nazis and has never been found. Using pictures and paintings the room has been restored as close as possible to the original.
 
Back to the hotel for our beer and (German style) snacks consisting of fried bread, deep fried squid rings and deep fried cheese sticks. These were provided by the hotel as compensation for the all the problems we had experienced in the hotel (not enough rooms, rooms not ready, double instead of twin room, getting locked in lifts, people locked out of their room etc). We were one of the lucky ones who had only experienced being locked out of our room.
 
Loaded down with alcohol (only 1 beer) and fat (lots of it) we waddled out to the bus and headed for the Cossacks Ensemble Folk Show. This consisted of dancing, singing and fun. It was good and one of the best things about it was that Bruce did not get selected this time to go up on stage and dance or sing.