The entrance to the Winter Palace and Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia

The Jordan Staircase, at the entrance to the Winter Palace, St. Petersburg

The Jordan Staircase at the entrance to the Winter Palace, St. Petersburg, Russia

The Armorial Hall, Winter Palace, St. Petersburg, Russia

The recreation of Raphaels loggias in the Winter Palace, St. Petersburg, Russia

Ceiling of the Gold Drawing Room, Winter Palace, St. Petersburg, Russia

The Malachite Room, Winter Palace, St. Petersburg, Russia

Golden door and malachite columns, Winter Palace, St. Petersburg, Russia

Malachite Urn in Winter Palace, St. Petersburg. There is a matching urn in the Grand Reception Room at Windsor Castle in England.

The Peacock Clock, a gift from Potemkin to Catherine the Great, opens only once a week. Winter Palace, St. Petersburg

Doors, Winter Palace, St. Petersburg

Wood inlay floor, Winter Palace, St. Petersburg

Winter Palace, St. Petersburg

The gilded iconostasis at St. Nicholas Cathedral, St. Petersburg - from the mid-1700's

The dome and ceilings of St. Isaac's Cathedral, St. Petersburg, Russia

The Bronze Horseman, commissioned by Catherine the Great to honor Peter the Great, St. Petersburg, Russia

Marinsky Theater, St. Petersburg, Russia

The Church of the Spilled Blood, built on the site where Tsar Alexander II was assassinated, St. Petersburg, Russia

Photographing young girls on the canals of St. Petersburg, Russia

Souvenir stand, St. Petersburg

Food stand serving hot dogs and hamburgers, St. Petersburg, Russia

Love locks on the canal, St. Petersburg, Russia

Army hat, left behind by security officer, St. Petersburg, Russia

Catherine's Palace, also called Tsarskoe Selo, was the summer palace of the tsars, on the outskirts of St. Petersburg, Russia

Reception Hall at Catherine's Palace, near St. Petersburg, Russia

Gilded cupolas, Catherine's Palace, near St. Petersburg, Russia

The Amber Room, inside Catherine's Palace, near St. Petersburg, Russia

Dining room, Catherine's Palace, near St. Petersburg

The Pavilion Hermitage, in the gardens of Catherine's Palace, near St. Petersburg, Russia

Peterhof Palace, on the Baltic, outside of St. Petersburg, Russia

The Matthias Church and Fisherman's Bastion, Budapest, Hungary