Baltics (4 of 7) - St. Petersburg, Russia

Another bus tour was our first guided excursion to the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg. This is a massive (2nd largest in the world) and historic museum. The main building was known as the Winter Palace and was decorated very opulently by the Empress Catherine the Great. Our guide was able to point out to us the 'most important' pieces since we were only given a few hours to explore the entire space.

Here is the Military Gallery which originally contained 332 portraits of Generals who fought in the War of 1812. 

Throughout the rooms of the Winter Palace were plenty of opulent ceilings the designs of which were reflected in the intricate patterns of the wood floors. Often there were mosaic tile patterns on the floors.

Even the large marble vases and tabletops were done using mosaics. Due to the reflective surfaces, it was difficult to show the detail without showing windows and my handy smartphone.

One tabletop, in particular, caught my eye as it emulated the 'Pollock Polygons' hexagon project I did this year with my 5th-graders.

"Madonna Litta" by Leonardo da Vinci was on view behind protective glass much like the Mona Lisa that we saw on display at the Louvre in May 2011. The Internet also credits painter, Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio as the 2nd artist of this Madonna painting. I could show many more paintings, including several by Rembrandt, but I wouldn't be able to downselect.

On our way, our guide pointed out "The Bronze Horseman" located in Senate Square and dedicated to Peter the Great.

In Monument Palace Square opposite the Winter Palace is the Alexander Column dedicated to Alexander I.

Another must-see is the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood. We were early to our second excursion to see the ballet, so we were able to stroll through a souvenir market on the way to capture a photo of this opulent church. Like many of the buildings we saw it too was under renovation.

Inside the Mariinsky Theatre, we watched the two-act ballet, Giselle. Our guide led us to believe that we were going to be seeing Swan Lake. His joke didn't resonate with some of his English-speaking passengers.

The most impressive decoration was over the stage and on the ceiling.

My photos certainly don't do the artwork justice, though I think I captured the chandelier pretty well.

We saw the city lit up at night, then went on another boat tour the 2nd day. The bridges were also well-decorated.