St. Petersburg, Russia
Petrodvorets
Petrodvorets, or Peterhof, was Peter the Great's country estate. It was modeled
after Versailles, but Peter had something that the kings of France didn't,
the Gulf of Finland at the other end of the canal.
You can't make a trip to Russia without something getting fouled up.
For us, it was the scheduled visit to the Grand Palace in the background.
Seems they were scheduled to clean it that day, and that just means we couldn't go in.
Makes you wonder if our guide just forgot to bribe the right people that day.
But all was not lost because we had more time to enjoy the grounds,
we were able to see much more of the grounds than we would have if all had gone per plan,
and we had a chance to tour the house where Peter the Great actually lived. He just
kept this grand palace for the sake of his guests (except for the days when it was closed
for cleaning) and he himself preferred a more modest home, which you can
actually picture someone living in. So, even though something got fouled up, it all
worked out for the best for us.