Puskin Tour with the McArthur's - October 2, 2010

Below are more pictures of the surrounding area of Catherine's Palace in Puskin. We went with the McArthur's. We have been to Catherine's Palace twice but we had been driven their with other visiting church dignitaries. Today we went on our first train ride. We took the underground metro to the end of one of the lines that takes you to one of the trains that travel outside the city.
When Joe and I got off the metro it was very confusing trying to find the exit. We walked through doors saying they were exits only to find ourselves in another corridor. After about 1/2 hour walking up and down stairs, walking up and down several corridors, Elder McArthur called my cellphone and asked where we were. We told him were lost underground. They were on top of the metro at the train ticket window. Well, we knew then there was a way out. Using my Russian dictionary I asked for directions and through a few words we knew and sign language we followed the direction given. It wasn't where we were trying to go. Needless to say, after getting very frustrated we finally say a sign that I figured was to the train and it was! We got to the top and into the ticket station and saw the McArthur's at the front doors looking outside waiting for us. We came up behind them and said "We've come from the depths of hell and we prevailed!" We all laughed.
After paying rubles to the equivilant of $3 U.S. we walked to the train platform to wait for the train. The benches and whole area reminded me of WWII movies where passengers are waiting to be loaded on the trains. The train interior was a bit old and the seats comprised of vinyl covered benches with backs in two rows. As I look at young children riding the trains and subways I think that this is their way of life, while for us, it's all new.
Below are pictures and history of Pushkin and the palace. They were in a museum we toured. It was a great day seeing inside the palace again but not as spectacular as last fall when we toured it the first time. The museum and history were very facinating though. We really enjoyed that.
I tried to take pictures of the description cards and history posters throughout the tour so just click on them to enlarge them.
Enjoy your tour ...
This first picture is capturing the beautiful fall color of the trees

This was a cute little wooden trike a couple of kids were pushing around on through the gardens with their parents.

Another tourist looking down one of the canals

Drawing of what the palace looked like in the early years

These next four posters give the description of the history of this area and palace.

The clothing you'll see are what the various guards wore depending on their rank and status.

One of Queen Catherine's gowns

Weapons

Never saw a split sword before

Winter coat

Alexander the Great's Palace. Still under renovation construction

Last fall we couldn't even come in through the gates because the palace was in such disrepair. This palace is about a 10 minute walk from Catherine's palace.