a veg life

28 December 2015 St. Petersburg (Pushkin), Russia On Monday, we took a tour to Catherine Palace , about 25 km south of St. Petersburg. The palace is home to the infamous Amber Room , another one of Dad's bucket list items. By his own admission, Dad often says this is one of the subjects he is most well-read about, so we had to see it! Rick had done some research about how to best get to the palace and see it, and booked us a private guide and transport ahead of time. The van picked us up at 9am, and drove us to Pushkin. Our tour guide narrated along the way, pointing out landmarks within the city, Soviet architecture, and other points of interest.  Our first stop in Pushkin was a small Orthodox church, where a service was taking place.  The palace was within walking distance, so we snapped a few photos of the exterior before heading inside. the palace's chapel, still not open to the public the golden gates the palace square morning sun ...

25 and 26 December 2015 Helsinki, Finland and St. Petersburg, Russia On Christmas Day, we slept in a bit (well, I did—Rick was up early) and had breakfast at the Hilton. The food spread was great, and we hung out a bit before my parents came down to meet us. We ate a bit more, then exchanged small gifts to celebrate the holiday. the breakfast spread at the Hilton the juice machine is operated by an iPad :)  love the design of the hotel--wood, copper, fur, navy canvas. lots of texture One of the things my dad really wanted to see was the Olympic Stadium from the 1952 Summer Games in Helsinki. Rick and I walked through the city’s equivalent of Central Park, and admired the scenery. isn't this just the perfect, stereotypical haunted house? The stadium will be undergoing renovations until 2019, and actually just closed on December 23 rd . Great timing right? We took a bunch of photos outside, then Rick managed to find an open gate, so we were able ...