Sunday morning! TIme for our first visit to the Hermitage Museum. It's a fairly short walk from the hotel to the Winter Palace so off we went. Tatiana suggested that we dress in light clothing as the Hermitage is not air conditioned and gets very warm. (She was right!)
The Hermitage is an immense collection of art and artifacts. Over three million objects from all over the world. A highlight of the collection is the Treasure Gallery which require special tickets and reservations. Our first day at the Hermitage included a visit to the Gold room scheduled for 11am. We arrived a few minutes early and had to wait until exactly 11 when our guide started our tour. We had arranged for a private tour so it was just the two of us, Tatiana and the Hermitage guide. The Hermitage guide only spoke Russian so Tatiana was our interpreter. (We will see the second part of the Treasure Gallery - the Diamond room - on our next visit to the Hermitage.) The Gold room contains gold artifacts from the 7th century B.C. to the 19th century A.D. It is truly an amazing exhibit. Unfortunately, photography is not permitted in the Treasure Gallery so I have no pictures.
