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The Hermitage is huge and it's collection of art is one of the most extensive in the world, but the part that fascinated me the most was the architecture of the Winter Palace itself. Because of the crowds it was frequently impossible to see much of what was at or below eye-level, but fortunately there was plenty to see by looking up. It took little imagination to see ladies in long gowns gliding up marble stairs, or the pomp and circumstance of a Romanov soire in a gold columned ballroom, or a foreign ambassador in formal dress presenting his credentials to the czar sitting on his throne, or a meeting of bewigged state officials in a gilt-covered office, or a royal flirtation in one of the balconies.
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