Sites in St. Petersburg

 After scaring Jane into thinking that we had gotten lost because we misjudged the size of the Egyptian room that we needed to get through to get to the meeting point, but got back with the group and went on to lunch at a place that makes traditional Russian pies including savory 

and sweet ones.  We got a meat pie and a cheesecake pie to share and were very happy with these delicious little things.  Reminded us of pasties from the U.P., but didn’t need gravy because the crust was so buttery and flaky.  On to the Yusaprov 

 Palace where Rasputin was murdered and they have set up a hokey little thing that gives the events of that night.  This was ridiculous, but then we went in to the proper palace part of this house and it was another example of what brings on a revolution.  These people were

 just counts and yet they had a theater in their house.  When I say theater, you might think of some comfy chairs around a large screen tv with a fancy Bose speaker system, but I’m talking about a slightly smaller opera house with red velvet and gold balconies.  Very impressive and our last site in St. Petersburg

 before heading back to the boat.  All of the other couples on our tour were from Australia and they don’t tip there, so they were asking us how much we should tip the tour guide.  I found that cute, but they thought that standard tipping for waiters like 10 or 15 or 20%

  would be applicable.  We were trying to explain how in our weird nation, waiters aren’t actually paid minimum wage because their tips are supposed to make up the rest of their income and hence the percentages to give diners a 

gauge, but with a paid professional like this it’s hitting an appropriate gift level instead of a percentage of the tour price.  It was a very cute discussion and I have no idea at the end of the day how much our driver and Jane ended up

  making off our little group, but it was probably pretty good.  We have no time to rest before landing in Helsinki, Finland tomorrow morning with an 8am disembarking time.  And sunset isn’t until midnight tonite, but the sun will rise again at 3:30am or something.  It’s amazing how

 15 more degrees north from home makes such a huge difference in the sun’s trajectory.