It was our last day in St. Petersburg and we decided to go out of town to see the summer palace at Peterhof.It is situated about 25km from the city centre on the Baltic coast.We decided to take the tourist route - hydrofoil from the centre of the city.Went to catch the trolley bus to the pier and after waiting 30 minutes and not seeing one, decided there was a problem.Too timid to riskthe bus, we walked to the Metro and found the problem.The square outside the station - which was vast - was being resurfaced and no trolley buses were running at all!!The hydrofoil gave good views of the city initially but quickly settled into the flat lands bordering the Baltic..We arrived at Peterhof and it was blowing a gale - if this is summer, I don't fancy winter!!Peterhof is spectacular - the walk from the pier took you to a spectacular gilded fountain outside the palace.We tried to go round the house but found that they were charging foreigners 3 times the price than for locals and would only take local cash. - which I was short of.We were told ' no exchange in the park or around or ATM and if you go out you need another ticket to get back in'.After asking 6 people found that there was an ATM about ½ mile away in the park so eventually we get to see the palace.The people in the palace were really unhelpfuland we nearly walked out.We were glad we didn't as it was spectacular inside - very lavishly decorated - quite over the top.We spent the rest of the day looking round the park - it is vast filled with every kind of fountain.

It was then back to the city - not before getting soaked in a quick shower,We had diner in a very touristy place in the city and then it was off to the station for night train to Moscow.