The dining room at the annual Tsar's Ball at Catherine the Great’s palace. All photos courtesy of the author
«New Year's Eve is one of the most popular holidays in Russia, and Saint Petersburg was decorated with "New Year's trees" and lights in anticipation of the evening's celebrations. Our group spent the evening at the annual Tsar's Ball in Catherine the Great's palace in Tsarskoe Selo (now part of the town of Puskin). As we arrived in black-tie and ball gowns, they greeted us with a military brass band and literally rolled out the red carpet over the snow.»
Inside Catherine the Great's palace
During the event, we were treated to a private tour of the eighteenth-century palace, with its famed Amber Room. And the ballroom, where we dined, looked like it was set for Catherine the Great herself and her court of Russian nobles. Vodka—from an ice sculpture—and champagne flowed throughout the night, which featured performances and dancing until the early hours of 2015. On the way back to Saint Petersburg we saw fireworks and parties in the streets. This city really takes its New Year's celebrations seriously!
You can see more of my photos from the trip on Instagram.