Still Monday, June 13, 2016 | Still Russian and Rubles

We concluded our whirlwind visit in St. Petersburg with a private ballet performance and gala dinner at Yusupov Palace, once owned by the richest family in the Russian Empire. The Palace, famous for its bright yellow façade and opulent interior gained further notoriety when Grigory Rasputin was assassinated here in 1916.

Greeted in royal style, we began our evening with a tour of the Palace State rooms decked out with gilded chandeliers, silks, frescoes and tapestries. We enjoyed champagne and canapés as a harpist set the mood in the Precious Room. Proceeding to the ornate rococo Palace Theater, a small-scale replica of the famous Mariinsky Theater, we were treated to a private recital featuring selections from Swan Lake, Don Quixote, Esmeralda and other ballets. It was breathtaking. Concluded the elegant evening over a four-course dinner in the opulent Dancing Hall, served by attendants dressed in period costumes and Russian entertainment. We truly felt like royalty.

Armed only with an iPhone, I tried to capture this magical evening in photos and video but it was impossible to capture the magnificence of the evening as we experienced it.