Catherine’s Palace is located twelve miles south of Saint Petersburg in Pushkin. Named for Peter the Great’s wife, Catherine I, the estate is now a museum housing art, furniture and weapons from the 16th-19th centuries.

The building’s white, blue and gold Baroque facade stretches nearly a thousand feet, topped by the chapel’s five golden domes. Although the Palace was destroyed after WWII, its restoration continues even today. The Palace’s world-famous Amber room, stolen in its entirety and lost at the end of WWII, has recently been restored in all it’s glory.

Disney Cruise Line’s Disney Magic will be calling upon St. Petersburg, Russia in the spring/summer of 2010. This week Disney Cruise Line invited a select group of journalists to preview their shore excursions in Tunis, Tunisia; Florence, Italy; and St. Petersburg, Russia.

Here is a tour of Catherine’s Palace where Disney will have a Signature Tour offering a “Princess Ball” in the palace’s ballroom. Imagine all the little girls dressed up in their Belle, Cinderella and Snow White costumes dancing in a real palace with Disney princess characters. How cute is that?!

Disney Cruise Line will be returning to Europe in the spring/summer of 2010. This week Disney invited a select group of journalists to preview their shore excursions in Tunis, Tunisia; Florence, Italy; and St. Petersburg, Russia. The winery/cooking school of Torre A Cenaia will be offered to guests when the Magic docks in La Spezia, Italy.

This shore excursion is more for adults and shows the other side of the cruise line, which caters to a large number of adults without children.

The best part about cooking school in Tuscany – eating what you’ve created.