It's January 1740 in St. Petersburg, Russia, and you are freezing.

Arctic winds whip between carriages, snow coats the winter palace like icing, but you,

being Russian and all, don your furs and head into the cold.

You have a wedding to attend.

You have never seen St. Petersburg so crowded.

It's as if the whole of Russia is here.

People are laughing and drinking hot cups as beaten, a sickly sweet honey drink you've never

developed a taste for.

You keep pushing your way through until finally you see it.

There towering above the crowd is Empress Anna's ice palace.

It's even more incredible than you imagine.

The palace rises above the frozen Niva River and it's massive.

Nearly five stories tall.

For weeks you've watched artisans carve block after block of ice into tables, doors, windows,

even playing cards.

All of it carefully painted to look like the real thing.

As you inch your way closer you see a garden bloom around the palace.

Little birds who are carved out of ice perch untrees, also carved from ice, green painted

hedges, line walkways, hot steam rises from a bathhouse built of ice, and in front of

the palace, ice dolphins and ice elephants blow red hot fire.

Then you hear the trumpets and the distant rumbles of a very real non-ice elephant.

The wedding procession has arrived.

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