Day 3 : Hermitage and St Petersburg at a glance

We woke up quite early (yeap... still jet lagged and cannot adjust to Russian time). Breakfast was Nona's instant nasi impit with Nona's instant kuah kacang.... sedap jugak! haha :)

By 8am, we left the warm apartment to explore the cold St Petersburg. It's winter... so lambatnya nak tunggu siang...

Our appartment is in one of the buildings behind us in this pic :)

The Bank bridge - if you follow the latest Amazing Race, when they were in St Petersburg, they had to come to this bridge where a clue box was located :)

Masih gelap... and sejuk!!

In front of Cathedral of Our Lady of Kazan.

Exploring the city

Our first destination for the day was the Hermitage - one of the most famous museum in the world! Incorporating the breathtaking state rooms of the Winter Palace, the famous Hermitage now holds nearly 3 million exhibits which range from fine arts to archaeological finds - a place everyone must go when visiting St Petersburg! :)

We were walking in front of the palace square, waiting for Hermitage to be opened, when we noticed a group of 'Asian-looking' people. They were looking (like curiously) and smiling at us and I was like .. eh, macam Malaysians je?? And I was right! One of them approached us and I quickly asked him "Adik ni student Malaysia ya?" Oh yes.... he smiled back and invited us to join their group for a tour. Apparently they were a group of Mara students who were accompanying Dato Sri Idris Jusoh (and Datin Sri) and some Mara representatives for a tour in St Petersburg. Wahhh... so segan!! Tapi dengan malu2 kucingnya, we accepted their offer :D Thank you Dato' Sri for inviting us joining your group! And special thanks to Encik Basit, one of the Mara representatives and all the Mara students who were kind enough to welcome us to join them :)

The Hermitage - the grand museum - used to be Winter Palace for the Tsars and Tsarinas

Izzaty enjoying the view at the Palace Square

The first Malaysians student that approached us, Din (most left). It's good to meet fellow Malaysians di bumi Russia ini :)


This 2 Russian musicians asked us where we are from. When we answered "Malaysia", they played us "Negaraku". Cool! :) Bangga giler dapat dengar lagu Negaraku di bumi Russia :) Dato' Idris Jusoh and the kids really enjoyed the entertainment :)

The queue - waiting for the Hermitage to open. While waiting we got to know Dato' Sri and Datin Sri and the rest of the group members :)

As expected, Hermitage is so grand!! and HUGE!!! It is impossible to absorb the Hermitage's vast collections in one or two visits!! So layan je lah gambar ni ya...

The Jordan Staircase - the main staircase of the Winter Palace - so grand!!!
The library.

Among the exquisite paintings kept in this museum...

'La Danse' - relvealing in the freedom of The Dance by Henri Matisse.

'Benois Madonna' by Leonardo Da Vinci

Claude Monet's

Michelle Angelo's Crouching Boy 1530.

At the Palace Square in front of Hermitage

Sakit kaki jalan2 dalam Hermitage! Besar giler!! Phew! After Hermitage... we just ronda2 St Petersburg with Dato' Sri's group in their rented van - thank you again Dato' Sri and the group for inviting us joining the tours :)

Peter and Paul Fortress from far

Do you see the blue dome? That's St Petersburg mosque! :)

Before Maghrib, kami balik to our apartment... ingat nak keluar balik to explore St Petersburg... tapi dah keletihan max... makan dinner and terus zzzzzz...... huhuhu! :D