Day 8 : Sergiev-Possad and Moscow's Old Arbat

Today, hubby cum our travel adviser decided to see Trinity of Monastery of Sergius in the town of Sergiev-Possad, which is about 75kms from Moscow. We walked to a Metro station... sambil mencuci mata melihat keindahan bandar Moscow. Then later took a train from Yaroslavsky Train Station to the small town. The 1 1/2 hour train ride was quite an experience - macam2 ragam orang dalam train tu :) Salesmen/ladies pun jual macam2 - quite interesting to see ;)

In front of Bolshoy Theatre - home to one of the oldest, and probably the most famous, ballet companies in the world.

In the train to Serviev-Possad. Macam train kelas 3 KTM kot?? hahaha! For 1 1/2 hour ride boleh tahan laa...

Our arrival at Serviev-Possad. That was our train! :)

From the train station, we walked 10mins through town to reach the monastery.

The monastery seen from far - quite a nice view, eh?
Kena menapak for about 5 mins from here to reach the monastery.


Zoomed from far. The blue and gold domes were quite clear to be seen from far.

What is so special about the monastery at this small town? Well, this is the notes I got from reading books and surfing the net :
Trinity Monastery of St Segius is one of Russia's most important religious centers and places of pilgrimage. Founded by Sergius of Radonezh in 1345, it gained a reputation as the source of Russian military and spiritual strength after his blessing was believed to have inspired victory in one of Russian history's most crucial battles, against the Mongol Tatars at Kulikovo Pole in 1380. For centuries, Russian czars and commoners trekked here in pilgrimage, traveling in gilded carriages or on foot for days or weeks, many fasting throughout the journey. The site was so charged with history that even Stalin couldn't bring himself to raze it.

Hmm.... if we, the moslems, performed hajj in the holy town of Mecca, they, Russian Christian Orthodox believed that this is their holy town for pilgrimage. Agak suspen jugak nak masuk kawasan ni... maklum lah kita ni Muslim kan.... definitely not one of their believers.... but they actually welcome visitors - regardless of their religion, to their holy land - okay la tuh :)

In front of the monastery

The tower of the main entrance.


Entering the monastery - nice surrounding... tapi agak suspense sebab ye laa... kita orang Islam kan... masuk lak area ni... huhu!


Exploring the monastery ground. We had to pay for 'photographing permit' in order to take picture in this area. Tak ingat dah how much kena bayo... But still, inside the cathedral, no photographic allowed.


The bell tower


Cathedral of Assumption - the monastery's main cathedral.


Cathedral of Assumption in a different angle - behind hubby and Izzaty you can see a priest (dressed in all black robe) walking by.


In front of the Cathedral of the Assumption, there's Chapel Over the Wall and open rotunda.


Chapel Over the Well - built in 17th century to mark the site of a holy spring.

The monastery area is quite big. But I did not dare to explore many places... huhu. Anyway, I did not feel odd in this area cause all female are supposed to cover their head when entering this monastery. Izzaty and I dah bertudung kan? So no problem :) But I do feel uncomfortable entering their church... so in the end, we decided to exit :)

Outside the monastery area, ada macam makcik2 tua jual souvenirs in at a very cheap price! :) Izzaty, Izzat and I wanted to go to the toilet (tak sanggup nak gi toilet dalam monestary tu.. huhu!) One of the ladies selling souvenirs here showed us the nearest toilet. Anyway, there was this very old lady who was cleaning the toilet. She was so nice... the sales lady told us that we have to pay R150 (if I'm not mistaken) to enter the toilet. But the old lady keep saying "Nait!" which means "No". And she was really nice to us! *walau pun tak paham sepatah haram apa dia cakap masa tu! hik hik!* This town people are so nice!!! I must say that :)


Among the things we bought at that place - Matyoshka Dolls :) They were so cute that I could not resist them! ;D They were sold at a very reasonable price too :)


There's like a bazaar area for tourist to shop for souvenirs..


The small town of Serviev-Possad.


Sementara tunggu train... kami lepak di Mc D ni.


Masa kat Mc D tu... tiba2 snow turun... NICE!!! :) This is the railway station when we were leaving the town - the ground was white with snow :) Another snow experience for the kids :D

When we reached Moscow, we went straight to Old Arbat Road - made an appointment with Zamri's (my youngest bro-in-law) friend, Farhan who is a final year medic student here in Moscow. Met him at Arbat's Mc Donald and later he showed us around the Old Arbat Road :)

Farhan said this is the statue of Pushkin - Russia's most famous poet and his beautiful wife, Natalya Goncharova. Pushkin was killed by another man who fell in love with his beautiful wife.


In Moscow's Hard Rock Cafe. Hubby handed over his camera to Farhan who actually is quite good in taking pictures! :)


Since I had not buy anything for myself yet... I decided to buy this HRC black shirt :)


HRC Moscow - we've been here!! =D


Lots of souvenir shops along the Old Arbat Road.


Bought a bunch of these for my sisters, brother and in-laws - From Moscow with LOVE ♥ ♥ ♥


Bought this one too. Sale gitu kan :)


Below are some t-shirts (which I did not buy) sold at the souvenir shops that I found sooooo amusing :D

Funny stuff eh? :D

Later, we had dinner at a Japanese Restaurant. Farhan said shushi here is superb!!! Well, I am not really a Japanese food lover.... so I chose to eat tomyam.. hik hik! Not bad lah taste dia... dah lapar tu.... habis jugak lah kitorang bedal! :D

Hubby and the macho boy - Farhan Yeoh! :)


Izzaty and hubby love shushi! Me? Not really a fan.. but boleh la telan :D

Later, on our way to our rented apartment, we dropped by at Red Square again. Nak ambil gambar kat sana malam pulak!!! Kebetulan, Farhan is quite good in photography, so dia tolong ambilkan gambar kami :)

I love this pic! Thanks Farhan - you really know how to take nice pics! :D


Izzaty, Hubby and myself in front of the GUM. Masa ni Izzat dah keletihan and got very grumpy! Refused to take picture sebab sejuk sangat! :P


Another excellent night pic! Setelah dipujuk... Izzat agreed to join us in this pic :)


Back at our rented apartment - hubby and Farhan :)


Farhan suka senyum :) Such a charming handsome boy! Bakal doktor lagi ;)


Farhan's trademark smile again - with yours truly :)

It was our last night in Moscow. Thanks Farhan kerana sudi temankan kami bersiar2 di kota Moscow :) Our prayers for you - may you success with flying colours in your final year... and semoga tercapai cita2 nak jadi pakar bedah yang terbaik di dunia! :D You go boy!! :D

Early the next day, we left Moscow to go back to Malaysia (via Qatar again, tapi kali ni tak keluar pun dari airport). Home sweet home at last.... but Russia will always be on my mind... ♥

Day 7 : Moscow - Red Square & Kremlin

We reached Moscow around 6am in the morning. Had a good sleep in the train! :) A man holding a cardboard (with our rented apartment name written on it) was waiting outside our train coach to transport us from the railway station our rented apartment.

Our rented apartment is located Kamergesky Pereulok area, near the Bolshoi Theater and Ritz Carlton Hotel :) It is also a walking distance from the Red Square and Kremlin - quite convenient, alhamdulillah. A bit expensive though... about USD160 per night. But it has free wifi access... I like!! hehe :)

Had to wait in the cold for the landlord to come with the apartment key.

Moscow as 5C on the first day we arrived :)

Our rented apartment got free wifi - woohoo!! :) Apa lagu - terus menggodek HP ku to surf facebook :)

The bedroom

Kitchen attached to the living hall. The sofa that we were sitting is actually a sofabed.

After breakfast, we went out to to explore the famous Red Square and Kremlin. Gosh, it's like a dream come true! I've read so much about this place that I felt so excited to finally be there! It is as beautiful as I imagined :) The grand buildings, the colourful lollipop-like domes of St Basil's Cathedral, the huge wall of Kremlin! God... there were lots to see!!!!

On the way to Red Square, I saw this advert - sebagai pengguna setia Clinique, sudah tentu saya berasa bangga dan berhajat posing disebelah iklan ini... hahaha!

Red Square - we were finally there!!

Excited to be here! The kids might not understand that... but well, I hope they would learn to appreciate whatever they see di bumi Allah ini.

Exploring Red Square in the cold windy day... ohh.. tangan must put in pockets... sejuukkkk!!


Kazan Cathedral, a faithful 1990s reconstruction of the original cathedral.

History of Moscow Museum on the right and Kremlin wall on the left.

I finally found the 'lollipop building'!!! St Basil's Cathedral on my left and Kremlin Wall and Lenin Mausoleum on Izzaty's left.

The 'lollipop' building as I liked to describe it is actually known as St Basil's Cathedral. Commissioned by Ivan the Terrible to celebrate the Mongol stronghold of Kazan in 1552, St Basil's Cathedral was completed in 1561. It is reputed to have been designed by the architect Postnik Yakovlev. According to the legend, Ivan was so amazed at the beauty of his work that he had him blinded so that he would never be able to design anything as exquisite again. Hmm... no wonder was was called Ivan 'THE TERRIBLE'! :P

Kanak2 riang di Red Square - err.. baju biru tu masih kanak2 kah?? :P


I finally got the chance to take pics in front of this lollipop building!! ;D
Another dream come true... syukur alhamdulillah :)


One family pic - taken by a Philippine couple whom we met at the square :)

The lollipop domes has an interesting history apparently. Following a fire in 1583, the original helmet-shaped cupolas were replaced by ribbed onion domes. It is only since 1670 that the domes have been painted many colours like a lollipop. Once, St Basil's was white with golden domes.

Monument to Minin and Prince Pozharskiy in front of the Cathedral was built to remember these 2 heroes who raised a volunteer force to fight the invading Poles and let their army to victory when they drove the Poles out of the Kremlin!

Lenin Mausoleum - against Lenin's wishes, it was decided to preserve the former Soviet leader's body for posterity. The body as embalmed and placed in a temporary wooden mausoleum in the Red Square area. We did go and see his body.... euuu... scary!! Muka dua putih pucat je nampak dalam wooden box tu. Izzat called Lenin 'The Waxed Man' :D

The most famous and largest department store in Moscow - GUM! Exclusive shops and boutiques only in here like Christian Dior, LV, Benetton, Estee Lauder and other big names. Perghh.... cuci mata je lah mampu... :P

Beautiful buildings and scenery in Red Square.

After tired of exploring Red Square, we finally decided to go inside Kremlin..

The Moscow Kremlin is a unique monument of history and culture with its splendid creations of architecture and art. It has always been the focal point of the growth of the Russian state, the stage of many dramatic and glorious events. It is home to the Russian president and the seat of his administration. Macam parlimen Malaysia la gitu... tapi lagi glam! :D So, only part of the Kremlin is accessible to the public. And in most of the buildings, photographing was not allowed :P So tak banyak la gambar boleh share...

Nak masuk Kremlin ni of course kena bayar! Can't exactly remember how much.. tapi punya la byk entrance fee nya!! Nak masuk museum, entry fee lain... nak masuk the churches, entry fee lain... quite an amount jugak lah... and times 4 some more since there where 4 of us... huhu!

Cathedral of the Assumption - among the buildings in the Kremlin.

The Tsar Bell, the largest n the world with the 11-tonne section that broke off.

Beautiful scenery in Kremlin!

There were lots of interesting building and things in Kremlin! A lot to see to! Especially in the State Armoury!

The State Armoury building

The queue to enter State Armoury. I must say that Russians are not so good in queueing. Dengan selambanya mereka suka memotong queue :P Dari queue kat Hermitage, St Petersburg, sampailah lah kat Moscow ni.... sama je :P

The Armoury is Russia's oldest museum containing collection of the state armoury that represents the wealth accumulated by the Russian tsars and tsarinas over many centuries. So many interesting to see here! Among others that interest me most are the original Faberge Eggs, magnificent collections of Carriages and Sledges, Catherine the Great's Coronation Dress (I told you before how fascinated I was with this tsarina! hehe!), the historical thrones, The Orlov Diamond (wow! this one is an amazingly huge diamond! phew!), and lots more that I can't recall right now. I would say this is the MOST interesting museum I've ever been!! :) Unfortunately, no photographs allowed in the museum. So no pictures that I can share here to prove how interesting the museum was to me :(

By the time we left the museum, it was getting dark. So bergegas la kami pulang untuk mengejar waktu solat... huhu!

Red Square and Kremlin is as great as I imagined! :) Alhamdulillah. Syukur kepada Allah s.w.t kerana memberi peluang bagi kami sekeluarga menjejakkan kaki di bumi Moscow yang indah ini.