Day 2: Storming St. Petersburg

After a productive clubbing session in downtown Central Station Club - which ended at about 4 a.m. and on the way home we got ourselves some takeouts from KFC Rostik's (I don't know why it KFC is called as such here in Russia) before dozing off in the hotel, I woke up at 9 a.m. Well, we are supposed to get ready BY 9 a.m. as we have more to do today.

Yummy fried chicken...keeping in mind the oil content X_X

I was kind of disappointed yesterday as I had not enough time to shop, I didn't manage to purchase anything worth of bragging rights. Sigh. We only managed to enter ZARA and I saw a nice looking suit which costs 4530 roubles. Err...should I but that or not? It will certainly set fire to my wallet if I should do so O_o

At last - ZARA!

Should I buy it or not? Dratz.

Had my breakfast. 2 bowls of honey stars. 1 boiled egg. I chunk of table cheese. 2 slices of oatmeal bread. A few glasses of milk. Well I microwaved the egg and it exploded in the oven! LOL. Should have sliced it first. Now I have to clean the microwave oven! Sigh.

Dammit. X_X

So, what is today's plan? Well, we are visiting the Peterhof, a very beautiful palace of the Tsar. 

Yay - we've reached Peterhof!


This beautiful winter palace is facing the Gulf of Finland - which is why it is notoriously windy there. 

Standing at the pier at the Gulf of Finland. Gosh - the wind!


Quite far from our hotel, but reachable by the metro. Then maybe to some other architectural wonders around, then last stop would be the souvenier shop. Maybe shop at some designer boutiques along the way.

*in awe*

The famous Peterhof. Just look at the fountains!

One of the many intricately designed gardens.

*growl*

OH NO - not my stomach again! Need to find a cafe, pronto! Oh - there's a sign, what does it say?

ROFLMAO - what is this??? Oh well, I have no other choice.

Ahh - a cafe at last!

Oh now it is the time to shop at the gift shop! Presents for friends and loved ones!

Aww - saw this Teddy in the exterior gift shop! Isn't it adorable? It is the sweetest thing I've seen in St. Petersburg!

After a whole day of awesomeness in Peterhof, it is now time to exit through the vine-covered tunnel!

So, TTFN! Bye!

Day 1: Storming St. Petersburg

After leaving Kursk at 17.33 sharp on the express train from Harkov to St. Petersburg, we had a (surprisingly) relaxed and fun 16-hour journey - which we were really afraid of before the journey

Me: Oh my God, 16 hours? What are we going to do?

Arveen: Yaloh, what are we going to do? Any ideas?

Me: Did you bring some playing cards? Or anything that can keep us company throughout the journey?

Arveen: No lar..

Me: Sigh. Nevermindlah.

Instead of sulking in boredom, we had a great time - sipping black tea with milk, with boxes of juice and a whole assortment of sweet delights. I loved the sugar-coated gingerbread we bought in Metro:

So how did we spend the 16 hours on the train coupee? Eat, talk, laugh, take some pictures, eat some more, drink a little bit more, chit-chat, and more chit-chat then slept off at midnight...then woke up at 8 a.m. the next morning. We reached St. Petersburg at 10.27 a.m. (I have to give it to them, the trains in Russia are very punctual!)

So from the train station, we took the metro to Nevskij Prospekt, where our lodging is located. A brisk walk past 3 bustops and finally we arrived at Hostel Zimmer Nice, a small, quaint but simply a lovely spot in the heart of St. Petersburg.

So, this place is like a modern apartment, with bedrooms, a kitchen, 2 bathrooms, 2 toilets - all in satisfactory condition. Very cosy. Very well kept. Reasonably priced too for a city like St. Petersburg. And internet services are FOC *wink* - a good thing because things RARELY comes FOC in Russia.

While waiting for the group to freshen and dress up to take the city by storm (cheh - over a bit lah hahaha), I took advantage of the internet system to update the blog. And speaking of which - it is my turn to use the bathroom now!

[after approximately 30 minutes...]

Okay, now everyone is dressed up and ready to hit the streets of St. Petersburg in style!

First stop
Kazansky Cathedral

Actually I don't really dig much the museums and historical aspects of anything - I only loved the architecture, the style, the look of the buildings. And that is it.

I was more attracted to this:

OOH - shopping! But unfortunately I can't do any shopping at the moment because my primary priority is to escort Mr. Kanoo & Mrs. Matilda around, to wherever they wanted to be. So maybe later when they are resting in the room, me and Arveen are going to hit the shopping spots.