Day 5: Storming Moscow

Okay, now we've reached Moscow! First things first, let's head to our apartment!

Aww - this is the owner's cat.

WOW - and we have a piano at home too! Coolness~~

Okay - basically this is our last day of quality holiday. Tomorrow is going to be super-packing day for uncle and aunty (going back to Malaysia) and for us (going back to Kursk - sigh~~)

Where to: The Red Square, Kremlin, and the Arbat Street.

Kremlin at the Red Square

Supposedly you make wishes on this spot as you throw a coin over your shoulder.

The Red Square

Who wants to take pictures with Lenin?

This place just attracted my attention.

Arbat Street!

Statue of Russia's most famous poet Alexander Pushkin, and his wife.

Spring Shopping Complex

Mu-Mu Cafe.

Okay - I think this is enough for our holiday...

WAIT!!!

I HAVEN'T SHOPPED ANYTHING YET!!!!

sigh.

I guess I have to do it tomorrow then.

But will I succeed in the rush?

*crossing fingers*

Day 4: Storming St. Petersburg

Okay - it was our 4th day in the beautiful city of St. Petersburg. Hurry hurry up - we have got to cover more parts of the city!

Today's destination is the Spas-Na-Krov, which is the The Church of Our Savior on Spilled Blood (Cool name huh?)

Anyway this church was supposedly built here on the site of where Emperor Alexander II was fatally wounded and died on the spot - after an allegedly 7th attempt on his life. So to commemorate the Resurrection of Christ - this church was built here. (IDK about you, but I think this description is quite odd - don't ask me I just took the info from the St. Petersburg guide!)

View in daylight and under the moon.

In front of the gates.

Griboedov canal.

Me and best buddy Vin on the bridge of the canal. 

Uncle was nearly frozen to death (well he wasn't too accustomed to the mild weather yet :P) so he wanted to buy a scarf on the spot! Try this on for size, uncle!

We didn't enter the church because I WAS ADAMANT about it. I don't want to enter another historical hoo-haa and i have to pay for it when I know I'm not going to be impressed again. So off we go to the Palace Square and Alexander Column nearby, and the General Staff Building was in the vicinity.

Palace Square with Alexander Column

The General Staff Building

As we made our way back to our lodgings - I took the view around the famous Prospekt Nevskij (The main street in St. Petersburg) 

I had to take this. A Roman Catholic church! Me being an RC - I had an urge to do so :P

Okay - officially we have covered most of the main attractions of St. Petersburg - and we have to get back to our lodgings and pack for our next destination: MOSCOW!!!

So we got on a VERY VERY comfortable train from St. Petersburg to Moscow. Now this is what you call a pleasant journey!

Good night!

I guess I couldn't sleep yet - my stomach was growling. 

Hungry~~~~ Train cafe, here I come!

Day 3: Storming St. Petersburg

Well this is my first blog post for 2010 - and Happy New Year first of all! I have a LOT to catch up...so let's not waste much time, and cut the chase shall we?

Well, where did I stop like 2 months ago?

Day 3: Storming St. Petersburg

Well, as far as I can remember the 3rd day we went to visit the Hermitage or also known as the Winter Palace. Supposedly it was the winter retreat for the Tsar and his royal family, but now it has been preserved into a high-class museum.

Picture collage

Grand gallery

Tsar's throne

Truthfully I HATED visiting museums. They bore me. The only exciting part is to take pictures of the unique items on display. The most you can get out of me from visiting a museum is "Oh wow - that MUST be old." God - I was soooo bored!

Energy....drained...need to...rechargeee......need FOOD!

We had lunch at an authentic Russian Restaurant - Елки-Палки (transliteralized as Yolki-Palki). The interior ambience really reflected the cozy interior of a warm Russian home, kept crisp by good interior heating systems - be it a fireplace or a hot water piping system. So, what was on the menu? We ordered a myriad of Russian delicacies: 

Борщ (Borshch - Beetroot soup with beef and cabbages and potatoes with sour cream)

Солянкя (Soljanka - Thick spicy and sour soup made of picked cucumbers with brine, cabbages, salty mushrooms and beef) 

Кутлеты (Kutlet'y - Cutlets of beef, pork and chicken, fried or baked) 

Биф-строганоф (Bif-stroganof - Beef strips stewed in cream with black pepper, which was (strangely) served upon a bed of fettucini) 

Шашлик (Sashlik - Skewered pieces of pork roasted with peppers and tomatoes, served with piquant dipping made of fresh grated onions and peppers with vinegar)

Компот (Kompot - Chilled concoction of dried fruits and berries)

Wow - now that is what I call a good meal!

Then after that we just wandered off to some random shops along the way home. TOO TIRED! We shall continue the next day! Good night!

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.