Memorable Russia -2

 19^th – For our last day in St Petersburg, we went to the Hermitage Museum. This museum holdings include nearly three million items dating from the Stone Age to the present. Among them is one of the world's richest collections of western European painting since the Middle Ages, including many masterpieces from famous artists such as Leonardo Da Vinci. Memang layan la for a person like me who is an art lover. But time didn’t permit me to really enjoy viewing each artifact and collection. We were given only two hours to complete the tour. Mana mau nyaaa..

After lunch we went to St Petersburg airport to catch a flight to our last city, Kazan. The flight took around two hours and once we were there it was dinner time. We had most of our meals at Uzbek, Middle Eastern or Tartar restaurants.  It doesn’t go down so well with our taste buds actually, but nevertheless it was halal and a new experience. Talking about food, basically, we were served salad, bread and soup, potatoes and cheese, and then only the main course which normally would be meat. Layan je laa 

20^th – The next day, we went for a tour of Kazan. But we spent most of our time there in the Tartar’s area because most Muslims live there. Around zohor we went to Kul Sharif mosque which was beautiful both inside and outside. And as usual, we snapped a lot of pics there. And by the mosque, we had our lunch at a Tartar Restaurant. The owner was a Muslim and all the workers too. The girls working there were beautiful and their features as well as their eyes were a sight to behold. Iye, gua cakap luu Minah Tartar memang lawo2.

me n Anna n Kamila

Gua n tour leader @ Mr Tazrik

Kul Sharif Mosque

Then we went to the town center for a bit of shopping and window shopping and sightseeing. At 6, we went to the Kazan train station and boarded the night train to head back to Moscow. The distance between Kazan and Moscow is about 700km. and we were provided with the sleeping berth cabin which was a beautiful mini room, with complimentary drinks and fruits ready. It was quite comfortable to be honest. For each coach, it is double decker, and each floor has five cabins with three separate toilets and a pantry to make coffee. We were entitled to a dinner on board but since the halal status was not known, we had to be content with the fruits available and also the chocolate and snacks we had with us. I slept like a log and woke up half an hour before reaching Moscow. Btw, the ticket price is RM500+-. 

Upon reaching, we went to Holiday Inn to refresh and have breakfast. It was the best breakfast ever in Russia and I had second and third helping.

After checking out, we went to the flea market at Ismaylovo. It is beyond a flea market actually, because you will see hundreds of vendors selling everything from souvenirs, fur, t-shirts, foods to jewelry. Simply put, we were spoilt for choice. But we still managed to buy a few stuffs such as the miniature Vladivostok light house, which resembles the real one, and an Egyptian God, Anubis and few other things.

After a quick dinner, we went to the airport to fly home. The flight was at 11.35pm, which was to my liking. And just like our flight to Moscow, this time too I slept straight away once the plane departed. 

21^st- At 6 am we reached Abu Dhabi. Solat and had breakfast and waited for the connecting back to KL. In the flight back to KL, I watched Young Sheldon after viewing a couple of movies. It was the longest hours spent watching movies in-flight. And finally at 805pm we landed in KLIA. After getting our luggage, we took the erl to Salak Tinggi to get our car. We had roti canai and mee goreng at the same café we had at the initial part of our trip before driving home and arriving safely at 1am.

All in all, I enjoyed this trip very much because of the relaxed pace of the daily itinerary, the beautiful people and places, the not so cold weather, the  comfortable rooms, the wonderful group members and the smooth journey.  Moscow is a modern city with its rich historical values and monuments. It actually dated back to the 12^th century, and as such, its history goes beyond invasions and revolutions. The people are so hassle-free and life here seems to be at an easy going pace. St Petersburg on the other hand, is bustling with crowds and the hustle and bustle is typical of any other European cities. The enormous buildings, the many bridges (342 bridges within the city limits!) and the architecture never fail to impress me. Each city that I visited had a soul of its own. As for Kazan, the capital of Tartastan, it is a Muslim majority city. It looks to me as a rustic place though the city centre is rather lively. It is easier to find halal food here compared to other cities. Even the people here have different features that are quite obvious. To sum up, this trip ranks as one of my favorites. Though to be honest, I really enjoyed all my previous trips a lot too. All good things must come to an end, and as such, I will cherish this trip for a long time. Alhamdulillah.

d kaum

till nx time..