St. Petersburg, Russia [3]
"There's a difference between knowing the path and walking the path ... That's why I'm here." I said aloud to Yura, while patiently waiting for the queue to enter the Hermitage Museum.
Yura smiled and looked back at her phone, it seemed she was texting someone.
"So, when did you come back to Korea, shouldn't you go back to school?" Tanya, I deliberately wanted to stop her staring at her phone. "After visiting Murmansk, I'm going to Germany, after that I'm going home," Yura replied briefly, her eyes focused on her phone again.
"Are you going to go with Mia?" I smiled when I interrupted her as she played on her phone.
"Yes, of course. That's what friends are for." Smiling cheerfully and looking back at her phone.
huh... you are still a teenager, I thought.
"You can come if you want," she added, looking up briefly and then looking back down at the phone again.
"I'll think about it," I replied observing her busy life while continuing to hold her attention with my questionable questions.
"Do you have a boyfriend?" I asked curiously.
"Yes, I have, his name is Salah, from Bahrain. We met in Malaysia last winter holiday, we took IELTS classes at a foreign language institute in Malaysia," she replied shyly, her eyes twinkling.
"What?" I gasped, unable to hold back my laughter.
hhh...
It was my turn to be asked about having a boyfriend and immediately so enthusiastically asked her a question to change the topic. "Are you in love?"
I muttered to myself.
Yura is still very innocent, this little girl is still 20 years old, her character is typical of college kids who are cheerful and outspoken. There is a sense of humor and admiration, their relationship can last a long time even though they are separated by continents.
Yura and I stepped into the Hermitage Museum, one of the largest cultural arts museums in St. Petersburg. Petersburg and at the same time the oldest in the world. The main building of the Museum is the Winter Palace, which was once the residence of Tsarist Russia, this magnificent building in Barque architectural style, with three floors, clad in white walls a combination of turquoise and gold.
"I'll go over there, we'll meet again at this place in two hours at Palace Square. Agreed?" Yura said. I nodded in agreement, I was so fixated on the interior of the Hermitage Museum, busy starting to observe one by one the interesting things in my view that I didn't have time to notice Yura walking away.
I read the description of the museum in detail, this is where the history of Russia was formed, including the Bloody Sunday massacre of 1905, where a massive demonstration against Tsar Nicholas II which killed approximately four thousand people.
More than three million materials by famous artists such as Rembrandt, Davinci, Michael Angelo, Raphael, Rubens, Van Gogh, Rodi, and many more, even collections from Egypt, jewelry, and treasures of King Kings of Egypt found in graves and pyramids are here.
The interior of the Hermitage Museum is very luxurious and elegant, with huge pillars holding up very high ceilings, decorations of gold everywhere, from the doors, the walls, pillars, thrones, furniture to the ceiling of the room.
I was amazed to witness world history in front of my eyes, bringing my imaginations far into the past. According to the information, there are 1786 doors, 1945 windows, 1500 elegant rooms, 117 stairs in the Hermitage Museum, a gathering place and neatly kept various objects of the world's maestro.
How rich was Tsar Russia at that time?
I waited for Yura- at Palace Square right in front of the Hermitage Museum, while still looking in awe of the Hermitage Museum which stretched along the river Neva. Two hours seemed so short, I haven't even had time to explore the whole section, I might have to come back to this place someday in the future. I had heard from the Tour Guide standing and talking to a group not far from me, if you spend one minute on each work in the Hermitage Museum, surely you will need eleven years to be able to see the contents of all the works stored in it.
Palace Square is a very large empty space in front of the Heritage Museum, formed during the era of Alexander I, built as a monument to Russia's victory over Napoleon.
Across the corner, there is a stage being built, this large place will be used as a concert for popular international singers coming from America, very strategic indeed because the area is so wide that it can accommodate many people.
In the center of Palace Square is the Alexander Column, which is 47.5m high and weighs 500 tonnes.
I saw Yura walking toward me, with a glowing satisfaction in his eyes, this is the third time she's visited the Hermitage Museum since she's been here for a month in St. Petersburg.
I dragged her to the nearest restaurant to eat "Ruski Vinaigrette" because my stomach was rumbling. Ruski Vinaigrette is a type of Russian salad, consisting of beets, grated cabbage, potatoes, carrots, and pickles.
"You look very satisfied," I said, "is there anything special that you found here?"
"Well, it's fun to be here," said Yura while showing me a photo of Salah, Yura's boyfriend. "This is my boyfriend's fault, handsome right? she asked again.
Okay, so it's still on the topic of heating up the boyfriend.
Fine!
"Not bad," I said smiling affirmatively. While raising my gaze out the window watching Russian youths go by.
Russian youth are very stylish, and most of them have beautiful faces, I still wonder how they can dress in mini skirts and crop tops showing off their stomachs in the middle of winter with temperatures of 0 degrees Celsius and below.
I also watched in amazement as they walked on the cobblestone roads — a rough and round cobblestone road with 10-15 cm high heels. What an extraordinary skill as well as torture in my opinion.
Yura and I looked at each other and smiled at him, it seems we have the same opinion for that.
"Do you have a boyfriend?" Asked Yura while sipping hot coffee.
"No, I live alone," I replied sadly and wasn't really interested in discussing it further.
"You are very beautiful, I do not believe your status is single," she said seductively, her eyes sparkling with beautiful twinkle looking for information.
I smiled mysteriously at Yura while waving at the waitress for the bill.
We walked the one km along the canal to 'Church Of The Savior On Spilled Blood', a medieval cathedral, one of the more impressive landmarks in St. Petersburg. This building is quite popular and very iconic, it will be easily found in any brochure describing St. Petersburg. It has a classic Authentic Russian style, at least not inspired or designed from European characteristics.
From afar, there are nine onion-shaped domes that glow gold with bright Russian ornaments. Just like a lollipop Candy Palace.
This church was built at the place where Tsar Alexander II was assassinated in March 1881. The King's departure made Prince Alexander III grieve. To perpetuate this heartbreaking event, he ordered to build a church exactly where his father died, therefore this church is called 'Church Of The Savior On Spilled Blood' - The Church Saved from Blood.
The interior of the church is full of beautiful mosaics, colorful, it is as if I entered a colorful comic palace that tells of biblical stories and saints, neatly arranged and large like luminous paintings along the walls to the ceiling.
After visiting the church we met up with the others to prepare for our trip to Murmansk. "Hi, this is my friend, a journalist. He will come with us to Murmansk," Mia said. Beside her stood a tall, blonde man, typical of people from Germany.
"Hi, I'm Valter." he said introducing himself.
We warmly welcome Valter and introduce ourselves, Valter will join us tomorrow and guide us on our first visit to Murmansk.
The sound of the seven of us clinking glasses seemed inaudible, muted by the loud sound of music at Poltavskaya 7, a nightclub bar in St. Petersburg. The atmosphere is quite comfortable, glamorous, electric, and modern, we sat on the sofa lounge area spending time exchanging travel stories, and playing board games.
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