St. Petersburg, Russia - day 3

With my credit card issue resolved, I could relax and enjoy St. Petersburg. Even though I woke up early today (Saturday, 5 August) I still didn't get to the Hermitage -- world famous museum -- until 11 am. I spent a good portion of the day there and still didn't get to see all the rooms. Its pretty overwhelming, as most world famous museums are. In a nutshell it was incredible but after a while you start to get numb to all. Aside from the works of arts hanging on the walls, the museum itself is a work of art and it would be impressive just to walk around the empty museum! There is a reason it was packed to the gills with tourists -- which was rather annoying. After the Hermitage I grabbed a late lunch and then went to climb the colonnade of St. Isaac's Cathedral. From here I could see the vastness of St. Petersburg. It was a mostly clear day and the views were stunning. Apparently I wasn't the only one that thought so as the viewing platform was 'circus-like' crowded. It was ridiculous and impossible at times to move around. But all that monkey business was worth the views over St. Petersburg. By the time I got down it was already about 6:30 pm; where does the day go!? I was hungry and tired but I still managed to walk around a bit more before catching the metro to the grocery store. Its definitely harder to eat in Russia not being able to read anything and with the stores, restaurants, etc. being quite different from what I'm used to.