Major purpose of St. Petersburg was to visit Hermitage Museum. Morning, I hurried to the museum. we could get the museum easily but we could not find entrance nor ticket booth. Guidebook has no detailed explanation about them. The day before we were here, so we should ask the guide where booth was. However it was too late. I finally found the ticket booth after going around outside the huge museum. We found a long line of people's column there. But, it was good for us. The line was for Russian people. For foreigners is not as long as the line. We lined up immediately, but it is not quite proceed forward. It seems that a couple in the top of the row were in trouble something. I thought the machine displayed only in Russian language? However it was not fact. The machine for only payment with cash. I don't want to use cash. Because I don't have enough cash at the time.
Anyway we went through then entrance but the museum forced us to put bag and umbrella into the cloakroom. Big bag also. Then we went through Xray security gate. We found amazing people(form big, continent country, recently they become a rich), everyone was taking photos at the famous stairs (stairs of the ambassador). So I could not go forward.
We leached there but we could not see any European paintings. There, a old woman was coming for us then spoke something but in Russian . She was the clerk of the museum. It seems that she told us that paintings were moved to the annex. Thanks a kind old woman. Neither the latest guide book nor the brochures we got from reception of the museum. If she told us, we had to go around to find painting forever.