The Hermitage is full of beautiful artworks, and the building itself, both interior and exterior, is beautiful. Out of the thousands (number) of pieces of art in the museum, what most caught my attention was the French Impressionist collection. I definitely appreciate Rembrandts and Da Vincis, but I have always been partial to art made after 1860, especially Van Gogh and Matisse.  When I was little I had a book of Monet paintings, and I would spend time flipping through its pages, then trying to replicate the way he caught light on ocean waves, only with watercolors on office paper.
Some photos I took of a few of my favorite paintings from the collection –

I was particularly interested to learn about the source of this collection that provides such a bright, colorful, sometimes tropical (Gauguin) contrast to the gray weather of St. Petersburg.  These paintings at one point belonged to the Russian merchants Sergei Shchukin and Ivan Morozov. Our tour guide highlighted the fact that the two were always in competition with each other, and when one started to acquire Impressionist paintings (signs point to Shchukin), the other decided that he had to acquire an even better collection. Thanks to their rivalry, visitors to both the Hermitage in Petersburg and the Pushkin museum in Moscow can enjoy some of the gems of French Impressionism.
An overview of the Shchukin and Morozov collections that I highly recommend.