Photos for Wednesday: A Day in Petersburg

I spent this last summer in St. Petersburg, which might be the most beautiful city on earth. (It's up there with Prague in my book.) Since showing is better than telling, here's a few pictures to show you what a summer day in Petersburg is like:

Morning (4 a.m.) on the canal behind Savior on the Spilled Blood. Taken on the walk home after spending all night out clubbing. In the summer, it never really gets very dark, so it's quite easy to miss the metro closing/bridge raising deadline around midnight. So 4 a.m. walks home (bridges come back down just before five) to my island were not incredibly uncommon.

Midday on Palace Square. Taken just before my first trip to L'Ermitage. This magnificent palace houses one of the best art collections in the world: hundreds of gorgeous paintings adorn the walls of the intricately decorated and already beautiful winter palace. (And entry for students is free!)

Midnight at Peter and Paul Fortress. Taken on a walk to meet up with friends on the main island. Petersburg is famous for its White Nights, the summer months when the sun barely sets. The city's residents love to take advantage of the almost ever-present light to linger on the banks of the Neva into the wee hours of the morning. Midnight sunsets were quite a new experience for me.

So, if you ever get the chance to visit Petersburg in summer, take it! (And take me with you!)

Люблю тебя, Петра творенье,

Люблю твой строгий, стройный вид,

Невы державное теченье,

Береговой ее гранит,

Твоих оград узор чугунный,

Твоих задумчивых ночей

Прозрачный сумрак, блеск безлунный,

Когда я в комнате моей

Пишу, читаю без лампады,

И ясны спящие громады

Пустынных улиц, и светла

Адмиралтейская игла,

И, не пуская тьму ночную

На золотые небеса,

Одна заря сменить другую

Спешит, дав ночи полчаса.

Люблю зимы твоей жестокой

Недвижный воздух и мороз,

Бег санок вдоль Невы широкой,

Девичьи лица ярче роз,

И блеск, и шум, и говор балов,

А в час пирушки холостой

(А. С. Пушкин, Медный Всадник)

All photos taken by Kara Haberstock, June 2011, all rights reserved