The most elegant of Russian cities attracts with its special character and refined intelligence. And the matter is not only in the appearance of St. Petersburg, but also in the touching culture of the indigenous people of the northern capital, which is often a reason for jokes and pride. This is hard to believe, but in some places in St. Petersburg — for example, at rush hours on the subway — you can still hear the phrases «Please excuse» and «Be kind.» St. Petersburg is perhaps the most ambitious experiment in the crossing of the European order and the Russian soulfulness. It continues for the fourth century — quite, it seems, successfully.
Some are ready to sing the praises of St. Petersburg around the clock and would give a lot to get here for good. Others criticize this city for its gloom and depression, for a consistently gray sky and shabby courtyards, shocking the underside of monuments of St. Petersburg architecture.
There is no indifferent to Peter. And even skeptics in their souls understand that melancholy here is a completely different breed. When the heavy clouds at gloomy midday crawl on the golden spire of the Admiralty, it seems that even without the sun on the banks of the Neva it is possible to exist quite highly culturally. This is not a walk on Red Square against the backdrop of the Asian Kremlin. Peter, whatever one may say, is Europe, well, or that same “eurowindow”, which the far-sighted Peter I so diligently chopped
The Russian emperor was very kind to his brainchild. He personally chose a place for Nevsky Prospect, decided where to stand the Peter and Paul Fortress. Trying to “be in trend,” with an eye on Venice and Amsterdam, Peter planned to entangle the city with a network of canals and issued a decree according to which all buildings — an unprecedented business in Russia — were to be built only from stone.
Foreign guides, waving away from the noisy Moscow, on their pages push Peter to the first place chicandamazing.com. And hit the mark. While in the crowded capital city you are looking for affordable and tolerable housing, in Petersburg City, leaving things in a nice hotel in the Five Corners area, you can already climb the huge St. Isaac’s Cathedral, stomp along the Aurora Deck and get lost in the Hermitage labyrinths.
There are legends about the notorious “Petersburg spirit”, but even if you decompose it into chemical elements, you won’t reveal the secret. For someone, Peter is Rastrelli’s baroque architecture, for someone — Zenit fans chants or sittings at the Idiot restaurant. But the constant attribute of the St. Petersburg atmosphere is the fresh sea breeze that flies around numerous islands in the Neva delta. Not to catch him is impossible.
