Spontaneous Trip to St. Petersburg: Day 1

Nadia, me, Nastya

 Here I am, in the Metro in St. Petersburg - a spontaneous trip that was decided upon two days before the departure. My third-cousin(?) Nastya and I took a high-speed train and arrived in 3.5 hours, as opposed to the typical overnight train ride.
We stayed with Nastya's ex-step-grandma(?), Nadia, who led us on a fantastic tour of Saint Petersburg.

The great river Neva… who would have known that it freezes over in the winter?! This thought didn't even cross my mind when we headed out for our walk, so when I first saw it, I was in shock! Makes complete sense, but I just wasn't expecting it.

Река Mойка, however, wasn't all frozen over. And there were ducks swimming in it!! I thought all birds migrated to the south for the winter… Guess everything's different in Russia.

 In St. Petersburg, there is no such thing as "looking for beauty" - beauty encompasses you from every angle. Just open your eyes and look.
So I brought out the big guns - a Nikon D5000 - and tried to be 'artsy'. I snapped and snapped pictures until my fingers turned white from the cold, and here are just some of my favorite shots.

In this picture, I liked the colors of the buildings: they weren't gray and sad, rather the pink, yellow, and green contrasted so well with the overcast sky, and mixed with the dark electrical lines - it was a beautiful sight.

A teal building we passed by, ornamented with white marble sculptures, corinthian columns, and lion head above every window. Can you imagine living in a house like that?!










In St. Petersburg, even the buildings that are falling apart and losing their lavish color coating look like masterpieces.











Happened to notice this flower carving on the side of a building. (Tried to be extra-artsy by making the flower/column in focus and the side of the building out of focus.)








And finally, to end this post on a positive note, we passed by this cute café called Cчастье - with the subtexts: "Sweet Home", "Angels Welcome", and my personal favorite "The Home of Happiness". :)

Overall, despite the cold, wind, and eventual slight snow, our outing was wonderful and Nadia was an exceptional tour guide. She knew nearly every building we passed by and even showed us some of her favorite non-typical ones (like one that looked like a triangle - very European). We stopped for a snack at Буше, which was a quaint bakery that had the most delectable pastries. I got one with raspberries, pistachios, and cream center with a flaky butter crust….and tea, of course. Yum!