2003-08-28 - 11:23 p.m.
Although the White Nights have faded back to thick grey clouds, St. Petersburg is still bright with enthusiasm as its 300th Birthday fades steadily into the past. The sun goes down about 10pm now, but a rich nightlife procedes forward. Last night I took a night out tour with some travelers at my hostel. A group of 7 Irishman and women, two ladies from Luxenbourg and I were hosted by a Russian tour guide namded Peter, a local historian with a sweet tooth for- you guessed it- Vodka. But, Peter was on the top of his game the entire night. We started our adventure at a local art colony, turned underground club. The history of the dingy place was as a bohemia for artists during the fall of communism. Many squatters and artists began hold self arranged jam sessions and art shows. Today, behind the dingy club is a state of the art facility for galleries and expensive apartments. To me, it recalled East Germany, ,specifically Berlin. When I visited Berlin a few years back, I recall visiting a bombed out apartment building that was a club/bar. i found the place because it was listed in my travel book. Our first St. Petersburg haunt was not listed, but was a similar feel.
The night rolled along with similar features of my siteseeing days here. Walking, and lots of it. I walked and walked, and we didso again last night. But I saw the apartment Dostoyevsky wrote The Brothers Karamosov, the steps he traced in Crime and Punishment, and Rasputin's apartment and the site of his demise. Then we stolled along, snapping photos and celebrating NEW YEAR and a bar called blizzard that celebrates NEW YEAR every night by playing Gorbechev's new year speech from 1987 and them singing the old Soviet anthem. But, after this, the hightlight of the night came when we passed the Winter Castle, glowing green from the lights along the Neva River, and we staked a spot along the banks to watch the series of bridges, lit bright, rise. Every night in summer the bridges rise, closing off Vasil and Peterhof islands from the mainland and allowing the ships from the Gulf of Finland to carry their cargo through. Watching thee bridges rise is a ceremony and quite a site.
My vacation to Russian has been relaxing. I certainly wish it could have been experienced with family/friends as a year from home is a year from home, but I took many pics and you were all with me. I will send them
