GULF OF FINLAND

A Cold Day Trip!

It was about an hour on a very, very slow train to reach the Gulf of Finland. I was desperate for the loo but it was locked. I was assured by Mike that this was probably a good thing as the the loos on the Russian trains consist of a very nasty hole in the floor where people seem to have trouble hitting the target. I preferred to be uncomfortable until arriving at a cafe at our destination.

It always surprises me that in a cold, fairly miserable climate that the owners of many cafes would choose to paint and decorate their entire premises in a rather dull shade of blue with matching nets and drapes. The plastic flowers in a jam jar and a more than once used blue tablecloth complete the picture. It took some imagination to see that this place was the venue where all the local people congregate for celebrations of all types. No wonder they like vodka so much.

It was a short walk to the sea from the train station and I was delighted to pass the beautiful green dacha, seen in the above picture, which, as you can see, I enjoyed painting! I suppose all of the houses by the seaside used to look like this but nowadays they have been replaced with very modern abodes, owned only by the seriously rich.

We were amazed to see that the sea was completely frozen and that the weekenders enjoy skating and skiing out for miles on the ice landscape. It looks worrying but I presume they know what they are doing. Although it was reported that somebody disappeared in the Gulf last weekend. He was on some sort of snowmobile and just went through the ice. Well.......

There were hundreds of figures to be seen such a long way from the shore line that they looked like tiny dots until they would ski towards us.

It was a strangely beautiful place and very quiet.

BEAR!

What can I say? I saw it for real, this little baby bear was being taken for a walk just like a dog. It was very cute and very upset and crying inside the muzzle. This poor bear had a very wild smell. This is not an animal to be taken for a walk, it really needs it's freedom. I am not an animal rights enthusiast or anything like that but it was not a happy bear. How can keeping a bear be permitted anyway? If nothing else, it has really sharp, long claws.

There is a 'big top' circus in the city and I am wondering if they allow people to take care of the animals whilst they are babies so they get used to humans from the beginning and are separated from their mothers? I will have to find out.

GOODBYE WINTER?

I couldn't resist posting one more winter scene before I hang up my snow boots for the summer! This is taken from my corner window in the main room and is over the top of the little park. I might paint this one.

THE WEATHER

IS looking more promising now but I keep my fingers firmly crossed as it is only April 9.

We have mini icebergs floating down river from the Gulf of Finland which I will try to capture on camera over the weekend.

Yesterday the sun shone all day and when we came out of the ballet performance of Don Quixote at 9.00 p.m. it was still broad day light. The light didn't fade until 9.40. The very long daylight hours are arriving really fast.

The problems with the weather in April are two-fold.

The DUST is horrendous. Once the snow and ice recedes the filth left behind has been ground down by the ice to very fine dust which casts a fine layer over the ground and over everything else. The traffic stirs it up horribly and makes it really unpleasant to walk next to the road with dust blowing in the eyes and nose. The street workers exacerbate this problem by trying to sweep it up with garden brooms (the witches type) and all they achieve is to whip it up more. This would be a nightmare for anyone with lung problems.

They close the PARKS for the whole of April! Yes, just as the weather is nicer and there are the inkling of tiny buds on the trees and the birds are singing, they CLOSE THE PARKS! Well, this is very frustrating as I have been longing for my daily exercise routine to resume and discovered this yesterday when I ventured out in running clothes and trainers. I was not defeated, however, as I trotted along the roads with dust flying in my eyes and nose!

The reason for closing the parks is to get them in order for the summer. Understandable because the paths and grass have had an absolute hammering over the winter, I just wish it was done one at a time!

Whilst waiting for Mike to show up at the Alexandra Theatre last night, I stood with all the others waiting for their partners to show up, opposite the theatre along the park railings in the beautiful sunshine, 6.30 and warm on the face, a well deserved treat!

RANDOM BLOG FODDER

I have met a lady who has recently arrived. She comes from Berlin and speaks excellent Russian. We were chatting about her childhood in Eastern Germany and the compulsory Russian lessons (she is finding that pretty useful now!) and I went on to ask her about where she was when the Berlin Wall came down.

She told me that when they heard the news from a neighbour it was all very confusing and they didn't believe it at all. They turned on the television to see the leader of the country more or less say that 'OK, we give in, we believe the wall is coming down, so be it'.

They were amazed and slightly afraid. Her and her husband and children all held hands and walked through some broken down wall to Western Germany. They were really afraid that the wall would be barred and they wouldn't get back again.

Her husband very quickly made the decision to take the car and to move the family immediately over to the west. He had a good job in the communist factory as a manager of an enormous power machinery organisation who were then taken over by a huge western company and he became a very successful executive within that company.

This story warms the cockles of my heart!

WHY DID THE CHICKEN CROSS THE ROAD?

After an evening tour of the Hermitage to take a look at the temporary exhibition of the history of the 'Silk Route', one of the privileges of living in this City and being a 'Friend of the Hermitage', we decided to take a light, late supper at a nearby Azerbaijani restaurant.

I ordered what I thought was a chicken kebab salad only to receive, to my horror, the above! You can see it was enormous (not to mention almost rubber-like) and the vegetables you can see surrounding it are all pickles! As Mike had a very modest looking meal, this looked horribly greedy! I took it home in a doggy bag to make soup from it. I had to cook it for ages to make it tender, well, what with the economy and all that!

Wouldn't it have been nice if the young waitress had suggested that it might not be the right choice for madame?

A DOG!

There is a habit of dressing dogs in this City in the winter for obvious reasons but I found this dog in his outfit particularly appealing. He looks like a workman on his way to a job!

ANOTHER APRIL FOOL'S JOKER!

This handsome hunk I pass nearly every day on my way to the shops. There are four of them, one on each corner of the bridge. This is the most gorgeous and actually the bandanna and hair only emphasises his beauty! I never pass him without a glance! Oh yeah, the horse is quite nice too.

APRIL FOOL

Some people here hate any relics left from the communist era. Quite understandable really. Others feel that they represent an important reminder of recent history of Russia and should remain. This particular Lenin statue stands outside Findlyanskiy train station, St.Petersburg's main station and it's really imposing. However, some jokers thought it would be fun to blow a hole in the back of Lenin's pants with dynamite! This was apparently quite a big explosion and the authorities were not amused, however, I think everyone else read the article in the local paper with slight amusement. Of course, it was dangerous and that isn't funny but Lenin will be repaired only to the extent of making it safe and then will remain with the damage to the seat of his pants. I think that is a fair compromise!