ZOO

I must admit that this was the only picture I felt like taking at the Zoo and although I loved the way the owls are lined up, one can't help feeling they look a little forlorn.

I didn't like the way the big cats were in quite small cages. In the modern world we are so used to seeing animals in wonderful settings, safari parks etc. that it is difficult to see animals in these circumstances and the hardest hearted would be moved to realise that these animals have a pretty rotten deal.

What is the point of having these beautiful creatures all caged up when it is so easy to access magnificent and intimate images of wild animals these days?

CITY BEACH AND THE GULF OF FINLAND

The second picture is actually a beach in front of the Peter and Paul Fortress. It's amazing that this was completely covered in deep ice and snow just a few weeks ago and incredible that there is a beach in the City!

The top image is the beach at the Gulf of Finland. I took pictures a few weeks ago and the sea was ice and people were skiing on it. It is just a short journey from St.Petersburg and good for a day trip. I must confess that this is a particularly nice part of the beach. We were disappointed to discover that further along it was rather covered in a lot of rubbish swept up from the sea. It would be so easy to clean up at the beginning of the season and make a lot more pleasant for people to enjoy.

There were people in the water. I don't think it would pass any cleanliness regulations and I wouldn't swim in it.

We were quite surprised to walk past a nudist part of the beach. We should have guessed, it was the area where more people (particularly males) were standing up to sunbathe instead of the traditional 'lying down' method! Glad I was wearing my dark glasses!

JUNE AND WHITE NIGHTS RETURN

The speed with which winter disappeared and summer arrived was quite remarkable.

The buds on the trees burst open and produced flowers much faster than in a less harsh climate. Unfortunately, they will disappear in September pretty quickly too.

It's now much harder to sleep knowing that it's broad daylight outside. It does get a little dark around midnight or half past until around 3.30 a.m. but those twilight hours will diminish to nothing very quickly as midsummer arrives. I now understand why Russians seem to hibernate in winter and stay up all night in the short summer. I can't stop looking out of the window when I am supposed to be sleeping!

We have darkened curtains but it is surprising how much light comes in from the sides.

The river boats are out in vast numbers and the tourists are returning.

It's great to have all the little extra bars and cafes open along the river and canals.

We have carnival in the streets and a lot of free entertainment.

Suddenly it's a joy to be in this City!

Duran Duran and Anastasia are doing a free concert in the Hermitage square tonight to open the Economic Forum.

I am a little concerned about getting out to the airport for my trip to UK this afternoon due to the arrival of numerous delegations from around the globe and a lot of streets being closed.

SUMMER AT LAST!

Why do the fellas like St.Petersburg so much?

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!

RANDOM BUT INTERESTING!

FISHING WINTER STYLE

This chap seems to be enjoying himself out on the main river. Sometimes they put a tent made of polythene around them to keep warm. Doesn't look much fun to me and I am not sure if I would eat fish out of the Neva.

THE ICE BREAKER

I love the impression the ice breaker leaves on the river. They break it up quite regularly. The river isn't passable until the ice is gone though. I think they break it so there is some movement or the ice cracks and then builds into sort of icebergs which when on the move would put pressure on the bridges. That all sounds feasible doesn't it?

THE SWIMMING POOL CHURCH

During the soviet times a lot of churches were made into public swimming pools (unimaginable but true). This morning I was invited with the International Women's Club to visit the above church to pick out some paintings which have been donated by the artist Matt Lamb to the Club to auction for charity. The paintings are being stored in this church. You can see the stands at the side which were used when it was converted to a public swimming pool and the church has decided to keep in place. What a reminder! Personally, I think it's easy to imagine it as a swimming pool.

ICE IS NICE

OR ICE CAN BE NICE!

Here are three examples of what ice is all about at the beginning of March in St.Pete's.

First, let's look at the size of the icicles. Yes, they would and DO kill people. A lot of people here say they have had close encounters with them. When the temperature rises slightly, they are likely to drop off from a high building without warning (they don't shout 'fore'!). They weigh a kilo or two at best and several kilos at worst. On the thawing days I am almost inclined to walk around wearing a crash helmet. However, the buildings are obliged to cordon off the areas of danger but they are not to be trusted so extreme care must be exercised. At the same time as perusing the tops of the buildings for falling ice burgs, don't for one minute take your eyes off the pavement as you are likely to go flying on very hardened ice, in places several inches thick. I sympathize with the authorities because it thaws and re-freezes so often that it is impossible to keep it safe. However, this does make the trip to the supermarket far more fun than normal.

Now let's take a look at the drainpipes. Again, when there is a thaw, you can be walking along the street when suddenly you hear a large rumble noise coming from somewhere above and quickly moving downwards before the ice simply shoots out onto the pavement, sometimes containing bottles and glass, (people party on the rooftops here). Make sure at this point that you aren't standing in front of one of the city's enormous drainpipes. I think the picture above speaks for its self.

Thirdly, see the man walking on the river? He is employed by the city to pick up rubbish from the ice on the canals. You may be able to see, a way in front of him, a ladder out across the ice. That is where his workmates are, watching out for his safety. Is that a joke?

THE ANGLO-RUSSIAN MARRIAGE

ENDEARING IMAGE!

The lady in the chair was actually waiting to attend a different wedding but I thought she was wonderful.

THE WEDDING

It was quite an enviable opportunity to attend a wedding in one of the wedding palaces here. I have watched enough brides come out of them!

The wedding itself was very lovely. Very similar to any civil wedding in the UK, except conducted in Russian. I hope David knows what he is getting into! He seems happy anyway and he signed the contract regardless. The inside of the building was quite lovely and the room of the marriage was elegant. During the service we endured some really sentimental recorded music and the service was only interrupted by the gentleman in front of me who had a very old camera which made a really noisy wind back noise after each photo! Everyone noticed (probably not the bride and groom!).

After the service we were taken to the reception by bus, saving us a long and icy walk.

The photo shows the brides parents holding a bread with a dish of salt, over the top of a beautiful embroidered cloth which is probably an heirloom. The idea is that the bride and groom take as bigger bite as possible to decide who is the boss in the household. I think it's traditional for the bride to take a modest bite, although I don't suppose they do that these days. They then take a piece of bread and dip it in the salt and feed it to each other. Really, that was all that was different from a traditional wedding reception in the UK, then everyone got really drunk and danced etc. ditto!

WINTER WONDERS

This was a glorious clear, cold evening and the photo opportunities made me late for meeting up with Mike. Who could resist this though?

MUSHROOM PARTY

We enjoyed last Saturday night at the home of a work colleague of Mike's. Last autumn Mike had the opportunity to go mushroom hunting with a gang from the office, this particular chap being the expert only collected porchini, and a big basket of those he had found. He invited us on Saturday to enjoy risotto a la porchini. He had boiled the mushrooms and had then frozen them. Gosh! I didn't know that was even a possibility as I have only ever enjoyed porchini either fresh or dried. We enjoyed a couple of bottles of excellent Georgian wine which was a great treat as, naturally, Georgian wine is not allowed into Russia. This was very generous as the said gentleman had only a couple of bottles brought in from Ukraine. Of course he hadn't realised that he was not allowed to bring it through.

He had a wonderful flat, the first flat I have been into belonging to a local, albeit a rather privileged local. He did warn us, however, that he had been having trouble with rats since the Restaurant had opened beneath him. I kept my feet pretty much off the ground for the entire visit.

This guy also had the most impressive private library, probably, in the City. During the early 90's there had been a charity to gather up as much reading material, mostly from USA as was possible and send it to the literature starved Russians. Somehow, he had acquired a huge number of these books, some of real historical interest. He also had some magazines dated from the 60's which were, according to him, published and printed in Russia and sold, legally, through the news kiosks. They were in Russian but were all about the wonders of living in the USA. I think he is quite wrong about this. I think these were definitely printed in the USA and smuggled into Russia to be sold quite secretly. After all, they were would really make any Russian very envious of the lifestyle outside of the Soviet Union and why would they allow that? I was in Russia in the 70's and I know people had hardly any information about anything outside.

We enjoyed looking at some childhood artwork which included a 'City of the Future' containing glorious Soviet slogans! Really that brainwashing business started very early.

A FEW WINTER CITY IMAGES

I particularly love the ducks who have found a nice patch of water in which to swim!

The birch wood is on one of the city islands but looks a million miles away!

The sunrise was taken from my sitting room window at about 8.45 a.m.!

The ice on the canal in front of the Church of the Spilt Blood is clean of bottles and garbage, which is unusual!

IS HE REALLY GOING TO SIT ON THAT ?

I SAW A GHOST TODAY!

WHO IS PETER THE GREAT TALKING TO? MORE TO THE POINT, WHO IS THAT LURKING IN THE BACKGROUND?

IT'S BEEN A WHILE BUT I AM BACK!!!

TWO OLD LADIES

I was moved and uplifted earlier this week to come across two wonderful old ladies. Not content to sit around in their homes during the dark, cold winter days, they were out busking! These ladies clearly had a combined age of about 160+. They were both wearing red hats and warm wool coats. Perhaps they are sisters, their harmony was great as they sang traditional Russian folk songs and one of them was wearing a yellow plastic container around her neck to collect the money. I don't usually give money to buskers but I was extremely generous to these ladies as I thought they showed such spirit! They probably sing all the time at home and realised the possibility to 'cash in' on their pastime! They made my day and I made theirs!

I wonder how long it will be before such enterprise will be shown by our own British pensioners, struggling along on their 0% interest on their savings. Not even funny.

NEW TROLLEY BUSES

Things have changed even in the short time I have been living here. All the battered old mini buses that used to clog up our main roads have been banned from use and have been replaced by beautiful new buses. This is making the main shopping street of Nevsky Prospect much, much cleaner and safer. Good things DO happen here!

ON THE OTHER HAND

I thought I was being sensible crossing at a pelican light this morning but hadn't accounted for the fact that big, dark windowed, 4 x 4's park on the crossings and don't think anything of backing into pedestrians crossing! I nearly got caught, but I will be looking out in future. I really think people in cars assume that the pedestrian is some sort of inferior being, seriously!

SNOW

At last I can report that the weather here is now worse than the weather in the UK. Thank goodness, I thought I might start to be considered a fraud as every time I speak to my son in Newcastle the weather has been considerably colder and snowier than here!

I can confirm that the river and canals here are well iced over and I have seen people walking on the ice on the main river, crazy! I think the swimmers are still swimming at Peter and Paul. It takes all sorts.

DARKNESS AND LIGHTS

SHORT DAYS AND LONG NIGHTS

The daylight hours are now between 10.00 am to around 3.30, but what I hadn't realised is how dull it would be between the daylight hours, making it very difficult to get enough light inside. I think we need to pick up some stronger light bulbs! It's quite hard not to turn over and go back to sleep in the mornings and very easy to hang around in one's pyjamas until at least 10.30! However, it does make lots of lovely hours to indulge in all my indoor hobbies (don't ask!) and a lot of time to socialise amongst all the great people I have met here.

PETER' VISIT

How good it was to have our son here last week. I really enjoyed hitting the bricks with him and showing him around town, even plucked up the courage to go on the metro! Of course, this wasn't too difficult because he would certainly not get lost even if I did. I am finding myself a lot more confident using the public transport around town these days.

We walked around the summer gardens to find all the statues boxed up for the winter and around Mars Field to find tramps laying on the ground around the Eternal Flame for the Lost Soldiers, just to keep warm. I can't see how anyone can object to this as they surely need the warmth but we did see the police moving them on.

The market people are really struggling to sell things and it is possible to knock down the price considerably. However, I feel so mean doing this as I know they find it really hard to make any money. I never realised before how bad it feels to get a real bargain. I try to be really fair so they feel happy and I feel happy (I am a silly sucker really, I am sure they feel happier than me with the final deal!)

Whilst buying Peter a hat for his ski trip it was important to keep in mind that his trip was going to be in Western Europe as the choice of fur was ranging from fox to raccoon and in between some pretty outrageous choices! Having tried several Davy Crockett styles with tails etc. he finally settled for a black rabbit which could be taken for faux!

THE SCOTTISH BALL!

The night after Peter left we went to a Scottish ball. It's amazing, everywhere I have ever lived there is always a Scottish ball and a large number of locals seem to have kilts ready for the occasion. It was really fun to dance with lots of Russians in kilts who really knew how to 'Strip the Willow'. Rather a lot of fine whiskey was consumed that night (not by me, I hasten to add!)

THE INCIDENT IN THE 24 HOUR SHOP

Well, this isn't a huge incident to mention but a typical example of what one has to deal with regularly here.

I was having a luncheon party and needed to nip out very early in the morning, whilst still dark, to buy bread and a couple of other things. It was cold so I put on my big coat and hat and looked pretty unrecognisable as a foreigner.

When I came to pay I handed a note to the girl on the till and she looked away from me and rudely slapped the plastic counter in front of her to indicate that is where I was to put the note and not hand it to her. Being annoyed, I persisted in trying to hand it to her whilst muttering expletives under my breathe. She tapped the counter again! I was in half a mind to tell her to stuff the goods 'where the sun don't shine' but I needed those items and had to swallow my pride and put the money on the counter. She made me feel like some sort of 'down and out' and I struggled not to allow that incident to really get to me. Then I realised that she will probably always be miserable and work in that nasty little shop and I felt a whole lot better!

007 JAMES BOND PARTY

What a fun night we had at the British Consulate. Although I did feel slightly idiotic to start with. I had decided to dress as a spy, wearing one of Mike's suit jackets and bow ties with a huge spy glass in my pocket. Walking into the room to find all the other women who were nearly all Russian at that point, dressed absolutely beautifully as 'bond girls' was a bit mortifying to say the least. However, a couple of glasses of red put that problem to rest and the remainder of the evening was enjoyed immensely, not least sitting on the Harley Davidson and enjoying the dancing with men and also some women who seemed to find my outfit attractive! What an experience!

LEAVING FOR CHRISTMAS

Well, it doesn't seem long since my last trip out of Russia but I am really looking forward to Christmas and New Year and I will be returning to the blog in February! Bye for now!