It's the season of the White nights in St. Petersburg – an amazing time of year when night is as bright as day and the whole city celebrates. I was in St. Petersburg for the very beginning of white night season –this picture was taken on a boat ride at 11pm! While I was there it stayed light until around midnight. That kind of light is a wild thing. You know you should be getting ready for bed but when it's so light outside….Wouldn't you rather walk along the cobble streets and view the canals?
The White Nights offer a perfect time to take in the beauty of St. Petersburg. The city is very walkable (though you'll need to be wearing comfortable shoes) and in fact the traffic is so horrid that you're almost always better off hoofing it than taking a taxi. (As a side note taxis are also extremely expensive and if you don't know the language you're really at a loss when it comes to bargaining.) You can appreciate the details of the city if you take it in by foot and you can stretch that to the max during the white nights. From St. Isaacs Cathedral to the Hermitage, the summer palace to the Peter and Paul Fortress – you could spend days in St. Petersburg and not get the time to see all of the art and architecture.
June 18, 2007