A Night at the Museum in St Petersburg
Last week, my home city of St. Petersburg had a Night at the Museum event. fotoman_kharkov didn't go to the museums, but he did walk around the city to see what it's like when so many people are actually walking around at midnight
I'm reposting fotoman_kharkov' entire post below the dotted line. As always, the translation of the original text is in italics, my notes in plain text. And I've also added some commentary at the bottom, right after the repost.
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Some wandered around [St Petersburg] museums, but I wandered around between Neva and Fontanka [rivers]. It was pretty cool. I was taking a picture at the Labor Square when a guy around my age in camouflage [clothing] comes up to me asks: "And why are you taking this?" The answer, that I'm just taking it for myself, didn't satisfy him, so his second question was. "So you are taking it for EVIL. Do you understand what you are doing in these troubled times?" [Throughout the entire exchange, the guy in the camouflage was using the formal form of address - an important bit of nuance that doesn't quite translate to English]. His expression became harsh, and it was a good thing that his acquiescence came up to us and started to try to calm him down and pulled him away.... Piter is a place where they can address you formally, then punch you in the face :)
Around midnight, I reached the Palace Square. There was a really Happening going on there. People sat around, laid down on on the cobblestone in front of Hermitage, dances.
1.
2.
The green building is the Winter Palace - the former residence of Russian emperors and part of the Hermitage museum.
3.
Over by the Alexandrovskaya Column, a classical freestyle saxophonist played. He hung stuff around his head on all sides, and tied black cloth around his eyes.
4.
Piter-style happening - it's fun and good-natured.
5.
6.
The streets were very busy after midnight - crowds went here and there. Either the Night at the Museum really did what it was supposed to do, or Piter is always this busy on weekends.
7.
That's it, time to sleep :)
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See, on one hand... reading about the incident with the guy in camouflage, I couldn't help but be reminded of what my mom told me a few days ago, when a friend of hers - who moved to US from St. Petersburg far more recently than we did - told her after a recent visit back to the city. Ever since the Ukrainian Crisis started, the city seems angrier. More on edge. On the other hand, it did seem like a pretty fun event overall. So I don't know...
One thing for sure. These photos just drive home the fact I really did grow up in a very beautiful city.
H/t live_report
I'm reposting fotoman_kharkov' entire post below the dotted line. As always, the translation of the original text is in italics, my notes in plain text. And I've also added some commentary at the bottom, right after the repost.
----
Some wandered around [St Petersburg] museums, but I wandered around between Neva and Fontanka [rivers]. It was pretty cool. I was taking a picture at the Labor Square when a guy around my age in camouflage [clothing] comes up to me asks: "And why are you taking this?" The answer, that I'm just taking it for myself, didn't satisfy him, so his second question was. "So you are taking it for EVIL. Do you understand what you are doing in these troubled times?" [Throughout the entire exchange, the guy in the camouflage was using the formal form of address - an important bit of nuance that doesn't quite translate to English]. His expression became harsh, and it was a good thing that his acquiescence came up to us and started to try to calm him down and pulled him away.... Piter is a place where they can address you formally, then punch you in the face :)
Around midnight, I reached the Palace Square. There was a really Happening going on there. People sat around, laid down on on the cobblestone in front of Hermitage, dances.
1.
2.
The green building is the Winter Palace - the former residence of Russian emperors and part of the Hermitage museum.
3.
Over by the Alexandrovskaya Column, a classical freestyle saxophonist played. He hung stuff around his head on all sides, and tied black cloth around his eyes.
4.
Piter-style happening - it's fun and good-natured.
5.
6.
The streets were very busy after midnight - crowds went here and there. Either the Night at the Museum really did what it was supposed to do, or Piter is always this busy on weekends.
7.
That's it, time to sleep :)
---
See, on one hand... reading about the incident with the guy in camouflage, I couldn't help but be reminded of what my mom told me a few days ago, when a friend of hers - who moved to US from St. Petersburg far more recently than we did - told her after a recent visit back to the city. Ever since the Ukrainian Crisis started, the city seems angrier. More on edge. On the other hand, it did seem like a pretty fun event overall. So I don't know...
One thing for sure. These photos just drive home the fact I really did grow up in a very beautiful city.
H/t live_report