Hello chaps,
Apologies for the brief technicheskiy pererive, I’ve had
nothing to report of late. My life has consisted of visiting the culinary
landmarks of St Petersburg and spending quality time with my friends. I have a
made a point however of visiting a new place every time though, so my stomach
has certainly had the time of its life in recent weeks. I’ve walked places and
I’ve read things. I feel like I’m on holiday, but it’s so much better than
that. The only downside I’ve found to my various recent cultural excursions
(Peter Paul Fortress and Alexander Nevsky Monastery) is that the current time
is out of tourist season, so *everything* is under refurbishment. Nevertheless,
I’m living the highlife.
I also experimented with a period of vegetarianism which
lasted for 3 weeks – until my turning point this week when I started
fantasising about fried chicken and resolving to devour my first ever Karls
Junior burger. I swear to god, the UK is missing a trick by not having Karls
Junior. I think I’m going to have to go back just so I can take a photo and
share with you the deliciousness of their Chilli burger and fries. Absolument
incroyable. My vegetarian phase came as the result of having many friends who
are vegetarian out here and frankly, being bored of eating meat every day.
Russian cuisine is very meat based. I decided to challenge myself – but I knew
it was never going to be a permanent lifestyle choice. This is not the time or
place to discuss the pros and cons of it, but boy, did I enjoy my chilli
burger.
It hit me though that I will have to leave this place in
four weeks, which got me thinking. I love Peter dearly, despite our
relationship actually being more of a love/hate kind of thing. I love its
canals, its bridges and its gardens. It has so many statues and places to
visit, I barely feel as though I have scratched the surface of this place. My
mother has always told me off for listing things in conversation as it is
immensely boring, so just to spite her, I am going to do just that.
Ten Things I will miss about St Petersburg – in no
particular order
1)
Lavash (flatbread), shashlik, potato and
mushroom fry, mors, hachapuri and Georgian cuisine. Oh my goodness, the food.
I’ve eaten like a king for the last few months for not very much money. I will
replicate this all at home and when I am in France. I don’t care what you say
about French food – save it. You will not come between me and my hachapuri.
2)
Russian Kitsch. They can really do it well over
here. Deliberately mismatched crockery in cafes, armchairs, cosy interiors and
natty little table decorations in cafes. I’m sorry London, but your attempts
are hopelessly feeble. C –
3)
Architecture. Oh Peter, your twisting, gleaming
spires and crumbling fasciae just make my heart weep! I could never get tired
of the sight of this place. Whenever the terrible weather has started to erode
my sanity a little too much, I just have to look up. I’m not talking about
religion; I’m talking about the roofs, the windows and the doors. I should
write poetry.
4)
Russian language. I will miss speaking Russian
on a daily basis. To people who understand anyway. I will continue to speak it.
To myself. In public. I will do it to the extent that people look over their
shoulders at me and cross the street ‘to avoid that mad woman who is talking to
herself even though there is no one else there’. That will be me.
5)
The music shops in Sennaya Ploshad that play
their music into the square and fill the whole place with just an amazing
ambience.
6)
Nevsky Prospekt. The place is a beehive of
activity and you can feel the history beneath your very feet. Newton’s lesser
known 23rd Law of motion says that ‘it is impossible to hate St
Petersburg when you are stood on Nevsky Prospekt’. Just sayin’.
7)
Anichkov most. My favourite bridge in the whole
of the city. I stand there sometimes and consider my life with a Dostoyevskian
grin on my face, a Gogolian absurdity in my head and a Tolstoian feeling of
pure humanity in my heart. It is seeing the cast iron horses being reined in by
men struggling to contain their strength, suspended in time above the Fontanka
River that you realise that you are but a tiny part of a much larger machine
and actually, the world will not end if you do not get that internship. A bridge
of hope and optimism? I think so.
8) The Neva. The carotid artery of the entire city.
I love to walk along the embankment and freeze my face off. No really, I do.
The people. Oh my goodness, the people. It is in
this city that you will make friends with Irina the Cleaner, who has a soulful,
philosophical voice and who, on hearing that your name means ‘happiness’, will
say “Then you must always bring happiness – to yourself and to others”. It is
in this city that you will talk to a shop assistant in the honey shop and
explain that you haven’t the foggiest about what you are looking for and they
will go out of their way to help you and will wish “good health and much
happiness to your family in England”.
1 The arts and culture scene. The Hermitage and
the Russian Museum are so much better than any of their English counterparts. I
can see the British Museum hiding behind its hands with shame. I spent a lot of
time there this summer, but now I wonder if I can go back.
+5
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