{"id":3135,"date":"2020-10-25T21:13:42","date_gmt":"2020-10-25T21:13:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/juliacore.com\/beyondthebarre\/?p=3135"},"modified":"2026-04-05T23:20:19","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T23:20:19","slug":"trip-to-russia-day-9-saint-petersburg-along-nevsky-prospect-to-vasilyevsky-island","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/juliacore.com\/beyondthebarre\/2020\/10\/25\/trip-to-russia-day-9-saint-petersburg-along-nevsky-prospect-to-vasilyevsky-island\/","title":{"rendered":"Russia. Day 9. Saint Petersburg. Along Nevsky Prospect to Vasilyevsky Island"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u201cIf the weather is so good, Petersburg is so unfamiliar to you that you certainly want to walk, you will not regret. I advise you to always start from the Lavra\u2026\u201d
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Nikolay Dobrolyubov
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 September 26, 1853<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The moment I told my dad we were going to Saint Petersburg, he went ballistic. His particular way \u2014 with silence. Brows together. Teeth clenched. Eyes deadlocked with mine. Silence. Long. Breathing. More silence.<\/p>\n

\u2014 This is dumb.<\/p>\n

He was right. What can you see of Saint Petersburg in two days? Hermitage alone needs a week to touch its surface. But dad is the one who taught me to take my chances and make the most of my time.<\/p>\n

My father has always loved Piter, as they call it for short, and had many friends there. When a teenager, he once ran away from home and successfully joined the Nakhimov Naval Academy<\/a><\/span>. My grandmother pulled a lot of strings to get him out of there and return back to Moscow. My mom always joked that dad would have looked good in that navy uniform.<\/p>\n

Later, for his work, dad had many joint projects with scientists from Saint Petersburg and travelled there a lot, frequently taking me with him. Since I was little, this city has always been to me like an extension of Moscow. Our trips rarely lasted more than three days and dad\u2019s tips on how to see the most of Piter in a few hours certainly didn\u2019t get lost on me.<\/p>\n

With that, shortly after 6 AM on our ninth day in Russia, Tom was documenting this Gatchina<\/a> scenery passing by our windows.<\/p>\n