Incredible New Year’s Adventures in Russia

The New Year is always a change. For the best. How else? You just need to see them in the fuss of the holiday. And start with a change of the usual New Year's atmosphere and meet this cozy, seemingly home holiday, for example, in the open air. Many, many miles from home. To the sounds of hundreds of soaring traffic jams from champagne and crumbling with multi-colored sparks of fireworks. The city where I wanted to celebrate the New Year is beautiful and magnificent. Unchanging on the one hand and ever moving forward on the other. Happy New Year, St. Petersburg!

 

We're here.

The idea of celebrating 2008 in the northern capital came to mind completely suddenly and unintentionally. However, as come all brilliant thoughts. I had to visit it for the first time, and the desire to see the city, the completeness and organicity of the architectural forms of which from childhood stood before my eyes, grew with every minute of waiting for the cherished hour. And four days before the annual main holiday from Yekaterinburg - snow-covered frosty Ural city, I came to the European snowless, rainy, windy, and therefore seemed at first somewhat sad, the city on the Neva. In principle, slapping on puddles at plus temperature is fun, but after all, the New Year was not far off. Let’s call this the usual winter weather.

In the last working days of the year, the outgoing metro and central streets of the city were crowded. Citizens managed to buy all sorts of gifts, tourists - to see more attractions. Sometimes, even pity became drivers: in the pre-Christmas bustle of the road crossing in any place you like - the most harmless that pedestrians allowed themselves. Thanks to St. Petersburg, the attitude to tourists here is quite friendly.

 

At first sight.

Barely thickened twilight painted St. Petersburg with fabulous New Year lights that drew attention to buildings, avenues, avenues and a huge number of large festive firs, invisible in daylight. Best of all in the Northern capital for the New Year, of course, Nevsky Prospect. Its central place for just a couple of weeks is the Christmas fair on the square in front of the Alexandrinsky Theater (the Pushkin Drama Theater). Its opening and closing are held in a solemn atmosphere, and the work is formalized by musical accompaniment, which raises the mood of citizens and guests of the city. A wide variety of souvenirs, gifts and pleasant trinkets can be purchased here.

The main thing in a big city is not to succumb to the very all-consuming fuss, especially before the New Year. Don’t think about how much more needs to be done. And just get out of the subway, take a deep breath and join the stream, which is sure somewhere to report. For a big city, this is almost a basic rule: you do not know where to go – go where everyone else is. It works most often. So, admiring exemplary architectural ensembles, I managed to intersperse with visits to temple complexes, palaces and museum and art institutions, and once even run for the first action in the theater. Yes, the rhythm of the big city sets a peculiar character of familiarization with theatrical art. The play called “Dates in the suburbs” was very interesting, but the charm of evening Petersburg is an insurmountable force. Shining reflected light water surface, overflows of garlands, wandering in the sky rays of the laser show, bright lights of lighthouses - and beckoned to themselves.

 

Don't panic!

The weather was getting better day by day and December 31 was absolutely dry and warm (+4). The New Year in a new unfamiliar city should be met in the thick of events, that is, in the center, where we did not fail to go. As X-hour approached, the tension increased markedly, as we found ourselves in the subway later than expected. Therefore, the time to get to Nevsky Prospekt, and then even to reach Palace Square (where, in fact, it was supposed to raise glasses for the coming year) was not enough catastrophically! At 23:50 we made a transfer, a couple more minutes - and we are in place. At the right station, all the passengers of our train, who were late to the same place where we, as if merging into one whole, rushed along the transition, squeezed onto the escalator and cheering each other with joyful exclamations: “We succeed!” and congratulations, rushed up. On New Year's Eve...

From the metro, a jubilant crowd poured directly onto the square in front of the Kazan Cathedral, already filled with a huge number of people. Two minutes before midnight! Fortunately, caring city authorities organized a myriad of festive venues, installing scenes and screens to broadcast the President’s New Year address. So the usual formality necessary to meet the annual main holiday was observed by us. The traditional hymn after the chime fight was no longer perceived - it was drowned out by a giant sound wave that covered everyone. It heard fireworks launched in large numbers, and the clapping of uncorked bottles, and numerous congratulations, pronounced with undisguised joy and from the heart!

Then the whole procession went to the main square – the Palace. Freed from transport, the night Nevsky Prospect, along which our path ran, was more beautiful than ever, spacious and mysteriously endless. On the square we were greeted by a concert program, a disco, unrestrained fun and interethnic unity. Until the middle of New Year’s Eve, crossing the Palace Bridge, we visited the festive site of the arrow of Vasilievsky Island. There the concert was given by local musical groups. The city celebrated until the morning, and we decided that the received charge of positive emotions will be enough until the next New Year, and went to the subway home, at the festive table.

 

Hello again.

The fact that the celebration of the New Year was successful, which means that it will be fun, unpredictable and will be full of many events was unanimously recognized during the discussions. But we did not have time to look back, as the holiday smoothly passed into the continuation of sightseeing and the study of cultural institutions. However, at the beginning of the year, many museums are closed, so visiting some had to be postponed, apparently, to the next New Year!

On Christmas Eve, we managed to get out to see a laser show that was projected onto the building of the Russian Museum. Amazingly beautiful performance, combining the harmony of artistic images with the sound of famous classical music, daily from mid-December to early January gathered many spectators in the Arts Square in front of the museum. I wanted to watch it again and again, but the weather did not let me relax, driving the frozen tourists to meet new impressions. This stunning sight, left for the last, as if put a bright point in the incredible New Year’s adventures, illuminating them with an unquenchable light.

The main secret of a great New Year, of course, in a positive attitude, coupled with a new environment, new impressions and in general everything that can be new. I do not know how many more fun holidays and unforgettable interesting trips, but in the meantime I can say for sure that the New Year in St. Petersburg is the best in my life! How did such a brilliant thought come about?

 

Violet Selischeva

Photo from the website www.spb-Foto.ru photographer Grigoriev V.