Russia 2015: New Holland and Old Russia in Saint-Petersburg

A matryoshka painted on a cement truck and an "Everything you need for 37 Rubles" shop were just some of the sights of the city I came across as I walked along Nevskiy Prospect this morning.

I usually wander a city, map in hand, prepared with an umbrella, snacks, and what ever else might befall a lone traveler. However, I was in St. Petersburg. A city I had been to many times before and I was with a local...who needs maps? It turns out, we did. Natasha had heard about a place called New Holland and we were on our way to discover it. The number 5 bus took us to Workers Square, but we had no real idea where we were going after that. We of course, asked many people along the way if they new where it was. Most only shrugged or directed us the wrong way. It would have been a great chance to walk around an unfamiliar part of the city had it not been for the intermittent downpour of Russian rain. There was a beautiful restored Music Hall we utilized for a bathroom stop and plenty of picturesque buildings along the way.

Finally, we found New Holland and yes, it was closed. Turns out it was a man made Navel island from the 1700s in the middle of the Moika River. I will have to return in a few years to see if it actually become the amazing space it is supposed to be.

After our excursion to nowhere, we ducked into Linfors - a delightful cafe full of Russian pies near the Marininskiy Theater. My favorite is always the one with cabbage!



















The last stop for the day was the Russian Museum. Many years ago, I fell in love with Aivazovskiy, Vrubel, Repin, Shiskin and Levitan gazing at the beauties and wonders of Russia condensed onto a canvas.Unfortunately, it is difficult to capture the paintings on a camera, but a couple of my favorites of the poet Akhmataova and a famous Russian village scene turned out OK.

With sight seeing complete we went once again to visit Natasha's son in the hospital. It was his 18 birthday, and although he was up and looking amazingly well, he was only on day 4 of his week long stay in the hospital. I doubt a person would stay that long in the states for an appendicitis. At least the ward was nice and clean (compared to my hospital visits of the past) and they had a big TV in the hallway to share with the other kids. I am sure the tablet Sergei got for his birthday will help speed the recovery.