Cobbled Beach Story. City Life Reportage from Saint Petersburg (11 Images)
+32 degrees every day is a new normal in Saint Petersburg. People complain of the unusual heat but still feel like they have won the lottery - sun and warmth are in short supply in this northern city. And people try getting the most of the hot weather. So do I.
At around 6:30 am, beachgoers start gathering at a cobbled corner of the Peter and Paul Fortress. Probably, the underwater ground is decent there, this is why they stick to that place.
Some make excerсises: push-ups, lifting stones, jumping rope.
Some guys practice crossing large river spaces, for instance, swimming to the middle of the 500-metre wide Neva River.
Other individuals visit the Trinity Bridge.
Boats of the rescue service might appear. They probably ask people to stop swimming to save them from drowning or a collision with a speedboat.
Happily, the river traffic is zero this early.
Flocks of paddleboarders don't count.
Sometimes, during this joyful summer, I feel that the city life is so ... city life these days.
Like, if people played roles, often in a little bit exaggerated, overacting way.
Look at this fisherman, isn't the sailor's hat too theatrical in his case?
Sunbathers are saying hello to the rising sun...
And I, not less than others, look like a part of the play. A paparazzi guy on a shabby bicycle with an exaggeratedly large photo camera. Another small actor of a crowd scene but I feel content that I am a part of the orchestra that makes the city life so lively these days.
The story was specially written for Steemit.Com. The photos were taken by me in Saint Petersburg, Russia on July 7 and July 10, 2021. The image with the three paddleboarders will join Photo of the week #43 | The beach fun by @mister-omortson in World of Xpilar Community.
Thank you for reading.
Real summer, at least people enjoy the weather and being outside at home without expensive travel abroad :)
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This is true. During pandemic, being stuck in beautiful St. Petersburg and having such summer is double luck.
Thank you!
The second and third photo 📸 are my favourites : the people of the city! Never have I ever thought of St Petersburg in summer but from I see you photoed it makes me visit one day this time of the year! Thanks for sharing @datych!
Yes, this is a large European city (5 million people) with much heritage since it was the capital of one of the most wealthy and powerful European countries, the Russian Empire. Worth visiting, for sure. As for me, I am in search of new places and scenes and objects which can inspire me... Of course, I miss new places ... But, as I said above, I am lucky to get stuck in such a beautiful and diverse city as Petersburg.
Wonderful photos and tour. I envy you in a certain way, in Cuba I could get in trouble going around with a telephoto, it is just too conspicuous.
Also, it is kind of funny for me to call "beachgoers" to people who don't actually go to a beach on the sea.
Thank you.
conspicuous - not safe?
beachgoers - yes, a cobbled beach is a bizarre thing... But they use it in this way including sunbathing.
The problem is that authorities can confiscate all the camera equipment if they assume you are using the telephoto lens to spy, and they assume too easily.
Lately, I carry my telephoto in my backpack. I take a picture and immediately put it inside. These days photo shooting around Cuba is suicide.
confiscate - that's tough... much better here, if you are away from real military places. Last years, less fences and less morons stop you from taking images in St. Petersburg.
Although Russia is getting less free country but still THEY know that there are many better ways (drones, satellites) to spy than taking photos with a large DSLR.
These days photo shooting around Cuba is suicide - sorry to hear about it.
How is it going in Cuba these days? I have seen on the news that there are protests, but I know better than to trust what the American media says about Cuba.
Thank you very much for your concern. Sadly there is a wave of violence in my country between those who want changes and those who want the status quo. There are a lot of videos uploaded to YouTube directly from Cuba, you may have an idea how things are going around here.
I hope that things get better soon. <3
It is hot here as well. The crops have been destroyed from the drought and there are forest fires. The weather report says: smoke.
+30-32 for a month (or longer), sometimes +34. Some trees have dropped too many leaves, mushrooms are protesting, no mushrooms (because no rains). Soon, it will be +22-25 and this is normal for July. But I can't see rains in the weather forecast. :(
There are big fires but not in our region. Some fire news from Siberia (Yakutia, for example).
At any time we can have grass fires in this region. The crops are extremely dry. I saw on the news last night that the heat wave has caused the crops to mature too early and now they are only fit for animal feed. Some salvage company is coming to see what they can get from the ruined crops. This is province wide so it is a very big deal. We have fires to the north as well and the wind has blown all the smoke to my region. The air is thick with it and visibility is extremely low.
Sad to hear. I guess some arid areas in Russia which produce much wheat are suffering too.
Moscow is vulnerable to forest fires. A few years ago, they had a collapse there - the city was choking. Their smoke even crossed 700 km and arrived in St. Petersburg once.
So maybe this year again?.. Let's see.
There is so much bad stuff going on at once. A few years ago an entire city (not too far from where I am) was burned by a forest fire. They could not do anything to stop it and it even jumped a wide river. People were fleeing for their lives.
Here is a link about it: https://globalnews.ca/news/3138183/fort-mcmurray-wildfire-named-canadas-news-story-of-2016/