The snow and the snowmen

Greetings, dear snow lovers! This year we are not getting much snow. In addition, snowfalls alternate with thaws. If you see snow falling outside your window in the evening, it does not mean that in the morning you will see a beautiful white landscape. It is quite possible that you will wake up to the sound of dripping water, and you will have to put on high waterproof boots to get to work or to the shop.

But this time it snowed for two days in a row, and I managed to photograph winter snowy landscapes during my walk. The main purpose of this walk was to go to the Krasnoarmeysky Bridge over the Fontanka River and walk along the light corridor. This decoration of the bridge is new, it appeared only this year. Other bridges and streets are also beautifully decorated, but there light decorations are more usual for the citizens. Usually light garlands are hung over the water, and light ribbons emphasise the geometry of bridges and lanterns. The light corridor is a bit unusual.

But before going to the Fontanka river embankment, I decided to look into the city's Nikolsky Garden and see if there were any snowmen in the garden. The distance from Nikolsky Garden to the Fontanka embankment is less than 1 kilometre, so it was easy to make a convenient walking route. Despite the fact that the streets were covered with snow, I sometimes met cyclists during this walk. There is so little snow this winter that many people are tempted not to finish the cycling season.

I noticed the snowmen as soon as I entered Nikolsky Garden. Snowmen were climbing trees and gathering in small groups on the lawns. A group of snowmen wearing green scarves caught my attention. The fourth snowman didn't have a scarf, but he got a real carrot nose.

After a walk through the garden I headed towards the Fontanka River. Dusk was beginning to fall, and I hoped to catch the blue hour to take photos of the festive illumination. But it was still too early and I had to wait for the streetlights to come on.

Postponing this walk for another day was not an option. New Year holidays officially end in the middle of January, and the festive illuminations start to be removed from the city streets. We celebrate New Year's Eve twice, on the Julian calendar and on the Gregorian calendar. New Year on the Julian calendar comes on the night from 13 January to 14 January. The second New Year is more of a nice custom than a real holiday, but everyone knows that until the Old New Year comes, the holidays are not over.

I walked along the Fontanka river embankment for a while, waiting for the time when the streetlights would be lit. I reached the neighbouring Egyptian Bridge and photographed the sphinxes covered in snow. The cast-iron figures of the sphinxes were cast at Charles Bird's factory on Matis Island and mounted on stone pedestals in the first half of the 19th century. The river embankment was completely covered with snow. The street pavements were partially cleared by snowploughs, but the embankment consists of granite slabs and is difficult to clear with snowploughs. Meanwhile, the short winter day was coming to an end. I hurried back to the Krasnoarmeyskiy Bridge to catch the first minutes after the lights were switched on and to take photos during the blue hour.