Hooray! First working day 2012! ;-))

"Flying Russians" (cosmonaut training???) in the middle of the Palace Square
in front of the Winter Palace at Saint Petersburg, Russia.

Christmas illumination - Saint Petersburg style

Saint Petersburg, Russia, is widely known for its "white nights",
a period from mid-May to mid-July when twilight may last all night and the sun shines up to nearly 19 hours in mid-June.

I visited "Peter" mid-December. And "enjoyed" the long black nights and dull-grey days... ;-))

I took this photo of the Winter Palace, seen from the Palace Square, in the evening time. But I could have taken exactly this scene at 11 a.m. in the morning as well, because the sun started rising at 11:15 a.m. earliest in mid-December...

Good luck it rained all evening long during my sight seeing trip, because without the rain on the square I wouldn't had such a nice reflection of the palace's front on the ground... ;-)

OK, let's continue the photo tour through Petersburg city center...

That was definitely my favourite photo motif during my night-time photo stalk: the Griboyedov Canal with the
Church of the Savior on Blood at its end.

Try to capture the same scene (I did!) during (dull-grey) winter day light and without illumination: agonizingly boring!

What's next? --> Nevski Prospect, the main street of the city of Saint Petersburg.

 Getting out of the identically-named metro station and heading west-northwest you see the tower buildung of the former State Duma, illuminated with its beautiful Christmas decoration.

On Nevsky Prospect (= Avenue) and in other parts of the city center you find this elegant type of winter decoration, while most of the Christmas trees are decorated a bit too colourfully (in my humble opinion).

Of course I had to block the traffic for approx. 10 min. for this time exposure shot... ;-)

Blocking the traffic on the main streets too often was not the very best idea I had this evening, so the next photo I took again from the pedestrian area right of the street. 

Saint Isaac's Cathedral - an island / bastion of calm within the urban traffic.

Saint Petersburg urban racing car, with the logo of the local football club: FC Zenit (Saint Petersburg).

(Not) literally translated: we are the best, strongest and most beautifully... ;-)

Last (but not least): Russian (?) lady's desire and (most) Russian gentleman's ruin:

White sable fur coat - or a new, well-equipped Volkswagen???

Make your choice!

;-))