Wednesday Walk: the first snow of december

‘It doesn't look much like what I've seen in pictures...’ - was my first thought when I stepped out of the house and looked under my feet. In the morning, I checked out the city's public and was mesmerised by the pictures of the snow-covered city. The beginning of December was snowless, the streets looked dark and gloomy, and we were all waiting for the moment when pure white snow would transform the city. So I hurriedly dressed warmly and went for a walk.

The snow had been falling all night. The weather forecasters reported that about 20 centimetres of snow fell overnight. The weather remained overcast during the day, with snowfall resuming from time to time. The frost was very light, and the snow quickly turned into a snow mush under the feet of passers-by and the wheels of cars. Snow removal equipment did not have time to remove snow from the city streets, and sometimes it became quite difficult to walk. By the way, in the photo above this paragraph you can see snowploughs if you look very closely - a string of red-coloured machines moving along the opposite bank of the river, they are partially hidden behind snow-covered lime trees.

In search of a winter fairy tale, I turned to the courtyards. Sometimes I could see beautiful winter landscapes like the one in the top photo - there were few passers-by in the yards, and the snow remained almost untouched.The cycling season ended abruptly, and some owners didn't have time to get their iron steeds warm and dry.I met a young cat in one of the yards - he didn't seem to be thrilled with the weather.

I chose the embankment of the Pryazhka River for my walk. I wanted to see a new city art object - a bronze sculpture of an angel on a bench on the river bank. It is the work of St Petersburg sculptor Roman Shustrov. Roman Shustrov was killed by covid in the first wave of the pandemic in 2020. Roman Shustrov's angels have become an important part of the urban environment and are installed in several locations. This angel was installed recently, in November this year. He is holding a fidget spinner and looking straight up into the sky at the flying snow.

I continued my walk along the embankment of the Pryazhka River and soon came to the beginning of this river - to the place where the Moika River splits into two parts before joining the full-flowing Neva River. The banks of the Pryazhka gently descend into the water, but the Moyka River is completely clad in granite, with a granite parapet with a beautiful lattice along the embankment. A small snowman greeted me at the beginning of the Moika River embankment.

The winter day is short and the grey light of the winter day has started to change to dusk. My smartphone thinks that since photographers have named this time ‘blue hour’, it is obliged to take evening photos exclusively in blue. It is very difficult to change its mind, there is no line in the menu that would allow me to adjust the white balance correctly. The situation improves only after the lights are switched on.

I hurry to take a few more pictures for last. On the right side of the embankment is the palace of Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich. It is now home to the House of Music. A little further, beyond the Khrapovitsky Bridge, is another beautiful palace - the Bobrinskie Palace. The fence of the Bobrinskiy garden, decorated with fluffy snow, completes my story today.

This is my entry for the #WednesdayWalk challenge by @tattoodjay.