Wednesday Walk in the garden of Anichkov Palace

This year spring is very early. March was so warm that all the snow in the gardens and parks has melted. This is very unaccustomed. Usually there is so much snow in March that you can ski until at least mid-March. Such warm weather is perceived ambiguously. It's nice to walk around in this weather, putting your face in the sunlight, but it's hard to stop thinking about what will happen next. Will the warm days continue, or will the cold return? When will the leaves appear on the trees? What if nature decides it's time to wake up from winter hibernation, but the frost returns?

The city gardens are going to be closed for drying and preparation for the summer season in the near future, and I decided to take advantage of the good weather for a walk in one of the city gardens. This time my choice fell on the garden of Anichkov Palace. It is a small garden near Nevsky Prospekt, separated from the noisy street partly by a blind stone, partly by an openwork cast-iron fence. The entrance to the garden is through a small gate from the alley, it is not very easy to find this gate, and therefore the garden is usually not very crowded. In summer, the garden has beautiful flower beds, but the flower beds are now covered for the winter.

I walk down the alley along the stone wall towards Nevsky Prospekt. There is another gate in the stone wall to enter the garden, but this gate is almost always locked. Behind a small park pavilion the stone wall is replaced by an openwork cast-iron fence. It always surprises me that this transparent fence serves as a secure boundary for the garden. It seems to separate all the noise and leave it outside, and the garden is always quiet and peaceful.

Rhododendron bushes grow near the kitchen building of the palace. The leaves of the rhododendron are bright green, but it is still a long way from flowering. Nevertheless, people strolling through the garden often stop near these bushes, they attract attention and attract the eye. The blooming of these rhododendrons is an important part of the spring palette. But the flowers are unlikely to appear before May.

Anichkov Palace is considered to be the oldest building on Nevsky Prospekt. Once this palace stood on the border of the city, the main facade looked towards the Fontanka River, and behind the bridge over the river was the city outpost. The garden was much larger at that time. The territory of the palace and the garden finally acquired its modern appearance in the XIX century, although some adjustments were made later. Now the Palace of Young People's Creativity works in the Anichkov Palace. When I was a schoolgirl I used to work here in one of the clubs and visited the children's library. The building of the palace is very beautiful, the interiors of the state rooms have been preserved.

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