The first snows fall
in November. The Neva starts to freeze in great ripples
of ice. The City takes on a new romantic quality as
snow shrouds its famous landmarks and buries its parks
in an icy mantle.
Made more temperate than
Moscow by the waters of the Finnish Gulf, the snows
come and go before setting into a thick white cloak
soon after New Year. This is the time for Troika rides
in the countryside and steaming bowls of Borscht.
Restaurants in the main
hotels offer choices of Russian and international cuisine
and bars and restaurants throughout the City provide
a good choice of traditional Russian home cooking and
international options.
Ballet and Opera are
a major part of the City's winter attractions. The works
of Russia's most talented musical sons Tchaikovsky,
Stravinsky and Rimsky-Korsakov are at their best performed
here in their cultural homeland.
The Russian festive season
combines two Christmases and two New Years! So there
is plenty to celebrate! As Russia re-discovers Yuletide
traditions, long forbidden and forgotten, the big celebration
is still New Year. That is when Father Frost alias Father
Christmas, comes to town and the City puts on its glitziest
face and parties until dawn.
See also:
St. Petersburg spring |
St. Petersburg summer |
St. Petersburg autumn
