CAHKT-ПETEPБУPГA

I was recently in St. Petersburg. Went there for a World Bank conference on quality and relevance of education and stayed for two days. This wasn’t my first time in Russia, but until now I had only visited Moscow and, to be honest, I hadn’t like it at all. Well, St. Petersburg is a completely different story: it’s an impressively beautiful town and I liked it a lot! St. Petersburg is the Northern capital of Russia, the most European-like city in the country and one of the world-largest cultural centres, well-known for its unique historical and cultural monuments, matchless neoclassic architectural ensembles, long and straight boulevards, vast spaces and decorative sculptures. Founded about 300 years ago by Tsar Peter the Great, the city is located in the delta of the Neva River on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, on the Baltic Sea. It is the world’s largest megalopolis situated this far to the North and it has a population of more than 4.5 million people. There, one can get acquainted with the priceless collections of the Hermitage and Russian Museums, visit the famous Mariinsky Theatre, listen to the concerts of classic and modern music, and enjoy the high-quality cafes and restaurants offering the dishes of any national cuisine. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the time to explore the city as much as I would have liked to, but still had the opportunity to enjoy some nice concerts, visit and attend a banquet at the Yusupov Palace (where Rasputin was killed in 1916) and walk along the Venice-kind canals.