Sakura blossoms in the Garden of Friendship

The sakura bloomed a few days ago. At the same time, it got very cold, but this is not unusual for the beginning of May. Some years it even snows. This year the weather is cold but sunny. In such weather it is nice to walk around the flowering trees, but you don't want to stop for long. So the local tradition of cherry blossom viewing is unlikely to ever involve sitting on the ground under a tree with a shot of drink in your hand.

I talked why I think the garden of the Smolny Monastery is the best place in our city to admire sakura a few days ago. It's a beautiful garden in a quiet neighbourhood of the city, the garden of the Smolny Monastery is mainly used by locals. Today I want to show you cherry blossoms in another garden, in the Garden of Friendship on Liteiny Prospekt. During sakura blossoms this garden becomes the most popular city garden. No wonder, because this garden is located in the city centre and it is very convenient in terms of transport accessibility.

TV crews come to this garden, the accessibility is also a decisive factor for them. This time I caught a film crew from a local TV channel at work. The TV journalists were well prepared, they had brought not only tripods, screens and cameras, but also special equipment: two stepladders. One of these ladders was at the full disposal of all comers, anyone could climb the steps to be photographed against the background of blossoming. The other stepladder remained at the disposal of the photojournalist.

A four-legged visitor suddenly found himself in the centre of attention. Usually it is not our custom to molest other people's dogs, but the emotional charge of "Meeting with the Beautiful" was too strong, the several hands turned out to pet this charming visitor.

The Garden of Friendship occupies a small area. In fact, this place got its name and status as an urban garden only recently, in the early 2000s. Before that, it was just a place between houses - a few bushes, a few benches, a few flowerbeds without any special status. The modern design of the garden is based on the Yuyuan Garden, located in Shanghai. There is a pagoda for meditation, guardian sculptures, complex compositions of stones, dragons and other talismans. Locals and tourists love to relax in this garden at any time of the year, but the peak of the garden's popularity is undoubtedly during the short sakura blossom period.