Wednesday Walk among the cinematic and snowy scenery

The day was snowy and windy. The Ministry of Emergency Situations had sent me a text message warning of worsening weather conditions, and I was in no hurry to get out of the house. But on that day there was a filming of a historical movie not far from me and I really wanted to see the scenery. According to the synopsis the film is set in St. Petersburg in 1830s which means there should be no cars, no road signs, no modern street lights - everything that would prevent the mise en scène.

I left the house just before sunset and approached the shooting venue at dusk. I came at a good time, it was a break in filming. At the entrance to the alleyway there were administrators on duty who stopped passers-by while the camera was working, but during the break you could go through freely. There wasn't much scenery in the alleyway. One of the basements was converted into a shop; a wooden tent was attached to a stone house. I associate swinging wooden doors more with saloons in the Wild West than with the fur trade, but the fact that such doors look out of date is certain. There was also a long wooden fence, which was probably the backdrop for some scenes.

Local philosophers and artists have also worked on transforming the cityscape. Text on an iron door with a warning sign informs passers-by: "It's all lyrics..." The translation is correct, but it doesn't capture the essence of the statement; the word "lyric" is not so much about poetry as it is about romance and sensitivity.

The setting disappointed me a little, I had hoped to see a larger and more varied structure. But the snowfall and strong wind did a good job on the day of transforming the usual cityscapes.

The wind hurled the wet snow with such force that it lodged itself on vertical surfaces and accentuated the patterns of fences and grates. The direction of the wind was easy to guess from the result: the snow only stuck to one side, the back side of the grates remained perfectly smooth.

The silhouettes of the trees were also outlined by the fresh snow and stood out beautifully against the night sky.

I thought about walking into some park, admiring nature. But then the wind nudged me in the back, and I realised that my walk remained quite pleasant only because I was walking in the right direction. If I had had to walk into the wind, my experience would have been very far from comfortable.

Besides, the Ministry of Emergency Situations had warned me... that warning was very relevant I was convinced after just a few metres: a gust of wind had dropped an iron pole on a concrete base with road signs. I soon saw that the entrance to the park had been blocked off with restraining tape: it was forbidden to visit gardens and parks in such weather.

Some people decided that the restricting bands should not restrict their freedom to walk around the park and risk their health, so the park was not completely deserted, but I decided to refrain from the traumatic walk. Instead, I walked as far as the Neva embankment to see the sphinxes and winged lions, as well as the grating of the Annunciation Bridge.

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Smartphone	Google Pixel 3a
Location	Saint Petersburg, Russia

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