The White Nights

This photo is a typical street as seen from a boat on the canal. It made me feel like I was in Venice (not that I've ever been in Venice!). I like the way all the buildings are painted different colors. We are beginning our experience with the White Nights of St. Petersburg, which is from now until the middle of July. Following is a little blurb about them taken from a guide book:

"Although the phenomenon known as the "White Nights" is not unique to St Petersburg, in no other northern city have they received such poetic and literary acclaim. What could be more romantic than a walk along the banks of the city's rivers and canals in almost broad daylight, no matter what the time of day? No other major European city can rival this experience nor the atmosphere on the streets of St. Petersburg during the summer months - lively, friendly, romantic and bustling with people throughout the night as well as the day!
From late May to early July the nights are bright in St Petersburg, with the brightest period, the White Nights, normally lasting from June 11th to July 2nd. The White Nights (Beliye Nochi) are a curious phenomenon caused by St. Petersburg's very northerly geographical location - at 59 degrees 57' North (roughly on the same latitude as Oslo, Norway, the southern tip of Greenland and Seward, Alaska). St. Petersburg is the world's most northern city with a population over 1 million, and its stands at such a high latitude that the sun does not descend below the horizon enough for the sky to grow dark. In fact night becomes curiously indistinguishable from day, so much so that the authorities never need to turn the city's streetlights on!"

While visiting the elder's apartments the other day they showed us how to feed the pigeons. I had always thought them such a nusiance (the pigeons, not the elders) because they are under foot and flying up in your face everywhere you walk. But it was fun to make friends with them.