Great summer weather is taken as a gift, it's a wonderful time for a walk. I decided that going to the store or the mall on a day like this was just silly, I wanted to stay in an open space and chose to visit the boulevard, which temporarily became a store.
Transforming an ordinary street into a bookstore is simple and accessible magic. All you have to do is set up a few book stalls and protect them with awnings from the scorching rays of the sun and the cold raindrops of rain.
Vendors are happy to display their goods on one of the main city streets, where there are always many passers-by. Tourists and locals alike enjoy approaching the book stalls to add variety to their walk.
But for the transformation to be complete, a few more elements must be added. A great idea was to install a small stage at the back of the alley. This stage is used for performances by writers, poets, publishers and other people associated with book publishing. In the evenings there are film screenings, usually selecting old, beloved films.
There is a small stall nearby where you can buy a coffee or a cold drink. It's a stall with a literary twist: the large white letters are a quote from the work of the great Russian writer, Nobel Prize winner Joseph Brodsky.
After visiting book alley I continued my walk along Malaya Konyushennaya street. It's a short and quiet street next to Nevsky Prospect, perfect for a short walk.
There are several cafes and restaurants with a variety of cuisines in the first floors of the buildings. Some of these cafes boast original decorations. Near the entrance to the rock cafe, the figure of a guitarist is frozen. I walked a little closer to get a close-up picture.
I turned onto the next street. A long line attracted my attention. Children and adults, students and old ladies were all waiting patiently for an opportunity to enter the humble door of the old café and get their portion of hot puff pastries sprinkled with powdered sugar and a cup of coffee.
Honestly, such a frenzy seems a little strange to me, this place is really nice to visit, but not so much as to stand in a long line. This cafe has become popular due to the fact that the assortment and the interiors remain unchanged for a long time.
Older people come here to remember the taste of their childhood. Young people visit this cafe out of curiosity, because this address is listed in informal guides around the city.
I only come to this cafe in late fall and winter, after the tourist season is over. I don't like lines:) But these queues have a useful function: thanks to this popularity, this old cafe will not be closed and will not disappear from the city map.
That was the end of my short walk. I returned to Nevsky Prospect and took a final picture of the window of a music store.
This is my entry for the #marketfriday challenge by @dswigle.
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| Smartphone | Google Pixel 3a |
| Location | Saint Petersburg, Russia |