Wednesday Walk around the city in the early morning

Greetings friends, we have started a real summer and I try to walk as much as possible. Today I am going to tell you about a walk in the city center. These are tourist places and there are a lot of people here during the daytime. But in the early morning the tourists are still sleeping and it is a great time to walk around. The sun rises early, we have dawn at four in the morning, and by six in the morning the sun has risen high enough to light the streets and promenades well, but the shadows are still long. The weather is great. It's about +20 °C in the morning and will be around +28 °C or +30 °C in the afternoon. Buses and other public transportation have already started their day, but there are not many people on the streets yet.

I start my walk in Alexandrovsky Garden, near the Admiralty. The Admiralty complex of buildings was built in the XVIII century and originally housed a shipyard. Later the shipyard moved to the west, closer to the Gulf of Finland, and the buildings were partially rebuilt for other uses. It is a monument of architecture in the Classicist style. The Admiralty building is located opposite the imperial residence, the Winter Palace. I pass the walls of this building and approach the Palace Bridge.

The Neva water area is as calm and deserted as the streets in these early hours. Stone lions on the Palace wharf admire the expanse of the Neva River with me. Tourist boats are resting near the pier. Soon we come to a large parking lot of tourist boats, it is located in a small channel next door.

I walk along the embankment of the Neva River for a while and then head to Zayachy Island, to the Peter and Paul Fortress. The Peter and Paul Fortress is home to the city's history museum, and the museum is closed in the early morning. But the territory of the island is open from early morning hours.

I cross the St. John's Bridge and I follow the road along the outer wall of the fortress. Nearby is a parking lot of tourist boats. The announcement reads, “Swimming is forbidden.” There are rescue boats on duty nearby in case someone decides to swim and can't cope with the current.

From the Peter and Paul Fortress I head towards the arrow of Vasilyevsky Island. I cross one more bridge and find myself near the Exchange building. I can already see the Palace Bridge and the Admiralty building on the opposite bank of the Neva River - I'm going to finish my walk in the same place where I started it.

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