Wednesday Walk. Peterhof, Lower Park, snowfall

Greetings friends, last week I told you about my walk in Peterhof - a small town near St. Petersburg. I went there to look at some old buildings in the small space between the multi-lane highway and the park. At the same time, I remembered my walk in that park, which I haven't had a chance to tell you about yet. I went for a walk in the park on a snowy winter day, it was beautiful and I took lots of pictures. So I didn't start to sort through the pictures right away, I decided to do it in my spare time, but then I got distracted and the folder with the pictures waited to be published only after my next trip to Peterhof. I had to divide the photos taken during that walk into three parts to keep the story from being too long.

The weather was very snowy, there had been a heavy snowfall the day before, and it continued to snow on this day. Sometimes only occasional snowflakes fell from the sky, but sometimes the snowfall intensified. I left the train station and walked to the Great Peterhof Palace when the snowfall had almost stopped. But when I got to the Grand Cascade fountain the snowfall intensified again and I hid from the snow inside the gazebo. Under the protection of the secure roof, I was able to take a few photos without fear of the snow flakes obscuring my lens. Afterwards, I stowed my smartphone in my pocket, protecting it from the snow.

A wide alleyway, cleared by park workers, led me to the next fountain. Wooden arbours provided me with a new shelter from the snow, and I took a few more pictures. The sculpture in the centre of the fountain is covered from the weather by a wooden box. Most of the sculptures and fountains in the winter park look like this in winter.

I decided to go as far as the Marli Palace - this small, elegant palace is one of the architectural gems of the park in Peterhof. The palace and the Marli Garden are separated from the Gulf of Finland by a high earthen rampart. On the garden side, the rampart is reinforced by a brick wall, and on top there is a walkway, which offers beautiful views of the bay. Another path runs along the outer side of the rampart.

Walking through Marley's garden was very pleasant. The snowfall had almost subsided and the high berm protected me from the wind. But I had to go around this protective structure to get to the Hermitage Pavilion. This pavilion is now closed for restoration, and other roads to it are inaccessible. This small pavilion was built on the shore of the Gulf of Finland as a place of rest and solitary reflection. It was built between 1721 and 1725 by the architect I. Braunstein. Later the idea of building such small pavilions for seclusion came into vogue.

The small Bacchus garden is located at the western border of the Lower Park. In winter this garden becomes almost inaccessible: all the sculptures are tucked away in protective covers and the flowerbeds and alleys are covered with a thick blanket of snow. There is a warning sign at the entrance to the garden: "Beware of the squirrels!" Indeed, squirrels love this place. The squirrels in the park are tame and love it when visitors feed them nuts.

I walked out again onto one of the park's long alleys, cleared of snow, to return to the central part of the park. I walked along Sea Alley, this alley is the closest to the shore of the Gulf of Finland. From the bridge over the Sea Canal, I could see the Great Peterhof Palace again. The yellow-and-white state palace seemed to blend into the landscape in places: the snowfall had not stopped the entire time I was walking.

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Smartphone	Google Pixel 3a
Location	Saint Petersburg, Russia

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