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Rasputin2000
Just Starting
Joined: 01 Mar 2009
Posts: 1
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 Posted: Sun Mar 01, 2009 9:08 am Post subject: SPT yards, the disgusting side of a beautiful town |
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Why, behing the artistic facades of the historical center of Saint Petersburg, the yards are so disgusting??
Particurarly, if you walk from Italianska street, Russian Museum, The most famous colourful Church of the town, Gribayedova Channel ... TO Hermitage, Moika, Neva ..., you pass through an awful experience. The yard going from Gribayedova to the "Swedish street" is coming from an horror movie!
All kind of bad smelling (I noticed people, not drunk, pissing there, without caring of the daylight), big rats, rubbish everywhere, broken bottles,...
We are in the center of the center of one of the most beautiful and most visited towns of the world. Why nobody cares about it? No the people living there, nor the gouvernment, neither the other people passing though the yard (drunk people all night long, as the yard is considered a public passage and it is never closed).
Two centuries of pure beauty, then twenty years after the sovietic times.... but these yards looks as just the day after the war!
Somebody could explain why?? Thank you. |
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gaijin
Lounge Lizard
Joined: 03 Oct 2007
Posts: 155
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| Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2009 2:41 pm Post subject: |
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I've been many times to the part of the city you are talking about and I've never noticed anything you mention. In particular I really have trouble imagining the chaos you describe on the Italian street, or in the park in front of the Russian museum, or on Canal Griboedova.
The only thing I can imagine is a big mess after some big celebrations. Yeah, if you were walking there in the morning of feb. 23th it must have been quite a mess, but people are paid to clean up...
You'll probably see the same in the morning of March 8th...
Concerning the Swedish street, are you talking about the street where the Swedish consulate is? Then the yard you are talking about is the one between 7 and 9 Griboedova? I think I've crossed that too (without noticing anything remarkable) but I'm not sure. |
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Groobs
Lounge Lizard
Joined: 15 Oct 2006
Posts: 83
Location: China (but missing St Pete!)
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| Posted: Tue Mar 31, 2009 4:33 am Post subject: |
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I must say I agree with gaijin - I don't recognise the hell-hole you describe, and I know that part of town like the back of my hand. Sure, courtyards are messy, that's where the trash is deposited in dumpsters that overflow, but try living in the UK where they only haul the trash every two weeks. And sure, people piss in them, but also I know two Swedish friends of mine who have been arrested in a courtyard off Griboedova for pissing, so it's not a total free for all! Actually, I kind of like the contrast of the spectacularly beautiful facades of the grand buildings, and their "innards" visible through the gated courtyard entrances... There is also something rather exciting about renting an apartment in SPB, being shown into an unlit, cold, graffiti covered hallway entrance, no elevator (or only a 2 person one you wouldn’t trust with your life) and then opening a vault-like steel door into an oasis of ultra-modern high end stylish fitout….
Bottom line is, Russians (along with a lot of folks I’d say) seem to have better things to spend their money on than doing up communal areas. It’s all part of Russia, it is after all a functioning city first and foremost, not a picture postcard place like Venice that only exists for tourists these days – and come to think of it, Venice smells like shit very often too, and the biggest rat I ever saw in my life was in a rubbish bin just off Leicester Square in London. |
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scottso69
Frequent Guest
Joined: 07 May 2008
Posts: 30
Location: usa
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| Posted: Wed May 27, 2009 5:18 am Post subject: dirty st pete-no way |
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| Hello-I had to chime in on this.I have walked these particular areas that rasputin is describing.Like you say-he mustve seen what he is describing after a fun event.I have not visited all major cities in the world,SPB -for a functioning city-impressed me so for it cleanliness.I believe i could be a good judge of that-i live in new jersey.Cant wait to return to SPB in sept. |
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stanj
Frequent Guest
Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 41
Location: St Petersburg Russia
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| Posted: Thu May 28, 2009 6:36 pm Post subject: |
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The original poster surely overstated the scene but the yard must be the path connecting the canal embankment with the far end of M. Konyushennaya ( next to James Cook). It is a common path and it does some times have rats scurrying around due to a couple restaurants having overflowing dumpsters....but otherwise he is greatly exaggerating the problem.
What fantasy land is he from where a few rats caused such shock. I've never seen rats in my yard, or any yard within 2 km around my apartment and I have been in all of those not locked.
If critters such an issue he might be happy to find that there are very few insects or bad critters in the city. Ever see spiders, more than a couple flies, even cockroaches are rare, as are mice, or rats.
While the OP focuses on seen and unseen possible dirt, I spend my wandering around time being amazed by the beauty, particularly the 2 legged type.
Of cities of the world with 6,000,000 people the city is pretty clean with few if any "bad" neighborhoods. The dirt here is the soot and grit on the streets, not human induced squaller.
I've visited most great cities of the world and believe me, St Petersburg is safer, cleaner and better mannered than 99% of them. Even its traffic is not as bad as other large cities. The population is the best educated and best dressed of any large city. The soot does bug me however... |
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