My Heart: Moscow & St. Petersburg

“Why don’t I ever write about my trips to the motherland?” – I asked myself. For those of you who don’t know I am from Russia. All my family still lives there and I try to go out there once in a while to visit and hug the crap out of them.

When people ask me what I miss the most about Russia, I always say it’s two things: my family (duh) and the ‘europeanness’ i.e. the architecture and the old feel of city streets and buildings. So here’s a glimpse of where I’m from.

I was born and raised in Moscow, the capital of Russia. Despite being almost 870 years old, my beautiful city lost a lot of it’s history. Many historical buildings have been ruined mostly due to neglect from the city government. However, I still love my hometown and cherish the beauty that is still present around the city centre. Anybody who has ever left their home would understand that we still love it no matter how bad it might be. At least I believe that you should love the place where you came from.

It was freezing this last time I visited, but I still managed to do a few walks here and there. In the past few years our city’s government have done many good things for the downtown, hence pictured streets are free of cars and are made just for pedestrians – love it!

St. Petersburg

Many Moscow-born people are known to not like St. Petersburg and vice versa. I never understood that and have always expressed my deep-rooted feeling towards this city. I try to go here every time I go home and this time despite temperatures below -20 I went.

In contrast to my hometown, St. Petersburg has saved a lot more of its history and is just breathtaking. Maybe for that reason it is much more often visited by tourists from around the globe. It has this royal feel to all of its streets and buildings. Walking around you are reminded of how small a human being is, yet of what beauty he is capable to create with his hands.

Many people skip Russia when they travel to Europe and I can understand why. But why not step out of your comfort zone and explore something a bit more different? Our beautiful cities are not without charm and history (with an authentic Russian kick). Come in summertime and I promise you won’t regret it.

Here’s to loving where you came from!

Xoxo,

Sasha