The imperial Russian city, with its golden-dome cathedrals and Fifties metro stations, grand palaces and palatial museums, is like a work of art, best appreciated by walking its boulevards and canals. ‘Some people like St Petersburg best during the White Nights, the midsummer weeks when the sun barely sets,’ writes Bastable, a one-time resident of the city, ‘but I prefer the place in its winter garb. The moisture freezes out of the air and the atmosphere becomes as fresh as chopped dill and as crisp as a ginger biscuit.’
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