Wednesday Snowfall in the Seaside Victory Park

In the morning I looked out the window and saw a beautiful winter landscape: pure white snow wrapped the sidewalk and roofs of houses, bright sun shone from a clear blue sky. I had a leisurely breakfast, washed my plates, browsed the Internet, and at the end of these usual morning routines I looked at the weather forecast page. I had to decide how to dress for a walk on this beautiful day, didn't I? What I saw made me speed up dramatically, "Snow is expected within 30 minutes and will not stop snowing for the next 2 hours."

Judging by the weather forecast (which then came completely true), it was supposed to remain overcast with snow showers all day. I dressed as fast as I could - I probably set my own dressing speed record for the day. Getting dressed for an outing in winter means several layers of clothing, a down jacket, and tall lace-up boots. You can't skip a single layer or you'll have to find a coffee shop and hide from the weather instead of a walk. I was rewarded for my speed - it really didn't snow until half an hour later, I had a full 30 minutes to enjoy the sunny weather. And I regretted every minute spent this morning surfing the internet.

I was going to walk around until the weather turned bad, then hit the store and come home. But I had settled in for a long walk this morning, and coming back so quickly seemed very frustrating. The further along I got, the more offensive it seemed to me, and the less I wanted to go home. In the end, I decided that snowfall is not only snow flying in the face, but also clean air, deserted alleys of the park and beautiful scenery. That's how it turned out that I went for a walk to the Seaside Victory Park.

It's not to say that the park's alleys were completely deserted, but still there were far fewer pedestrians and skiers than usual. I passed the Japanese stone lantern and turned towards the Malaya Nevka River. The Japanese stone lantern was installed in the park in 2003. It is a gift from the city of Osaka. This lantern is a copy of the lantern installed near Osaka Castle. Sakura trees have been planted nearby, and in late spring this place attracts many people to admire the blossoms.

The Palace of Princes Beloselsky-Belozersky is located on the bank of the Malaya Nevka River. This small summer palace was completely destroyed during the war, and for several decades this place was deprived of architectural attractions. The palace was recreated from old drawings and photographs in 2004-2006. It seems that there were plans to put a hotel here, but these plans did not materialize and the building was sold to private ownership. The palace has been restored from the surviving original drawings by the famous architect Stackenschneider, and as far as I can tell it looks very similar to the original.

Not far from this estate is a clearing with children's play equipment. I specifically walked to this clearing to visit the old sculptures at the edge of the playground. All the other slides, tourniquets and benches in this clearing are modern, they were installed a few years ago. But the crocodile, the turtle and the elephant have a long and glorious history.

I was already snowed in by now - my hat had turned into a snowdrift, and there were snow mounds on my shoulders. Luckily, snow has almost no weight, otherwise my strength wouldn't have been enough for even one step. My walk came to an end, but the snowfall had no plans to stop or pause.

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