Wednesday Walk from New Peterhof railway station to Colonist Park

This morning I suddenly realised: I have to go to Peterhof! Right today, right now! I looked at my watch. It was still pretty early, and I could catch one of the morning trains. Well, if that was the case, all I had to do was get ready: put a bottle of water in my backpack, put on a baseball cap to protect me from the sun, and head for the train station.

There are many ways to get to Peterhof. Peterhof is a suburb of St. Petersburg, but it is within the administrative boundaries of the city. It is therefore possible to get to Peterhof by a regular city bus. It is a versatile way, buses run at short intervals from early morning to late evening, but this choice has a number of significant disadvantages. You can get caught in traffic and travel for a very long time, or get on a bus with inoperative air conditioning and suffer the heat.

There is a guaranteed quick and very pleasant way to get to Peterhof: it's by water. What could be more pleasant than a boat trip around the bay on a comfortable motor ship? But these beautiful motor ships are more of an attraction for tourists than urban transport. It's an expensive ticket, and the marina is located in the main palace park of Peterhof. The city streets are quite far from this marina.

That's why I usually choose the commuter train. This choice isn't perfect either, there are downsides. For example, there is a break in the train service during the day. That's why time was so important to me, so I started by looking at my watch. Great, I have time to spare, I'm on time! An hour later, I was getting off the suburban train at Peterhof.

I decided to start my walk by walking around Peterhof railway station. This station deserves a lot more attention than we usually give it. It was built in 1855-1857 by the architect Nikolai Benois. I was speaking of him recently when I told about another railway station, in Krasnoye Selo. The railway station in Krasnoye Selo has not survived and we can assess the architect's idea only by a few old photographs. But the New Peterhof station has survived to this day, and nothing but laziness could prevent us from seeing it in full detail.

I purposely went through the underground passage under the railway tracks to take a few photos in the best light. True, I still encountered a number of difficulties. No one had set up any good locations around the station to take photos. I did not have to stop on the train tracks or in the middle of the road for safety reasons, and I had difficulty finding angles that ensured I did not catch too many wires, poles and other infrastructure.

From the station I headed towards Colonist Park. I didn't take many photos on the way - and perhaps that was my omission. The streets of Peterhof are a pleasant place to walk, even if you don't go into the parks. Low-rise buildings, lots of trees and flowerbeds - that's what these streets look like.

The Colonist Park is an urban landscape park where you won't find tourists like in the palace parks of Peterhof, you'll find locals here. Here mums walk with their kids, dog owners and their four-legged friends hang out, gym-goers jog, and the elderly have a rest on the benches by the pond.

However, there is also a small museum in the park. There are pavilions surrounded by gardens on the islands of Olga's pond. These pavilions were restored in the early 21st century and can now be visited if you buy a ticket. There are beautiful views of these pavilions from the paths of Colonist Park. The Orthodox Cathedral of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul can also be seen from some angles - it is located further away, on the opposite bank.

The two islands in Olga's pond are called Queen's (Tsaritsyn) Island and Olga's Island; the pavilions on the islands bear the same names. The Queen's pavilion was built for the wife of Nicholas I, Empress Anna Feodorovna, while the Olga's pavilion was a wedding present from the emperor and his wife to their daughter Olga. Both pavilions were built almost simultaneously, a couple of years apart, in the 1840s, although at first glance the architectural differences seem to reflect a more substantial time interval.

I was about to end my account of the walk - but I thought that perhaps the name of the park would raise questions. The park owes its name to the German settlement colony, which was located near the southern edge of the park in the 19th century. The colony was called the German Colony of Alexandria after the Empress Alexandra Fedorovna. The German settlers were engaged in farming and trading in the markets; additional profit was made by renting out houses in the summertime as summer cottages for St. Petersburgers; another line of business was carriage service.