Every time I come to Gatchina, I think I should come to this town one day specifically to walk the streets of Gatchina. The problem is that there are several beautiful parks in and around Gatchina, and I usually have an idea for a walk ready in advance. That was the case this time: I was going to take a walk in the Priory Park. But on the way to the park, I took some time to look at the small wooden and stone houses.
Gatchina is a small regional town. I really like the central part of Gatchina. The development of streets in the centre of the town is 2 and 3 storey apartment buildings, there are quite a lot of wooden houses preserved here. I am concerned about the fate of these buildings: wood is not the strongest and most durable material. These houses are not architectural monuments, but individual architectural elements, especially those decorated with wood carvings, attract the eye and awaken the desire to examine them as detailed as possible.
I decided to enter the Priory Park from the far side, the least favoured part of the park. I wanted to walk along the alleys of the far side of the park, which are like forest roads, and then come to the central part of the park, to the Priory Palace. Near the entrance to the park there is a small brick house, it is the Church of Free Evangelical Christians. Externally it resembles an old service building, but I have not found any reliable information about its history.
The walk along the far side of the park was not at all as pleasant as I had imagined. The thaw has been going on for some time now, and in the city the pavements have already been cleared of snow and ice. But the paths in the park are covered with ice and puddles from melted snow. It is quite difficult to move on such paths, one should put one's feet carefully and take care of one's balance, otherwise the walk may end up in the traumatology department.
In the central part of the park, near the palace, it is easier to walk, in this place the paths are regularly cleared of snow by special machinery and they do not look like an obstacle course. I walked up to the scientist cat in the tree and the moose sculpture, and then headed towards the Priory Palace. A man walked past me with skis in his hands. To my surprise, he wasn't going to put his skis away until next winter, not at all. I saw him walk down to the lake shore and stand on his skis with the intention of taking a ski trip.
As I walked down the streets towards the park and tackled the challenging part of the route, the sunny day changed to a quiet evening. The sun had dipped below the horizon line, but its rays still lit up the edge of the sky for a long time. People walking in the park were in no hurry to go home. A spring evening in the park is a wonderful time.
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| Smartphone | Google Pixel 3a |
| Location | Gatchina, Russia |