Evening on the Sevkabel Port Embankment

The weather in the afternoon was grey, windy, cold. Instead of going for a walk, I decided to attend an event at the Sevkabelport creative space on Vasilievsky Island. This is an old production site that has become a location for exhibitions, fairs and other events. The icy wind was nudging me in the back, clouds were rapidly covering the sky, and I was happy to duck under the protection of the walls.

But when I went outside after attending the workshop, I saw that the world around me had changed. It was as if I had spent not a couple of hours, but a couple of days inside the old workshop. The wind had disappeared somewhere and the evening was quiet and calm. There were no more clouds overhead, the sky had taken on a wonderful shade of blue and was slowly turning a deep blue. The rain had come and gone, the light from the streetlights that had just been switched on reflected in the wet tarmac.

Instead of going straight home, I turned towards the seafront. In summer, this embankment becomes a favourite spot by the water for many lovers of a tasty snack. On the ground floor of the semi-columned building are restaurants, coffee shops, bars, and each of these cafes brings a few tables outside. A few of the restaurant tables were still outside, but there were no diners in the rain, all of them admiring the sunset and the view of the bay through the high windows.

Silhouettes of sea cranes and outlines of bridges protruded against the sky. Every minute more and more lights lit up on the opposite shore, and the headlights of the cars that crossed the Ship Formater on the high cable-stayed bridge shone brighter and brighter.

A seagull flew along the blue wall, a sailor from the Ship Life informing her: "Everyone has a perspective." Posters on a round concrete bollard told of upcoming events, and the warm light of windows and doors beckoned to step inside the shops and cafes. The mirrored wall of the photo booth reflected the bay and the bridge. "With the right person by your side, you start to love yourself more," another wall advised passers-by.