Art lovers are pumped for 1/11/11 and not because of superstition. The day marks the opening of the new Salvador Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida. To make the day extra lucky, the museum will open at 11:11 a.m.
The museum offers the largest collection of Dalí's work outside of Spain, with 2,140 pieces of the artist's work on display. The waterfront building pays homage to the surrealist master with a glass sculpture whose more than 900 unique panels snake around the concrete facade.]]>
While it's hot here in the States, our special contributor Kate Winick is headed to the cold country of Russia. To St. Petersburg to be more specific, and all this week she'll be sending dispatches from the shadow of many onion domes.
Any reasonably worldly-minded person has probably heard the warning that you can’t see the Louvre or the Hermitage Museum in one day. And well—you can’t. Don’t try. There are several special exhibitions going at any one time, although they’re not always well-advertised, and it’s best to just pick one or two sections of interest so you have time to enjoy the art and the interiors themselves—it’s a combination of grand baroque and spooky decay that just about sums up the indefinable nature of modern Russia.]]>
While it's hot here in the States, our special contributor Kate Winick is headed to the cold country of Russia. To St. Petersburg to be more specific, and all this week she'll be sending dispatches from the shadow of many onion domes.
"Pectopah" is the one word you need to know if you’re hungry in St. Petersburg. It’s pronounced “restoran,” like “restaurant” with a twist, and is displayed prominently on almost every eating establishment in St. Petersburg.
The cuisine available varies from Moroccan to European to Japanese (sushi is the latest craze with the younger set), but for traditional Russian fare, there are a few experiences a cut above the rest. Three restaurants in particular stand out: ]]>
While it's hot here in the States, our special contributor Kate Winick is headed to the cold country of Russia. To St. Petersburg to be more specific, and all this week she'll be sending dispatches from the shadow of many onion domes.
So what do you do first in a country where you don't speak the language and you're still slightly suffering from jet lag? We took a cab into the St. Petersburg city center, down Nevsky Prospect, and this is the best place to start leisurely exploring. As the main street in St. Petersburg, Nevsky Prospect is marked by the Admiralty building with its tall gold spire on the north end (although there are several of these around, it’s the only one you’ll see at the end of the street) and the Nevsky Monastery to the south.
Worth stopping for a look outside are the Kazan Cathedral, the Dom Knigi bookstore (an Art Deco confection that formerly housed the Singer sewing maching company), the Russian National Library, monuments to Catherine the Great and more field marshals than you can shake a stick at, and the Anichkov Bridge, with its four famed equestrian statues. It’s also the central street for shopping, restaurants, etc., with the Gostiny Dvor, the city’s largest department store, on one side of the street, across from the Grand Palace luxury complex.
Even though Russia is no known for its love of luxury, St. Petersburg isn’t a shopping city—high prices and limited selection means that most wealthy Russians do their shopping on vacations in the rest of Europe or America. ]]>
While it's hot here in the States, our special contributor Kate Winick is headed to the cold country of Russia. To St. Petersburg to be more specific, and all this week she'll be sending dispatches from the shadow of many onion domes.
You’ll have to pick your poison flying from the United States to St. Petersburg—direct flights are available mainly to Moscow, although finding a connection there is simple. On the other hand, you’ll get to pass through a hub that isn’t Atlanta. Finnair connects through Helsinki, KLM through Amsterdam, Alitalia through Rome, etc.
We chose to fly Lufthansa’s business class through Frankfurt, and were grateful to have the option of a lounge in which to pass out at 5:30 in the morning, after a not-long-enough rest on the flat seats. ]]>
According to the New York Post, Madonna is planning a concert in St. Petersburg, Russia this summer in the main square next to the Hermitage Museum. The historic art and culture museum is part of the royal Winter Palace which served as the home for Russian Tsars Nicholas I and Nicholas II.
When Madonna arrives in August, the museum will be showcasing its "Treasures of the Great Moguls" exhibition. And the museum officials are none too pleased.
[B]randing the event a "natural disaster," the museum's director Dr. Mikhail Piotrovski said, "We want guarantees that there will be no blasphemy."
Uh-oh, now that you said that, Madonna's gonna cook up something blasphemous for St. Petersburg. Unless you consider her dating a 22-year-old Brazilian model to be blasphemous enough and to be honest, we kind of do.
Related Stories:
· Russian Authorities: Madonna Concert a Natural Disaster [NY Post]
· Heritage Museum [Official Site]
[Photo: Anirudh Koul]]]>
They'll be bound together by the court documents: Chris Brown and Rihanna were served with a $1 million lawsuit in Florida seeking damages for theft and battery.
Photographer Luis Santana was trying to get a picture of the glam yet much-tattooed couple in St. Petersburg outside their limo when bodyguards chased him off. Not satisfied with that, they allegedly followed him, beat him up and stole his $3,000 camera. And now Santana wants the singers to pay up or else.
Neither Chris nor Rihanna have commented on the lawsuit but her publicist urged that newsmakers "give attention to the positive things in the world," even invoking the recession as a reason the lawsuit wasn't news. How about the fact that neither star was nominated for a Grammy, passed over for Leona Lewis and the Jonas Brothers?
Related Stories:
· Summer Date Travel: Chris Brown and Rihanna Are Amused [Jaunted]
· Lil' Wayne, Coldplay Receive Grammy Noms [People.com]
· Celeb Travel coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo of the couple at the MTV Video Music Awards: Celeb Wohoo]]]>