Saint-Petersburg Excursions

In ancient times, the legendary Orpheus and the biblical King David had played the music on the golden strings of the harp. In Russia, since the time of the daughter of Peter the Great, Empress Elizaveta Petrovna, who was fond of the sound of this instrument and had instilled a love for it to the further generations, there were many good harp players between the ladies of the royal family. For example, Empress Maria Feodorovna, not only just played music on it, but had ordered the Smolny Institute students to learn to play the harp. Nowadays, it is very important not to forget about the glorious traditions of the past and make one of the most beautiful musical instruments to sound again in the city, which has so many associations with it. The beginning of the revival of the interest to the harp had raised last year, when the first international music contest, named after the Empress Elizabeth "The Golden Harp" was organized in Saint-Petersburg for the first time. The winner of the mani prize of the contest, Ms. Chen Yu Ying (China) will perform in Saint-Petersburg this year at the festival "Golden Harp". Her concert will be held on October 1st at the Catherine's Hall of the Tauride Palace. A day earlier, on September 30th, Benoit Wery (France) will play harp in the Small Hall of the Saint-Petersburg Academic Philharmony. The concert will happen with support of the International Youth Symphonic Orchestra of the Tavricheskaya Capella. The conductor of the orchestra is the winner of international competitions, Mikhail Golikov. Artistic director of the project - Vladimir Temirkanov, general producer of the project - Julian Makarov. Tickets for the concerts of the festival "Golden Harp" can be purchased at the box offices of the city.

This will be the sixteenth bar in the world-famous American network. The first bar, opened by the network owner Liliana Lovell, has become the prototype of the same named cult movie, and the person of Liliana herself, has been embodied on-screen by the actress Maria Bello. The movie had a huge impact - millions of women had believed in their own forces, inspired by the success of the main character of it, who was once a "Coyote Girl" in the bar "Coyote Ugly". The chain of the bars came up with the "Dancing on the bar counter" and have helped hundreds of young woman around the world to gain confidence in themselves. Now it it has com to Saint-Petersburg too. The creator of the network, Liliana Lovell, will celebrate her birthday at the opening of the new «Coyote Ugly» on September 29. Liliana will be accompanied by a professional team of "Coyote Girls" from New York and Moscow, and the guests will be greeted at the entrance by the famous BMF guards. The event will begin on September 29, at 18.00. A large group of "Coyote Girls" will drive through Nevsky prospect on motorcycles, and then move to the building of the U.S. Consulate General. At 20.00, the founder of the bar network Liliana Lovell will start to meet the guests of her birthday party. The very first guests will be the representatives of the media and invited celebrities. At 22.00 - the bar will open it's doors to the general public.

• Address: 57, Liteyniy prospect
• Website: http://coyoteuglysaloon.com/

The first train of the new route of the Russian Railways - Moscow-Nice has arrived at the beutiful Mediterranean city of France on Saturday, passing through five states on it's way, joining Russia and the Cote d'Azur. It has happened for the first time since 1914. "This is a significant event, that takes the relationship between the Russian Railways and the French National Railways Company (SNCF) into a realistic plane, and regenerates a truly mythic connection", - said the Executive Director of SNCF - Barbara Dalibard . Russian trains had started going to Nice for first time in 1864. However, in 1914 the train connection between Russia and Cote d'Azur had ended. The train, which is able to reach a fairly high speed, had arrived at the French station Thiers on the night before today. The 52-hour trip was completed with a symbolic delay of 14 minutes. The train had started from the Belarussky Railway Station in Moscow on September 23. This train will operate between the Russian capital and Cote d'Azur once a week, starting on Thursdays at 16:17 in Moscow and arriving in France on Saturdays at 19:12 local time (22:12 Moscow time). From Nice it will leave on Sundays at 19:22 local time and arrive in Moscow on Tuesdays at 23:17.

Today our planet becomes one big family: borders gradually disappear, people travel more often, aspiring to get acquainted with culture and customs of the different countries. The pleasure of the infinite cognition of the world becomes the strongest motivation to live a healthy and bright life. Today the life without sports, nature and new impressions is inconceivable. The cinema, in all its variety, becomes the main helper, friend and companion of sportsmen and travelers. The International Art & Sport & Tour Film Festival "GOLDEN PEAK" will take place for the first time in Russia in October, 1st-3d, 2010. Films created by cinematographers of Russia, Portugal, Austria, Greece, Czech Republic, Poland, Latvia and other countries, the best works of the international film festivals of the corresponding field, and also, the best films of "Sto Dorog" film festival will be shown in the framework of the "GOLDEN PEAK" festival. Purpose and objectives of the "GOLDEN PEAK" film festival are: Support and popularization of cultural, scientific, sport, historical programs and events; Promotion of films, audiovisual and multimedia programs dedicated to national and international scientific tourism; Popularization of various kinds of sports; Popularization of a healthy way of life; Popularization of social responsibility and environment protection; Attraction of the youth and teenagers to sports, tourism and art, support of young cinematographers; Holding of seminars, conferences, exhibitions, thematic competitions, discussions, master classes of cinematographers, press clubs and round tables of experts, concerning culture, sports, science and tourism. Possibility to draw the attention of the foreign partners of CIFFT (the International Committee of Tourist Film Festivals) to Saint Petersburg, as a historical and a cultural heritage centre, and also, the demonstration of the creativity of local cinematographers and the exchange of experience on the international level.

• Website: http://www.filmsfest.ru/index_eng.php

Traditionally, on the last Saturday of September, Saint-Petersburg hosts the cultural festival "Day of Europe", organized by the Mission of the European Union in Russia, together with the General Consulates and cultural centers of the EU members in Saint-Petersburg. The large-scale program of the festival is designed to show the special role of the Saint-Petersburg for the European Union, it's geographic and cultural proximity to the EU countries. "The main objective of Day of Europe is to show that the European Union is not only political and economic space, but also a space of communication, tolerance, different languages," - says the doctor of historical sciences, professor of St. Petersburg State University of World Economy Nikita Lomagin. At 12.00am, the programs of Open Doors will start at the Consulates General of Italy, Cyprus, Lithuania and Finland, and cultural centers of Denmark, Spain and the Netherlands. The programs include the screenings of documentary and animation movies, special programs for children and adults, language lessons, educational lectures and various exhibitions. At the same time, in the Swedish Church of St. Catherine, there will be a fair with the participation of the Nordic countries: Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Iceland and the Nordic Council of Ministers. The program of the fair consists of exhibitions, video presentations, presentations of collaborative projects, a story about culture, social, environmental, education and science of the five Nordic countries. On a unified platform Loft-Project "Floors" there will be held an all day presentation of the European countries and the public lessons of English, French, German, Italian, Greek, Bulgarian and Portuguese languages. Special Screening of European movies will take place in the cinema center "Rodina". Several restaurants in the city will participate in a gastronomic part of the festival and offer to the guests guests a special European Set menus at a fixed price of 400 rubles. At the end of the "Day of Europe", in the Loft project "Floors" will happen a great cooking show of the popular Bulgarian chef and TV presenter Ooty Bychvarov.

• The program of the festival can be found on the official site of "Day of Europe": http://www.www.eur.ru/

II International Music Festival "Under the sign of eternity" From 21 to 28 September 2010 the State Saint-Petersburg Conservatory will host the II Saint-Petersburg International Music Festival "Under the sign of eternity." The artistic director of the festival is the rector of the Saint-Petersburg Conservatory, the highly renowned artist of Russia - Serguey Stadler. The festival "Under the sign of eternity" is the only one in Saint-Petersburg, and one of the few of the events of an equal scale in Russia, which is organized thematically. Each year the program of the festival is built around a single cross-cultural theme, to which the artists from many different countries have applied for at least two centuries. The Second International Music Festival "Under the sign of eternity" is devoted to the times of Tzaers. The festival is subtitled "The Royal Book" and is devoted to persons of three Russian Tsars - Ivan the Terrible, Boris Godunov, Peter The Great. In Russia, until 1913, there was an order of the Emperor Nicholas I, prohibiting to represent the members of the Romanov's dynasty on stage, and limiting the representation of Rurik's. That is why, there is no single opera in Russia, with the participation of Peter the Great or Catherine the Great. But since the complexity of the history of Russia, largely determined by the vertical, often tragical relations between tzar's and people, the figures of Russian rulers could fail to excite great russian artists. The festival program is based on the works of great composers, whose works were influenced by the powerful and controversial nature of the Russian rulers: Tchaikovsky - Opera "Oprichnik", Rimsky-Korsakov - the operas "The Maid of Pskov" and "Tsar's Bride", Mussorgsky - "Boris Godunov ", Rubinstein - the opera" Merchant Kalashnikov ", Slonim - "Visions of Ivan the Terrible", Petrov - "Peter I". The undoubtedly great discovery of the festival will become the little-known opera of the great French composer Georges Bizet - "Ivan the Fourth", that will be performed here for the first time in Russia. In the program of the same concert, which is called the "Russian Tzars in the eyes French", will be featured the selected fragments of the opera "Peter I" by the french composer - Andre Gretry. The concert will be held on September 25, and is devoted to the Year of Russia in France.

• Saint-Petersburg State Conservatory of Rimsky Corsakov
• Address:3, Teatralnaya Ploschad, 190000, Saint-Petersburg, Russia
• Transportation:From metro stations "Sadovaya"/"Sennaya" - minibuses №№ 1, 67, 124
• From metro stations "Nevsky Prospect"/"Gostiny Dvor" - buses №№ 3, 22, 27, minibuses №№ 180, 169, 306
• Website: http://istud.conservatory.ru/

The world-famous Meissen Porcelain Manufactory is the cradle of European porcelain-making, has determined the development of European porcelain and ceramics for many decades. This year 2010 sees a remarkable co-incidence of the 300th anniversaries of Meissen Porcelain in Germany and of Tsarskoye Selo in Russia, which triggered this unique joint exhibition project: three hundred Meissen items from the private collection of Mr. Kurt Krockenberger (Remshalden-Grunbach, Germany) are put on display in the Church Anteroom of the Catherine's Palace. For over two centuries, the high-quality Meissen porcelains graced royal palaces and suburban residences of the St. Petersburg. Meissen vases, formal and everyday tableware, figures and sculpture groups served as interior decorations for the Catherine and Alexander Palaces since the mid-1700s. Unfortunately, much of them were lost during the Second World War, so this is a great chance to admire works of the leading European porcelain maker within these walls again. The exhibition consists of several sections: Oriental and European motifs on 18th-century porcelain, Mid-18th-century porcelain modelling and shaping, Classical porcelain, Second-quarter and late-19th-century porcelain, and Art Nouveau and Art Deco porcelain. The vast and varied collection of Kurt Krockenberger introduces the main trends of the Meissen Porcelain Manufactory during the 18th–20th centuries and provides rich material for the study of the history of this largest European porcelain production center.

• The exhibition is open till August 30, 2011 in the Church Anteroom (Catherine's Palace), 10.00–17.00 daily except Tuesdays and the last Monday of each month.

A new temporal exhibition opens today in the Menshikov Palace. It will last from September 21, 2010 till January 16, 2011. The exhibition traces the development in Classical Antiquity of navigation, fishery and beliefs in sea gods and deities that either patronized or tried to destroy seamen. Both admiration and fear of the sea are manifested in the fine art works and everyday objects that have come down to us from the period. Distinguished among the exhibits featuring the achievements of ancient shipbuilders is a krater decorated with sailing naval ships represented along the rim. A fresco fragment from Nymphaeum shows, next to numerous other graffiti, an entire fleet of trade ships (scratched). A variety of types of ships and boats are to be seen on the intaglios (carved semi-precious stones) and coins. A large section of the exhibition deals with the images of sea deities and mythological monsters which enjoyed a great popularity among contemporary artists. Marble sculptures, elegant painted vessels, terracotta and bronze statuettes, pieces of jewellery illustrate myths and legends of Poseidon (Neptune), Nereids, nymphs, hippocampi and tritons. A special attention is paid to the fishery of Antiquity and sea products eaten by ancient Greeks and Romans. On view are nets and other devices for catching fish, as well as instruments with which they were made and repaired. The works of art on display depict numerous sea creatures, fishes and mollusks, which were sold on ancient markets. The exhibition contains plates and dishes used for serving fish which would form the most part of food allowances. A motif of sea shell was very fashionable. It was employed by sculptors, jewellers and those craftsmen who made clay, glass and stone vessels. The section dedicated to sea trade displays an inscription of the ship-owners union, coins from many ancient cities and, of course, the famous amphorae used as transport vessels. Navigation in Antiquity evolved over the course of many centuries and had a great impact on the further development of the skill. © State Hermitage Museum

• The Menshikov Palace
• Museum is opened from 10.30am till 18.00pm, on Sundays from 10.30am till 17.00pm. Entrance is closed 1 hour earlier
• Address: 15, Universitetskaya Naberezhnaya (Embankment), 190000, St Petersburg
• City Transport: Metro stations: "Vasileostrovskaya", Surface public transport: "Universitet" stop, Trolleys: 7, 10, 11, Buses: 7, 24 , Express buses:187
• Information: http://www.hermitagemuseum.org/html_En/04/2010/hm4_4_122.html

A new hotel "Park Inn Nevsky St. Petersburg" has been recently opened in the very heart of the city. The ambitious project on the main street of the Northern Capital is the third property of the hotel chain Park Inn by Radisson of the Rezidor Hotel Group, which is opened in the city. With the advent of the new hotel, the portfolio of Rezidor in St. Petersburg has added another 270 rooms. The new hotel fits perfectly into the atmosphere and rhythm of St. Petersburg through its architecture, design, location, and level of service for tourists and business travellers. The "Park Inn Nevsky St. Petersburg" is located on Nevsky Prospect, close to the Moscow Railway Station and the Vosstania Square. It is offering 270 well equipped rooms of Standard and Business categoris, as well as 2 Junior Suites. The design of the comfortable and stylish rooms meets all the corporate standards of Park Inn Radisson. The rooms are equipped for the maximim guest's convenience: access to wireless high speed internet, LCD TV, in-room safe box and air conditioning. Hotel offers the restaurant "Paulaner", the "Concierge Bar", two modern conference rooms and a large underground parking.

• Hotel address 4 lit. A, Goncharnaya Street, 89, Nevsky Prospect - 191036 St.Petersburg
• Nearest metro: 'Ploschad Vosstania'
• Distance to Nevsky Prospect: 100 meters
• Hotel website: http://www.parkinn.com/hotel-stpetersburg

"Pagliacci" is the best and most popular opera of the italian composer Rugero Leoncavallo. It's music reaches a highest force in the depiction of the human passions. The opera is based on a true story, which was witnessed by Leoncavallo himself in his early childhood: a jealous actor of a travelling troupe had killed his unfaithful wife and her lover, during the theater play. This event left a deep imprint in the mind of the future composer.

"St. Petersburg Opera" was organized in 1987 by Yuri Alexandrov, a former production-director of the Mariinsky Theatre. It has started as a creative laboratory, but soon, grew to the professional chamber music theater, well-known in the country and abroad. Despite the fact that the theater is relatively young, it has formed a creative alliance of talented artists and it's leading theatrical and artistic director Yuri Alexandrov has created a unique, rich and varied repertoire. Today, the theater has toured in Finland, Switzerland, Germany, USA, as well as in Moscow and other Russian cities. "St Petersburg Opera" is at the peak of it's creative powers and continues the best traditions of musical theaters in St. Petersburg.

• "St. Petersburg Opera" chamber theatre
• Performance starts at 19:00
• Address: 33, Galernaya str., Saint-Petersburg
• Nearest metro stations: 'Gostiny Dvor'
• Website: http://www.spbopera.ru/

This year, the traditional Ceremony of the Closing of Fountains in the State Museum "Peterhof" will be held on two consecutive days - 17 and September 18. On both days, the show will start at 21.30. An enchanting and extravagant multimedia show will happen at the Grand Cascade of the Lower Park. The program will connect the greatness of ancient architecture and fountains of Peterhof in a large-scale spatial projection, light, laser and pyrotechnic installations. The action will consist of two parts. The first part is devoted to the Year of France in Russia. Viewers will see the light ballet "Bolero of Fire", accompanied by the music of Maurice Ravel. Apart from the spectacle of water and light, there will be a performance of a large troupe of modern ballet and the show of the theater of fire "Alfa dominoes". The second part of the show - "Fontaniana" - will be devoted to the 305th anniversary of the foundation of Peterhof. The reproductions of masterpieces of Russian and world art and artifacts from the collections of Peterhof, and specially prepared paintings and drawings will be used to create visual images during the performance. The shows will end up with the grandiose fireworks. More information at: http://www.peterhofmuseum.ru/page.php?id=48&event=45

Please mention, that the symbolic ceremony of the closing of fountains does not mean the total closing of the fountains of Peterhof on that day. The wonderful water attrations of the Lower Park will continue to work till the end of September 2010, and, possibly, even later - up to October 10th, 2010

• The Show will happen on 17 and 18 of September starting from 21.30pm
• Address: 2, Razvodnaya street, Petrodvorets town, St Petersburg
• City Transport: Train from Baltisky station to New Peterhof. Buses №№ 224, 424  form metro station: "Avtovo".

Ihe I World Festival of Circus Stage Direction will happen in Saint-Petersburg from 16 to 21 September 2010 in the Grand Saint-Petersburg. The Festival is called "The Fair of Ideas". It is organized by the Russian State Circus Company, the Big St.Petersburg State Circus and the Circus Club 'AZ-ART'. The most interesting and talented circus performers and directors from around the world are invited to participate in the festival prodram - from the genius of the Chinese avant-garde circus to the old European school of circus and semi-underground theater workshops. More than 30 of original circus genres will be brought to the attention of the audience during the festival. The Jury of the Festival will consist of the well-known cultural figures of the city of St. Petersburg.

• The Big St.Petersburg Circus on Fontanka
• Address: 3, Fontanka river emb., Saint-Petersburg
• Nearest metro stations: 'Gostiny Dvor'
• Website: http://www.circus.spb.ru/en/

The Mariinsky Theatre and the "Russian newspaper" will organize a joint public event, devoted to the beginning of a new 228-season. For the first time ever, the theater will invite under it's roof the readers and authors of the "Russian newspaper". The most active members of the distinguished audience of the "Russian Newspaper" will have a chance to go behind the scenes of the theater, to see with the own eyes the rehearsal halls of the theater, the backstage, the dressing rooms, the artist's wardrobe, the legendary "Golovinski room", that is intended for the painting of soft decorations under the roof of the theater, and the other parts of the historical buildings of the Theatre, where the open audience usually does not happen to be. The invited readers of the newspaper will learn about the internal life of the theater, which is usually hidden from the eyes. The culmination of the visit will be a meeting and talk with the Artistic Director of the Mariinsky Theatre - Valery Gergiev, who will share with the guests of the theater the plans for a new 228-th season and will answer the reader's questions. Conversation with Maestro Gergiev will be published on the pages of the newspaper.

• More information at: http://www.mariinsky.ru/en/news1/news1/08_september/

St.Petersburg Jazz Philharmonic Hall opens it's XXII concert season on September 14. This year, the opening of the season had coincided with a week of American jazz in St. Petersburg and the music festifal "Jazz + Cinema", both of which, are conducted by the Jazz Philharmonic hall in cooperation with the U.S. Consulate General in St. Petersburg and the cinema "Rodina". The new season will be opened with the concert of the famous American saxophonist Paul Carr, who will play together with the St. Petersburg musicians - an ensemble of Alekesey Cheremizov. Another interesting concerts will follow this event: on September 15th, there will be an Evening of traditional jazz with the Jazz Band of Alexey Kanunnikov, and on September 16 - a concert of the «Big Blues Revival» ensemble. On September 17th, the jazz-lovers may enjoy the performance of one of the oldest traditional jazz bands in St. Petersburg "The Leningrad Dixieland", under the direction of Oleg Kuvaytsev. The main hall of the Jazz Philarmomy has got 200 seats. It is equipped with the High-End technology sound equipment, produced by the company SBN, which provides an incredibly high-quality and live sound anywhere in the room. The walls and visitors of this unique hall had heard the concerts of such stars of the world of jazz, as David Baker, Ritchie Cole, Eddie Gomez, Herb Geller, Benny Golson, Monthy Alexander, Wynton Marsalis and many others.

• St.Petersburg Jazz Philharmonic Hall
• Address: 27, Zagorodniy pr., 191180, Saint-Petersburg
• Concerts start daily, except Mondays, at 19.00
• Nearest metro stations: 'Vladimirskaya', 'Dostoevskaya', 'Pushkinskaya'
• Website: http://www.jazz-hall.spb.ru/engl.html

The real name of the super popular British singer and composer Sting is Gordon Sumner Matthew Thomas. He was born on October 2, 1951 in the north of England, in the port city of Newcastle-Aponte-Tyne in the family milkman and hairdresser. The singer has got his nickname for a black and yellow striped sweater, in which he had appeared on stage for the first time. Sting is one of the iconic singers of the modern time, he is the winner of 16 Grammy awards. His secret is simple: the music of Sting is intellectual, refined and elegant. The music of Sting is rich food for the mind and heart, a real feast for rock connoisseurs. Currently, the musician is on tour to support his new album "Symphonicity". This album presents the Greatest hits of Sting: "Roxanne," "Next To You," "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic", "Every Breath You Take," "Englishman in New York" and many others, in a symphonic sound. Sting performs his show together with the British Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, under the direction of Steven Mercurio.

• Saint-Petersburg Ice Palace
• Address: 1, pr. Pyatiletok, Saint-Petersburg
• Concert starts at 20.00
• Nearest metro station: 'Prospect Bolshevikov'
• Ticket price from 1400 rubles up to 20 000 rubles (36-512 euros)
• Informational website: http://www.newarena.spb.ru/afisha/#event/3583

An "Imperial Bike Festival" will pass on September 11 in Peterhof. It should become an annual event for all bike enthusiasts. The main events of the Festival will be held at Palace Square in Park Alexandra. A free for all cycle race will start at 12.00 on the Zheleznodorozhnaya square in Peterhof. The race will finish on the Palace Square, and the, an opening ceremony of the festival will start. The holiday event for the guests and participants will continue on a meadow near the museum Cottage, in the Park Alexandra. The visitors will see and participate in an entertainment program, which will acquaint them with the history of the bicycle and bicycle culture. Also, there will be a show of the professional bike-trialists. The guests may take a chance in a prize-winning lottery, and, a modern city-bike "Electra" will be raffled between the participants of the Bike Race.

• "Imperial Bike Festival" in Peterhof
• Location: Park Alexandria, Peterhof
• Opening hours: 11.30-16.00
• City Transport: Buses №№ 224, 300, 424  form metro station: "Avtovo".
• Admission is free

The Saint-Petersburg International Photovernissage – 2010 “Trend And Lifestyle” is devoted to trends and fashion. It will show the works of more than 150 authors from different countries of Europe, USA, Australia, China, as well as works of Russian photographers. Exhibition will reveal an endless variety of artistic vision of trends: trends in clothing, design and architecture, persons and sexuality, politics and sport. The retrospective section of the exhibition will show the photos from the Russian and West European archives, that will allow the viewer to feel the charm of lifestyle of 1920-1980’s in Moscow, Kiev and Saint-Petersburg. The historical materials were provided by the Agency Photo LTD. They will bring the audience with the expressive power of familiar images: Sophia Loren, Federico Fellini, Audrey Hebburn, Valentino. All these and many other stars of world art posed in front of the classics of Italian photography – Giancolombo, Ulliano Lucas, Tazio Secchiaroli. The last one was the personal photographer of Sophia Loren. The modern section will offer the unusual mosaic portraits out of Polaroid pictures, created by official portraitist of the Venice Film Festival Maurizio Galimbert; series of photos by Italian master Stefano Cattelan, created for the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Turin 2006; living and saturated color photographs by Lakita Chan, accentuated sexuality by Cyril Lagel, passion, drama and aggression in works of Aleksander Kujucev; very innovative visions of the achievements of contemporary architecture by Andrew Dmitrichev; the "ghosts of the town" in the photographs of Silvano Costanzo, and many other talented and interesting works.

• Central Exhibition hall "Manege"
• Address: 1, Isaakievskaya sq., Saint-Petersburg
• Exhibition is opened from September 10, 2010 till October 2, 2010, without days-Off.
• Opening hours: 12.00 - 20.00
• Nearest metro stations: 'Sennaya'/'Sadovaya' in 15-20 minutes walking distance, Nevsky prospect, (exit to Kanal Griboedova) in 20 minutes walking distance, trolleybuses 5, 22 or buses 3, 22, 27 - exit at Konnogvardeysky boulvar.
• Admission fee is 200 rubles (~5 euros)
• Informational website: http://www.real-fair.ru/photograph/en

An exhibition of dolls, which are the showcase of the works of the St. Petersburg Puppet Masters is going to open in the State Complex "Palace of Congresses", from 9 to 30 September 2010, within the project "Contemporary Artists of Russia". This kind, sincere and touching characters, cause a smile and cheer up all, who had the luck to see them. The dolls created by St.Petersburg craftsman Tatiana Yadrevskoy, are all performed in a single copy of professional materials and are made entirely by hand: from modeling to painting faces and creating clothing. Lena Nikishin was coming to the profession of the puppet master for a several years. Her toys is truly magical: they have a tiny heart, their soul is filled with fragrances of roses, lavender, lily of the valley. Dolls by Tatiana Bun are all luxury, parade persons. They are the adornment of private collections in Japan, America, Europe, Israel and Canada. Colorful works of Galina Chuvilyaeva, jeweler and member of the Union of Designers and Artists Union of Russia, have a good mood and love. The exhibition will feature paintings from her series "Solar Angel - guardian of earthly happiness" and "Our Friends cats. The exhibition will be held at the Center of Contemporary Art of the "Palace of Congresses" (the building of the Press Centre on the coast of Gulf of Finland). 

• Center of Contemporary Art of the "Palace of Congresses"
• Address: 25, Portovaya str., Strelna, Saint-Petersburg
• Exhibition is opened daily from 09 September till 30 Septwmber 2010.
• Opening hours: 11.00-17.00
• City Transport: Buses №№ 224, 424  form metro station: "Avtovo".
• Admission is free

The "St.PeterLine" company, which is the operator of the sea ferry line St.Petersburg - Helsinki, had congratulated the 100000th passenger of the ferry "Princess Maria". The lucky winner's name is Alexey Chernov. He had buy a cruise to the coast of Finland with his companion Julia Nikitenko on September 3, 2010. The winner was presented with an annual winners certificate for 10 cruises and a travel in the cabin of Deluxe class. According to the forecasts, the cruise ferry will transport more than 180 thousands passengers from April to December 2010. The ferry line between St.Petersburg and Helsinki was opened on April 21, 2010, after a two-years break. Line is served by a ferryboat "Princess Maria". Its capacity is 1638 passengers and 395 cars. There are 605 cabins of different class on board of the ferry. The one way fare is starting from 35 euros per person.

• According to the Russian Migration Law, the passengers of the ferries from all over the world, can arrive in St. Petersburg without a visa, for a period of 72 hours.

An interesting ongoing exhibition takes place in the Benois Wing of the Russian Museum. It is featuring about 200 works from the times of USSR. The exhibition includes paintings, drawings and decorative arts form 1910-1970 years, associated with the industrial era of the Soviet country. Much of the works are exhibited for the first time. The industrial theme and the labour heroism, have had the highest ideological significance for the art at the Soviet times. The exhibition gives to the visitor an opportunity to dive into the atmosphere of the Soviet era, take a walk on an improvised valley of heroes of labor and get acquainted with the works, highlighted by a monumental sound and civic fervor. The heroes of these works are shown at there workplaces at steel mills, factories, oil fields or industrial construction projects. Many famous artists -  K. Bogayevsky, A. Kuprin, A. Deineka, K. Petrov-Vodkin, A. Samokhvalova, V. Pakulin and others, have reflected the main trends of development of Soviet art of the 1920-1930-x years, in their's industrial landscapes. A special section of the exhibition are paintings and sculptural portraits of heroes of labor, which can be considered classical examples of socialist realism of the postwar period.

• Benois Wing of Russian Museum
• Address: 2, Kanal Griboedov emb., Saint-Petersburg
• Museum is opened from Wednesday to Monday, Tuesdays are Days-Off.
• Opening hours: 10.00-18.00 (On Mondays 10.00-17.00)
• Nearest metro Stations: 'Gostiny Dvor', 'Nevsky Prospect'