St. Petersburg, Florida has a rich cultural and artistic life, beautiful beaches, and 360 days of sunshine a year. It is a “paradise for retirees” and a vibrant city loved by young people.
115 degrees Fahrenheit outside! Yesterday, it was 105 degrees Fahrenheit in a foggy day. As soon as the door was opened, a rush of heat came in, like entering an oven. After staying here for a few days, I finally learned how to convert Fahrenheit to Celsius: Divide by 2 minus 13 to get Celsius. It suddenly became clear that it was 45 degrees Celsius! If you have time and are good at number arithmetic, you can be more precise: subtract 32, divide by 9, multiply by 5, and get 46.11 degrees Celsius.
In the United States, I have encountered similar problems everywhere: 90 miles per hour, 3 ounces of nuts…all units of measurement need to be converted.
I live in my friend’s house. He moved to the United States 15 years ago and is already proficient in conversion speed, weight and temperature. “It’s natural to get used to it after a long time, but I still think that 37.5 degrees Celsius sounds more pleasant than 99.5 degrees Fahrenheit.” He said.
But as a newcomer, I still need to spend some time converting these unfamiliar units of measurement. It feels like suddenly living in an upside-down world. The hot weather in Florida made me miss my hometown even more, but the solid soil under my feet still inspired my strong desire to explore.
St. Petersburg, Florida is one of the American cities with the most Russians. You can often meet Russians here. Tatiana Sarahova is another friend of mine here, she moved here 7 years ago.
Want to learn about Florida’s culture first? Of course it is a museum! “St. Petersburg has many galleries and museums, the interesting French Impressionist Art Gallery, the novel children’s museum, and an exhibition of works by the American master of blown glass Chihuly.” Taguiana’s local area My friend Anna Leon said, “The first thing we want to visit is the Dali Art Museum, which has the largest collection of Dali’s works in the world except for Dali’s native Spain.”
If you have never heard of a surrealist painter Salvador Dali, then you must know the famous painting “The Twisted Clock” is the masterpiece of this painter.
The Dali Art Museum in St. Petersburg is one of the largest museums in the entire city and even in Florida, named after Salvador Dali, a well-known Spanish surrealist artist. Dali died in 1989, and most of his works outside of Spain are now quietly preserved in this multi-million dollar museum for people to visit including oil paintings, watercolors and other paintings, 1,000 sculptures , Photos and other works of art. The Dali Museum often hosts exhibitions of cross-border artists. The solo exhibition of Pop Art masters delivered by the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh in 2014 and the recent joint exhibition by Picasso and Dali have all added to the museum’s popularity and enhanced its artistic status.
The Dali Museum has a unique appearance, like a snail crawling on a cubic volume. The top of the building is a huge glass dome, surrounded by various forms of eggs and androgynous sculptures. Eggs symbolize life and change and are the medium for Dali to express vitality.
The building was built in 2011 (the museum was relocated from Ohio to Florida in 1982). The layout of the museum makes people marvel at Dali’s artistic attainments and taste: everything emphasizes surrealism. In the museum’s souvenir shop, the spiral staircase in the rotunda is located at the entrance. In addition to selling traditional souvenirs, there are also many art exhibits. The most well-known one is “Taxi on Rainy Days”-When You Pull When the taxi controls the water flow, there will be “rain” pouring down, thunder will be everywhere, and there will be crawling snails on the ground. The work of art first appeared in the Surrealism exhibition of the Paris Fine Arts Gallery in 1938, and has now been “stopped” in the Dali Museum.
In addition to the famous Dali Art Museum, St. Petersburg also has the Florida International Museum, the St. Petersburg History Museum, the Florida Holocaust Museum, and the Shapiro Museum of Contemporary Art. Also worth mentioning is the Muro Art Center, which is filled with works by local artists.
The artwork inside is a bit decorative, because the author’s reputation is relatively small, so the price is not expensive. In addition to art exhibition and sale, there are also art training classes here. The on-site production of glass crafts in the Art Center attracted me the most. Artists blow glass and explain on site. They can take you to make any glass products you want.
After leaving the art gallery, we visited the local theater and experienced the rich and colorful artistic and cultural life of the area. In addition to several well-known urban theaters, opera houses and the Florida Symphony Orchestra, St. Petersburg also has many independent art studios.
”I have been a volunteer in this theater for 3 years,” said Olga Kalk from Moscow, “taking the responsibilities of an administrator and assistant director, helping set the stage, carrying props, adjusting lighting, etc.” Although the theater here has It has a history of more than 60 years, but it is still not professional in management and operation. There is no fixed performance troupe. It only discusses which plays to be screened at the regular leadership meeting held once a season. It takes 2-3 months to screen actors and assign roles. The actors come from all walks of life. There are professional actors, many amateurs, and theater leaders who have no experience in acting. Surprisingly, all actors are volunteers. Except for directors, screenwriters, and lighting engineers who are paid, the rest are free services. They all come because they love theater. It takes about 6-8 weeks of preparation time before the official performance, including rehearsals, making sets, finding props, setting up lighting and sound, etc. The performance of a show is only about 2-3 weeks. There are only two stages in the theater-one large and one small, so more than two plays cannot be shown in the theater at the same time, and it is impossible to stage different plays every night, but the repertoire will be updated regularly.
The singers and artists who perform in theaters are not very famous. They are little stars who often perform in clubs and restaurants. In 2013, St. Petersburg opened a “Manhattan Casino”. The so-called “Casino” is actually an entertainment center, and sometimes some small shows are staged. People can also hold family gatherings or have lunch here. Americans feel that art and entertainment do not conflict. They always have a relaxed and entertaining mentality. For example, they think that the City History Museum is a good place to host an Oktoberfest.
St. Petersburg is the most suitable American city for recuperation. Although the entertainment facilities here are not as good as other American cities, there are exceptionally beautiful beaches and many small bars with music or sports themes. The locals prefer to go to old-fashioned bars. There is a bar street near the harbor. It is very lively at night, but it is not noisy at all. It is said that some small entertainment activities are often held here.
We were walking along the beach and I saw a group of policemen, a few police cars and an ambulance.
”What happened?” I asked one of the police officers. He is smiling, very friendly, and looks more like a happy tourist.
”A beach volleyball game is being held here.” He replied kindly.
”Is beach volleyball here dangerous? Does it need so much police?” I asked in surprise.
”Pay attention to any rally.” The smiling police suddenly became serious. “Athletes often suffer from injuries, sprains, and even heatstroke. Especially in early spring, playing on the beach is more dangerous.”
In St. Petersburg, any competition. You can see a large group of loyal spectators in the crowd-the police. Despite the police presence, the crime rate here has not decreased.
”St. Petersburg, like St. Petersburg in Russia, is divided into slums and rich areas. The slum areas have a high crime rate and the rich areas are safer,” said Anna Leon. “In St. Petersburg, walking Robbery is more likely to be encountered than driving. The whole of Florida is more like built for drivers, because there are few dedicated sidewalks. Only in the city center and coastal areas are there formal sidewalks. The purpose is to restrict vehicles and allow people to Quietly strolling and biking, but parking is difficult.” Florida’s highways are wide and flat, so tourists often drive at high speeds. One lane can accommodate two cars side by side, so police cars can easily catch up with illegal vehicles and drive out. Ticket.
We came to Fort De Soto, a national park on the Tampa Peninsula in the south of St. Petersburg. Fort De Soto is the largest and most popular park in Pinellas County, and the park consists of several small islands.
In the 19th century, US military engineers landed on the main islands of Mile Island and Egmont Island and discovered that these islands at the mouth of Tampa Bay had high military value. Since then, these small islands have been prohibited from private use and development. Until the First World War, Fort Desoto played a certain military value. Fort Desoto Park is one of the most important bird watching spots on the east coast of the United States. Because of its geographic location, it has become a transit point for many migratory birds.
The beautiful waterfront, the best beaches, and the park adjacent to the skyscrapers are the best scenery in the city. But the traffic problem is getting worse. Every winter, the city’s population almost triples: retirees from the northern states flock in, the flow of people increases, and traffic becomes congested. “When I first came from Russia, the first thing that impressed me was the traffic here. My husband reduced the speed from 90 to 70 miles per hour and complained:’The traffic jam has started again!’ However, the traffic conditions here are still good. In Russia, here, if you go somewhere for more than 30 minutes, it will be considered very long, but if you arrive in Russia within an hour, people will think it is very fast.” Tatiana said.
It is no coincidence that many tourists like to come here for the winter. According to statistics, St. Petersburg is considered to be one of the “retirees’ paradise” cities: comfortable living environment, low-cost living expenses, the temperature rarely drops below 20 degrees Celsius, and it is almost always sunny. St. Petersburg is known as the “Sun City”. Although there may be hurricanes in some months, in fact, almost 360 days of the year are sunny!
The city once set the Guinness World Record of “768 consecutive days of uninterrupted sunlight”. In fact, winters throughout Florida are always warm: the average temperature in January is usually 25 degrees Celsius. The cold is unfamiliar to all of Florida. In the winter of 2010, the temperature in Florida dropped to an unprecedented 2 degrees Celsius. The last time Florida had such a cold weather was at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. It was difficult for local residents to adapt for a while, sea surfers disappeared overnight, people took off their shorts and T-shirts, and turned out warm clothing that they hadn’t worn for many years. People ran out of stock heaters, and many cities over-utilized electricity, which eventually caused 15 million households to lose power. The cold weather has caused huge losses to agriculture, and the supply of citrus worldwide has also been reduced by 30%. But the worst thing is that tropical wild animals such as lizards, crocodiles and turtles have all been frozen to death.
In recent years, St. Petersburg’s economy has developed rapidly. In addition to retirees, young people have also flocked to it. It was once rated as the “most dynamic” city among medium-sized cities in the United States by American Fashion Magazine. St. Petersburg is one of the most popular cities in Florida. To compare in the Tampa Bay area, St. Petersburg is the second largest city after Tampa. Together with Clearwater Bay and Tampa, St. Petersburg constitutes the second largest metropolitan area in Florida.
”I know you also have a St. Petersburg in Russia. In fact, St. Petersburg, Florida is not only similar to its name, but there is indeed a deep connection between them.” Anna said, “In 1875, a Detroit native named Williams was in Tanzania. This 2500 acres of land was bought near Pawan. In 1888, a Russian emigrated to the United States, Dimans, extended the railway here. Gradually, it developed into a small town and then a city. According to legend, Williams and Dimans decided who to name the city by tossing a coin. The Russian Dimans won, so he named his hometown of St. Petersburg (the spelling is the same, and the word’S’ is usually added to distinguish the translation). Named. In order to comfort Williams, Dimans asked him to name the first hotel he built in the local area, and Williams also named this hotel after his hometown of Detroit. More than a century has passed, the’Detroit’ hotel It still exists, but it has been used for other purposes. Although the name of this American city is nearly two centuries younger than St. Petersburg in Russia, according to American history, St. Petersburg is still an ancient city, while St. Petersburg in Russia is in Russia It’s one of the youngest cities.”
On the way back from the drive, Olga also introduced us to the famous Palm Beach in Florida. We plan to check it out next time we have a chance. The British “Independent” published the 10 most popular beaches in the United States. The top 10 include Florida, California and Hawaii. Palm Beach, Florida is located on an island 65 kilometers north of Miami, Florida. It borders the Inner Waterway to the west and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. The Intracoastal Waterway separates Palm Beach Island from the city of West Palm Beach and Lake Worth. Palm Beach Island is the land closest to Mexico’s warm currents. It has lush vegetation and is named after the beaches with tall palm trees. The superior marine environment and climate are also among the top tourist resorts in the world.
The itinerary is about to end, and we finally had the luck to pass by another very famous art district in St. Petersburg, where there are very rich graffiti on the buildings, and each one is unique.
Casual graffiti on the street has always been loved by the majority of young people. Graffiti, the first street art that emerged from American street blacks, has been accepted and liked by most people in just a few decades. In the 1960s, street graffiti culture has spread to many countries around the world, slowly being accepted by people in some big cities such as New York, Berlin, London, Copenhagen, and gradually becoming an art style. In the early 1970s, when canned spray paint was available everywhere, from subway train cars, to platforms, to street walls, to toilet walls, you can see all kinds of bright colors everywhere. , Doodle with distinctive personality. The early graffiti creation was mainly written. Those graffiti creators called themselves painters rather than painters, and they were usually anonymous. They were used to using street numbers to name them, and their graffiti paintings also had a strong sense of territory.
After seeing these graffiti art, we even felt the youthful vitality of the city of St. Petersburg. Young people show their talents and do a lot of social significance at the same time. In the slums of Los Angeles, there are about thousands of homeless people who are homeless and unemployed. They can only sleep and eat in the street style. In order to make the public pay more attention to them, they started graffiti and expressed their warm yearning for home. In St. Petersburg, these graffiti also express the young people’s yearning for artistic and cultural life. Compared with the graffiti in other cities with the “American vagrant wind”, they look more youthful and energetic, and people can’t help but yearn for the tranquility and relaxation. There is no lack of a beautiful life of youth and vitality.
