I Stayed Awake Through St Petersburg's White Night

[00:00:00]Have you ever heard of the White Knights? Today we are in St. Petersburg, the former capital of Russia, and we're going to see just what everyone gets up to when it doesn't get dark at night.

[00:00:10]Let's go. We're currently standing on Pladvastania. And as you can see on the writing at the top of the hotel, it says Gored Groy, Leningrad, which means Leningrad, city of heroes, because this city used to be called Leningrad. And down there is the main street of the entire city, Nipsski Prospect. So we are going to head down there towards Admiral Tilska and we are going to see just what everyone gets up to when it doesn't get dark. Here is Moscowski Railway Terminal. You can see it is about 8:45 in the evening and we still have a lot of sun. It's called Moscowski Railway Terminal because it's the main train station that takes you to Moscow. So, I've got to go all the way around here, cross the road, and we're going to head down Nipski Prospect to Admiral Tecare.

[00:01:03]Why is the road closed, and why is it full of people? Because today is the day of the Scarlet Sails, Russia's biggest party. And we're going to head all the way down towards the Palace Bridges, and we're going to try and fight for a place. And I will tell you and I will show you this beautiful boat that everyone from all over Russia fights for a place to see. Look at all of the people busing. There are crowds everywhere. Loads and loads of different musicians everywhere. What a fantastic site.

[00:01:41]The city has completely completely closed down just for tonight so that everyone can have a big party for the Scarlet Sails. And look, there are just so many people everywhere heading all in the same direction to fight for a place by the palace bridges. We've made it to Admiral Tare, which is on the purple line of the metro. And we are just going to be waiting for our friend Bright to come and see us. Look, everyone else is waiting as well. They're waiting for their family and friends to go and see the Scarlet Sails. Look at that beautiful building up there. And you can see that it's still really bright. It's about 20 9. Yo, Brian, >> how you doing, man?

[00:02:26]>> How's it going?

[00:02:27]>> Yeah, it's cool, man.

[00:02:28]>> We've gotten to this really beautiful square and there's a fantastic cathedral there. And the problem is we're trying to find a way to get round to see the Scarlet Sails. The only problem is is that the road is closed literally everywhere. And last year it wasn't like this. So bright, we're going to head to the north side of the river >> and let's get on the metro quickly cuz we are going to be late for it. Starts at 10:00. And what do you think of the white knives?

[00:02:58]>> Well, I think well it's a pretty fun period especially here in St. Persburg because you don't get this opportunity quite often. You know, winters here are pretty long. So summers have to be something very special.

[00:03:12]>> Everyone waits to party basically.

[00:03:14]>> Yeah. Everyone awaits it impatiently.

[00:03:17]So, I think it's it's a really fun period. You see people outside, you know, looking fun, looking all dressed up and I think you a lot of Russians look forward to this to this event.

[00:03:28]>> I agree, man. They come all from all over different parts of Russia, don't they?

[00:03:31]>> Yeah, absolutely.

[00:03:33]>> Where where do you come from and why did you decide to come to Russia? Well, I am originally from Cameroon, uh, in Africa, of course, >> but I chose to study in Russia and well, I had was supposed to study in the United States, but I decided to come here because I study medicine and it's way more affordable, I would say.

[00:03:55]>> You know, studying medicine in the United States, of course, you know, you got to sell your kidneys and stuff.

[00:04:01]>> Yeah, man. It cost an arm and a leg, literally.

[00:04:03]>> Yeah, you it will cost you an arm for real. So yeah, here it's pretty affordable. I mean, you pay less than less than $10k per year. Yeah. Which is you wouldn't find that in like Europe or in the United States or or in wherever.

[00:04:18]So yeah, in Persu, you know, was like perfect option cuz uh it's like it has more of a European vibe and I just wanted to feel something European. You know what I'm saying?

[00:04:30]>> It's like a bit of Russia and a bit of home. Yeah.

[00:04:33]>> Yeah. Exactly. I got you. What's your favorite thing about living in Russia?

[00:04:36]>> Well, my favorite thing >> I would say the snow.

[00:04:41]>> Yeah, >> that's uh of course I'm not really fan of winters because the winters are quite long and depressive, but one thing which is really interesting is the snow and I always look forward to that because you know I can do some sports, uh ski, skate, snowboard. Yeah. And well, it's usually very interesting for me.

[00:05:03]>> I also love the snow. Like I used to get so much snow like up to my knees in childhood cuz I grew up in Newcastle which is the north of England. It's not far from Scotland. Yeah.

[00:05:12]>> And I just have this lovely childhood memory of the snow going up to my knees.

[00:05:17]And then the first time I came for my Russian winter, it was what a while ago >> and I remember I'm like an adult and my snow was coming up to my knees. It was fantastic. And I got to relive that childhood memory, you know. And you know, Russians got this tradition whereby you go into the sauna, the bath house, call it the ba, and then immediately after you dive into the snow.

[00:05:37]>> That's right. I've tried it. Yeah. It's it's it's crazy. It's crazy. But it's really good for your health. Really good for your health.

[00:05:44]>> It's 10:00 in the evening and you can see that the sun still has not set at all. Over there is the Damo Sports Football Stadium. Dynamo has a team in Moscow. They also have one in St. Petersburg. You can see the sunset reflecting off the church up there. The roads here are closed as well. But the problem is that we cannot get to the embankment of the Neva River to see the Scarlet Sales. It's all closed this year. You can see there's police just blocking the way for everything. It's only for people who have tickets. And you only get a ticket if you are a school a scholar graduating from school from 9th or 11th class. And last year you just used to be able to walk up to the embankment. Anyone could was crazy.

[00:06:34]So we're going to try and get up to Cheska on the metro and that's going to be the last place where we can try and see the scarlet sails. Let's give it one more try and hope that we make it. Third time lucky. Slight change of plan. We've not gone to Chavichka because that's not the route of the Scarlet Sails. Instead, we have come to Poshed Lenina next to Finland Railway Terminal. And it's named Finland Railway Terminal because that's where you can get a train directly to Finland. It has been absolutely ridiculous trying to get around to see this damn boat. We have spent probably the last hour trying to get from the center of St. Petersburg. We have to go down there and turn right by the looks of it.

[00:07:22]>> Yeah, >> let's go. We've spent the last hour trying to get from the center of St. Petersburg. We went up to Sports there to see if we can get onto that embankment and now we were told Charka and now here. I don't think it was like this last year. I think last year we could just get down to the embankment.

[00:07:41]Everyone was kind of fighting for a place and now everywhere is completely closed pretty much and it's only they're only allowing people who have a ticket and you only get a ticket if you are graduating from school. I came here to show you the white knights and unfortunately the last hour we've been stuck in the metro.

[00:08:03]>> We've just been going around everywhere, haven't we, man? Right.

[00:08:05]>> For real, man. It's it's not been easy.

[00:08:08]We're spending the white nights in the metro. I mean, as much as I love the metro, I've come for white nights. I want to show you what it looks like out here at like 11:00, 12:00 at night. I don't want to be stuck underground. Let me show you what 11:00 at night looks like during white nights. Just look at that sky. It is a lovely mix of blue and pink and purple. It is just phenomenal.

[00:08:34]It looks like it is about 8:00 in the evening. And if you can see the clock at the top of Finsley um Finland Railway Station, the clock is showing 10:55 in the evening. It's almost 11:00 and this is what the sky looks like. It's just absolutely beautiful. You don't really get to see this anywhere else.

[00:09:00]And there are so many people that come from all over Russia and all over the world to see these white knights. We finally made it to the river Nealook.

[00:09:11]Third time lucky. The center is completely closed. You can only get in with a ticket. Sport is completely closed as well.

[00:09:22]Here, finally, we can see the river. And we need to walk to where that big bridge is. We're going to see how far we can get without being stopped by the road closures and the police and see if we can finally lay eyes on the scarlet sails. And just again, look, it's only sunset now at 11:00.

[00:09:45]Look at that. It is just phenomenal. So, why does St. Petersburg have white knights? The answer is simple geography.

[00:09:57]So, St. Petersburg sits 59° north which is just under the Arctic Circle. And in the UK we have summer solace which is the longest day of the year which takes place on the 21st of June every year.

[00:10:16]And that's because the Earth is tilted most towards the Sun. And at this latitude, the sun does not descend low enough below the horizon for the sky to become fully dark. And in St. Petersburg during mid June, the sun only dips about 7° below the horizon, which means that the sky never actually becomes dark. You never get a night sky here, which is why it's called the white knights. So, the sky stays blue. You can comfortably walk around without any artificial light. If you look closely, the street lights are not on at all.

[00:11:03]Look, they're all off. You can just walk comfortably around without any artificial light.

[00:11:12]And midnight looks more about 9:00 p.m.

[00:11:16]If it's sunny like this, there is a cloudy sky and it's a bit darker. It looks more like 1000 p.m.

[00:11:23]The white nights, the season lasts from the late May until mid July. So, why don't we have it in the west? Why don't we have it in Moscow? Well, London's about 51° north. Moscow is about 55° north. For St. Petersburg. It's 60° north. It's just so far enough north the sun does not set below the horizon.

[00:11:51]And only the northern cities like St. Petersburg, Helsinki, and Stockholm experience the phenomenon known as white knights. The scarlet sails will come through on the left and it should turn around here and go up that way, I think.

[00:12:09]Okay. So, we might we might have a good feel >> from the limited information I could get on the internet.

[00:12:15]>> They're kicking everyone off the bridge now. Look, the bridge is completely empty. They've stopped the traffic.

[00:12:21]Everyone has to go.

[00:12:24]And the police are asking everyone to leave.

[00:12:29]They're saying leave the bridge. I guess the bridge is going to open for security reasons or something. We're going to have to leave. I thought we had such a lovely place.

[00:12:39]>> What a shame.

[00:12:41]>> I hope we would be able to see it from down there.

[00:12:43]>> Yeah, man. I was really hoping third time lucky, you know. That would have been lovely.

[00:12:48]No, we have to leave.

[00:12:52]>> Looks like we're only going to see the uh we're only going to see the fireworks.

[00:12:57]Damn.

[00:13:04]>> Yeah, they're kicking us all off. Look.

[00:13:06]They got the soldiers here.

[00:13:12]>> Everyone's in shock. Look, they've all got such a lovely place on this bridge.

[00:13:17]Crazy. Are we ever going to see this damn boat?

[00:13:22]What a fantastic place. Are we ever going to see this boat?

[00:13:27]>> That's the question.

[00:13:29]Let's see if we can get a nice place towards the end of the bridge. We can't even stand here.

[00:13:36]Ridiculous.

[00:13:37]Just ridiculous. Look at all the people here. We have to go all the way to where that building is there on the left.

[00:13:45]Right. Let's go down that way and we'll just have to watch it come from under the bridge. But we'll have to go now so that we can get a place.

[00:13:52]>> Hello guys.

[00:13:53]>> Hey guys.

[00:13:54]>> Have a nice day.

[00:13:55]>> Nice to meet you, man. What's your name?

[00:13:56]>> Raman.

[00:13:57]>> Raman. I'm Alex. Nice to meet you. Tell me, is this your first time seeing Ali Paria?

[00:14:02]>> No, no, no, no. It's second time.

[00:14:04]>> The second time? You live in St. Petersburg?

[00:14:06]>> Yes. Yes.

[00:14:06]>> Why did you come a second time?

[00:14:08]>> Um, it's a beautiful >> uh >> beautiful boat. Yeah.

[00:14:15]>> They say go. Go.

[00:14:17]>> Yeah. They say go. They say go. It's a beautiful boat. Yeah.

[00:14:19]>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's a good times in St. Petersburg. It's a white night.

[00:14:25]>> Do you like the white knights?

[00:14:26]>> Yes.

[00:14:27]>> Yeah. What do you like to do in the white nights? Do you go out in the evenings every week? Uh in my night you can uh went >> you can go >> you can go yeah and have a good times with your friends.

[00:14:40]>> Yeah >> it's my friend it's Arseni.

[00:14:43]>> Nice to meet you Aria and Mitri.

[00:14:45]>> Dimitri nice to meet you.

[00:14:47]>> Where are you from?

[00:14:48]>> I'm from England.

[00:14:49]>> England.

[00:14:49]>> And my uh my friend he's from right.

[00:14:51]He's from Cameron.

[00:14:52]>> Cameron.

[00:14:53]>> Yeah. From Africa.

[00:14:54]>> Bright.

[00:14:55]>> Shine bright like a diamond. Do you know the song?

[00:14:57]>> What?

[00:14:57]>> Shine bright like a diamond.

[00:14:59]>> Hi.

[00:15:00]>> Shine bright like a diamond. Yeah, I'm tracking the time.

[00:15:03]>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Nice to meet you all, man.

[00:15:05]>> So, guys, what do you like to do during the white nights?

[00:15:08]>> Uh, >> we like uh go in.

[00:15:16]>> Your English is very good. It's very good.

[00:15:17]>> Oh, no. It's so bad.

[00:15:19]>> No, it's fantastic. Where do you go?

[00:15:21]>> Uh, one second.

[00:15:24]>> Gal, probably.

[00:15:25]>> No, no, no, not Gala. We uh we like go to the embankment. Yeah. Okay.

[00:15:35]>> Yes.

[00:15:36]>> And uh >> you can see some beautiful place. Uh >> it's bir instroski.

[00:15:45]>> Oh yeah. Yeah. The tower >> uh and uh >> it's so good place and the white knights. So very good. Um, mysterious.

[00:15:59]>> Is it beautiful? Yeah.

[00:16:00]>> Beautiful. Yeah. All together.

[00:16:02]>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. All together.

[00:16:03]>> I like I like the atmosphere of the white night. It's like one big party.

[00:16:08]>> It's very nice.

[00:16:09]>> Big party. 20 days.

[00:16:12]>> Well, it's better than winter when it's snowing. Yeah, guys.

[00:16:14]>> Yeah. Yeah.

[00:16:15]>> Yeah. We got to head down there and see if we can see the boat. Lovely to meet you. Okay. Have a wonderful evening.

[00:16:21]>> Have a good day.

[00:16:22]>> Have a nice weekend, Bryce. Nice.

[00:16:23]>> This bridge here, it's going to open up soon apparently. And you can't have every anyone on the bridge when it's opening.

[00:16:29]But just look, the street lights have come on. They came on at about quart 11ish.

[00:16:34]But even with the street lights on, look at how bright it is. It's only half 11.

[00:16:41]Look at how bright and beautiful it is.

[00:16:43]And we've actually got quite a nice view really to see the Scarlet Sails when it comes. And everyone who's been kicked off the bridge, they can't stand on the other side of the bridge. It is all completely closed.

[00:16:54]So, we've all lined up along the road here, and it's just full of people, and we're going to be able to see it come from underneath the bridge, but hopefully we'll not get kicked away again. The Scarlet Sails is just coming through the palace bridge. You might just be able to see it in the middle of the screen.

[00:17:15]It's red. Scarlet sails are illuminated.

[00:17:19]You can just about see it through the smoke.

[00:17:23]The tro bridge should have already opened.

[00:17:27]>> Hopefully, it'll open and he'll come a lot closer so we can see it.

[00:18:07]It's already turning around. It's not going to come anywhere closer to us, unfortunately. For some reason, they haven't opened the throat bridge. I was supposed to turn around just in front of the bridge that we are standing behind right now, but unfortunately they haven't opened the Troz bridge. There must be some problem or something. He's turning around in front of the Tro Bridge and going back. What a shame.

[00:18:32]3 hours we've tried to find a place. The whole of the center of the city is closed. Sportiv is closed. We got kicked off this bridge here to stand and we can just about see it all the way from over here through the smoke.

[00:18:48]Better than nothing, eh? At least we got to see it.

[00:18:52]Better than nothing.

[00:18:57]Bit of a disappointment, but it is what it is. It's now 4 minutes past 1 in the morning, and look, the sun still has not set. This is what the sky looks like.

[00:19:08]at 1:00 in the morning. So, it is a shame about the Scarlet Sales, but let me tell you a little bit about the legend that surrounds it because millions watch it. They come to St. Petersburg and they watch it on the television as well all over Russia. But why is it such a legend? It comes from the 1923 novel of Scarlet Sales by Alexander Grin. And the story follows a poor young woman named Saul. And as a child, she was told by an old storyteller that one day a prince would arrive on a ship with bright scarlet sails to take her away for a better life. And everyone laughed at her. No one believed her at all. But years later, the prophecy came true when Captain Gay Sails sailed into the harbor with Scarlet Sails, having learned of the legend and wanting to make her dream a reality. And the novel became a symbol of hope, dreams, and believing in the impossible. So why does it happen in St. Petersburg and not anywhere else in Russia? Well, in 1968, Leningrad revived the story as a graduation celebration.

[00:20:30]And the idea was simple. Every school lever deserves to begin adult life, believing that anything is possible. And the Scarlet Sales became a symbol of new beginnings. And after a break in the 1990s, the celebration returned in 2005 and has grown to become one of the largest events in Europe. and hundreds of thousands of graduates gather on the palace square. There's concerts from very popular Russian celebrities and major lineups. The fireworks which you have seen light up the river Nea and the tall ship with its scarlet sails sails along the NEA river with the gradu.

[00:21:15]Now, the actual ship that they use today is the Russia ship, ship Rascia, but it's fitted with the iconic sails for the event. And you can see just how many people are out for it. What a fantastic way to celebrate graduating school. It's not for the university gradues, only for those leaving school. when you finish the 9inth and the 11th class. That's the end of year 11 and year 13 in British terms. We're going to try and beat the crowd to the metro and head down to Nipski Prospect.

[00:21:53]>> So, Brian, tell me what you think about the Scarlet Sales.

[00:21:56]>> Well, it was was really fantastic, I would say. I mean, of course, we didn't get to see the whole thing, the whole, you know, we saw it from afar. Yeah.

[00:22:06]Yeah. Yeah. Uh, it was worth it, I would say. I don't know. But yeah, I mean, I liked it. The fireworks were were all great. It was quite fun. A lot of people gathered together just at >> Yeah, it was good atmosphere.

[00:22:19]>> I'm glad, man. I'm glad. It was nice to see you.

[00:22:22]>> Yeah, it was nice to see to see you again, man. And I'm hoping I'm going to see you when I come to Moscow.

[00:22:26]>> Please, man. Write me when you come to Moscow. And I'll be waiting. This is the main street of St. Petersburg. This is Nevski Avenue and it runs all the way from Washed Vastia which is where the big Soviet star is and it takes you all the way to the Winter Palace. There they go. Look, the ladders are going by going a bit slow.

[00:22:57]I thought they would have kimped them up to be turbos. No, they've just got a loud radio.

[00:23:02]But you do see lots of Soviet ladders just like that. Not just in St. Petersburg, but all over Russia. There's a horse going back to the farm.

[00:23:17]They pull these princess carriages across the streets during the day. I haven't eaten since 300 p.m. So, we're bordering on for about 11 hours without having anything to eat. St. Petersburg is very famous for a particular type of food. It's very, very popular. So, let's go and find it. We're about a third of the way up Nvki Prospect. And just have a look. Sun is coming up already. Look at the amount of people that are out and about. And they don't jwalk. They wait for the green man. They're all dressed nicely. They're all going to find a bar and a club.

[00:23:59]working ahead the other way where they're coming from.

[00:24:03]>> Look at the beautiful statue up here.

[00:24:08]That's amazing. That's beautiful.

[00:24:11]They're all having their photographs on the bridge over the canal.

[00:24:16]Just have a look at the canal over there. Look at all the boats. Beautiful.

[00:24:22]Absolutely beautiful.

[00:24:25]Look at this old pre-revolution building here.

[00:24:31]>> Look at the color of it. It's beautiful.

[00:24:32]Look, there's another statue up here.

[00:24:34]Couple of guys relaxing looking at the uh at the canal.

[00:24:39]>> Look at that beautiful statue. Another out of control horse. Look. I wonder what he's scared of.

[00:24:49]>> Lovely, isn't it? Look at them all coming down the street.

[00:24:54]Just look at them all.

[00:24:57]>> We've made it as far as Gastini Dvo, which I think is this big yellow building here, which means guest palace. And this is where they have closed off the avenue towards traffic. Fantastic.

[00:25:14]Look at the amount of people which are here. And isn't it just amazing to be able to walk all the way down the middle of this road with no traffic? Hello.

[00:25:24]Hello.

[00:25:24]>> What is your name?

[00:25:25]>> My name is Alex.

[00:25:26]>> What's yours?

[00:25:27]>> Alex.

[00:25:28]>> What's yours?

[00:25:28]>> My name is Eager.

[00:25:30]>> Eager. Nice to meet you. Eager.

[00:25:32]>> Eager. Tell me.

[00:25:33]>> Tell me.

[00:25:34]>> You're from You're from St. Petersburg.

[00:25:36]Yeah.

[00:25:36]>> Yeah.

[00:25:36]>> I see. And what do you think about the white lights?

[00:25:40]>> About the white knights?

[00:25:57]The YouTuber YouTuber does money.

[00:26:28]Instagram. Instagram. Yes. British man in Russia. So, there we have it. We've finally learned how to combat sleep deprivation during the white nights.

[00:26:38]Find yourself a girlfriend. Put on a film with her. You'll find it boring and you'll eventually fall asleep after five minutes. We've made it as far down avenue as Kazan Cathedral.

[00:26:53]And on the right here, we have Church of the Christ, Savior of the Blood.

[00:27:01]And look at the sunrise behind it. Isn't it just beautiful? Let's go down and get a closer look. And perhaps I can finally find a bite to eat and I can show you what is one of the most popular and famous foods in St. Petersburg. Look at this beautiful little side street here.

[00:27:22]It's all close to traffic again. Look, we got people sitting down relaxing. And look here we have the canal.

[00:27:30]Look at the canal. And there's loads of boats. There's loads of people going on night excursions now that the Scarlet Sails has finished. There are loads of night excursions.

[00:27:43]Lots of boats. Loads of people going to be traveling along the river along the canals.

[00:27:51]Getting to see the city as the sun rises.

[00:27:56]Here's another street of Formalo.

[00:28:01]It's just one huge party. What a fantastic atmosphere.

[00:28:08]>> Let's carry on further. Eh, and there are so many 24-hour restaurants, 24-hour cafes. I mean, look at the queue to get in this place.

[00:28:24]>> Look at that. The queue is just spilling out onto the seat. The restaurant is full. They are 24/7 during the white nights and you have a couple of options. You can go to a nice restaurant. Look, another street party.

[00:28:43]Someone got a bit too much to drink.

[00:28:45]There's a nice tradition from Soviet times. Come to St. Petersburg and drink.

[00:28:49]It's called pip.

[00:28:54]There was a mockup look of the Scarlet Sails over the canal there. That looks lovely.

[00:29:05]I don't know if you can see the sunrise reflecting in the canal. There's more street performers down here.

[00:29:15]Dude with an electric guitar.

[00:29:18]Couple of girls dancing.

[00:29:24]Fantastic.

[00:29:31]Let's go around this way.

[00:29:36]Let me know what you think about Russian music. Do you like Russian music? Do you prefer the Soviet postpunk rock? Do you prefer the electronic music? Do you prefer the new stuff, the popular stuff?

[00:29:52]Everyone like and Anna Adi, let me know. Do you prefer Western music?

[00:30:00]There's another one down there. Look, everyone's just out and about dancing.

[00:30:05]What music do you think is most popular in Russia? And which do you like? Do let me know in the comments.

[00:30:11]Especially if you're Russian. It's nice to know what Russians listen to on a daily basis.

[00:30:17]They're enjoying it from this side of the river as well. Look.

[00:30:24]God, >> listen to them sing.

[00:30:32]You might not be able to hear that from this side of the canal, but they're actually singing.

[00:30:37]Like when the musician stops singing and lets the crowd take over.

[00:30:42]Fantastic.

[00:30:45]There's another one down here. You can't go more than 10 meters and not see a different street performer. And it's quarter 2 now. Quarter past 2 on the dot. And this is what the sky looks like at 2:15 in the morning.

[00:31:01]You can see why people have trouble sleeping sometimes.

[00:31:05]How can you sleep through this?

[00:31:08]I mean, it's just too beautiful not to go and explore.

[00:31:13]Let me know. Would you come to St. Petersburg? Would you come and see the white knights here? Or would you prefer going to Stockholm or Helsinki?

[00:31:24]But here is Church, the Christ Savior of Blood. One of the most iconic landmarks >> of St. Petersburg.

[00:31:36]>> Viet.

[00:31:38]>> Yo, what's your name?

[00:31:40]>> Peter. Alex, nice to meet you.

[00:31:42]>> I'm gay. I'm gay.

[00:31:44]>> You're gay?

[00:31:47]>> You speak English? Okay.

[00:31:50]>> 5050. Ah, you will understand. You all understand. Tell me, what is the best thing to do during white nights?

[00:31:57]>> You're from America? No, I'm from England. America.

[00:32:01]>> From England. From England.

[00:32:07]Yeah.

[00:32:32]Okay.

[00:32:45]VIP.

[00:33:07]for heat wave.

[00:33:39]Yeah.

[00:33:55]The ocean.

[00:34:07]Mhm.

[00:34:16]Huh.

[00:34:50]Alexander Let's head towards Nvki Avenue and we'll take a look at the Kazan Cathedral. Lots of people out in different bars and clubs around here and restaurants chilling after the graduation. Lots of people looking at the street performers.

[00:35:24]And if you look very very closely, there are quite a lot of people who have gone to the top floor to chill on the rooftops of the buildings. Hey. Hey.

[00:35:35]What's your name?

[00:35:37]>> Uh, my name is George.

[00:35:38]>> George, nice to meet you. Tell me, what's your favorite time?

[00:35:42]>> What's your name as well?

[00:35:44]>> Uh, Albert.

[00:35:45]>> Nice to meet you. Tell me, what's your favorite time of year in St. Petersburg?

[00:35:49]>> Uh, summer.

[00:35:51]>> Summer. Summer.

[00:35:52]>> Why summer? Because the sun does not set.

[00:35:54]>> Because >> that's all.

[00:35:57]>> I love the vibe. There is no nighttime is one big party.

[00:36:02]>> You live in British? Um, I'm from England, but I live in Moscow. Tell me, what's your most favorite thing to do during summer in St. Petersburg?

[00:36:10]>> Dream.

[00:36:11]>> To drink or dream.

[00:36:14]>> Drink dream.

[00:36:14]>> Drink.

[00:36:15]>> You looks like our >> uh good rapper.

[00:36:20]>> This is a good rapper. Yeah.

[00:36:21]>> Yeah.

[00:36:21]>> Who is this rapper?

[00:36:22]>> Very popular. Toxis. Tox.

[00:36:24]>> Toxis. This is the rapper Toxis. Yeah. I love I love I love Russia. Look at how beautiful this is.

[00:36:30]>> The sun does not go down. It's one very big pot. Yeah. Very beautiful.

[00:36:37]Fresh.

[00:36:39]Fresh. Fresh.

[00:36:41]>> Thank you. You too, man. You too.

[00:36:50]What's he singing about?

[00:36:52]>> About love.

[00:36:53]>> About love.

[00:36:54]>> About love.

[00:36:55]>> Yeah. Is good love or he get catch his heart broken?

[00:36:58]>> Heartbroken.

[00:36:59]>> Heartbroken. Damn.

[00:37:01]>> Really? Uh, what's your favorite artist?

[00:37:03]>> My favorite music.

[00:37:04]>> From uh music, I'd say a Russian artist.

[00:37:06]My favorite music is Kinoy.

[00:37:10]Yeah, I went to a concert of Kino 2 years ago in Moscow. It's not obviously the same without Soy, but you know, they had the the graphics there. It was nice.

[00:37:21]>> Rap is is not my favorite, but it's nice every now and then, you know, when the when the right mood is there.

[00:37:28]>> Listen.

[00:37:29]>> Yeah. You all like rap. Yeah. I love you.

[00:37:31]>> You love rap. But who is your favorite rapper?

[00:37:34]>> Uh from Russian or >> from Russia and from outside Russia?

[00:37:38]>> Outside maybe. Uh maybe top three. I say I tell you I say you >> you can tell me a little >> uh you know uh examine >> exam.

[00:38:04]>> I story history.

[00:38:06]>> Yeah.

[00:38:06]>> And we listen history English. I know revolution.

[00:38:42]No, >> no, you went to the the party. I thought maybe you went on the ship. No, >> no. Fair enough.

[00:38:50]>> Very beautiful. Very beautiful.

[00:38:53]>> Yeah.

[00:38:53]>> I'm glad you had a nice time, guys. I'm going to head off. It was lovely to meet you. Okay. Have a lovely summer.

[00:39:01]>> Yes.

[00:39:02]>> Do you like my girl?

[00:39:03]>> Huh?

[00:39:03]>> She's so beautiful. My girl.

[00:39:05]>> You are both so beautiful.

[00:39:07]>> Thank you.

[00:39:07]>> We are all so beautiful in our own way.

[00:39:09]Guys, have a lovely summer. Take care.

[00:39:22]Raza class skater.

[00:40:12]Alexander Ocean.

[00:40:17]He's now the skater mullet. Well, let's see.

[00:40:50]glass now.

[00:41:03]Huh?

[00:41:28]Peter.

[00:41:33]Mhm.

[00:42:14]Finland, Stockholm.

[00:42:31]foreign.

[00:43:01]was not force.

[00:43:30]Let's carry on towards the river Neya.

[00:43:33]You can see the sunrise here. 3:00 in the morning on NVski Avenue. And here is Kazanski Cathedral. This is the Kazan Cathedral. Look, lots of people out and about just chilling in the park, spending time with their close ones, their friends after their graduation party.

[00:43:59]cotton candy >> shaped as a rose. Lots of different street food out and about today. Look.

[00:44:06]And just look at the amount of people chilling in the park of Kazan Cathedral.

[00:44:14]So many. There must be a few hundred people here at least. And of course, this time in the morning, it's a really good time to get all of your Instagram photos because of the deep blue sky and the sunrise.

[00:44:29]But there are probably more people on here than there are in a normal day.

[00:44:35]Look at that.

[00:44:37]Everyone's just chilling, having picnics, enjoying time with their close ones while the sun rises.

[00:44:44]And one last thing that I will show you here is this particular building on the corner. And if you know Russian history and if you use telegram messenger then you will know that this is the particular building that parl Durovv threw a lot of money off towards the street for all the common people to pick up. He was throwing the equivalent of£50 notes onto the floor.

[00:45:14]We've made it to the palace gate. Look down here. Let's come off Nevki Avenue.

[00:45:21]Finally, we finally made it to the palace gate. And this is going to take us all the way through to the Hermitage, the palace.

[00:45:33]And just look how beautiful it is here.

[00:45:35]Look at all of these pre-revolution buildings.

[00:45:39]Look at the huge bouquets of flowers.

[00:45:42]on the street. What fantastic decorations. And look here. Look at the decorations and the sculptures which have been shaped and carved into the buildings.

[00:45:57]This is Belshaya Mosquez through big sea street.

[00:46:03]And we're going to hope that this is open now that the big concert has finished for all of the school graduates. It must be because everyone is coming this way past the fence. Just look at that. It's massive, isn't it?

[00:46:18]Absolutely massive. Look at the inscriptions and the sculptures inside here.

[00:46:30]Look at the angel at the top.

[00:46:33]Beautiful.

[00:46:36]Absolutely breathtaking. We are now coming into the courtyard of the armatage itself, the house of the Russian s.

[00:46:47]And of course, it is blocked by a huge stage where all the celebrities were playing their music for the concert for all of the school gradu.

[00:47:00]So, we're going to go around this way and I'm going to take you to the armatage in the river. Hopefully, just in time for sunrise. We've made it to the courtyard of the armatage. Look, this is the palace of the ts where Nicholas II used to live. Look at it.

[00:47:23]It's absolutely humongous. And this is only the front.

[00:47:27]It goes all the way back to the river.

[00:47:30]I'm sure this was all part of it. And this was all part of it as well at one point.

[00:47:37]And they say that if you were to look at every single piece of artwork in the editage for I think 10 seconds, you would spend 6 months in the editage nonstop. And that's just a phenomenal statistic really, the amount of artwork and things to see in this place. and we might go in another time. Do let me know in the comments if you would like me to go into the arabatage and show you just what it was like to be the SAR and to live there. I think that would be pretty interesting. But do let me know in the comments if that's something you would like and I'm happy to come back to St. Petersburg and show you. But just have a look here. Look how big this palace courtyard is. There's another two churches down there. Look, big monument.

[00:48:26]And this is where just a couple of hours ago the scholars were celebrating their graduation.

[00:48:34]And I think we've beat the sunrise by just a little bit.

[00:48:41]As you can see, it's a lot quieter at this end of NVski Prospect.

[00:48:46]They're cleaning up after the after party. Look, let's see if I can go away from the street cleaners.

[00:48:54]I think now they're closing the square again so that they can clean up properly ready for tomorrow. So, we came at the right time. Really, we came at just the right time before it closed again. Look at that.

[00:49:09]That's absolutely beautiful.

[00:49:13]Editage itself.

[00:49:18]Let's carry on.

[00:49:20]Just around the back of the armatage is the river Neva. In fact, if you can see the yellow building with the flag down there, then you will see that is just where the river starts the embankment. So, let's go through the palace park. We'll have to try and weave our way through all of the fencing and hope that that takes us all the way down to the river. I think it does.

[00:49:50]It's now 3:35 in the morning.

[00:49:55]Look at the sky.

[00:49:59]I just can't get over it. We don't have anything like this in the West whatsoever.

[00:50:06]>> It's absolutely wonderful to be walking through the nighttime again. I love walking. It's so good for your health.

[00:50:14]I've just come back from Antalya and Istanbul and Baku and I've practically done 20,000 steps, 25,000 steps every day. I think my legs are falling off me.

[00:50:27]And we've made it.

[00:50:29]This is the Rivera just at the cusp of sunrise. Look at that.

[00:50:37]Isn't that beautiful? It hasn't rained.

[00:50:40]They've just cleaned the roads.

[00:50:43]They've put the bridges back down now so that they can take the fireworks off.

[00:50:48]The bridges don't normally come down so early. It's not normally until about 4:00 in the morning they come down.

[00:50:57]But just look at that. Isn't that beautiful? And now they've opened the roads except for the palace bridge cuz they're taking the fireworks off.

[00:51:08]Oh my, look at all the police.

[00:51:10]I thought they were going to try and get in the car there. That means that the road's open. There's been huge security tonight for the Scarlet Sales.

[00:51:21]Make sure that nobody is getting in there without a ticket. And of course to make sure everything is safe because regardless whether there is a conflict situation or not, you're going to find huge presence of police officers at these kind of situations and events to make sure everything's safe. And that's fair enough. Happens in the west, happens in Russia, happens anywhere.

[00:51:41]But just look at that. Isn't it beautiful? Really, that palace bridge there.

[00:51:48]Those two red towers that you can see in the distance, they light up with fire.

[00:51:54]And the scarlet sails came all the way through here.

[00:52:01]>> They've closed the pavement to clean up everything.

[00:52:05]So, we're going to head along the road.

[00:52:07]At least the road is open.

[00:52:12]There's lots of police cars coming along, though. Lots of Rasguardia.

[00:52:17]There's the Russian Guard.

[00:52:20]They're kind of like the army, halfway between the police and the army. And they help out the police during big events.

[00:52:30]Look, told you that the yellow building was part of the armatage. Look, that bridge there connects the original part of the armatage with the yellow part.

[00:52:41]I think there's different names for the different parts of the palace. Central, east wing, west wing. I'm not 100% cuz it's been about a year, give or take, since I was last there. Maybe two years to be honest with you. I think it was 2 years since I was last there. So, I wouldn't be able to tell you off the top of my head, but we can't know everything. And I will certainly brush upon my knowledge if you would like me to go and do a vlog inside of the Armatage.

[00:53:10]Look at the color of that sky. Isn't that just phenomenal?

[00:53:18]God. Wow. Look at the pink and the purple there.

[00:53:22]That's just amazing. Let's try and get We've made it as far as Tro's bridge.

[00:53:30]Look.

[00:53:32]Look, you can see the sun just reflecting off the tops of the churches, off the windows of the different buildings at the bottom of the river. You can just see it. The sun is finally coming.

[00:53:50]And I'm very, very glad because my legs are about to fall off.

[00:53:57]That is gorgeous.

[00:53:58]>> We're at almost 30,000 steps since I left the hotel room at about 8:30 last night and I'm getting very tired very quickly, but just look.

[00:54:12]I'm not sure if you can see it, but the sunlight is reflecting off the glass of all of the different buildings.

[00:54:21]And it is really, really beautiful. I really do hope you can see that. That looks absolutely phenomenal. And you can just see the golden crosses or the crosses which are made of gold at the top of the uh churches at the other side of the river there in the distance. Just catching the glint of that morning sunrise.

[00:54:41]They've opened traffic over the bridge now. So, let's head over to the bridge and we'll get a beautiful view of the river Nevon.

[00:54:53]We've basically done one big circle because the next bridge is where we were kicked off. We've taken the metro down towards Nevki Avenue. We've basically walked up it all the way to the top there and come back. And just look, you can see the sun rising finally.

[00:55:14]Look at that.

[00:55:17]>> It's just coming over the horizon.

[00:55:24]Lots of people look >> riding their scooters back home now that the bridges are open. Oh, just look at that. The sun is finally here. So, what time is the sun rising here in St. Petersburg?

[00:55:39]3:56 a.m.

[00:55:43]This is what the sky looks like at 3:56 a.m. during the white nights in St. Petersburg.

[00:55:53]>> Absolutely phenomenal. Look at how beautiful that is. And you can see as well that the sunlight is just reflecting off the buildings, off the glass there. It's already coming down on the buildings here.

[00:56:11]It is reflecting all off the buildings down there.

[00:56:16]And I'm not the only one that wants a picture look.

[00:56:22]Absolutely magnificent.

[00:56:26]We have gone through the entire white night without going to sleep. And we've done about 30,000 steps in the process.

[00:56:36]We should be very proud of ourselves. I know I am cuz I'm the one that's done the walking. You get to watch through your screen and your chair or your bed.

[00:56:44]I'm the one that's done the walking.

[00:56:48]Well, I'm very happy to have done so.

[00:56:50]And I'm very happy to have shown you. We have made it. We have survived an entire white night in St. Petersburg. I am absolutely exhausted. I have been pretty much walking for about 9 hours and we have done about 30,000 steps. I haven't had a single meal since 3:00 last afternoon. So, we're looking at about 13 14 hours since my last proper meal. And I really wanted to get myself something which is very popular here in St. Petersburg. Something which is very famous here in St. Petersburg, a shuama kebab or as they like to call here, shama for some reason. And although there are lots of 24-hour kebab shops, all of them have had a queue of like 40 people outside and I don't want to be waiting half an hour, an hour just to get a damn kebab. So I have something when I get closer to the hotel and I'm going to have myself a very very good sleep. So tell me, what is your favorite part of the white nights? And who was your favorite person that we met? What do you think about the legend of the Scarlet Sails? I am sorry that I couldn't get you a better view of the Scarlet Sails. Maybe one day in the future I will get you a better view. But we weren't just here for the Scarlet Sails. We were here to show you what the White Knights of St. Petersburg looks like. And we were here to meet the wonderful people and not just St. Petersburg, but the wonderful people of Russia who come here every year to enjoy the scarlet sails and the white knights.

[00:58:38]So, what do you think about the white knights? Are they beautiful? Would you come here and enjoy them yourself? What do you think about the fact that Russian people wait all year for summer and the white nights? And how do you think the Russians enjoy their time during the white nights? How do you think about how they party and who was your favorite person that we met last night? Do let me know in the comments. I really enjoy enjoying all of your opinions and everything that you have to say. But until then, I'm going to get myself a shuama, get myself a good night's sleep, and I will see you next time for the next Russian adventure.