North Light Studios

Unlike many of these places that I blog about that I want to visit, I've actually been to St. Petersburg. Not recently, of course. This was about fourteen years ago, and I went in the middle of winter with my husband. We were crazy, of course, but it was an amazing experience and so worth it. From the gorgeous architecture and brightly painted buildings to the eerily beautiful cemeteries and roomy town squares, I loved every minute of it. I remember walking into shops or buildings and I would start to thaw, mascara and phlegm running down my face. The instant I would walk back outside it would all freeze up again. Very cold, but so full of history and intrigue that it filled my blood and intoxicated me. We stayed in the Hotel St. Petersburg, which at the time was undergoing renovation. We didn't have the money to stay in the nice rooms, so our room was an old communist un-breeding ground with two smaller-than-twin beds nailed to the walls end to end. My husband and I still ma