Vladimir Nabokov

NABOKV-L post 0022384, Fri, 10 Feb 2012 11:10:42 -0500

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150 meters from the Vladimir Nabokov Museum ...
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http://studyabroad.blogs.bucknell.edu/2012/02/09/when-in-doubt-ask-a-babushka/

Study Abroad Bloggers
When in doubt, ask a babushka.
Today, I got lost. Really, really lost. I highly recommend it.

I’m only being a little facetious – to be completely honest, I may have actually had fun in the process. Well, maybe not. I lost feeling in my toes for a while, but I saw things that I may never have seen had I not gotten lost.

[ … ]

I passed this monument to Emperor Nicholas the First.


Then, I came across a street sign that told me I was only 150 meters from the Vladimir Nabokov Museum. I decided it was too good and too close to pass up, so I trudged down the slushy sidewalk to see the apartment where the famous author was raised. Once inside, I spent most of my time on the first floor, where I examined his extensive collection of butterflies, as well as his typewriter, library, a wall of Lolita posters, personal drawings and paintings, and some chaotic, hand-written outlines for a few of his novels. Pretty neat.




I left shortly after I arrived, as I was determined to get to the Hermitage before it got any colder. Fate had other plans for me! Somehow, I set off in the wrong direction. Totally incorrect. I’m not even sure how it happened, so I’m just going to chalk it up to a fluke occurrence. As I walked, perplexed, across one canal, and then another, I had the sinking suspicion that I was very lost. I turned around in a circle. I stared at St. Issac’s Cathedral for a while.


[ … ]

As for the Hermitage – maybe I’ll try again on Saturday.

Posted by Alex Bird on February 9, 2012








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