Page 62 - (DK Eyewitness) Top 10 Travel Guide - St. Petersburg

60 ❯❯ The Top 10 of Everything

Souvenirs

the boom ing tourist demand, there
are some fine, original Lenin statues
on sale at the Souvenir Market near
the Church on Spilled Blood. Notes,
coins and badges comme mo rating
achi eve ments of the comm unist
system are usually genuine.
Russian Music
4
From choral church music
and the perestroika-era rock of
Kino to the modern-day sounds
of Leningrad, old CDs and vinyls
of Russian music make excellent
souvenirs. The best shops are on
and near Nevskiy prospekt. Prices
usually range from ₽200 to ₽400.
Caviar
5
Black or red caviar makes a
A selection of matryoshka dolls great gift. Spread thinly on bread,
its distinc tive taste is not easily
Matryoshka Dolls
1 forgotten. It is best to buy caviar in
large super markets, after carefully
Consisting of a series of
carved dolls, each one smaller than checking the expiry date.
the next, matryoshka dolls are on
Vodka
sale all over the city and come in a 6
variety of styles. The traditional ones The range of vodka on offer
are the prettiest, but those painted here, from cheap rot-gut to grandly
as Russian, Soviet and world leaders packaged brands, is vast. Stolichnaya
are also very popular. and Gzelhka are long-established
brands and any thing over ₽200 is
Gzhel Porcelain
2 almost certain to be safe. Always
buy from a supermarket.
Gzhel porcelain has been
produced in Gzhel, an area not
Samovar
far from Moscow, since the 7
middle of the 18th century. The samovar is
The distinctive blue traditionally used to boil water
and white patt erned for tea. Made of brass or
ceramics are copper, and warmed by
extremely popular. coals contained in the
The Gzhel style central tube, the vessel
is also used in was designed in the 18th
traditional century. The word is
Russian art. a combination of
“samo”, meaning
Soviet
3 meaning “to boil”.
“itself”, and “varit”,
Memorabilia
While authentic Soviet A permit is re qui red
me mo ra bilia is difficult to export a samovar
to find, with factories made before 1945.
turning out mod ern
reproductions to meet Traditional samovar
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