In Petersburg, June is the month of white nights (or as Russians call them “Белые Ночи”). One of the most unexpected transitions I’ve had to make on this trip is figuring out how to comfortably sleep with light seeping through the curtains in my room. And I’m not exaggerating when I claim that, during all of last month, the sun would not set in Petersburg until past midnight. The city’s residents, emerging from what I have heard is a long, bitter winter, could be heard in the streets (of even my very residential neighborhood) well into the night. In my apartment complex, which faces toward a large children’s park in the back, I would hear children playing and screaming up until two in the morning. While the white nights necessitated some flexibility, I feel very lucky to have shared the experience this summer. In my opinion, Petersburg is at it’s most beautiful when the sun is slowly setting over the city’s landscape at the apex of a белая ночь.