But
only until next time. It’s a long ride
from Manhattan, but well worth the trip for a stroll on the boardwalk, a hearty
Russian meal, and a visit to the shops in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn. Out on the streets of this neighborhood of
Russian immigrants, also dubbed “Little
Odessa”, you hear more Russian or Ukrainian being
spoken than English, but the shop keepers quickly accommodate English-only
speakers.
At
the St. Petersburg Bookstore at 230 Brighton Beach Avenue, you can choose from
a wide variety of Russian-language books, CDs, and movies, as well as a more
modest collection of English-only volumes. Part of the fun for me was trying to
recognize American and English volumes in translation. The staff doesn’t
approach you as you browse, though there is some silent monitoring going on.
With
so many intriguing titles I couldn’t
read, I was glad to find some modestly priced copies of the works of Dostoevsky
and came away with this Dover Edition of the author’s “The Eternal Husband”
(1869). (The novella tells the story of Velchaninov, a rich lawyer with a
history of treating women carelessly and cruelly, who is unexpectedly
confronted by the husband of his late
mistress, many years after the affair has taken place.)
In
addition to books on a wide range of subjects, gifts are for sale. These
include an impressive selection of the nesting dolls called matryoshka in Russian, and some
balalaikas.
The
St. Petersburg also sells merchandise on-line.
Feeling
hungry after your immersion in Russian literature? Stop at the Ocean View Café at 290 Brighton Beach Avenue for some stroganoff, potato varnekas
(dumplings) and fruit punch. The bilingual menu is extensive and the busy but
polite wait staff is prepared to answer questions from newcomers. We recommend
you pass on dessert, however, and cross the street to Vintage Food at 287
Brighton Bach Avenue where you can stock up on a variety of dried fruits and
beautifully wrapped candies with mysterious ingredients.
Inside this wrapper--as pretty as an old-fashioned children's book illustration--was a delicious chocolate candy! |
For
more on the history of Brighton Beach (the neighborhood is also the setting for
Neil Simon’s Brighton Beach Memoirs), go to this link, courtesy of the Brooklyn
Public Library.
This brought back memories of a similar day A & I had on my "Year to Say Goodbye" explorations, before we left NYC. We did the same thing re dessert!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great photos--unlikely I'll ever get to this part of the country, but I was aware of a thriving Russian ex-pat community in the area.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments. There are so many interesting foreign-language bookstores in NYC--I'm hoping to visit more soon.
ReplyDelete