To face the truth, posting in Worldmappin section of the Hive is... can be quite rewarding (in terms of payouts). !LOLZ

A strong connection exists between St Petersburg and my country of residence, the Netherlands.

Absolutely! Peter the Great, the emperor, was raised up in Moscow (the old capital of Russia) and for various reasons hated it. In his teens, he had a lot of communication with overseas visitors from Europe and became a fan, and an active driver of the thing which we call now 'the modernization'. To fulfill his harshest dream, he build a brand new city on the Baltic seaside, and moved the capital from Moscow to Petersburg. In 1695/96 he left the country for a venture called 'The Great Ambassy' and visited Germany, Netherlands, France, England (and much more was planned ). Netherlands became his favourite country - a lot of naval and cultural customs and traditions he exported and incorporated into Russian elites cultural code. Amsterdam became a 'prompt', a model for building the city of SPb. Your thesis, about a strong connection, can easily fill a dozen of thick books, from popular entertaining reading to scientific monographs, hehe.

PS. by the way - Holland is a country of great visual design and typography, the driver and the leader -- in same way, as Italy is the leading country in fashion and style. Respect! You happen to live in a great place. !LUV