Васильевский остров прекрасен как жаба в манжетах! Used to be, anyway. This is a general putdown of the city whose palaces resemble Versailles but are located

Васильевский остров прекрасен как жаба в манжетах! Used to be, anyway. This is a general putdown of the city whose palaces resemble Versailles but are located on the marshland banks of the Neva river. St Petersburg deserves better. (Loose translation of the quote: Vassilevsky Island is beautiful just like a toad with cufflinks.)