is egalitarian, wear their best clothing. Activities include chatting with neighbors and acquaintances, flirting, and gossiping. Several streets in countries with a Spanish cultural history incorporate the word: Paseo de la Reforma in Mexico City, Paseo del Prado, Havana, Paseo de Roxas in the Philippines, and Buenos Aires’s Paseo La Plaza. The similar, and widespread custom in Italy for an evening walk is called la passeggiata. Strolling or walking (Russian: гулять, gulyat') is very common in the Russian society. In contrast to many western countries strolling is very common among young people in Russia. Young people often arrange just to go for a walk. Besides the verb, the experience itself, which describes the time span of the walk, is called progulka (Russian: прогулка). Walking is so important in Russian culture that gulyat' also is a synonym for "to party". The 19th-century Russian literary critic Vissarion Belinsky described St. Petersburg as the center of urban strolling in that country, by contrast with Moscow. Rural strolls have long been a staple of Russian fiction and songs; Tchaikovsky composed a musical accompaniment to the Nikolay Grekov poem “We haven’t long to stroll”. See also Strolling players References External links Will modern-day flaneurs help rebuild fragmented communities? (essay on http://www.theecologist.org) Walking Leisure