russia: novosibirsk

Getting from Tomsk to Novosibirsk didn't take long. The trip was just 4.5 hours. The train station in Novosibirsk is one of the biggest in the city, at least from the outside. There were a bunch of rooms inside, but it didn't feel very grand until I saw it from the outside.

Novosibirsk is the third largest city in Russia, after Moscow and St Petersburg, with more than a million and a half people. It was founded in 1893, as Novonikolayevsk, and almost immediately grew into a big transport, commercial, and industrial hub. (So says Wikipedia.) The original city name was for St Nicholas and the reigning tsar Nikolas II.

Novonikolayevsk became Novosibirsk in 1926, under Stalin.

Novosibirsk is one of several Russian cities with a metro system, I was thrilled. There are 5 stops on one line, 8 stops on the other. I knew straightaway that I wanted to ride the full length of at least one of the lines, just because it was there. Each ride was only 22 rubles, or about 30 cents USD.

There hadn't been a lot available when I booked my room in Novosibirsk, so I splurged a bit. My room was a 'normal' hotel room, which felt rather extravagant compared to the places I had been staying. A proper bed, my own bathroom, a tv, etc... Total luxury ;)

The only downside was the location. It wasn't close to much of anything, but like I said, Novosibirsk has public transit.

Not that I rode any of the public transit while getting around the city, except to see it as a sight. I love walking if at all possible, I just get to see so much more. Getting into the city center involved walking along tram tracks, as I couldn't find a sidewalk. Ooops.

My first official sight was a quirky monument: it honoured the first traffic light in the city. I'm not sure why it was made, but it was fun to see.

The monument was just a couple blocks from my second sight: the Alexander Nevsky cathedral. I don't know if I'm making things up, but it seems like a lot of Nevsky cathedrals have brick exteriors. I'm not a huge fan of brick, I don't know why. The interior of the church was lovely. High ceilings with a painted rotunda, plenty of frescoes, etc...

At this point I was on a main street of the city. More walking took me past a statue of Tsar Alexander III. Apparently Siberia is still a fan of the guy. He wasn't far from a WW2 memorial obelisk in the parkway in the middle of the street.

I wound through a couple streets until I got to an art museum, named for Roerich. Roerich was raised in St Petersburg, where he got degrees in art and law. Much of his legacy comes from his extensive travels, most often with his family.

The museum was quite big, with all of the exhibits on the second floor. Some of the works on display were copies, I don't know where the originals were, or if they still exist. Roerich did a lot of traveling, so a couple sections were devoted entirely to paintings from his central and high asian trips. Beautiful landscapes that made me want to see more of those areas.

From there I walked up the main street until I got to a huge statue of Lenin. I took my photo from the front, on the other side were kids skateboarding and generally hanging out. I was pretty cold at that point, otherwise I would've stayed and watched them for a while.

I'd found an Indian place listed online for dinner, but when I got there the doors were closed. The sign on the doors said it should be open, but it wasn't so that's that. I turned around and was happy I'd noticed another branch of the Asian place I'd visited in Tomsk while walking. The food was just as good, and I was just as full when I walked out.

Walking home wasn't fun, as it was dark and cold, but I got there and slept soundly.

It turned out that not only was my room feeling pretty fabulous, the price included breakfast delivered to my room. It wasn't amazing, but I couldn't remember the last time I'd had breakfast in bed, so I enjoyed it anywho. Mainly I wished the croissant hadn't been drowned in chocolate sauce.

Eventually I packed up and checked out, taking my pack with me. My first sight was at the furthest distance I'd walked yesterday, the Church of the Intercession. 

It didn't look all that amazing from the outside, but I loved the inside. Tall ceilings with frescoes everywhere, lots of candles, etc... There were people all over praying, I enjoyed the atmosphere for a few minutes. There were lot of windows letting in plenty of natural light, which always sucks me in.

At that point I had one more sight to see, and I was running later than I wanted to be. I hopped on the metro taking it to Karl Marx square. Nice clean trains and stations, as expected.

I walked from the station to Heroes of the Revolution Park, which was basically a park of giant war memorials. 

I found soldiers guarding an eternal flame, an old military plane, plaques with names, a tank or two, etc... And kids playing with their parents, of course.

Across the street from the park I saw another Lenin statue. This one was painted gold, I think he was in front of a government building. Ugly, but I still took the photo.

Instead of taking public transport to the airport, I used an app to call a taxi. It was a lot faster, and only $5USD, so I was thrilled. The flight back to Moscow had food, which made it feel like a luxury flight to me. Plus it departed and landed on time :)

Novosibirsk is like the other cities I visited during this trip, I'm not sure I need to see them again, but maybe there is something else to be seen in summer? Or fall?