russia: voronezh

 

Voronezh is the capital of its own oblast. The city is 515 kilometers almost straight south from Moscow, and has a population of over a million people.

Wikipedia tells me the first written references to the city date back to 1177. Something about the prince of another region (when Russia was made up of various princely states and was not a single country,) fled to the city. Reading this makes one think the city was actually older than this date, but I guess there is no other proof?

The region in which the city is located used to have lots of oak forests, which are typically pretty dark in colour. The first half of the name, voron, often means 'black/dark' in Slavic languages. Wikipedia goes on to say that folk etymology in Russia combined the names for raven (voron,) and hedgehog (ezh) to make the river, and therefore city name.

By the 17^th century the city was of a reasonable size, enough that Peter the Great built a dockyard in the city. It was at this dockyard where a fleet of ships was built to help Russia in its Azov campaigns of the late 17^th century.

(When Russia tried to take over access to the Sea of Azov in Turkey.) It didn't work, but that's another story.

During WW2 Voronezh was the sight of a lot of fighting between Russian and combined Axis troops, in fact Germany used the area as a staging area for the seige of what was then Stalingrad. The industrial factories of the region were altered to help produce military equipment, which was a major help to the war effort for Russia. All the fighting took a toll on Voronezh, as it was more than 90% destroyed by the end of the war.

More reading of the Wikipedia article tells me it took decades to rebuild the city after the Great Patriotic War. Industry continues to play a big part in the city and regional economy and environment, with factories for machine tools, and heavy mechanical pressing. (I have no idea what this is.)

My train to Voronezh arrived on time. The attendant in my train car must've been really concerned that I wouldn't get up and off the train after it pulled into the station. She tapped on my leg twice, and was very insistent that I wake up and get up, even though it was still more than 30 minutes before the scheduled arrival time.

I usually get down from my bunk no more than 15 minutes ahead of time, as I have nothing to do except clean up my sheets and put on my shoes.

Anywho. The train station in Voronezh seemed pretty big. Most stations have the city name on the back side/track side of the station, but Voronezh took that to another level. The city name was on the back side twice, as well as on both sides of the station. You'll never end up in Voronezh (by train) and not know where you are.

The inside of the station is nice too, with some stained glass. I was taking a photo of the front of the station (there are some statues on the roof,) when a security officer asked if I was a professional photographer. I'm not sure why he asked, maybe because I was taking a photo with a real camera, not a phone? Who knows. Part of the front of the station was covered with scaffolding, so the photos didn't turn out very well.

It didn't take me long to walk to the hostel I'd booked. I'm pretty sure the hostel wasn't very busy, and I was likely one of few foreigners they had this summer. 

I got the impression that the front desk lady was happy to be able to practice her English, and I didn't mind, knowing that the 'lesson' wasn't going to take very long. I got to have a dorm room all to myself, which was really nice. I ended up staying inside for a few hours, doing nothing in particular.

I finally walked out the door at 11, I didn't want to waste the entire day inside. The first 'sight' I saw was the former 'Officers' House,' which looked more like a theatre to me than a military or government building. Though it was listed as a sight to see, I don't think it was open for visitors to wander around inside.

The Officers' House was on a main street, which I followed for a while. The street was busy, and felt very 'normal.' I don't think Voronezh is high on most people's list of places to visit in Russia, so it doesn't feel at all touristy. I liked seeing a theatre with quirky statues and turrets on top, a building with lovely mosaic tiled decoration, and a government building of some kind.

I walked through a garden that had some modern art pieces on display, they were very very colourful. I don't know how to describe them except to say big circles on sticks. I wonder how long they'll stay on display.

I tried to get close to the main Lenin in town, he stands in the middle of Lenin platz, which is in front of the city administration building. Getting to that platz wasn't as easy as I thought it would've been. There are roads on three sides of the platz, but none of them had a crosswalk going to the platz anywhere close to where I was.

From there I had a long-ish walk. I stopped at a WW2 memorial, which included an eternal flame and big Soviet style statues. There was also a separate building to go in, which was really well done. There was basically one big room, with small displays for each official Hero City from WW2. There were photos, as well as dirt from each city, as well as medallions and ribbons and such. There was intense music and fake flowers too.

There was a small chapel next to the memorial, but the doors were locked when I tried to enter.

From there it was another long-ish walk, this time going over a bridge across the river the splits the city in two.

My goal on the other side of the river was to get to a Lenin statue. Crossing the bridge was easy (but windy,) but as I got to the other side I ended up with the same problem I'd already had once, a lack of crosswalks. The 'as the crow flies' distance to this Lenin statue wasn't that far, but to get there I had to add an extra couple blocks of walking distance, in order to avoid cars flying down the street. Argh.

Lenin seemed about life size, on a pedestal not too much taller than me. He was painted silver, nothing special. That being said, this statue felt smaller than most Lenin statues I've seen; he is often portrayed as being larger than life even though he was not a big/tall man. I took my photo and figured out a slightly faster way to get back to the bridge to go back across the river.

Just after crossing the river, I veered off the bridge and onto a road that followed the river. Eventually I got to a platz with another memorial, a boat museum, and a church.

The boat museum was pretty impressive from the outside, though I chose not to visit the museum this time, figuring it might be worth seeing another day. I could tell this summer was different than usual, because this type of platz would probably normally be teeming with people, but there was hardly another soul to be seen.

I walked out another side of the platz, and followed a path that basically took me straight up a steep hill. The path brought me right to a church, which wasn't open when I walked by. From there I followed roads to get to a bridge listed as a 'sight' worth seeing. Hint, it wasn't.

It was just a bridge over another road. I doubt I would've noticed it at all if it hadn't been marked on the map and mentioned online.

I headed back in the very general direction of my hostel, my walk brought me to a series of triangles leading to another platz. I wanted a photo of me standing in the triangle 'tunnel,' but there were just enough people out for a walk to make that photo difficult to take. I decided to come back in the morning, and hope for fewer people to avoid.

The next morning I made sure to get moving earlier in the day, in order to take a couple photos without worrying about other people getting in my frame. The first was near a bar, go figure. Just outside Barack O'Mama was a series of Warhol style portraits, which I thought would make for an interesting photo background.

I was also able to take the photo I'd wanted in the triangle tunnel I'd seen yesterday. Woo hoo.

After the triangle photo I went back to the platz at one end of the triangles. Called Sovietsky platz, there was a fountain in the middle, and a church on one side.

The outside of this church was blue, and the inside was absolutely lovely with frescoes all over.

From there I walked to the 'main' Lenin statue I'd spotted yesterday. Since it was still early, there wasn't much vehicular traffic, so I got to the platz by just crossing the street where it suited me.

Next on my itinerary was a huge monument. It looked like a giant globe, and had the slogan 'proletarians of every country unite.' Very very big, it took up the entire middle of a traffic circle.

Earlier in this post I mentioned a church on a hill, it hadn't been open when I walked by. I went back, just in case it was open this time around, and luck was with me. This was another blue church, also with great frescoes all over the interior.

Not far away was yet another church, this one looked old. At least, most of it looked old. The bell tower was in need of some love, but the inside was almost sterile. There was a small iconostasis, but nothing else, just white walls. I hope there are plans to add more.

I made my way back to the main street on which I'd started my explorations the day before, this time I walked back in the opposite direction. As I passed a fountain I realized I could see a couple having wedding photos taken. I was hot, the bride and groom must've been roasting. Just off this street was Victory platz, which had a couple big monuments, and a great view over the edge of the hill.

On the other side of the main street I could see Annunciation church. (Or is it a cathedral? I've never figured out the difference.)

Very big, painted white outside with green domes on top, and very eye catching. The inside was stunning, even with part of it under renovation. Brightly painted frescoes all over, a huge iconostasis with bright icons up in front.

After leaving the church, I found a street that headed slightly downhill, hoping to see another couple of churches. Go figure, one of them was another blue church. Too bad, this one was closed. I got down the street to the second church (actually, it was a monastery,) but the outer gates were closed and locked.

Since other churches had been closed at various times, I had no idea whether these churches were closed because of Covid, or if there was another reason.

To get back to my hostel I walked along the path given to me by Yandex maps. I giggled to myself when I realized one of the streets I was following was called Sakko and Vanzetti (sp?) street. Rather odd to find a street named after Italian anarchists, given the political systems and history in Russia. 

When I got back to the hostel I had enough time to charge my phone, and relax a bit, then walk to the train station. Unfortunately, I hadn't looked very carefully at my train ticket, because I was at the wrong train station! The one I needed was on the other side of town!! I tried to get there by taxi, but ended up missing my train by just two or three minutes. Argh.

Fortunately I was able to buy a ticket for the next train going to my next destination, which left just an hour later. While waiting, I walked back to a big memorial of a plane to take a couple photos. There were kids playing on the plane, trying to climb up the 'spine' but not making it very far.

I made sure to be at the train station in plenty of time for my train, hee hee. I shared a coupe with a couple police officers for a couple stops, then they got off and I had it all to myself. Woo hoo!!

russia: back to vologda

One of the places I visited in early January was a city called Vologda. Since I was there in winter, everything I saw was white or gray, if I could see anything at all. When I looked at the map I realized there were a number of things I didn't see, so I decided to go back. This visit was in mid-July, with warm weather, so the city looked and felt completely different. Yet since I was there during the pandemic I'm sure it wasn't the same as summer would usually be. I wonder whether I should go back to see what that's like?

The beginning of this trip was a bit nerve-wracking for me, because it was a time when everything in Russia was changing in regards to actions being taken for the pandemic. I had booked accommodation, and a couple days before my arrival, my accommodation sent me a message saying that there was currently a 14 day quarantine for any foreigners arriving in the city. I wrote back and expressed that I wouldn't be coming if the quarantine was still a requirement during my days there, as that would've defeated the purpose of going. 

They understood, and said they would let me know what decision was taken by the city a few hours before my train was scheduled to depart. Thankfully the city decided to lift the quarantine, so I was able to go.

I arrived in a city where every employee in the train station was wearing a mask, and they were checking temperatures of random arrivals. I stayed in the train station for a couple hours, then started walking.

First up on my list of sights was a tank/big gun memorial. I knew it wasn't going to be anything unique, but I still wanted to see it. Next up was a bridge marked on the map. I tend to like bridges, for who knows what reason. This one turned out to be completely lame, as it was basically a flat concrete pavement with boring handrails, over a small creek. Not only was it boring, the mozzies were out in force. Like any normal person, I'm not a fan of mozzies, so I left as quickly as possible. The world would be so much better without them. Are they really a necessary part of the food chain?

My path took me back to the main road in town, which took me to the landscaped area behind one of the Lenin statues. I noticed the landscaping immediately, because it was so colourful. Different flowers and small bushes everywhere, it was lovely.

More walking took me to the platz next to the kremlin. The last time I saw this platz it had had a New Year's/Christmas festival set up. This time it was completely empty. I really enjoyed the quiet. The construction wall that had been there in winter was still there, so the outside of one of the churches didn't look quite as nice as it will be at some point in the future.

There is a park of sorts behind the kremlin, I didn't walk through the park in January. During this visit, I did. At one end of the park was a monument to the letter O. Why O, I have no idea. Why no other letters as well, I have no idea. I took a photo and moved on. This park runs parallel to the river, so of course there is a bench at a lookout point, that bench is marked as a sight on the map as well.

I kept going, out of the park and down another street. This brought me to another memorial, one that noted the more than 800 year history of Vologda. The view over and downriver from this monument was quite lovely.

From there I backtracked to the platz near the kremlin and kept going. I got to a bridge over the river which again provided me with the opposite view of what I'd seen in winter. Both times I'd crossed this bridge in winter a mini-blizzard had been taking place, each only about 10 minutes long. Howeva during that ten minutes I'd hardly been able to see anything, as the wind was crazy strong, and the snow was blowing hard.

This time I was able to see the churches on either side of the river, as well as the colourful buildings that also lined the river on each side. Very very photogenic. 

The photos I took just after crossing the bridge were some of my favourite of the entire two days in Vologda. I even laid down on the riverbank for a few minutes, just soaking in the beautiful view.

I decided to visit a couple of the old churches on the second side of the river, just because I could, and these types of buildings always catch my eye. Several of them looked to be falling down from the outside, and I think were under renovation. The interiors weren't nearly as interesting, with very little colour. The areas I was able to see were small, and looked temporary.

I crossed back over the bridge and followed a main road through town and all the way to a small park where I found a house museum. This one was dedicated to Peter the 1^st, or Peter the Great as he is often called. The house was actually owned by traders who hosted the tsar when he visited Vologda in March of 1724. Am I the only one who thinks it a little crazy how many museums are in Russia as a result of small, specific events in the life of someone? I've seen a number of museums where Lenin lived, for example. 

The museum itself was rather small, but still had photos and information. There were also a number of items that belonged to Peter the Great, including a coat he wore. The description of the coat amused me, as it said things like 'He loves to walk in nature's curly hair,' and 'he does not tolerate a large retinue,' all of which made me laugh. Apparently Pete was a man of the people ;)

One of the employees was really keen to have me take photos dressed in contemporary clothing, but I had no real desire to put on a dress in the style of the time.

From there I walked to my accommodation and checked in, I got an entire dorm room to myself, yippee! As I'd stopped throughout the day for various snacks and grocery store checkouts, I didn't need to go anywhere or make anything for dinner.

The next day I woke up to much cooler temps, dark grey skies, as well as wind and rain. Not my idea of good weather. I ended up staying in the hostel as long as I could, hoping the rain would taper off, but it never completely went away. Darnit.

The first sight I tried to see was a house in which Stalin spent some of the time while he was in exile. It is now a museum dedicated to all of those who spent time in Vologda while in exile. Stalin only lived there for 2-3 months, but that's plenty long in the way Russia thinks to make it into a museum. Unfortunately, it was still closed, probably due to the pandemic.

I kept walking, and the rain mostly held off. The sidewalks had plenty of puddles from heavier rain earlier in the day, so I added quite a few steps to my daily count by zigzagging all over the place. I probably looked a little loco to anyone who saw me walking.

I got to Oktober Square Park, which had a few memorials, mostly to various aspects of WW2. There were also playground areas, and a couple 'statues' that made no real sense to me. Two alligators standing on their hind legs, frogs hanging out with snails, etc... Cute, but no real point to them.

Next up was another house museum. This was was the former estate of the Leonteyev (sp?) family. I can't find the specifics, but I think it was a middle to upper class family, so I got to see furniture from back then, as well as some clothing on display. Let me say that I am happy I didn't live back then.

Those clothes and furniture do not look comfortable. In a sign of their wealth, I got to see a barrel organ, and a gramophone.

I went to another museum straightaway, one that I had wanted to visit in January. This was the lace museum, which is located on one side of the platz next to the kremlin. This was pretty big, and there weren't many other visitors, so it felt even bigger. I was thrilled to be able to wander through a number of large rooms with heaps of exhibited lace.

There was one room mostly dedicated to the history of lace in the area, along with some information on how lace is made. Another room was dedicated to 'political' lace, which even had examples of lace with CCCP 'written' or a 'picture' with Lenin and Marx. There were pieces of clothing, like vests and veils, and kitchy small pieces you would put on end tables; there were big wall hangings and table runners. Who knew lace could be fashioned into so many different items?

After seeing the lace museum I went back to the same bridge I crossed yesterday and crossed it again. I'd found a set of 'ruins' marked on a map, so I headed in that direction. When I got there I was a bit disappointed, as it was just another old building that was no longer in use. There was graffiti on some of the outer walls, and all the windows were boarded up. Since it was the middle of summer, the wildflowers were growing like crazy. Photogenic, in a way.

From there I walked back to the hostel to eat a quick dinner, then grab my bag and walk back to the train station. All in all, another nice visit to a nice city.

russia: perm

Getting from Ekaterinburg to Perm was really easy, though not completely convenient. I was able to take a night train, but the ride wasn't that long, so I arrived at 0430 or so at Perm II train station. I wasn't about to go walking around at that hour, so I dozed on and off in the uncomfortable station chairs for the new few hours.

When I felt as if it was finally late enough in the morning (around 0900) to start walking, that's what I did. 

Perm II train station is on one end of a city that is stretched out along the Kama River.

During my walk I passed what I thought was a quirky monument, at least the reason for the monument was rather quirky: celebrating 250 years of the city of Perm. The monument itself was rather typically Soviet, it was a big obelisk in the middle of a traffice circle. One of the three sides had a profile of Lenin, another had the years showing 250 years of existence, and a third side had the city name.

I stopped for hot chocolate at a small shop, it cost me a lot more than I expected, and wasn't all that hot. Such a disappointment.

When I finally reached my hostel I was able to check in straightaway, yay. It was nice to warm up, and charge my electronics. Not surprisingly, I ended up staying inside longer than I'd originally intended, but oh well. It seems I do this on almost every one of my trips. I'd probably see so much more if I kept myself from wasting so much time. 

At some point while looking at things on my phone I discovered a hotel and spa named Eva. Of course I walked there to take a photo. I was tempted to splurge on a treatment or two, (because how awesome would that be?!) but I didn't have the money to do so. Sigh.

I enjoyed the street art/grafitti I saw in various places while walking around. Some was on construction barriers, and some was on the side of buildings.

I made my way to a small, central park, I wanted to see the Lenin statue. Have you been to a Russian city if you haven't seen its Lenin statue? Across the street from the park was a small marker on a building, denoting the 0km spot. This is the spot from which distances are measured, you can see this marker in some cities. This marker was pretty small, I walked past it twice, even though I was looking for it.

On the other side of the park was the opera theatre, I wish I'd been able to step inside. I kept walking, stepping into a few of the churches I passed. None of them were well lit inside and all were quite chilly. At this point I just wasn't in the mood to keep going much longer.

My last stop for the evening was during and after sunset, it was a small platz overlooking a bridge and the river. I think I could've taken a set of steps all the way down to the river, but the path down there was dark by then and I didn't feel like walking. 

The bridge was lit up, and looked nice.

I'm somewhat ashamed to admit I had fast food for dinner that night. I just couldn't be fussed to find anything 'real.'

The next morning I did a much better job of not wasting as much time, I got moving a lot earlier in the day. My first sight wasn't that far from the hostel, it was another Lenin monument. I have no idea what the reason was for having two different monuments to the man. 

Instead of the typical statue/bust, this one was a big stone with a relief of his face carved into the stone.

On a street corner I spied a mosque, which was really eye catching. I wasn't sure if it was open to visitors at the time, so I didn't go inside. It surprised me to find a mosque in the middle of European Russia, but at the same time it made sense. A block or two away from the mosque was a house that caught my eye for all the wrong reasons: its porch was leaning, a LOT.

I kept going to the next sight on my list, a monastery. Painted sea green and surrounded by tall walls, the Holy Trinity Monastery has a tall bell tower over the entrance gate. I bet the view from the top of there is quite nice. The inside of the main church was pretty, but not particularly memorable.

Soon enough I found another war memorial, this one called the monument to the heroes of the front and homefront.

It was in the city esplanade park, and was huge. I imagine this is a nice place for families and couples to go walking in warmer weather. When I saw it, no one else was around.

Further down the main street on either side of the city park was a regional library. The library itself wasn't anything worth writing home about, but I did like the wooden apple sculpture on the front lawn.

I didn't know it was made of wood until I scrambled onto it after setting the timer on my camera to take a time delayed photo. Lets just say it was not a soft landing.

I ended up walking all the way to the train station, just because I could. I did not buy more hot chocolate when I passed the cafe. In a large open area next to the train station was a HUGE sculpture that made me think of a game of Jenga. The pieces were glued in place, I couldn't move any of them.

To get back to the city center I circled around a bit, and took a different road. I ended up passing a skatepark, I watched the skaters go for a few minutes. I was cold, I imagine they were as well.

My next sight was a church, I'd seen a few photos online that looked good. When I found it I wasn't nearly as impressed as I'd expected to be. I started thinking the photos I'd seen had been somewhat edited. 

Or maybe the dark, cloudy skies were hiding the beauty of the church exterior. The inside of the church wasn't any better, much to my disappointment.

From there I walked back to the platz where I'd ended my day the day before. I looked for and finally found the entrance to the Perm State Art Gallery. It's an art museum, located in what used to be a church. Part of the exhibit is actually the old iconostasis, and as you go through the different levels of the museum you get to be quite up close and personal with the different levels of the iconostasis. 

The only drawback is that you never get the full view of the whole thing. Overall, it was a great museum, well worth a visit.After that it was dark, so I picked up snacks at the grocery store and went back to my room.

The next day I did a day trip, read another post for that.

My last day in Perm I was a bit more organized than the first two days. I made a list of the things I still wanted to see, some of them I should've seen in those first two days but moved too slowly.

The first sight was something called the Permyak Salty Ears monument. Someone from Perm is called a Permyak, and one of the former industries in the area is salt mining. Carrying sacks of salt on one's shoulder rubs salt against ears, making them bigger and red. This monument is a pair of big ears with a hole in the middle. You're supposed to put your face in the hole and have someone take a photo.

My next sight was a gondola in the middle of the city park. Very picturesque, even in the crappy weather. The park was also home to a mini amusement park, which looked kinda sad at this time of year.

I kept going, out the other side of the park. I assume it would be a nice place to wander in summer, but nothing else caught my attention during this visit. I ended up walking by Lenin again, and past him to another church. 

This church wasn't open that I could see, argh. My guidebook told me part of this church is a school, but I didn't see that either.

A block from that was the local FSB building. I followed all rules while walking past there.

My next stop was the Perm History Museum, located in the old house of Mezhkov. He used to be the owner of a steamship, and was quite wealthy, the house is big, and really nice.

Inside the museum I got to see the different areas of Perm's history. There were displays of what the home looked like when it was a residence, as well as items from daily life of the city. I got to see jewelry, and a diorama of a home during the Soviet period. There was a hallway filled with medals from the Communist period, and clothing from citizens throughout the years. Every time I see clothing from centuries ago I'm thankful for what I get to wear now, as stuff from back then looks so very uncomfortable. 

Walking down the hill brought me to the riverside station, which was across the street from Perm I train station. The riverside station looked new and modern, Perm I did not.

On the banks of the water was a big sign spelling out (in Russian of course, but I've translated to English,) 'happiness is coming.' I have no idea who it is supposed to be speaking to, or when it was put up.

I took the stairs that went over Perm I train station (as I was crossing I tried to figure out if the station is still used or not, but I couldn't tell,) and went up a hill on the other side. On the way I passed a church, and ducked inside. This one wasn't amazing, but it was warm.

I walked toward the edge of town, heading to I don't know where. I passed another war memorial, one that included cannons. I think it said something about 70 years of heroes in the city.

Eventually I looked at a map and realized I wasn't too far from a cemetery. Am I crazy for thinking that cemeteries are fascinating? One section of the cemetery was definitely memorializing something military, as everything was standardized, and looked the same. The rest of the area was a bit hodge podge, with a variety of styles of tombs and markers. There were some fake flowers, some photos, and more. 

In the middle of it all was an eye catching church. Well, it caught my eye because the outside of the church made me think of a yellow candy cane.

From there I walked back to my hostel, grabbed my bag and warmed up for an hour. Then I went back outside, and walked all the way to the train station. I arrived at the perfect time to board my train, and off I went. 

About 21.5 hours later I arrived back in Moscow.

I would definitely come back to this part of Russia, there is still so much for me to see/explore.