russia: belogorsk and chita

Our next stop was Belogorsk. We chose it more as a place to get off the train for a few hours than for anything the city offered. During our trip planning we'd looked at a map and this seemed like a decent distance from Khabarovsk.

There is nothing to recommend Belogorsk, absolutely nothing. It's in the middle of nowhere, a relatively small town. The town is so unimportant to the world at large that it doesn't even have a Wikipedia page.

We might've been the only tourists the city saw all year.

As we arrived, I looked at my phone to see what was in the city, as well as checking Trip Advisor. One museum was listed, but we were there on a Monday, so it wasn't open.

We opted to find Lenin statues. The first one was on the back side of the train station, just as we got off the train. We hadn't expected him, it was one of the few pros to the city. 

We ended up walking up a dirt track to find the second one. Both google and yandex maps had us going up this hill, but the path looked pretty sketchy, we weren't sure it was the right way until we got to the top, where it joined up with the end of a driveway which met up with a street. 

I would not have considered this a proper place to walk.

We found the man at one side of a patriotic park. I think the building I saw on one side was officers' quarters, I think there are a few military stations around the city, but I'm not sure. There were old tanks on display, as well as a couple other military memorials.

Nearby we saw students practicing marching, which reminded us it was getting close to Victory Day, one of the biggest holidays in the Russian year.

On the way back to the train station we saw an 'I Love Belogorsk' sign. I'm not sure why that was there, as I doubt anyone actually feels that way about the city. That didn't stop us from taking a team photo, as we love city signs as much as we love Lenin statues.

After crossing to the front side of the train station we realized we were pretty close to a store that was a Russian version of a super Walmart, or super Target. Obviously, we went in. We knew we had hours to kill, so why not. We didn't see anything we hadn't seen before, but I love supermarkets, I can wander around for an hour. Or days, or howeva long I need to waste time. 

Heck I'm happy to visit a supermarket even when I have a limited amount of time. 

Across the street we found a random cafe with pizza on the menu. It was greasy, but once I used napkins to soak up some of the grease, it wasn't bad. Plus we used up another 90 minutes of time. We also saw a monument with the profile of Lenin's head, which we counted as Lenin #3 of the city.

It tells you something about Belogorsk when I say that our next stop was another supermarket. This one had some foreign foods, I got a couple flavours of Canadian ginger ale. Yum.

In the city center we could see where the city was preparing for their Victory Day parade. There were red, white, and blue stands set up on one side of the platz. Not far behind the stands we saw one of the few sights of the city: a monument to nice people. It was a chubby police officer who probably tells people where to go more often than solving criminal mysteries :)

More walking brought us to yet another Lenin statue. How does a city this small have three full size Lenin statues, and a Lenin profile on a monument? Why?

In the same park as Lenin was a monument to the victims in a nearby mass grave. I didn't recognize the event causing the mass grave, but I assume it means something to locals. I hope the memorial is visited often. Right next to the memorial was a cross, and a tiny chapel, and plenty of naked trees.

We figured out a way to get to the river that runs along one side of Belogorsk. While it was probably the prettiest place in the entire city, that's not saying much. We could see rubbish in the weeds along both sides of the water, I'm guessing people go fishing regularly. 

Not impressive.

We found another cafe to kill a couple more hours, the food wasn't any better or any worse.

After eating we tried to find a sculpture dedicated to the bottom feeder fish of the rivers, it was ugly as all get out. No thank you.

At that point we went back to the train station, picking up snacks nearby.

The next bit of our trip was also a bit of a splurge. We booked beds in kupe, which is 2^nd class. There were four beds in the kupe, we had our cabin to ourselves the whole time. 

We were on the train for two nights and a day, before arriving in our next town. Our train tickets included lunch, but it was less than impressive. Thank goodness we'd brought snacks with us :)

We arrived on time in Chita, our next destination. Chita is another city without much reason to visit. 

Chita has 325,000 people, though it doesn't feel that big. The Cossacks founded the city in 1653, and it was one of the places the Decembrists were sent into exile in 1825. 

The guidebook says there is a large military garrison in the area, but there are no major sights to see.

As our train arrived at 0430, we hung out in the train station for a bit. When we left the train station we saw our first sights immediately, as they were across the street. We saw a statue of Alexander Nevsky, as well as a big blue church.

The big blue church was the Kazan Cathedral, it still had a couple giant easter eggs out front. The inside of the church wasn't impressive, but it was a nice minute of quiet.

Not far from the church was Lenin Square. Like Khabarovsk, this was the main square in town. The city of Chita was in full prep mode for the Victory Day events the next day. There was a stage set up on one side, some groups were rehearsing performances. There were more red, white, and blue stands set up next to what was probably the parade route.

Not too far away was a Lenin statue. Since it was still early in the day there weren't too many people around, so we took our team photo.

From there it was a bit of a walk to the flat we'd booked. We got there and called the number listed with the booking, only to find out we had to check in at a hotel in the city center. Sigh. We called a taxi, so we didn't have to walk for an hour.

The address of the flat was correct, the hotel gave us the key and took us over there to show us how to get into the flat. Sigh. We were annoyed that this information wasn't in the booking. Argh. At least the flat was all right. Warm, with good wifi.

There was a bus stop less than a block away from the entrance to the flat, so we caught a bus to a museum. This one honoured the Decembrists, a group of military officers and minor nobles who tried to force reforms in the country. It didn't go over well, of course.

The museum tried to charge us a foreigner price, we refused that. Especially because it was not big, there was no English, and there was an extra photo fee. We chose not to pay the photo fee, I'm glad we didn't. The best part of the museum was the building in which it was located, which was an old wooden church.

We only had to walk 10 minutes or so to get to the monument to Love and Faith. Either a ceremony or proposal had taken here recently, there were still flower petals all over the ground. We got the timing right to use them to take one of our most epic team photos.

From there we called another taxi to get to our next sight: a Buddhist temple on the edge of town. Chita isn't huge, but we wanted to get there before it closed to visitors, and weren't in the mood for a lot more walking.

The temple was exactly what I remembered from previous Buddhist temples. Very colourful inside, big front gate prayer flags in a few places. 

Absolutely lovely and sooo different from what most people think of when they think of Russia.

While we were inside the temple we realized some of the monks were making a mandala with coloured sand. I really wanted to take photos of the process, but I decided it would just have to be a memory in our heads. After the temple itself we stopped in the small cafe on the property for a snack of boozy, which are basically giant dumplings.

We had dinner at a branch of shokoladnitsa in the city center. The chain is all over the country, so we knew exactly what we were getting.

Nothing exciting. We stopped at a supermarket for snacks and breakfast food before catching the bus back to the flat.

The next morning we packed up, and were about to leave before realizing we could see the very end of the Victory Day parade from our windows. Since Claire and I had seen the parade in Moscow the year before we knew what was coming, but it was still neat to see. Since there is such a military presence in the Chita area I imagine it wasn't that hard to bring a lot of tanks to the city.

After the parade we called the hotel, they sent the cleaners to the flat to make sure we hadn't destroyed the flat. Then we had to take a taxi back to the hotel itself to turn in the key. A very annoying process, but they gave us each a free city magnet

. From there we went back to the train station to drop our bags at luggage storage. Finding luggage storage wasn't easy, it was on the outside of the back side of the station. We were able to put all our bags in one locker, and choose a code, which I wrote on my hand in pen, so it wouldn't be forgotten.

The main post office of the city had a 0 kilometer marker in front, which seemed like a good place for a team photo.

Even though the parade was finished, the city was not finished with celebrating the holiday. As we walked around the city center we saw the entire city out walking around. Loud music in a few places, some traditional dancing, etc...

We decided to visit the Park of Leisure and Culture, which was jam packed with people. There was another Lenin statue in there, this one painted an ugly yellow gold. It's not his best colour. 

There were also tanks, a plane, a small amusement park, and a couple cafes. Kids and families everywhere.

The park was behind the War Museum, which was free for the day. Apparently Russians only go to museums on free days, because it was full. At least the city was ready for the crowds, because there were volunteers in various places throughout the museum to keep kids from touching things, remind people not to go behind the barriers, etc... I generally like history museums, but not with that many people all around me.

We opted for a late lunch at an Italian place. The decoration was super kitschy, but the food was good and decently priced. It's entirely possible that I ordered too much ;)

Next up was a marshrutka ride, out to Park Pobedy (Victory Park,) to see the big WW2 memorial. Unfortunately I had us board a marshrutka going in the opposite direction, so we ended up with an unintended tour of the other side of the city and small village a few kilometers away. Whoops. Thankfully it was easy to catch the next one, which went where we wanted to go.

The WW2 memorial was indeed big. Tanks in one area, pillars with the years written, plaques with names carved, etc... There were mentions of all the hero cities, as well as an eternal flame.

There was a green area blocked off, and I think we saw soldiers setting up fireworks for an evening show. Unfortunately we had to leave before the show started.

Thankfully I got us on the right bus going back to the train station. We had some time to kill there, but it wasn't a problem to find a place to sit. As usual, the train departed exactly on time.

I really really doubt I'll go back to Chita or Belogorsk.

russia: victory day in Moscow

8 May 1945 is an important day in history. Many countries consider this to be VE day, that is, victory in Europe day. This is the day WW2 officially ended in Europe, when the Nazis signed a surrender document in the evening. (Though I think there was a little fighting for the next couple days until everyone got the official memo.)

Russia celebrates the next day, on 9 May. This is because Stalin made the announcement to the country on 9 May. Technically the document was signed after midnight Soviet time, so I suppose 9 May is the correct date in Russian history.

For many Russians, the first two weeks of May are holidays, due to the bigger number of national/official holidays. My school had just the first week of May off, so I was in Moscow when 9 May rolled around. It was a Wednesday, which is sortof annoying as far as holidays go, it meant we just got the one day off, in the middle of the week.

Claire and Caroline and I decided to get together, to watch an iconic event in Moscow, a military parade of tanks!! Claire happens to live in a flat that has a fantastic view of part of the parade route, Caroline and I were more than happy to hang out in her flat for a few hours.

We were all up early, because we were afraid the metro stations would completely close during the parade, I think we were at Claire's flat more than an hour before the parade started. I think the parade officially starts somewhere near Red Square, then keeps going heading out of the city.

If you're one of the high and mighty people of the city, or are friends with those people, you might be lucky enough to score a ticket to watch the event in Red Square. The parade in Red Square also involves soldiers, which has to be neat to watch. They don't follow the entire tank route, that would take them all day. I doubt I'm ever going to know the right people in order to get that ticket, but I can dream.

Once the tanks started rolling I was surprised at how fast they moved. There were different styles and colours of tanks, I have no idea what the technical differences are. Some of the soldiers were visible, some were not. Those who were visible smiled and occasionally waved at the crowd. It's a VERY patriotic event, to say the least.

From Claire's balcony we watched the whole thing, it was great not to be smushed by the crowds of people lined up on the street. Still, if that had been my only option for watching, I probably would've done it. 

After people started clearing out we cooked breakfast. Good food, and a way to wait until pedestrian and vehicular traffic were back to normal. Then we went out, heading to Victory Park. The metro station there was insanely crowded, it wasn't easy to figure out how to get out and up to street level. (This happens to be the deepest metro station in the city, and some entrances were designated entry or exit only.)

We got up to street level near the Victory Arch, which resembles the arc de triomphe in Paris. Not surprisingly, there were decorations put up for the holiday, and gabillions of people trying to take photos.

The park was going to host a big fireworks display, which I'd thought would be fun to join. As soon as I saw the massive numbers of people already there, (5+ hours early!) I knew I would not enjoy myself.

After people watching for a little while all three of us went home. Figuring out which entrance we needed to get into the metro station was just as crazy as figuring out which exit we'd needed earlier in the day. Madness I tell you, we were out with every Muscovite, and visitor to the city. 

I got lucky that night when I realized the view from the window of my bedroom showed me the entire fireworks show, YAHOO!! It didn't last long, only 10 minutes or so. In that sense, I was glad we hadn't stayed in the park. I got my own private show instead, a perfect way to end the day.

ukraine: kyiv: mom came to town

Yay, my mom came to visit!

I picked her up at the airport, and even though my voice still sounded awful and it wasn't easy to talk, we chatted all the way back to the city center. Since I live in a very small flat on the edge of the city, mom got a hotel in the city instead of staying at my place. 

After resting up for a while we walked down the street to TGI Fridays. The sign written in Cyrillic still makes me laugh after four years. I had steak, and it was everything I wanted it to be :)

The next morning I had to teach, though it was a struggle. The kids were good, and I just danced during our normal music time instead of singing and dancing.

I met mom after class, she came with me to the doctors office for my last treatment on my vocal chords. It went quickly and smoothly; mom took a photo of my name (written in Ukrainian,) on the screen outside the room while I was in there. 

We went to dinner at Revolution Grill, my favorite place in Kyiv. All I need to say about that is YUM. 

The next morning, we walked along Khreshchatyk, which is pedestrian on weekends. Definitely the place to see and be seen. It was even more crowded because it was the start of a long holiday weekend. This was the first holiday weekend I've even stayed in kyiv in four years! 

We had a late breakfast/early lunch at a place I've always called Violettas cafe. That's not the real name, but my friend Violetta introduced me to the place, and I can never remember the real name of the place. It's a budget, cafeteria style place. Why spend a lot of money on food when you don't have to?

After Khreshchatyk we walked through Maidan, up the hill to St Sophia's platz. I showed mom the statue of Boghdan Khmelnytsky, an independence fighter in Ukraine several hundred years ago. 

We didn't go in St Sophia's, I don't really know why. We walked about two blocks down the street, to St Michaels. We did go in that church, it was beautiful as always. 

As we were walking out of the complex we decided to go in the bell tower. I'd always known it is a museum, but I hadn't known previously that you can go up the bell tower as part of the museum. It turned out to be awesome!

Very cool to look down on st michaels, and be able to look up the street toward st Sophia's.  In the museum we got to see a bit of the history of the church, including pictures of what it looked like when Lenin's buddies blew it up in the 1930s.

From there we walked to andreiivsky uzviz, a street full of stalls selling kitschy tourist stuff. We walked a little of the street, (it's a little steep, and made of cobblestones.) We also took a look inside St Andrew's. It's a museum now, not an active church, but still hosts an occasional baptism or wedding. I paid the fee to take photos, which I've never done before, though I have taken quite a few photos of this church over the years. The fee is less than $.50, not exactly breaking the bank.

We finished in this area, and I led mom over to Mosaic Park. My favorite park in the city, even though it's always full of  people.

Next up was a stop at Coffee House, which is normally my favorite coffee chain in kyiv. This visit was a disappointment, as they didn't have 3 of the 5 things mom and I tried to order. Argh. 

From there we decided to walk back to the hotel and have dinner at a restaurant closeby. Another not so great experience, unfortunately. Moms salad came out really fast; although it was quite good, she was finished eating long before my sushi came out. I'm normally fine with meals coming out at different times, but more than 30 minutes in between is ridiculous.

Sunday mom finally came out to see my flat. I wasn't surprised when she started cleaning, she's always done that for me. I didn't let us stay long enough for her to clean the entire flat. We had lunch, cooked by yours truly, then went back to the hotel in the city center. After relaxing for a little while we found a cafe on Khreshchatyk, neither one of us felt the need for a big dinner.

Afterward, I took mom to a nearby French bakery for evening snacks, because it's yummy :) We walked through the area, to a small park with a statue of a guy mom recognized, I guess he was a character used in cartoons all over the former east bloc? Or a soldier character known all over the former East Bloc? Something like that. 

The next morning we took the metro to Arsenalna station. It is only one stop from Khreshchatyk, but it's a long stop. 

Mom and I walked down the street to the memorials, for WW2 and victims of the Holodomor. Both of them evoke an emotional response in me no matter how many times I see them.

Continuing down the street we came to the Lavra. When people come to kyiv, I show them St Sophia and the Lavra, as they are both UNESCO sights. 

The difference in this visit was that I discovered you can climb up the bell tower here as well. It's an extra fee, another 30 griven for each person, on top of the 50 griven entrance fee to the whole complex. My legs were jello by the time we got to the viewing platforms but it was sooo worth it. Awesome views. And we had beautiful skies, which made it even better.
We visited the two main churches in the complex, I know I've described both of them in previous posts. I was finally able to get good pictures of the inside of the church I like the best. Apparently it's a great idea to visit in the middle of a weekday:)

I took mom down into the 'caves' area, she enjoyed it even though the area is a bit claustrophobic. You can only walk in one direction, and there isn't a lot of air flow. 

Next we continued down the street to Rodina Mat, the statue and WW2 memorial area.
I've only visited Rodina Mat once before, the first year I lived here; that time I arrived through a different entrance to the area. During this visit it was a lot more crowded, for two reasons: it was a beautiful sunny afternoon and it was the middle of a Monday afternoon, at the end of a long holiday weekend. 

Rodina Mat is a 62m tall statue. I think you can take an elevator inside her to a viewpoint on her head, but I've never done it. 4 years ago the price was 200 griven, I have no idea what the price is now. Due to the political situation this year, the government and president of Ukraine had decided to use the posey to represent 8 May, the date recognized as the end of the war in Western Europe, there was a crown of posies on the head of Rodina Mat. Previously, Ukraine has celebrated the holiday on 9 May, as that was the day Stalin spread the news in the former USSR. I think Ukraine is now celebrating both holidays?

Nowadays Russia uses St George's cross as a symbol for the day. All over Kyiv you could see both symbols, different ways of marking the same moment. Poroshenko (the president of Ukraine, made a speech on 9 May, on a stage in front of Rodina Mat, I'm glad mom and I didn't get there until the 11th. 

I had to go back to school on the 12th, but I only had to teach in the morning. Mom and I had lunch at Puzata Hata again, then walked Khreshchatyk again. When mom travels there are certain souvenirs she looks for, and a football (soccer) jersey is one of those items. It took us a while, but eventually she found what she wanted.

I had thought there was an Adidas store nearby, I turned out to be very wrong. The store probably moved during all the madness of Maidan last year. 

We also traipsed through Bessarabsky Market. It's listed as a place to see in all the guidebooks, and it is pretty, but I don't see a reason to buy anything there. All the prices are much higher than they should be, they're all geared toward foreign tourists with money. 

Since it was mom's last night in town, we went back to revolution grill for dinner. Another yummy experience. I might have ordered too much in the drinks department: a caramel milkshake, citrus lemonade, pear lemonade, and something called birch sap. It was all worth it :)

The next morning I put mom in a taxi to the airport, and I went back to my normal schedule at work.