russia: kungur

I wanted to do at least one day trip while I was in Perm, and while reading the guidebook I came upon what seemed like the perfect idea. Kungur is about 95km from Perm, easily reachable by train.

Kungur is mostly known (for those who have heard of it at all, mostly in Russia, I assume,) for its ice caves. According to Wikipedia the town was founded in the 17^th century, and burned down 14 years later. 

Obviously, it was rebuilt, and is one of the most populated areas of the Urals. (Which isn't saying much, buuuuut.)

My train arrived in Kungur a couple hours after leaving Perm, at the main (only,) station of Kungur. I found a statue of Lenin straightaway, I couldn't have missed it. The man was in the front yard of the train station, birds seemed to enjoy standing on his head. Or maybe they didn't like standing there, based on the stains I could see. 

From the train station I had to catch a bus to get out to the caves. I got off the bus at the stop closest to the caves, but it still wasn't completely obvious where to go. I ended up cutting through the parking lot of a hotel that looked to be state run, and finding the entry to the ice cave area.

I found the ticket office, and even though I was there before 10, and the sign said there would be a tour at 10, I was told that my earliest option was available at 11. 

Not only did I have to wait an extra hour, I had to pay extra for a laser light show that took place during every other tour. I wasn't keen to see it, but didn't really have the option not to, unless I wanted to wait until noon for a tour. Sigh.

While waiting for my tour of the ice caves I ended up taking a look around the small museum nearby. It was mostly a geologic museum, since this area of the world has interesting geology. (To people who are interested in such things. I liked looking at the pretty rocks and such, but it wasn't all that interesting to me.)

When my tour finally started I noticed a small family among my tour group. They had a toddler with them, and the guide double checked with the parents that the kid could handle it. He couldn't, which isn't surprising for a toddler. He wandered all over the place, with the guide having to stop him from going places a few times. The parents were too busy taking photos of each other to pay attention to the kid. Argh.

The caves themselves were okay, but not outstanding. There wasn't a whole lot of ice, I assume it builds up throughout the winter? The biggest grotto is called Friendship Grotto, each of the grottoes had a name. All of the grottoes had lighting to show unique features, like rock formations. My favourite grottoes were those that had water, as the water was incredibly clear.

The laser light show was not all it was cracked up to be. At all. Oh well. 

The caves are part of a huge system, one that has not been fully explored. Our guide told us that they used to allow divers in one of the watered areas, but after one diver never came back, that option was closed.

After the tour I went back to the bus stop and caught the next marshrutka back into town. I rode past the train station, into a more central area of town. The town is small, at least compared to Perm. 

While walking I found a fur salon, named after me :)

I also found a samovar (Russian style teapot,) monument. Who doesn't love a quirky monument?

From there I just wandered around, trying to see the whole town. Several churches were closed, at least one of them for renovation. Several others were open, though none were mind boggling.

I found the expected WW2 memorial, this one included a tank. There was also an obelisk as part of the monument.

I found a bridge to cross the river, (the town is set on the Kungurka River,) and walked across. The other side of town wasn't any more exciting than where I started, but at least I saw it.

I walked back across the river, taking the time to enjoy the reflection of the banks on the water. 

There is something about the way things reflect on water that always catches my eye.

I found a bus stop and caught the next bus back to the train station, and from there the next train back to Perm. I did another dinner of grocery store food, and called it a night.

russia: pervouralsk and nevyansk

Ekaterinburg is the fourth largest city in Russia, and is the capital of the Sverdlovsk oblast (state.) The location was chosen because it sits near a border of the European and Asiatic contintinental plates. The train station in Ekaterinburg actually marks this border with a design over the front doors of the station.

Not surprisingly, many markers of this border are near the city, in a town called Pervouralsk. 

I wanted to see the markers, just because I could. I walked to the train station and eventually found the right desk to buy a ticket for the next trained scheduled to leave for Pervouralsk. The first desk I tried wasn't the right one, they sent me elsewhere. The second desk was the wrong one as well, and the information desk didn't know where to buy the ticket either. Argh. I went down two flights of stairs and tried another desk, finally succeeding.

This ended up being my first experience with a quirky aspect of the Russian train system. All trains run on Moscow time, no matter where the train is at any given time. I had a vague idea that this was the case, so I wasn't completely confused when the ticket lady told me that my train departed at 1100 Moscow time, which was 1300 local time. I ended up having to wait almost two hours for the train, as I'd just missed one, argh. 

It was weird to look at my watch (still set to Moscow time,) and the train station clocks (also set to Moscow time,) and see one time, but then look at my phone, which was set on local time.

The train itself was a slow train, stopping what seemed like every few minutes. I ended up getting off the train one stop earlier than I'd planned, because I'd been looking at a map app, it showed another continental border marker I hadn't known about. 

When I saw the marker out the window of the train, I dashed off straightaway.

This stop was pretty much out in the middle of nowhere, so after walking around the border marker and taking photos, I had to walk through snow in the general direction of the town of Pervouralsk. I didn't have any data on my phone, so I wasn't completely sure of where I wanted to go, and I couldn't look up any information.

I followed the tracks for a while, crossing a small creek on the way. It was snowing the whole time, thank goodness I had waterproof boots!

Once I got to town I walked along the highway to get to the main continental markers. For some reason there are two of them, both quite big. One looks as if it was built specifically for tourists, complete with a small platz in which buses can park and a small shop. The other was smaller, with less signage. 

What they had in common were clearly depicted sides of Asia and Europe.

There were also driving signs on both sides of the highway. I ran back and forth across the road in order to take selfies with those signs too.

By the time I'd seen both markers (getting from one to the other required walking a path through the woods,) it was getting dark. I found my way to the train station (the one at which I'd originally planned to disembark,) and discovered I'd have to wait a couple hours for the next train.

The ticket lady suggested the bus station, which was not far away. Thankfully a bus was scheduled to depart within 30 minutes. I was somewhat motion sick by the time we got back to Yekaterinburg, but then I had the walk from the train station to dinner to get my head right again. Yay for a nice cold walk :)

The next morning I did a better job of getting moving a bit faster, as well as checking train times so I didn't 'just miss' a train. My train left at 0905 local time, arriving in the town of Nevyansk a couple hours later.

I walked from the train station to the city center, a rather lonely walk. It wasn't too long, but I didn't see anyone else out walking, nor did I see much (if any,) traffic. While walking I did enjoy the pretty painted window shutters on many of the houses. Since the town isn't very aesthetically appealing, I guess you have to do something to make it at least a little bit better. 

My first stop in the city center was the WW2 memorial area. As I expected, there was a rather large stone with the years carved into it, as well as some fake flowers laying around. The flowers were gathered around an eternal flame. 
There was also a statue of a soldier, actually just a bust of what I'm guessing is supposed to represent an enlisted soldier. I don't know how the Russian Army shows rank on its uniforms.

Next up for me was the Saviour Transfiguration Cathedral. A really really big, bright yellow chuch. I should point out that while the outside looked really big, the inside was much smaller than I expected. 
At least, it didn't feel very big. It was not a wide open or airy church.

About 3 minutes of walking took me from the church to the so called 'Leaning Tower of Nevyansk.' 

It doesn't lean nearly as much as the much more famous tower in Italy, but you can see the lean with just a glance.

The leaning tower was originally part of the family 'house' of the ruling family of the area. It is still attached to the house, which is now a local history museum. I enjoyed the museum quite a bit (I'm sure the appearance of a single foreigner in low season was a bit confusing to the employees,) especially the depictions of local life in photos and items.

I think in better weather you can pay to climb up the tower, but I didn't think that would be a great idea in colder weather; especially since the skyline of Nevyansk didn't seem all that intriguing.

The house/museum wasn't far from a pond/lake, so I walked partway around the water, just because I felt the need to walk a bit further. There wasn't much of anything to see, but the weather was decent, so I enjoy walking.

On the way from the water back in the general direction of the train station I passed a Lenin memorial, which reminded me that cities and towns both small and big were affected by a man who is actually quite small in stature. I also found another war memorial, complete with large carvings of the heads and faces of anonymous soldiers and others involved in the war.

I walked around the rest of the city center area, but there wasn't anything happening. An area with what might've been a market was mostly empty, and there weren't many people outside at the time.

I made the walk back to the train station, fortunately I didn't have long to wait to catch the next elektrichka back to Ekaterinburg.

russia: yekaterinburg

My fall holidays ended up being very different from what I'd first imagined. My original plan had been to travel internationally, but my school didn't convert my visa from single entry to multi entry in time, so I wasn't able to leave Russia. I ended up booking a flight to the city of Ekaterinburg, and starting my holidays from there.

I'm guessing most people don't know much about the city, I didn't know anything before booking my flight. It was founded in the 18^th century, having been planned by Peter the Great and named for Catherine 1, his wife.

The flight to Ekaterinburg left a little after midnight, arriving at 0510 Ekaterinburg time, a two hour time difference. I hung out in the airport for a couple hours, it was not a pretty airport. Walking outside was a shock, it was a lot colder than I'd expected.

It was easy to catch a local bus into town, it dropped me off at the central train station. I explored inside a bit, but it wasn't a grand station, at least not like I expected. One of the waiting rooms had a nice ceiling, but that was about it. 
Maybe the grand feeling has gone away because you're checked by security every so often, I don't know. 

On another corner of the intersection in front of the train station were letters spelling out the city name, they were quite big. As the city name is quite long, the letters were stacked on each other, making for a convenient photo. As I've continued to live in Russia, I've found city name signs in many of the towns/cities I've been able to visit. 

From there it was easy to walk to the hostel at which I'd booked a bed. I'm glad they let me check in early. When I finally walked outside again it was still cold, and I still wasn't ready mentally for the weather. Oh well.

I walked, just wandering whereva struck my fancy. I passed an old mansion on the banks of the river, it still looked really nice on the outside. I didn't see an option for going inside, though I was curious.

Further down the street was a grand statue of Lenin, I took a selfie with the man. Nearby was what remained of a market, it was closing up for the day. Across the street from Lenin and the market was the local Duma building, which had a bit of interesting architecture near the door. I don't know how to describe it other than to say it was 3D in a way, making one section look as if it stretched back behind me, when it didn't.

I entered a nearby mall for a little while, mostly to warm up. While inside I enjoyed the airiness of the atrium, and the gold ceilings. I also wandered through the grocery store in the basement.

At that point it was dark outside so I started looking for a place to have dinner. I was quite excited to find a Korean option, as I miss Korean food.

After dinner I walked to the Church on Spilled Blood to see what it looked like at night. This is the church built on top of the location where the Romanov family was killed during July of 1918. 
The church is relatively new, building having started in 2000. I stepped inside only briefly, but appreciated the brilliant colour everywhere.

The next morning I walked out of my hostel to find snow on the ground. That definitely wasn't what I'd expected, though I should've checked the weather before traveling. Thank goodness I'd brought a warm coat with me, though my hands/fingers were cold for the rest of the trip.

I walked along Lenin street, and stopped at a small chapel dedicated to St Catherine. (The former Russian leader known as Catherine the Great.) It was tiny inside, and not all that exciting. Nearby was a statue of the founders of the city, a Russian and a German.

The statues and chapel were right next to a bridge that crosses the Iset river, I walked a bit closer to the river itself. There was an interesting area, with a large, green hand on display. Modern art, for sure.

Next to the water was also a spot with the former name of the city, Sverdlovsk. It's actually a bit ironic that the city was called Sverdlovsk for a little while, as he was the Bolshevik that signed the death warrant of the Tsar and his family.

I was traveling in fall of 2017, but the city was already preparing for the World Cup event to take place in late spring of 2018; I saw a RUSSIA2018 sign already on display, not too far from the big green hand.

Continuing to walk along the river I found another piece of modern art: a giant keyboard. I loved it. From there I just walked, with no particular destination in mind. I ended up finding a street with a lot of cafes, just in time to avoid heavier snow outside. Thank goodness for hot cocoa with marshmallows.

My next sight was a museum, this one displaying religious icons. Apparently there is a specific style of icons in this region, there were three rooms of them on display from the 17^th-19^th centuries. 

I don't know nearly enough about icons to have noticed a style difference, but I did appreciate the skill of the artists.

From there I walked back to the Church on Spilled Blood, also called the Church of All Saints. When I walked in I was stunned. As the church is quite new, the paint/colours are still really bright. There was a lot of gold and a lot of colour. The church sits on the site of the Ipatiev house, which is where the Romanov family was hiding in July 1918. 

The house was torn down in 1977, as the Soviet government didn't want a place of pilgrimmage to exist for monarchists; after this time the land remained empty until the beginning of the 21^st century.

By the time I walked back out of the church I could see the start of sunset. I ended up getting to see the church in profile with a beautiful sky in the background.

I spent that night as well as the next night in Yekaterinburg, but I spent the next two days in other towns, mentioned in other posts.

I would be okay with coming back to Ekaterinburg, it's a nice city. It's the fourth biggest city in the country, and a good city to use as a base to explore the area.

russia: september, my first month in moscow

I moved to Moscow, Russia!! The move sortof fell into my lap, it was something I'd thought about vaguely ever since moving to Kyiv, Ukraine, but hadn't pushed for in any way.

I arrived in Moscow at an airport, my employers had booked a taxi to pick me up and drop me off at a hostel in the city center, not too far from school. My very first afternoon/evening in the city I went for a walk, since I was temporarily staying in the city center. I wanted to go see Red Square, because I now lived in Moscow. Unfortunately, when I got to one of the entrances, I found security, and a ticket booth. It turned out that an annual military band show takes place around this time of year, so the square is blocked off.

Even though the square was blocked off I got to watch one of the international bands in town for the show, as they stood around in an informal practice session. Bagpipes galore, what a welcome to the city.

I also stumbled upon a changing of the guard ceremony just outside the Kremlin walls. It was fun to watch, I don't know how often the ceremony happens, or how much the uniforms change throughout the year.

The next evening I went for another walk, I got to see the sunset, which was lovely. I was already discovering that Moscow has quite a few lovely skyline views. During this walk I crossed a bridge over the Moscow River, I love bridges. Just on the other side of the bridge I spotted one of the so called 'Seven Sisters,' (which is how foreigners know the buildings, locals have a different nickname,) the one now known as a Radisson Hotel. It used to be called the Hotel Ukraine. All of the Seven Sisters look generally the same, the shape of the buildings is rather iconic.

During the first few days we had meetings at school, and I figured out accomodation.Taking a chance, I decided to live with another teacher at the school. She had just moved to Moscow as well, after living in another Russian city for four years.

We figured it would be a bit cheaper for us to live together, and we hoped we'd get along. (I already have one story of a bad flattie, I hoped she wouldn't be the same.)

The first weekend in September, we moved into our new flat. Moving meant bringing my pack, purse, and day pack. I'd sent everything else by post from Kyiv, I just hoped it would arrive, and soon.

The worst part of moving is the time it takes to get settled into your new accomodation: figuring out where to put things, where to find a grocery store, where to find public transport, etc... When you find a grocery store you have to do the first buy, which always ends up costing a fair amount, as you have to buy things like salt and pepper. 

They don't cost a lot, but all the little costs add up, and when you first move somewhere you don't typically have a lot of money laying around. At least I don't.

Obviously, I went for a few walks in my new neighborhood. I had a fantastic view of Moscow State University from my bedroom window, I wanted to see what the rest of the area looked like. Much of Moscow State is in one very very very big building, it's more than a little impressive.

I walked to and from school a few times in the first month. The walk was under two hours, and the weather was good, so why not? A chance to burn calories and see more of the city.

During the month some of the stuff I'd shipped from Kyiv arrived, yahoo!! I got notifications at school that there were packages waiting for me at the post office, so I went there after school one evening. I had to order a taxi to bring everything to the flat, thankfully the four big bags fit in the trunk.

I was very used to the main post office in Kyiv, which is very grand; the post office I went to this time was not at all grand. It actually took me a while to find, as it is in a building behind the building on the street. 

That probably doesn't make any sense, but I was the same amount of confused in finding the office. At least it wasn't too far from school.

My school schedule this year gives me Monday mornings and Wednesday afternoons off. I intended to make use of these half days off to see the city as much as possible.

One of the Wednesday afternoons in September I walked to an area called Moscow City, which is basically a business center. A whole bunch of office buildings, with modern architecture. The weather involved low clouds, which covered the tops of the buildings, I loved the way it all looked.

During this month I got to see a number of beautiful sunrises. Absolutely gorgeous. These views made me fall in love with the city pretty quickly, and it's always good to love the city in which you live.

Another Wednesday afternoon I walked from school all the way to a museum reserve area called Kolomenskoye. It was originally a royal estate, now mostly open to the public. I went into a couple churches on the property, watched a sunset, and realized I'd only seen a small portion of the estate. Royals in Russia used to have quite the life!

On several of the weekends I got caught up in watching tv shows until late each day, but managed to get myself out of the flat for evening walks. One of those walks I went back to the university area, as the building is lit up at night. There is a big pond on one side of the building, I liked seeing the building reflected in the black water.

This side of the building was not too far away from an overlook giving an amazing view of the city. I could pick out some of the Seven Sisters, I could see a convent, I could see the river, and I could see a sports stadium. Awesome.

Another nighttime walk I went in the other direction, ending up at Park Pobedy, (known in English as Victory Park.)

Many parts of the park were lit up, and I had another city view. There was a museum on one side of this area, something military I think. I was way after closing hours, but I hoped to return and see the museum at another time.

There were several fountains still running, with lights making the water different colours. I loved the way everything looked. Even though I felt like it was fairly late on a Sunday evening, there were still plenty of people out and about, enjoying a great city at the end of the weekend.

Even though it was only September, the view from my bedroom showed me how quickly fall comes in Moscow. The leaves started to change colour pretty quickly, I had the best view possible for watching it happen. There was a park directly across the street from our flat, so my bedroom view showed the trees. Sooo pretty.

I love Moscow, I can't wait to see more!

traveling and moving: chicago to frankfurt to kyiv to moscow

My flight from Indianapolis to Chicago left on time, and arrived on time. I took an uber to Kelley's house, then relaxed. By relax I mean I spent the rest of the day on the couch. The only time I moved was to bake a really really yummy blueberry pie Kelley had in the freezer for me.

I even slept on the couch that evening, hee hee.

The next day I stayed on the couch for a bunch of hours. It was really nice to relax and not do anything in particular. I made sure to eat, and watch TV I wouldn't be seeing once I left the States. Of course the food included more slices of the blueberry pie, drowned in whip cream.

Since Kelley and Jon were on a diet that did not allow for carbs, I felt it was my duty to eat the entire pie, so they had no temptations once I left.

I walked to the post office to mail some of the envelopes of post cards I hadn't handed out during the summer. I'm not sure the postal clerks believed me when I said the envelopes had only postcards inside. I've never met anyone who buys, writes, and sends postcards like I do.

That night, I slept again on the couch, after eating more pie.

Is it bad to eat pie for more than one meal in a row? I had the last slice for breakfast the next morning, after sleeping on the couch again.

Eventually I managed to get moving, then walked again to the post office with the last of my envelopes of post cards. The postal clerks from the day before remembered me, and were surprised again, since I had more to send. It's a habit that costs me more money than I should spend, but I know how much I love receiving real mail, so I want to do that for other folks.

That night Kelley and Jon and I went out to a nice dinner at a chain restaurant called Beni Hana. They cook food on a flat top in the middle of the table with customers sitting all around. It's part show, part meal. Good food, great company.

After dinner we stopped by Walmart so I could stock up on a few things I knew I'd want after leaving the States. I might have bought 2kgs of mini Reese's Cups. Soooo good, and soooo unnecessary. Swiss Rolls might have ended up in my basket too. It's a good thing my pack was only so big...

The next morning I finished packing, shoving everything in to make it fit. Kelley drove me to the airport, I arrived in plenty of time to check in.

I was able to get my bag checked all the way to Kyiv, even though that wasn't the normal policy of the airlines; this is because I had a really long layover in Frankfurt.

I landed in Frankfurt early the next morning, after connecting in Atlanta. Since I knew I had all day, I stayed in the airport for a while, relaxing and using the airport wifi to keep in touch with the world.

Eventually I took public transport into the city center, so I could walk around and see a new place. It was only a day layover, but a few hours is better than no hours. I also thought that keeping moving during daytime hours would help me get onto European time faster than just laying around all day.

The s-bahn ride into the city was fast (only 20 minutes or so,) and easy. I'd downloaded maps while on wifi, so I had a clue where to go once I landed at the train station. Since I had just a few hours to explore, I figured I would walk along the water, toward the old school city center.

The walk was nice, part of it took me through a local festival taking place along the riverbanks. I went over part of the bridge, and got to watch the end of a canoeing race, which was fun.

From there I continued walking, all the way to the old city center. The contrast of the old area with the new area was quite startling. Think modern, geometric buildings across the street from stately, grand, classical old buildings.

I wandered through a couple churches, neither of them very big. I watched people everywhere I went, as there were heaps of people out enjoying the festival and the good weather.

I saw the platz in the middle of everything, which is quite picturesque. The photographer side of me wanted a photo without people, but that definitely wasn't going to happen; not even with the patience I've gained while waiting for the exact photo I want. The sides of the platz were filled with tables for cafes, they were mostly filled.

I walked through a part of city call, making note of the skylight in the ceiling. That passageway took me to another church. I was only able to go in the entryway of the church without paying, and since I didn't have euros on me I didn't/couldn't buy a ticket. Oh well.

When I got back to the train station I bought ice creams and water and juice. Of course it was too much to eat at once, but since I was super thirsty and hungry my eyes were way bigger than my belly. The next s-bahn to the airport came quickly, it was a lot more crowded on the way to the airport than when going into the city.

I waited at the airport for a few hours, made even longer when we boarded late. Not too long after we boarded, there was an announcement made that said we wouldn't be able to fly since there is a curfew at the airport and we were too late. In other words, we all had to deboard. Sigh.

It was supremely frustrating when I realized we had boarded at 2230, and the curfew was at 2300. No flights are allowed to take off after 2300. In what world did they think there was even a chance of everyone boarding and getting settled and taking off within 30 minutes? Argh.

I was lucky that my passport allows me entry into the country of Germany without a special visa, as it allowed me to deboard, go through the airport, pick up my voucher from the Lufthansa desk, and check into the hotel across the street from the airport. People who didn't have the ability to cross through borders like I do had to stay the night in the airport.

Anywho, I got to the airport and checked in (at nearly midnight,) then ran down to the special buffet room they had set up for all of us. I ate as fast as possible, then went back to my room to try to sleep. Since I was still on time zones from the States it didn't really work.

My alarm went off waaay too early, and I raced back down to the food room to grab a bit of breakfast, then race back to the airport. Fortunately, that flight took off on time.

When I arrived in Kyiv I discovered my bag had not made the journey with me. In other words the effort of checking the bag all the way through back in Chicago ended up costing me waaaay too much time and trouble. ARGH.

To make it even better, the guy at the luggage counter told me the bag wouldn't come until the next afternoon or evening, which was awful timing for me. My flight out of Kyiv departed the next day, in early evening. In other words, I couldn't wait that long.

I ended up having to take a taxi back to the airport early the next morning, to pick up the bag. Then race home again, pack up my entire life in just a few hours, and take it all to the post office.

My taxi driver in Kyiv was awesome, as he helped me fill out all the forms needed (in triplicate!!) to mail all my stuff to Russia. Then he drove me back to the airport where I started my move to Russia!!

I spent that night in the airport in Riga. Since I'd been there before I knew exactly where to find chairs to doze on, and which ones were close to a plug. I also knew there was free wifi, so I wasn't too bored.

The next day just after noon my flight took off, and a few hours later landed in Moscow.
My new adventure awaited!!