russia: moscow in the cold

I've been a happy camper all week. Temperatures have plummeted, and there has been plenty of snow. It truly feels like winter, I finally need to wear a proper winter coat, hat, and mittens or gloves.

On Wednesday evening I went out to a spot called Rechnoy Vokzal, which has had renovations finished in the past year or so. It has been on my list of places to go in Moscow, and stays on the list even after this visit. I had planned to wait until summer, or at least late spring to visit, but then I saw a photo showing holiday lights in the surrounding park.

I enjoyed the lights, and due to the cold there weren't many other people out walking around. I didn't have to wait long for people to get out of my photos, yay. I wonder if there are lights in this park every year, or if this is just a special year.

The weekend did not go the way I originally planned. Not at all. I had train tickets booked to go out of town, and a booking for accomodation as well, but when Friday evening rolled around I just didn't want to go. I cancelled both, and stayed in Moscow all weekend instead.

Unlike last year, this winter in Moscow has actually been cold. This weekend the temperatures stayed around -18C/0F, with one day of wind and snow and one day of blue skies. I'm a huge fan of winter, so I was generally thrilled.

On both days it took me too long to get dressed and walk out of my flat, but that's normal for me. My first sight on both days was a statue of Lenin. There are so many in this city, I wonder if I'll ever see all of them. I think a few are behind fences and closed gates, so probably not.

By the time I got to my second sight on Saturday evening, it was after dark, but that was the plan. Every year an area in Moscow called VDNKh builds a giant ice skating track/rink. I had no real desire to get out on the ice, particularly with the wind and continuing snow, but there were plenty of folks out there having a grand ol' time.

There is a bridge built over the middle of the track, giving a great view of the entire territory. This is where I wanted to be, as it gave me a slightly elevated view of all the holiday lights. Very pretty. I took a few phtos, then started walking back to the metro because my fingers were SO COLD.

On Sunday, I walked to Lenin, then walked to my second sight as well. The temperatures on Sunday were colder (-21C/-6F) and the sky was blue. While walking in the sun I wasn't cold, but as soon as I had to walk in the shade I got chilly very quickly, particularly my fingers and toes.

The second sight on Sunday was a park I've visited before, but not in winter. Park Dubky is beautiful in fall, as there are plenty of trees with heaps of brightly coloured leaves. I wanted to see the seasonal contrast. Everything felt crisp and clean, if that makes sense.

It was wonderful to walk around and take photos, right up until my phone froze, and I realized I didn't know how to get to the closest metro station. Whoops. I walked out of the park and was fortunate to see a supermarket almost straightaway. I walked in without intention of buying anything, but with the intention of warming up. It worked, woo hoo.

russia: moscow: manezhnaya square and zaryadye park

Another episode of touring Tuesday in the dark. I left school as dark was falling (which is still entirely too early at this time of year.)

I walked toward the most famous part of the city: the Kremlin, Alexandrovsky park, Manezhnaya Square and Red Squre.

I'd seen photos on social media of the holiday decorations, and I knew they were all still on display.

I'm not sure, but it seems to me that there were more lights and decorations this season than in the past two years I've lived in Moscow.

Manezhnaya Square is often forgotten when talking about the most famous parts of Moscow, but I think most visitors wander through the area at some point, even if they don't recognize it.

There are a couple archways of lights, as well as an entire thematic display with small houses and cartoon like animals, all in a winter setting. Really cute.

Wikipedia tells me the square is locally known as the Manezhka. I've never heard that name, but I don't think I've ever talked to anyone about that area in particular. 

Or maybe the name has been said and I don't remember. I walked through Red Square next, the holiday festival there is still going strong.

I'd seen photos on social media of my next destination as well, Zaryadye Park. The decorations here were definitely over the top.

Zaryadye Park was the first new park in Moscow in 50 years, it was officially opened in September of 2017. It is across the street from one side of the Kremlin, and Red Square.

The entire park is covered in holiday lights, most of them sticking to a similar look.

If I had to describe the lights, I'd call them one half of a Q-tip, with the tip changing colour regularly. The colour change was mostly in unison, so a full hillside looks pretty cool.

On the far side of the park were holographic lights, with the 'pictures' changing regularly. Awesome.

russia: lenin, danilov monastery, and holiday lights

Tuesday touring continues, I really need to get better about doing something or going to see something every Tuesday.

Like so many other places I've visited recently, I learned about the Danilov monastery on social media. It is a walled monastery near the right bank of the Moscow River, in Moscow.

Wikipedia tells me it has been the headquarters of the Russian Orthodox Church since 1983. The year of this designation surprised me, because that was during the existence of the Soviet Union, and I didn't think the state wanted anything to do with religion back then.

Danilov Monastery is the official residence of the Patriarch of Moscow and all of Russia. I'm pretty sure I know which building has his residence, there is a giant mosaic on the exterior wall of one building in the monastery. This building is blocked off from visitors, so that's my guess.

As with any religious facility in Russia, this one has a long history, including being moved around several times. First it was here, then it was moved to the Kremlin, then it was moved back. It was also used as a fort.

As far as I could tell, there were two main buildings that looked like churches. One is called the katholikon, it's actually three churches in one building. I went inside, and saw at least two areas, but I'm not sure about a third.

The other unmissable building was yellow, with big steps on all four sides and a dome on top. It wasn't open, so I'm not sure if it was a church or not.

After leaving the monastery I used the metro system to get to the area near the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. It's the big white cathedral on the list of most tourists.

The church is pretty new, at least the building is. Before the current church the location was actually a giant city pool for a long time, as the Soviet government did not want religion to be important in the life of any citizen. I've seen a few photos of the area when it was a pool and whoa.

There was a church there in the past, I assume it had the same name.

The reason I came to the area was to check out the holiday lights. The pedestrian bridge on one side of the church has a very non traditional series of Christmas trees. Think upside down cone, with lights spiraling around, and the cones leaning over to the side.

The other side of the church also had a couple sets of lights, which looked like shooting stars.

russia: tyumen

I did not plan my New Year's holidays very far in advance. Despite having a three week break, I stayed in Russia for the first couple weeks, because there is so much to see and do in the country. I didn't get the first week and some sorted out until just a couple weeks ahead of time, whoops!

My first destination was Tyumen. Almost 2150 kilometers east of Moscow, Tyumen is a rapidly growing city. Though the 2010 census had just over 580,000 residents, Wikipedia tells me the current estimate is just short of 770,000 residents.

Tyumen became part of the Tsardom of Russia in 1585, when a Cossack leader annexed the area from the Siberian Khanate. Sometime after this the city was completely destroyed, along with a city called Sibir. While Tyumen was later rebuilt, Sibir wasn't. Sibir ended up being the name for the entire region instead.

Wikipedia goes on to say By the beginning of the 18th century Tyumen had developed into an important center of trade between Siberia and China in the east and Central Russia in the west.

Tyumen had also become an important industrial center, known for leatherworkers, blacksmiths, and other craftsmen. In 1763, 7,000 people were recorded as living in the town.

By the end of the 19th century Tyumen's population exceeded 30,000, surpassing that of its northern rival Tobolsk (which I visited later on during this trip,) and beginning a process whereby Tyumen gradually eclipsed the former regional capital. The growth of Tyumen culminated on August 14, 1944 when the city finally became the administrative center of the extensive Tyumen Oblast.

World War II saw rapid growth and development in the city. In the winter of 1941, twenty-two major industrial enterprises evacuated to Tyumen from the European part of the Soviet Union. These enterprises went into operation the following spring. Additionally, war-time Tyumen became a "hospital city", where thousands of wounded soldiers were treated.

Possibly the most interesting part of the recent history of Tyumen is what happened during WW2 in 1941. The body of Lenin was secretly moved from Moscow to a secret tomb in what is now the Tyumen State Agriculture Academy. 

I don't know why his head wasn't moved as well. As far as I know, locals had no idea this happened until well after the war was over.

Regarding the current economy of Tyumen, Wikipedia says Tyumen is an important service center for the gas and oil industries in Russia. Due to its advantageous location at the crossing of the motor, rail, water and air ways and its moderate climate Tyumen was an ideal base town for servicing the oil and gas industry of the West Siberia. 

As a result, today Tyumen is a center of industry, science, culture, education and medicine. Many large oil and gas companies such as Gazprom, LUKoil, Gazpromneft and Shell have their representative offices in Tyumen.

There are numerous factories, engineering companies, oil industry service companies (KCA DEUTAG and Schlumberger,) design institutes, shipyard and other oil servicing companies located in Tyumen. Schwank, market leader for industrial heaters, has its subsidiary, SibSchwank, in Tyumen, holding market shares of about 25%. UTair is also based in Tyumen.

As Tyumen is not an easy train ride from Tyumen, (the train would be direct, but it would take 35 hours,) I chose to fly instead. My flight landed in the early morning, which is acually my preferred time to arrive somewhere new.

As Moscow has had a very warm winter this year, I knew I would be in for temperature shock as soon as I set food outside the airport, and that's exactly what happened. I went from temperatures above freezing, to -20C or so that morning. Big difference, to say the least. It was easy to catch a public bus into the city center, then walk about 15 minutes to get to my hostel. 

I wasn't able to check in straightaway, but I was able to leave my pack, which was enough for the time being. After leaving my pack the first thing I did was find a supermarket to pick up snacks and drinks. Am I the only weirdo who wants ice cream even when it is quite cold outside?

One of the few things that is no fun about traveling in the cold is related to photography. Camera batteries don't last nearly as long in this kind of cold. You can keep the batteries in your gloves or pockets, but that means you can't set up your camera nearly as quickly every time you want to take a photo. 

The cold also makes touching your camera not so fun, as the metal picks up the cold and holds in. Same goes for the tripod. Argh.

I walked along one of the main streets in the city, seeing a whole lot of holiday decorations. There were quite a few snowflake decorations, which I suppose makes sense in terms of the weather. My first official sight had nothing to do with anything, it was a quirky monument, dedicated to janitors.

Not far away I found a WW2 memorial. There was an eternal flame, named engraved on plaques, and fake flowers. 

Part of the memorial was also a giant sculpture that I think was supposed to be a torch with a flame on top.

I kept going along the main street, eventually coming to a statue of Lenin. Big statue, on a big pedestal, nothing different from what I've seen previously. He stood in front of the government building that holds the administration for the oblast. This government building also had holiday decorations.

After walking another couple blocks, I followed another street for a quick detour, to find a church. 

The outside was a boring white, but the inside was nicely painted with frescoes and a great rotunda. I am always a sucker for a church with a rotunda that is painted on the interior side.

Eventually this main street followed the lines of the Tura River, which runs through the city. I wanted to take a whole lot of photos of the pedestrian bridge that goes over the river at this point, but it was just too cold and windy to keep it up for long. Almost directly across the street from the bridge was another war memorial, this one also had an eternal flame.

After looking at the memorial for a minute or two, I knew I had to get inside for a bit to warm up. Thankfully there was a church visible not too far away, so I headed in that direction. It felt so good to step inside the church, and I appreciated the lovely gold iconostasis in front.

After getting feeling back in my fingers, I walked home. All the way home, with three stops. The first was to take nighttime photos of the giant bear decorations set up in a central park area. The other stop was in a donut shop, for dessert after the dinner I hadn't yet eaten. I stopped for the third time in the same supermarket as the morning, to pick up dinner (salad,) supplies.

The next morning was my normal routine of waking up early but not getting moving as fast as I should. That being said, this was also the shortest day of the year, meaning sunrise comes later. It was also hard to get up because my body was still mostly on Moscow time, making it feel like the middle of the night.

The weather my first day in Tyumen was cold, but completely sunny. Not so much on my second day in the city. It was just as cold, windy, and snowy for much of the second day. Not nearly as much fun in terms of randomly walking around the city.

I walked to the train station from my hostel, which wasn't a short walk, but gave me a chance to see the non touristy parts of the city. I found luggage storage and left my pack there for the day, then walked out again. On the other side of the parkplatz in front of the station was a large Soviet style mosaic mural, honouring the science cities in the area.

Walking straight up the street in front of the train station brought me back to the bears I'd seen the night before. They weren't nearly as interesting in daylight, but I took my photos anywho.

From there I went back to the main street I'd walked the day before, walking even further than I had the day before. I walked all the way to a monastery marked on the map, and listed as a sight worth seeing. The holy trinity monastery ended up not being all that impressive, mostly because the main church within the walls was under renovation. I was only able to visit the smaller church, which wasn't nearly as interesting aesthetically, though I think it did have the more interesting history.

After leaving the walls of the monastery, I walked back in the direction from which I'd come. 

This took me past the second war memorial I'd seen the day before. Less than a block away was the city museum, which seemed like a good place to visit.

Joy of joys, another Russian museum with multiple ticket options. Argh. And shoe covers, which I really don't like. I chose a couple ticket options that had to do with Soviet times, and WW2. Neither area was particularly large, but oh well.

On my way into the area about WW2 I slipped and fell on the stone steps, as they'd been worn smooth and my shoe covers made them even more slippery. If you put those shoe covers on while your shoes have any water with them (snow, ice, stuck to the bottom of your shoes,) they don't do much. The covers are pretty cheaply made, meaning holes come along quickly, and before you know it you're still bringing water/dirt all over the building you're in.

Anywho, after falling down the stairs I took off the shoe covers and refused to put them back on. I really don't like those things.

By the time I left the city museum it was dark outside, so the powers that be had already turned on all the lights. Street lights, lights on the pedestrian bridge, holiday lights, etc. By that point it had (finally) stopped snowing, so I could see everything clearly and it was lovely.

After that I killed several hours by stopping in three food places. First a cafe for dessert and a drink. Then a pizza place for dinner. Then the donut place again for second desserts. YUM all the way around.

From there I walked back to the train station, picking up my bag plenty of time ahead of my train. I only had to wait about thirty minutes to board, and as expected, the train left exactly on time.

I'd like to come back to Tyumen in late spring or summer, just to see how the city looks, as I'm sure it would be completely different.