russia: moscow: ice festival at park pobedy

This was the first time in three years I was in Moscow during the two weeks of the annual ice festival at Park Pobedy.

I didn't originally intend to be in Moscow at all during my holiday break, but that's what happened when I got around to booking trains and planes.

You could barely call this winter in Moscow this year. We've had very little snow, and temperatures have been something like 10 degrees warmer than usual.

I have no idea how they kept the ice sculptures from melting, since they weren't indoors.

What was indoors was a series of sand sculptures.

There was also a chick wearing a costume of I don't know what.

As I visited not too long after dark, on a Tuesday, I paid 350 rubles for entry.

I love ice festivals. Even when they're lame (like the 'Ice Fantasy' Claire and I saw in St Petersburg a couple years ago,) I still love them.

russia: chelyabinsk

Chelyabinsk ended up on my mini tour de Siberia for two reasons. One, it was listed in my guidebook, and two, because a former student of mine is from the oblast. I've been lucky enough to see enough of Russia that I can choose to visit a city simply because I know someone originally from there.

Chelyabinsk is the 7^th largest city in Russia, with over a million residents.

Wikipedia says archaeologists have discovered ruins of the ancient town of Arkaim in the vicinity of the city of Chelyabinsk. 

Ruins and artifacts in Arkaim and other sites in the region indicate a relatively advanced civilization existing in the area since the 2nd millennium BCE. Apparently there are 23 archaeological sites in an area called the Sintasha-Petrovka cultural area, this original settlement is one of them.

The modern history of Chelyabinsk started with a fortress called Chelyaba, which was founded in 1736, built to protect trade routes through the area. Though it remained a 'provincial' town for the next century, Chelyabinsk was given official town status in 1787.

Chelyabinsk finally started growing because of the railroad. The connection of the city to Yekaterinburg in 1896 essentially made Chelyabinsk a gateway to Siberia, so heaps of people moved through the city, and some ended up staying.

During WW2 some military and industrial companies were moved to Chelyabinsk by the government, keeping them well away from the reach of the advancing Germany army. There were so many tanks produced in Chelyabinsk that the city was nicknamed Tankograd (Tank City,) for a while.

The most interesting point in recent history took place in 2013. A meteor moving at over 55,000 kilometers per hour exploded in the sky, around 25-30 kilometers up. The shock wave created by the explosion injured more than 1000 people. Some of the fragments landed in and near Chelyabinsk.

Chelyabinsk is a major educational center of the Ural region. Wikipedia tells me there are more than a dozen universities in the city, the oldest of which was founded in 1930.

The economy of Chelyabinsk is mostly industrial.

There are metallurgy and military production companies, a massive tractor company, companies producing construction machinery, and pipe plants. There are agricultural firms, watch producers, insurance firms, and more. Wikipedia mentions tourism as part of the economy, but I don't think that's a huge part of what makes the city run.

My train from Kurgan arrived in Chelyabinsk was only around four hours long, arriving at 0430. Since it was so short, and started after midnight,

I didn't get much sleep; I was too afraid of sleeping through my stop. The train station in Chelybinsk is quite big, and very modern. There are a few big rooms, but they don't feel as grand because of the modern architecture.

I dozed off and on in the train station for the next four hours, killing time until it was daylight, or at least close to it. Just as I was getting ready to walk out of the station I got a message telling me the address of my accomodation had moved, which irritated me to no end. I'm glad I got the message before I went in the wrong direction, but they could've sent it at least the night before.

The hostel in which I stayed was quite nice. Though it was in an old wood building, the rooms were warm, had windows letting in natural light, and a couple big kitchens. After warming up and relaxing for a couple hours, I went back out, ready to explore.

I chose a Lenin statue as the first sight I wanted to see. Along the way I discovered that Chelyabinsk had had more snow than Kurgan, as well as colder temperatures, so the snow hadn't melted. Many of the pavements weren't cleared, making walking more of a challenge than I wanted. 

I love walking in winter, but at the same time I prefer walking on pavements, not in the middle of streets.

I stopped into a church, enjoying the warmth for a couple minutes, then kept walking. Further along this first walk I passed a wooden house, one of the original homes of Chelyabinsk. (That is, the style is of the original homes, I'm not sure it has actually been around for over 250 years.)

Unfortunately, when I got to where the Lenin statue was supposed to be, I discovered it was on a military property of some kind, behind closed gates. Argh. 

The River Miass snakes through Chelyabinsk, so when I turned around to head back into the city center I crossed a bridge to get there. This was just one of several bridges I walked over while I was in the city.

Another thing I noticed while walking around Chelyabinsk was the number of small lots selling Christmas trees. Although it was after western Christmas, Orthodox Christmas was still more than a week away, so there was plenty of time to buy one. They seemed to be pretty cheap, but I don't know if the prices I saw were by size, or per tree, or by another measurement.

My next sight was a park. Park Aloye Pole had two things I wanted to see. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, and a monument mausoleum of Lenin. The church was brick on the outside, so I didn't love it. The insdie was really small, and didn't seem very welcoming, so I wasn't a fan of that either. Darnit, I usually like at least one thing about any church I visit.

I'm not sure what the monument mausoleum of Lenin was, or was supposed to be. There is a bust of the man on a small structure of sorts, but I know Lenin himself isn't there, as his embalmed body is on display in Moscow.

At that point I connected to Lenin street, walking to Revolution Square to see the main Lenin statue of the city. I was thrilled when I got to the square to find another ice sculpture festival. Lenin was along one side of the square, the rest of the area was filled with a small ice labyrinth, a couple really big ice slides, and quite a few ice sculptures. Great fun to walk around, and I really wished I had a plastic sled of sorts to use on one of the ice slides.

One of the sculptures was a throne, so naturally I took a photo of me on my throne, hee hee. So nice to find the appropriate chairs for me all over the country.

After taking photos of many of the sculptures, I followed a street that branched off the square. There were two reasons for going this way. One, I'd found a water tower marked on the map further down that street; two, I could see sunset happening as I walked. The way the sun spread light was quite photogenic for a while.

The water tower wasn't particularly exciting, but I'm glad I found it. Are these things ever used anymore? I also found a really really big sculpture of sorts in a small park across the street. 

The top of it had two 'statues' leaning toward each other in love, so it makes sense that it is regularly used as a place to stage wedding photos.

By the time I got back to Revolution Square, it was dark. All the ice sculptures were lit up with different coloured lights, so the dark didn't matter. More fun to wander around and watch people. In a slightly different area I found sculptures made of holiday lights: a carriage like that of Cinderella, and picture frames, and a giant ornament. Very pretty.

Even though it was fairly early in the evening, I walked home from there, stopping in a couple grocery stores along the way to warm up and to get food for dinner. I slept early and hard that night, as I usually do my first night in a new city.

The next morning I packed up and checked out, leaving my pack at the front desk of the hostel. It was slightly out of the way for me to come back and get later in the day, but the train station was even more out of the way, so I didn't want to put the bag in luggage storage at the station.

My first sight of the day was the Alley of Glory, which was a park like pedestrian area with several war memorials along the way. I'm pretty sure it's a lot more interesting to see in summer. As I walked through it just felt like everything was white and snow covered. War memorials aren't as interesting when the name plaques are completely covered.

I got back to Revolution Square, then followed another street to get to a park, where I got to see a bright red locomotive on display. I was wearing a red coat that day, so when I took my photo with the locomotive I almost blended in. 

Also in this park was a wooden sculpture of the head of what looked like Pushkin. I really liked it, though I'm not sure why such a thing was in a random park in Chelyabinsk.

From there I got back to Lenin street, and followed it all the way to the end. It's a long street, so I saw a few things along the way. At least two universities, both of which were in buildings that made me think of the Seven Sisters in Moscow. I wonder how many students attend each of those universities, and how many students in general are in Chelyabinsk?

I also passed a tiny cafe, where I stopped to have carrot cake and hot chocolate. At the very end of the street was a huge monument to Ivan Kurchatov, the father of nuclear engineering in the Soviet Union. He was in charge of the Soviet equivalent of the Manhattan project. (Which was a few years after the US did the research and building.)

Then I walked all the way back to the city center, to get to one of the main museums in Chelyabinsk. 

The State History Museum of the Southern Urals does not have a fun name, and the building isn't particularly exciting, but I ended up quite enjoying my visit. I got to pay the local fee for entry, there wasn't even a question of me being a foreigner, woo hoo!

When I first walked in, I went through what I thought was the enire museum, and was quite disappointed. There were a number of paintings and photos on display, but that was it as far as I could see. When I got back to coat check to pick up my coat the lady asked if I'd really seen everything, I said I thought so.

I was wrong. She took me up to a closed door, which led me into the rest of the museum, which was a much bigger section. I never figured out how I was supposed to know to open a closed door that didn't have a label, but I'm glad she did it for me. The rest of the museum was far more interesting, and far more informational.

I got to see one of the big chunks of the meteorrite that fell in 2013. I got to see photos and items from daily life in the region going back a while. I got to see the history of flora and fauna in the area going back a really long way. I got to see the traditional clothing worn in this part of Russia, as well as how it has changed over time. All in all it was a great museum.

From there I walked quickly back to my hostel to pick up my bag, stopping at a supermarket to pick up snacks along the way. I hadn't left myself enough time to walk back to the train station, so I hopped on a tram to do so, watching my watch the entire way. 

I got to the station in plenty of time to board my train without any stress, and get comfortable for the long ride I had coming.

I'd like to go back to Chelyabinsk when the grass is green, just to see the differences in how the city looks. There are also a couple museums I want to see, as well as big parks.

harbin ice festival

harbin, china hosts an ice/snow festival every year, this is the 27th year, i think...over the years i've seen the photos in the news, and they've always been incredible...even though the plane ticket was expensive (especially with the visa) i decided to see it for myself...i left work an hour early, hopped on a bus to the airport, and landed in harbin at 2120 local time...i was seated near the front of the plane, so i got out fast...the windows in the gangway into the airport were completely frosted over, with an inch of frost!! that was my first indication that harbin is COLD...soldiers were waiting at the plane door, and walked with us as we walked through the airport to immigration...as it turned out, the soldiers were also the immigration control officers as well...they stepped into the booths and started the computer problems while everyone lined up...there were only two lines, four officers took care of the whole plane...i didn't have anything to declare in customs, nor any baggage to claim, so it didn't take long to walk into the arrivals hall...that arrivals hall must be the quietest arrivals hall ever...maybe it was because it was around 2130 or so, but wow, it was QUIET...there were people holding signs with names, and others waiting, but no one was talking...and no one tried to get my attention to take a taxi, or send me to a hotel...quite a difference from most of my travel experiences in asia!! it took me a while to find an atm, i was starting to wonder if there was one in the whole airport; i would've been in trouble if there hadn't been an atm there!!

this is the first thing i saw when i walked out of the airport in harbin, china

the taxi took me to the hotel i had booked, thank goodness i had thought ahead (one of the few times i've done so)...and thank goodness i had printed out the directions/address in chinese, otherwise that could've been another disaster...the taxi driver spoke absolutely no english, and my chinese amounts only to saying hello and thank you...according to the guidebook there is public transport from the airport into town, but i didn't see option, and at that hour, i didn't much care...and thank goodness i had printed out the reservation as well, because the hotel clerks didn't speak any english either...i wasn't at all upset that no one speaks english, given that i was in china, and i think it's ridiculous to expect the rest of the world to speak my language...yes, it makes things more difficult, but that's part of the interest of traveling...they had me in a "couple's room"...just like a love motel in korea, complete with mirrors and a red, heart shaped pillow...hee hee...the room was warm...really warm...it felt too warm at first, but then i loved it...

sculptures all over town, including along the main pedestrian street

the next morning i got up and ate breakfast in the hotel...a typical chinese breakfast, buffet style...soup, eggs, various dishes...(only western cultures have specific breakfast fews)...some fruit too...there were other families and couples eating, most of them already mostly bundled up...on the way back to my room after breakfast i read the hotel information board which said that the temperatures of the day were -26C to -15C...(-14F to 5F)...that sounded chilly, but i had no idea what i was getting into...i got dressed with a long sleeve synthetic fiber shirt, a hoodie sweatshirt, pants, socks, a fleece jacket and ski shell on top...a hat and lined mittens as well...i thought that would be enough...but w/in 10 minutes of walking outside, i realized i needed the longjohns i had brought as well...the cold air directly on my skin hurt, even though it was super sunny...thank goodness the hotel was conveniently located:)

sliding down sculptures:)

 harbin was originally a small village...now it's the capital of the northeasternmost province in china...according to the guidebook, the official, modern border between russia and china wasn't settled for sure until july 2008...in 1896 china negotiated with russia, and the decision was made to build a railroad from vladivostok (on the russian east coast) to harbin, then down to dalian, china...so in came the russian rail workers...following them over the years were russian jews, and white russians, all escaping conditions in russia...not surprisingly, harbin shows the russian influence, particularly in the architecture of the city...wider streets too...it's a chinese city, but you wouldn't know it except for seeing chinese writing everywhere...obviously there are plenty of chinese people walking around, but there is a lot more open, empty space than i remember in other chinese cities...

after redressing myself properly (and nearly overheating in my hotel room once i had all the clothing on) i walked down the main pedestrian street again...there are cross streets with cars on them, so you can walk down the middle of the street, but you have to watch out for cars crossing every now and again...the street was pretty slippery, as there is plenty of ice all over the roads, i wonder if it ever goes away during the winter...i "skated" inadvertantly more than once, lol...the end of the street is at the river's edge...at this particular point there are a number of winter activities set up...the river in the middle of the city freezes up in winter (while i was there the temperatures ranged from -26C to -15C) so there were all sorts of opportunities on the ice...you can rent chairs that slide on the ice, ride in a carriage pulled by a horse, ride a horse, ride a dogsled, and use a snow machine...

 i chose to walk across the river, trying to ignore the aggressive saleswomanship of several locals...they REALLY want you to go in one of the carriages!! walking across the river was fun...and COLD...i couldn't feel the wind, but according to the flags, there was definitely wind...my face was frozen:)...there were flags all the way across the river, a path of sorts had been cleared...cleared only of snow of course, there was still plenty of ice under my feet:)...and my toes could tell, they were numb! i wonder how deep the ice is?

 i love the idea of walking across a river frozen in the winter...(i also could've taken the cable car across...in summer, you have to take the cable car or the boat, i'm not sure if you're allowed to walk across a bridge)...i love the idea of ice and snow and it's beauty...of course i don't love slush and all the craziness of traffic and people who don't know how to drive, but that wasn't an issue for me during this trip...even the taxi driver from the airport drove carefully, thank goodness...he started slowing down WAY before street lights...

 this looked sooooo tempting, just to get out of the wind!!!

 there is plenty of snow in harbin...so much snow that you can see the sedimentary effect!!! i think the snow had been shoveled off the paths, melted slightly, snowed some more, melted slightly again, and you can see the top "dusting" layer...i'm a much bigger fan of snow that actually accumulates, as opposed to snow that only lasts about 30 seconds and just causes slush and transportation problems...

snow sandwiches?

 across the river is sun island...which is part of harbin...on the other side of the river i walked up some steps, then tried to figure out where to go from there...there was a map showing the island, and locations of various park areas...i had read the guidebook, and it simply said that there was a snow sculpture display area on the island, but it didn't give any other useful information...there are two main areas of this festival, and the snow one is on sun island...it turned out to be the bigger area, so perhaps lonely planet will start providing more direction...near one of the snow sculpture areas was a small amusement park...i ended up coming at the snow sculpture area from a different direction than most people, so for a while i was concerned because i wasn't seeing anyone else...normally, i would like that feeling, the feeling of being alone...but not so much in the COLD, w/out knowing how to ask for directions!

closed for the winter, and gorgeous:)

my first snow sculpture...over the rest of that day i saw tons and tons and tons more! and i was thrilled that this picture turned out exactly the way i wanted...i took this same photo for a couple, they returned the favour to me...every time i came to another path, each option offered more sculptures...even though i wandered for quite a while, i'm not sure i saw everything...

 not surprisingly, there were these sorts of "buildings" everywhere...there were tons of people coming in and out...a warm beverage in this COLD is a great idea...around the time i came upon this coffee shop i also chatted with a family from arizona...(who are currently living in dalian, china)...as with every sculpture, i wonder how long it took to build, and how long it stays frozen...

 it's a coffee shop!

 some of the snow sculptures were so well thought out...so intricate...how do people come up with the designs? i'm pretty sure i couldn't do this, even if given a set of directions!! what kind of tools are used? how many people work on each sculpture...and how does one go about being selected to carve a sculpture? 

 my camera focused on the face in the middle, and i just loved this one...its art, and sometimes you just connect with whateva you're seeing, just because...

 i wanted to walk over this bridge, but that didn't seem to be an option...on the other hand, the bridge didn't seem to be leading anywhere either...what do they use to make the red? and how does it not bleed into the rest of the snow? and what does it say?

 this was the first BIG sculpture i saw...WHOA...all the "pictures" on the side were from the shrek movies...it was during an attempt at a self photo with this sculpture that my first camera battery died...i knew it was because of the cold, thankfully i was prepared...with three more batteries...at least, i thought i was prepared...eventually, the camera itself got too cold, and it didn't matter whether the batteries had enough juice, as the camera doesn't work in that kind of cold...i carried it in my mittens, or inside pockets of my coat after i figured that out...and yes, you can slide down this sculpture...

 these faces were awesome...so detailed...if i had seen someone around at that moment, i would've sat on one of the stumps and asked the person to take a "family portrait"...(by the way, sitting on snow is really cold...i figured that out really fast, even with two layers on!)...another battery died here...

 who would've thought the mona lisa could be made out of snow?!?! you can't tell, but there is a base of snow under the "portrait" so even the bottom of the "frame" was above my head...i tried to get a photo of me with this, but it didn't turn out well, and another battery died...i was rather worried about that by this point, cause that meant 3 of the 4 batteries i had brought were finished, and i still had 1.5 days of picture taking left in the trip!!...thankfully, i learned that having the batteries back in my warm hotel room made a big difference, and it turned out they all had some juice left after all...

 this photo doesn't show it, but this face was amazing...the 3D effect was incredible...i wanted to try to take a profile photo, but i couldn't get high enough to do it properly...how does one go about carving something this big w/out destroying what you've already carved? what kind of footwear do you wear while carving? how many hours a day do you carve? and how do you get a block of snow big enough?

 two faces/two masks...don't all of us try to hide our true selves from time to time?

 a dutch guy took this photo for me...again, it turned out exactly as i wanted...though the guy said he couldn't see well and wasn't sure about the framing! he and his wife had come all the way from the netherlands just for a long weekend at this festival...WOW...now that's dedication to traveling...they had a 9 hour flight from amsterdam, then a two hour layover in beijing just to get to harbin...

 nothing in particular to say, but this was another one of the bigger sculptures, and i loved it...

 in some ways, it would be lovely to have my very own prince come and take me away to live in his castle...surrounded by trees and peaceful landscapes...

 again with the complicated, big, sculpture...do the artists have a sketch they work from? do they do a rough draft? who decides which sculptures get to be big and which are smaller? (all are nifty, regardless of size)

 this was called "forever young"...and the lady in the mirror was clearly "younger"...i wondered whether the old lady still sees herself as young and beautiful, or if the young lady is the way the husband still sees his wife...this was probably one of my favourite sculptures...given that looking young is such a big part of western culture, i found this to be another sculpture that attracted me...i looked at it for a while...(until standing still wasn't such a good idea anymore)

 i don't know what it says, but.....this was only a third of this particular sculpture...i didn't see how each third connected with the whole, so i took the photos separately...the first time i walked by this sculpture, my hands were too cold to take a photo...

 the main pedestrian street at night...thoughout the entire trip, i saw tons of people all bundled up...(of course)...some people wearing ski clothes, some wearing thick warm boots, everyone wearing a hat...surprisingly, not everyone had on gloves or mittens...WHY NOT? i know i would've lost fingers to frostbite if i hadn't had my lined mittens...my fingers got really cold really fast (as in, after about 10 seconds) when i took off my mittens for any reason, so i can't imagine not wearing them at all...

 i opted to go see the ice sculpture section at night, when i knew everything would be lit up...ice during the day didn't sound nearly as amazing as ice, lit up with colourful lights at night...

i fell flat on my ass walking across this ice bridge...so of course i took a photo:)

 the ice sculpture section of the festival had ice gates at each entrance, as opposed to the snow sculpture section, which had nothing in particular to denote an entrance other than ticket booths...it made for a much more impressive entrance, walking through the frozen gates...what do the park entrances look like in summer, w/out these massive gates?

the gate through which i entered the ice sculpture part of the festival

 while trying to take a photo of myself and this sculpture, a local guy offered to take one for me...he communicated that, w/out using english...i loved it...when i get my own castle, i want this sort of an entrance...with a moat, of course...

 the colours in all the sculptures stood out so well against the dark, clear night...the whole area had lights, even the temple on the top of the little hill in the park...

 i love patterns...there was a pink line, a blue line, a green line, and a yellow line, but i liked this one best...i tried to stand on one of these ice blocks, but slid off, and again fell on my butt...between this and the other fall, i had bruises that lasted a couple weeks...sitting down didn't feel so great...lol...i'm blaming the falls on my shoes, for not having proper traction...

 again with the patterns...how are the lights rigged so that they look as if they're coming from inside the ice? how much electric power is used during this festival? and how do they keep all the power lines from freezing? what time are the lights turned on?

 i have no idea who the face is, but just before i took the photo there were three guys hamming up photos with the guy, so i figured he could be important...or maybe not, who knows...china has such a long history, and each province has it's own history, this guy could be one of a jazillion people...the rest of the world probably doesn't know his name...

 not all the sculptures in this area were ice...some were more like the blowup lanterns i remember seeing for buddha's birthday in korea...

 the entire pavillion and walkway were ice...fortunately, there was some hardpack snow on the pathways, so for once i didn't fall...

 i'm a mystery:)

 walking through this area i passed at least 6 people who make their living taking photos of the tourists coming to the festival...they all carry boards showing the photos they can take...i can't help but wonder how many people use these guys, and how much they charge? how many batteries do they carry around each night? how long does it take to print the photos? where do they print them? i saw one lady who appeared to have hired two of the photographers, they had her posing numerous times in front of a number of sculptures...

 outside of the snow/ice festival, st sophia is one of the only sights harbin has...it was formerly an orthodox church...the outside obviously still looks the same, but the inside isn't a church anymore...the walls are covered with photos of harbin in the past...

st sophia church

 again with the wide open spaces in the city...

 an ice sculpture on my way to a couple temples...can you see the faces? i loved that there were sculptures all over the city, not just in the designated festival areas...i never knew when i was going to see another sculpture...just about every time i saw one, i stopped for a minute, just to stare...one building i also noticed on the way to the temples had a sign in english and chinese...haerbinxiede...the harbin sterility hospital!! what exactly does that mean?

 i loved the flowers at the base of one of the trees in the temple area...i wonder who put them there, and why? how long had they been there, and how long would the flowers stay? the snow had been shoveled up into piles in various places in the temple complex...some of the piles are actually pretty big...

 yes, that is a ferris wheel in the background of a lovely temple photo:)...there was a whole amusement park back there, but, like the other amusement park, was closed for the winter...

 the centrepoint of the 7tiered buddhist pagoda...the temple hall in front of this pagoda was surprisingly small...i had expected something larger...and i would've loved to go in the pagoda itself...i wonder if it's possible to go up inside? what were the two pagodas off to the sides?

 the temple hall in the background of this photo was probably my favourite...along three walls there were numerous standing buddhas lined up...and in the middle there were a couple altars as well...i can't say what it was that attracted me so much to this hall, but i stayed in there a while...if it had been warmer, i would've sat down and meditated for a while...as it was, if i had done that, my butt might very well have frozen completely...the guy watching over the room noticed that i was cold, and told me about a vegetarian restaurant in the complex, and said i should go there to warm up...no, he didn't do the talking in english, but through his motions i figured out that was what he was saying, as i remembered seeing the signs for the restaurant in another area...i love nice people...

 i loved the blue sky with this pagoda...and it's height...

 there was a monk walking around and around the base of this pagoda...i wonder how many times he walked around? he was chanting to himself the whole time...how many times a day does he walk?

 another entrance to the ice sculpture section...

 who doesn't love winnie? and piglet, of course!!

 where were all the vendors? there were tons of nuts available...just down the street from this set of stalls was an area where couples were dancing...ballroom style...there was traditional chinese music being played, and it was really sweet to watch them dance...mind you, it's absolutely freezing outside, and yet everyone looked like they were having a great time...there even a few solo dancers...

 as i took this photo, the temperature was -25C...somehow, the palm trees were just the teensiest bit out of place...hee hee...on the other hand, i spent each night in a cozy warm hotel room, so the cold never seemed so bad...i hope everyone who lives there has a warm place to live...