The Scottish Lemon 2.0

(day 13 was another train day, read previous posts and you get the idea)

We arrived at the very early start of 06:07.  It’s still dark cold and wet.  We haven’t booked a transfer for today and there is some confusion about who is doing what.  I’m tired and cranky from lack of sleep and just want to get to the hotel and take my chances about getting an early check in so I can drop off my bag and grab a shower.  So two of us leave the station and grab a cab as I just don’t feel  up to trying to navigate the metro on only a few hours sleep.
 
As luck would have it the hotel gives us our room key and we hadn’t even asked if we could check in early.  After a quick shower and finding some clean clothes I go downstairs to check my email to confirm my plans with the 2 contacts I’d made via Flickr.  I’m to meet one for lunch and the other I will meet up on Friday late afternoon.  I’ve also received another email from a lady who has also asked if I still need a guide.  I drop her an email to give her my number and for her to contact me if she’s got some time early afternoon or evening today.
 
F and I head off to find the Metro which is about a 15 min walk.  In seeing how our taxi driver struggled to find this hotel and in walking to the station we are both glad we went with the plans we did this morning as it would have been next to impossible to find our hotel on our own I fear.
 
We hop the underground with the intent to get to red square and hook up with the others.  The stations are written in both Cyrillic and English but it is still a bit of a challenge.  The station names are not all that obvious on the platform as they are only shown on the wall where the train comes in.  They do announce the next station on the train however with the accent it is difficult to understand.  I’ve got a copy of the station map so its a matter of counting how many stops.  
 
We get it right the first time but then get a bit confused on which way to exit.  Just following the crowd we do end up on the street and I can see the Kremlin but there is no pedestrian crosswalk or lights for that matter.  This ‘trying to cross the street’ ends up being a reoccurring theme for the day.  I like to think I’m pretty good navigating a map but that also usually involves being able to tell what street you’re on and street signs are few and far between.  It takes us about 45 min to finally make our way across to the Kremlin/Red Square only to find out the entire area is closed off for the next 2 days.

I’m not exactly sure what’s going on but my guess is it has something to do with preparing for the big May Day parades (May 9th) as everything seems to be getting a good clean and fresh coat of paint.  Figures 2 days in Moscow and we can’t see the main attractions.
 
We wander the streets and oo and ah at the various roof lines and Onion Domes that we can see.  We make our way to GUM which was the old State Department store but is now this uber trendy shopping mall filled with expensive designer shops and a food hall as upscale as Harrod’s.  

Its a good place to sit down for a bit and have a gin and tonic and a salad as we catch up with C who’s just returned from the British Embassy in attempt to sort out her stolen passport.
 
I am about to I head off to meet up with Ian, a contact I made through Flickr when my phone rings.  It’ is the woman who had emailed me this morning.  It is a very complicated conversation to have with the language barrier coupled together with I don’t really know where I am (direction wise) and although I know where I’m supposed to end up, no idea how to get there, let alone explain this to someone else.  And then my phone ran out of credit and the line went dead (oh dear).

So off to lunch I go…

The man I’m meeting is a British Expat who has been living/working in Moscow for 10 years.  He gives me directions on where to meet him from the metro .  However, it becomes apparent that as I exit the station and look for the statue that is the designated meeting point he thought I was coming from the opposite direction.  I exit the station and there is no statue, just a very busy intersection.  I end up walking around the entire city block before coming across said statue only to once again realise there is no way to cross the street.  I have to back track another block before finding the pedestrian subway and I finally meet up with him, 30 min late.

Unfortunately as he only had an hour for lunch its just a very quick lunch before he has to rush off and go back to work.  It was only after he left that I realize I forgot to ask him where to purchase some B&W film in the city.

From here I am to head over to meet the others at the New Tretyakov Gallery.   
Sometimes getting lost leads to good things.  I checked the map and I have 2 options as far as metro stations go.  I chose wrong it seems, and ended up walking a diagonal line in the wrong direction.  What should have been a few blocks ended up taking me about 3 hrs.   

However, in my journey I cam across a Radio Tower I had seen in a documentary on this history of Russian art and also found a nice small church. 

I ended up finding Gorky park at the opposite end of where I meant to be but it was a lovely walk inside the forest.  By the time I connected up with the others my feet, legs and head were all throbbing.  Plus from the weight of my back pack my neck was also tweaked and I could feel a migraine kicking in.  Not good.

When I’d spoken with both Ian and Elana on my mobile earlier in the day because I’m charged £1.40/minute to receive calls, my phone had no credit left in it so I couldn’t respond to any of the texts I’d received asking where I was.  But Elana had understood my ramblings this morning and she arrived at the gallery within about 10 min as I came staggering through the parking lot.  She graciously sent C a text to let them know I was here so it all worked out in the end.

From the gallery we all walked to a Georgian cuisine restaurant that was a recommendation from one of C’s students.  Unfortunately because of my now growing migraine I only had a bowl of soup and a few bites of my salad before everyone started to notice my glazed over eyes and that I was fading quickly.

Elana and C accompanied me back to the hotel where I loaded up on my drugs and hit the sack early at 9:30.  It had been a long frustrating day being lost and disoriented and I’m wishing I had more than the 48 hrs to explore.  

Moscow seems interesting with many stories to tell but I have a feeling I’m going to need to come back to discover them.

half a pint of guiness with the boys from the office followed by 2 glasses of red wine and 3 gingersnap cookies = coming home a redhead.  Coincidence?  Pictures tomorrow…

Just a thought, since moving to London in May it means I’m no longer living in Scotland. Maybe I should change the name of the blog?  Of course I’d need to actually post now and then for anyone to care I suppose…

Perm (or sometimes Permm) – things psychologically turned around for me in this stop.  Having crossed the Ural Mountains, which took us out of Siberia and into the European part of the country.  I’ve never been much for landscape photography so finding myself in a more urban setting really got my creative juices flowing.

From the train station we caught our transfer to our hotel, Mikos.   We had read the write up of the hotel in the guidebook we had along and it had been rated a 4 star and was considered a businessman’s hotel.  Not sure why they described the hotel that way.  Maybe it’s because of the tray on the desk that contained a selection of tiny liquor bottles, chocolates and biscuits (for a fee of course). 

The hotel wasn’t much to look at from the outside and was located on a very busy intersection.  But the staff at reception were extremely friendly and patient with the 4 of us arriving and looking very much bedraggled I’m sure. Typical of many European hotels (not just the Russian ones) there was no lift but lucky for us our rooms were only up one flight of stairs. 

You gotta love the décor; I swear the sheets on my bed had spaceships on them. The mattress was severely lacking in support and was a bit lopsided.   But anything is an improvement over sleeping in the top bunk of a moving train.

Once we dropped off our bags and freshened up a bit we wandered back down to reception to get an idea of where we were in the city and how to get to anything interesting, i.e. the touristy bits.  There is a bus stop just around the corner and down the block a bit and we’re told this will take us into town.  There is a museum we’re aiming for, if we actually manage to get there or not is where the adventure of travel comes in.

Using public transport is always a most interesting experience when you don’t know the language and don’t really know where you need to get to, only a vague idea.  Unlike the buses here instead of paying the money (exact change) into a box in front of the driver they have ticket conductors.  We have a map that the hotel gave us and we point and say the Russian word for Museum (I think) and she shakes her head in agreement that the bus will take us there.  As we travel we try to follow the route on the map to get our bearings.

This feels a very industrial city, but I’m beginning to wonder if it’s more just how Russian cities look rather than have anything to do with industry.  Communist architecture tends to lean towards function rather than fashion or aesthetics.  Everything is dirty, dusty and in much need of repair. But this is a very busy busy city.  The bus is jam-packed and there is lots of traffic on the road.

We get to what we believe is our stop and we are just about to step off when the ticket conductor is waving her hand saying ‘Нет, Нет’ (pronounced niyet) to indicate this isn’t our stop yet.  By the time it is our stop we’re the last people on the bus and when we get off and look at the building we are standing in front of the Permm Museum of Contemporary Art.  Not what we were aiming for but this is right up my alley so I’m excited and the bonus is for a change the admission is free and you’re allowed to take photographs!

There is an Alexander Brodsky exhibition on and I am completely in my element.  Not sure what the others thought (I think they are more into the classics) but this was totally working for me.

After about an hour 2 of the girls had experienced their fill of this modern art stuff so we decided to split up. 

The museum is spread over 2 floors, the Brodsky exhibition was on the main floor and upstairs was a smaller display area.  There was one room that was blocked off and seemed to have an opera company practising (amazing acoustics).  The upstairs bit didn’t seem to have any English signage (not a complaint, just an observation) so I couldn’t figure out who the artist or artists were but enjoyed what I saw regardless.

When we were done it was a stunning day outside with blue sky and sunshine.  The museum is located on the bank of the river Kama and seems to have a pedestrian walkway following it.  In the process of exploring the area we stumbled upon the other 2 that had stopped for lunch next door. 

Looking at the sign I would have expected the menu to be fish & chips but in reality it was more of a kebab shack.  Attempting to order a small portion ended up being a challenge involving much laughter on both sides.  In the end the 2 of us ended up sharing 1 large portion and it was more than enough.  No idea what it was but it kind of tasted like sausage meat with a sweet/spicy chutney and then 3 different ‘slaw’ type salads (carrot, cabbage & onion).

We eventually found the Perm State Art Gallery, which was our original destination, and it’s a nice wander in there.  Not too big, the rooms are laid out chronologically. The room I most enjoyed was the one displaying Russian Icons from the 16^th century (as you can see from the below photo).

Why do I always get scolded when taking photos in museums ;>p

Exploring the city in the sun it started to feel more like the Russia I wanted to find.  The grand plazas with their monuments and government buildings. 

Eventually we were making our way back towards our hotel but there was quite a bit of ground to cover.  Ever attracted to the sight of beautiful onion domes sparkling in the sun we stopped at this cathedral.

Between the 3 of us we only had one headscarf so we were going to take turns going in.  As I was waiting outside an older gentlemen attempted to strike up a conversation with me.  Difficult as I knew very few Russian phrases (hello, good bye, please, thank you, vodka and most important… please may I take your photograph).  This got quite the chuckle out of him and eventually I understood all his pointing was to tell me there was a smaller chapel downstairs that had a basket of scarves as you walked in that I could borrow.  This was Vladimir; don’t let the stern look fool you that was just for the camera.

For dinner myself and another of the group decided to get adventurous and headed off to find a Japanese restaurant and try some sushi.  Again gotta love the girl at our hotel reception she gave us 2 recommendations and hand drew a map.  It was a long walk but we managed to find it and the fact that we had to wait about 15 min for a table because the place was packed seemed like a good sign.

Of course I can’t remember the name of the place, nor did I take any photos but man oh man was the food good.  The only downside is we could not decipher the drinks menu to order some sake and when we attempted to ask for it the waitress had no idea what we wanted.  I guess they don’t do sake in Perm.

On the walk home we stocked up at the grocery store with some bread, deli meat, cheese, water etc.  When we arrived back at the hotel the guy at the hotel desk flagged us over, as apparently we needed to decide now what we wanted for breakfast.  Not an easy thing to do when you’re stuffed to the gills on raw fish and rice.  So we know where to go he also shows us where the breakfast room is as it is in the basement of the hotel.  It looks like the bat cave complete with faux rock wall and indoor trickling waterfall, hilarious!

Tomorrow it’s back on the train to Moscow…

As we head further west our trains seem to be improving in quality.  But we still can’t seem to escape the green colour scheme.

We had a fabulous car attendant this leg of the journey.  She didn’t speak a lick of English but she had a real Motherly way about her and she seemed to enjoy looking after us girls.

She caught me attempting to take some abstract shots of the trains Samovar and tapped me on the shoulder and made a motion for me to follow her.  She took me to a spot inbetween two cars to what was probably the only clean window on the whole of the train so I could take photos out the window.

I didn’t have the heart to tell her I wasn’t interested in landscapes.  I graciously thanked her with a Спасибо and then when she’d left I turned away from the view and took this photo.

Next stop Perm at a more respectable 11:03 arrival time.

Who decided arriving anywhere in the middle of Siberia at 06:07 was a good idea?

I’m not a morning person at the best of times but the fear of missing ones stop so early in the morning can ruin what little chance I had of getting a good nights sleep. 

Arriving in what seems to be the middle of nowhere (with a jarring minty green paint job that is the station) being bombarded by very eager taxi drivers I was extremely glad we had prearranged our transfer to out hotel.  However, looking out the window as we were travelling I couldn’t help but think to myself “why did we decide to stop here again?”

Our hotel was, um… interesting.  I felt like I was stuck in a vortex cira 1972. 

The lounge area on each floor complete with vinyl sofa and plastic plants and once again mint green paint on the walls of our room.  If I wasn’t awake when I arrived, I certainly was now.

Apart from the shockingly bright wall colour and dated decor the rooms themselves were very comfortable and spacious.  The view was a bit lacking

 But we had a hot shower, a bed that didn’t rock violently from side to side and free wi-fi in the hotel restaurant.  Surprisingly we were permitted to grab breakfast after check-in even though we were only staying one night.  Yay! 

After taking a much needed shower to perk up and then filling up on breakfast, our group parted ways to explore this strange place called Omsk. 

Old wooden buildings can still be found in parts of the city and are in stark contrast to the 20th centure post modernist structures or just plain boring concrete blocks that are the epitomy of what we think of as the Russian urban landscape.

(notice that green paint again)

The Cossack Nikolsky Cathedral was built from 1822 - 1840 by Russian architect VN Stasov.

The ‘banner of Ermak’ (a legendary pioneer and the first Russian to explore thoroughly) was kept in the cathedral until it disappeared in the 1920’s during a failed coup d’etat.  The cathedral  had been used as a warehouse and later a concert hall during the Soviet era and was only returned to the Russian Orthodox church in the 1990s.

As Omsk is the 2nd largest city east of the Ural Mountains it also meant there was a decent sized grocery store from which to stock up for our next stint on the train.  One of the things I love to do when in a different country/culture is to check out the local grocery store.  I could easily spend an hour just wandering up and down the eisles looking at what’s on the shelves.  And when the language is in a completely different alphabet, guessing at what is inside of the packaging is also a fun game (what can I say, I’m weird).  I purchased a packet of what I am assuming is dehydreated beet borscht as a souvenier.  Half the fun will be attempting to make it at home not being able to understand the directions.

We did come across this lovely little cafe on a semi-main street called The Berlin Cafe.  Walking in it felt completely normal, softly piped in ambient music in the background, large BW photos on the walls of Berlin, modern furnishings, comfy leather sofas in the corner and complimentary wi-fi.

For our 2 days in the city this quickly became our main meeting point.

Three of us went into the Omsk State Museum of History, an interesting experience.  We managed to get our tickets without too much fuss.  We were directed to the basement which was where the cloak room was and a very strong smell.  The Museum also has a small interior zoo like space with an odd assortment of live animals in appallingly small cages with no access to fresh air or natural sunlight.  It broke my heart to see the conditions and I didn’t last long.

Upstairs one level and we start to enter a room only to be told ’Нет’, our tickets are scrutinized and then we are directed up one more level.  Best we can figure out is that the area we walked into was for school groups.  The upstairs has some interesting displays, no English translation though so I’m guessing.  It seemed to move in chronological order starting with old stuff that was dug up (bones, arrowheads etc).  Then moved into the settlement of the country and then into the various revolutions.  I spent a bit more time in the area that covered the Left-wing uprisings against the Bolsheviks from 1918 - 1922.  It didn’t look like it ended well.

The 2nd part of the level we were in went into the multicultural make up of the country and then ended with lots of dead, dusty stuffed animals and bugs.  There was one bit that seemed really odd.  As per usual we were followed from room to room by the unsmiling gruff room attendants as I guess we just looked like we were up to trouble.  But then we came to one display that had a painted scene with cut outs for heads and the attendant insisted that we pose and have our photo taken (not my camera so I can’t show you the end result).

For dinner we checked the guide book for a reccomendation that wasn’t too far away from the hotel and also on a street we could actually find and came across a place that sounded interesting.  However, once walking to the address it seemd to be closed.  Back tracking we went to a place that seemed full of locals (usually a good sign).  This meal would end up being one of the best stories from the trip.

As previously mentioned between the 4 of us we only had one phrasebook and it was ancient.  So translating a menu is usually just a matter of finding out which section has the mains and then each of us pointing to something different and see what we end up with (hey, it’s worked so far).  However, our host seemed genuinely concerned that we were not aware of what we were ordering so he muttered something to the waitress who went back into the kitchen and then reappeared with ‘Ta Da’ an English menu!

Perfect :) 

We passed it around, made our choices and then pointed to what we wanted.  One minor problem… the menu was ONLY in English, no Russian translation meaning the waitress still didn’t have a clue as to what our order was.  So again we went back to the Russian menu and tried to explain that we didn’t really care what we got, just as long as we all got something different.

More frowns and shaking of heads.  The waitress again disappears to the kitchen and comes back a few minutes later talking on a mobile and then thrusts the phone at us and says ‘my friend, she knows little English’.  We all burst out laughing.  So eventually a 3 way translation occurred and the girl on the phone explained what we wanted and off the waitress went to place our order.

I should mention at this point that I managed to order a bottle of red wine without too much fuss as the various grape varieties look very similar in Cyrillic (phew!)

At this point I can’t remember what we all ended up getting other than someone got fish, someone else I think got pork and perhaps someone else got chicken?  I ordered vegetarian and was presented with a lovely stew of tomatoes, mushrooms potatoes and onions.

We don’t get back on the train until 17:32 on the 19th so we’ve still got most of the 2nd day to explore more of the city side streets.   Once again I always find myself drawn to urban rather than the landscape.

Unsure of how long it will take to get a taxi we end up arriving at the train station a bit early so we’ve got lots of time to kill.  The Russians do believe in posh when it comes to the decor.

And here comes the 17:32 Train 55 which will take us to Perm.