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Dodgy Adverts:
How I got rich:
How you can
get rich:
Because you're
worth it:
Because I'm
worth it:
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Russia lives up to many of the stereotypes, but yet is so much more than that. I was there in November so whilst the weather was cold, the welcome was warm. Western Russia is much like Europe, with the cities of St. Petersburg and Moscow having a urban feel not unlike that which I've experienced in other eastern European capitals.
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St.
Petersburg still retains all the wonders of Tsar imperialism, with
beautiful grandiose buildings, and roads wide enough to drive a
division of tanks down (useful given the countries history).
Moscow is more metropolitan, with huge gray monolithic buildings,
lots of "Joyous workers unite" style monuments and paintings
(a rosy faced child, a mother with a sickle, and the father with
a kalashnikov, all under the watchful eye of Big Brother).
The differences between the two cities is very much like those
differentiating Edinburgh and Glasgow. Edinburgh is akin to St.
Petersburg - Clean, beautifully ornate buildings, and seen by the
other city as being "stuck up". Moscow resembles Glasgow
in that it can immediately be seen as grimier, with towering apartment
blocks and estates that make up a concrete jungle around the city.
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What Moscow lacks in immediate
aesthetics it makes up for in in its passion as a youthful
vibrant city.
St. Petersburg inhabitants look down on the
Muscovites as lower class, as do the Edinburgh class on Glasgow.
Both cities I loved, although I'll admit St. Petersburg was
my favourite of the two, possibly because Moscow's "coolness"
takes longer to appreciate than a handful of days.
Siberia is a slightly different story though, and it is here that you see what I suppose is the real Russia - all 6 time zones of it. Vast landscapes…
No REALLY vast…
You think nipping down to the shops is a long way. It took me 101 hours on a train to cross it! Every now and again one happens on a town: the omnipresent pine trees part to reveal a great grey hulk of a settlement, where heavy industry envelops everything.
These places are not particularly cheerful looking, but I was glad to be able to see them. I got chatting to this guy in Yekaterinburg (he offered me vodka in exchange for English practice - sounded fair to me).
He simply couldn't understand why I'd spend hard earned cash on traveling all this way from London to Yekaterinburg, when he himself would have sold his grandmother for a chance to visit London. After a lengthy chat, he still thought I was totally insane for leaving London's "paved with gold" streets. I think he might have been over estimating the joys of London, but then again comparing it with Yekaterinburg…
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Where's the Photos? |
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No
photos are here yet, but they will be soon! keep an
eye on What's New?
section though for updates!
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