A Day in Novosibirsk

On Monday morning I got on a bus in Tomsk for Novosibirsk. The trip took four and a half hours with a stop half way to use the rest room.

The only picture I took during the uneventful trip.

We arrived and I walked across town to my hotel, which was near the train station I would depart from the next day. I settled in at the hotel and called Bradn's friend Slava, and we arranged to meet at noon on Tuesday so that he could show me around town. I noticed on my way in that there was a sushi restaurant around the corner from my hotel, and I so I headed there for dinner. I thought, "When's the next chance I'll have to try Siberian sushi?"

Eel, salmon, and shrimp nigiri, with 3 kinds of battleships: red caviar wrapped in salmon, salmon with hot sauce, and a tasty mystery piece..

 There was not a lot of variety in terms of fresh fish, but the salmon that was everywhere in the menu was tasty, and the pot of green tea did the job of warming me up after my long walk from the bus station.

The next day I checked out of the hotel but left my big bag there to pick up before going to the train station. Slava met me in his Japanese SUV and we drove to the central square and park for a look around.

Armenian cross

Sidewalk painting

A heart that attracts constant graffiti from lovers. Slava said they paint it every once in a while and then the graffiti returns.

A monk.

 We then drove to the Ascension Cathedral.

Baptistry

The Sacrament of Baptism is conducted daily from noon to 4, and from 10 to 4 on Sundays.

Slava is a deacon in the Ingrian Lutheran Church (the Lutheran church in Russia with Finnish roots, as opposed to German), where he works with prisoners and their families. But he also has another job in construction, and he had take phone calls from time to time, and we also had to run a couple of errands, which gave me a chance to see more of the city, and more ordinary, daily life here than I would otherwise have seen. We also drove out to the Ingrian Lutheran church on the outskirts of the city, and then went shopping for food for the train. Because it was rush hour by the time we were finished and traffic was backed up across the bridges into town, Slava dropped me off at the Metro and we said goodbye. Novosibirsk has only a small metro with two lines and thirteen stations. It's very much like the metro in Moscow and St. Petersburg, except you wouldn't know it was rush hour. There was a decent amount of people, but I was able to get a seat. That never happens in Moscow or St. Petersburg at rush hour, unless you get on at the end of the line.

One of the bridges across the Ob.

Ingrian Lutheran Church

I got a big kick out of this. It says "Shawarma," but the SH uses an upside down MacDonald's logo.

Balloon flowers.

Slava. We stopped for blini in the late afternoon. He had his with sweetened condensed milk.

We went to the Russian Walmart, where I bought food for the train.

And then we went to the Russian Home Depot/Lowes next door, where Slava had to shop for doors.

Russians are serious about their locks! But Slava didn't think the quality of these doors was up to his standards.