The diary of a traveller, entry 22, Staying in Ekaterinburg

22. November

Well there’s definitely a lot to see here in Ekat (Ekaterinburg). Am a bit miffed at my accommodation people (HOFA) for putting me so far away from the centre in two cities now. Andrei gave me an appropriately weird breakfast earlier. Consisted of biscotti, milky, sicky porridge and bread with a centimeter thick slab of butter on it which I assumed was cheese at first before taking a nice big bite. “He’s trying to feed me up”, I thought. I feel that my Russian has completely deserted me since I arrived. Had a difficult time trying to change money in the bank earlier (I made sure the notes were all crisp and clean in advance). Going to be difficult to form a constructive opinion of Ekat in the limited time I have so will have to prioritise where to go. Off to the Museum of Youth to start with.

I didn’t go to the Museum of Youth because it doesn’t appear to exist anymore. Instead I went to the very small photography exhibition which contained lots of pretentious snaps including a collection by an apparently famous photographer documenting the everyday existence of, of course, drug addicts. My overall impression was that the majority of the photos in the gallery were either of drug addicts or taken by drug addicts. Spoke briefly with a Polish girl who works at the gallery. She’d been in St Petersburg for 3 years, moved to Ekat 3 months ago and lurves it. She walked off mid-conversation which I thought was a tad rude.

Really can’t make up my mind about Yekaterinburg at the moment. It certainly hasn’t won me over yet. I reckon this is the coldest I have been so far. Might have to break out the thermal underwear soon. A lot depends on your first impressions and where you’re staying and all that. Time of year, who you’re with, who you meet. All these things factor into your opinions and experiences in a big way when you come to a new place.

Back at the flat. This sofa bed is the most uncomfortable thing I have ever attempted to sleep on. I think it must be older than Andrei. Everything in this place is old and crusty and stale – like the dried bread crumbs on the floor.

from 'Trans-Siberian Journal' 

photos are taken from Richard's archive

Hint: 5 Russian great scientists to recognize

Science and great scientists - is one more reason to be proud of Russia. Here is JUST 5 scientists (oh how difficult is to choose among all of them!!!) to recognize and appreciate

1. Dmitry Mendeleev (1834-1907)

Russian chemist and inventor. He is credited as being the creator of the first version of the periodic table of elements. Using the table, he predicted the properties of elements yet to be discovered.

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2. MIKHAIL LOMONOSOV (1711 - 1765)

Russian polymath, scientist and writer, who made important contributions to literature, education, and science. Among his discoveries was the atmosphere of Venus. His spheres of science were natural science, chemistry, physics, mineralogy, history,art, philology, optical devices and others. Lomonosov was also a poet, who created the basis of the modern Russian literary language. The first Moscow University was founded by him, now the МГУ (MGU = MSU), which is the main university of the country, is named after Lomonosov. 

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3. SERGEI KOROLEV (1907-1966)

the lead Soviet rocket engineer and spacecraft designer in the Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union during the 1950s and 1960s. He is considered by many as the father of practical astronautics.

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4. MIKHAIL KALASHNIKOV (born 1919) 

 a Russian (formerly Soviet) small armsdesigner, most famous for designing the AK-47 assault rifle, the AKM and the AK-74.

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5. ZHORES ALFEROV (born 1930) 

a Soviet and Russianphysicist and academic who contributed significantly to the creation of modern heterostructure physics and electronics. He is an inventor of the heterotransistor and the winner of 2000 Nobel Prize in Physics.  

Hint: 5 Russian dishes to try

Russian cuisine as well as everything that belongs to Russian culture is well-known not only within the country, but also abrod. Still if you ask any one 'What Russian dish you know?' or more than that - 'What Russian dish did you try?', the most usual reply will be 'mmmmmm.....'


Indeed, what is so special about the Russian food?

Russian cuisine is a par of a national tradition. Some dishes reflects the mentality of the nation, and of course the way of life. It's kitchen and the variety of dishes is mush more richer than it may seem from the first sight. Just imagine! What could YOU eat during the fasting periods - if you CAN NOT eat meat, milk, eggs, cheese and even sometimes fish? Or how to find food in the forest and enjoy your dinner after that? Do you think it's better to die instead? If you do - please, learn to cook Russian dishes!

Russia has a rich culture in cooking various savoury soups, it is famous for tender pies, and really talented in cooking and eating 'gifts of forest'- mushrooms!

Borsch, salads, beef stroganoff, tvorog, smetana, kovrizhka, rasstegay, kulebiaka.... Plenty of names worth trying! Let us today introduce 5 very speacial but not banal dishes!
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1. SOLYANKA
 - kind of thick, spice and sour soup
For meat solyanka (traditional one) we take ingredients like beef, ham, sausages, chicken breast, and cabbage, together with salted mushrooms, cucumber pickles, tomatoes, onions, olives, capers, allspice, parsley, and dill are all cut fine and mixed with cream in a pot. The broth is added, and heated for a short time on the stove, without boiling

Nice recipe is borrowed from SRAS

Make broth by boiling the meat and bones. Remove the meat and bones and place to one side. String-cut the onions and fry them in butter (without letting them brown). Add them to the broth along with the tomato paste. Remove the skin from the pickles, slice into cubes, and add to the broth. Cook 4-5 minutes. Add the pepper kernels and bay leaf. Next, add all the various boiled meats, finely sliced into pieces about 2-3 mm thick and 2-2.5 cm long, along with the capers, and a few pitted olives. When serving, add olives, sour cream, and a slice of peeled lemon. You may also cook solyanka with chicken broth and smoked meats instead. But remember: the greater the variety of meat, the tastier your solyanka will be!

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2. SYRNIKI

fried cheese \ cottage cheese (tvorog) cutlets garnished with jam, sour cream or sweet condensed milk.

Russians indeed are fond of all types dairy products. From our childhood we learn to drink a cup of KEFIR to improve our diestion. And SYRNIKI are great for breakfast.

Recipe with photos is found on 'Cheating cook'

Ingredients: 2 cups of quark or creamy cottage cheese, 2 tablespoons white sugar, 1 tablespoon flour, 3 tablespoons of flour for dusting, 1 egg, canola oil or butter for frying.

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3. KHOLODETS

seems to be like meat in jelly. It is a sour spicy dish, usually goes as appetizer and ate with mustard, much more burning that anywhere else, or horseradish which in Russia is similar to wasabi in its taste.

Ingredients:

2 lb beef/pork leg bones (sawed in pieces)
1.5 lb beef meat
1.5 lb chicken parts (legs or wings)
Filtered water
Salt
1 big yellow onion , peeled or washed
Black pepper corns
Bay leaf
4-6 cloves finely sliced or chopped garlic (optional)

Detailed recipe with photo is in Recipe Studio

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4.CHICKEN KIEV or Cutlet a la Kiev
popular dish of boneless chicken breast pounded and rolled around cold garlic butter with herbs, then breaded and either fried or baked.

 INGREDIENTS

4 oz (100g) Butter (At Room Temperature)
1 tsp Lemon Juice
1 tbsp Chopped Parsley,  pinch of Nutmeg, Salt & Pepper
4 Chicken Breasts
White Flour (Seasoned with Salt & Pepper)
2 Eggs
Dried White Breadcrumbs, Sunflower Oil for Deep Frying 

Detailed recipe is in Retro Food 

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5. PRYANIKI

maybe translated as gingerbread or spicy bread.

Ingredients

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom, 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg,½ teaspoon ground allspice, 1/8 teaspoon salt

2 egg yolks

1 tsp vanilla, 1 cup granulated sugar, 1 cup honey

1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

Detailes recipe is in Global Cookies 

ПРИЯТНОГО АППЕТИТА! 

(pri-yat-na-va a-pi-ti-ta)

The diary of a traveller, entry 21. Ekaterinburg - 'The start of European Russia as I understand it'.

21 November

Didn’t sleep that well. Mainly because my two companions spent most of the evening giggling like little girls to the sitcom they were watching on the tele. It was really irritating in fact. Almost funny that they had these high-pitched ridiculous giggles but spoke in gruff, low voices.

Having a good chat with the remaining guy in my wagon. He’s from Krasnoyarsk. Like a lot of the good people I’ve met on the trains it seems – shame I am not visiting there on this trip. On his way to Tyumen and from there to Surgat I think. The train stopped for 20mins at Tyumen so I went outside for a smoke. Christ it was cold! Shocking that the sun can be so bright and there isn’t much snow but the temperature is so bloody cold. Asked the provodnitsa what the temperature was and she said -10C. Nothing apparently. Personal note: wear more clothes when going outside next time.

Got the wagon to myself now. But very hungry so might head the restaurant car and see if I can score some grub there in a bit. Still have that tasty sausage dish from last night in my mind. Would have bought something from the platforms but there was nobody there selling anything. Had a suitably greasy pork cutlet and fried potatoes in the restaurant car. Am in high spirits and looking forward to getting to Yekaterinburg. The start of European Russia as I understand it.

I called Andrei (my new host in Ekat) since he didn’t bother to reply to my text. He explained that “he no good speak English” but hopefully between my no good speak Russian and his English we have confirmed that he is going to meet me at the platform. Looking at the map it appears I’m staying a good distance from the centre of the town again.

Christ, I’m knackered. Well it has certainly been an eventful evening since arriving into Yekaterinburg. Met Andrei at the station who is the most interesting host I have had yet. I say interesting but by no means best. He is probably in his mid-50s. He speaks less English than I do Russian which I suppose is good practice although he isn’t exactly my first choice for a conversation partner. First thing he said when he met me off the train was that we were going to see an American jazz musician. Ok. When he said American he cast his hand across his face and said “black”. He wasn’t incidentally. He was called Steve Turre and he was superb! Apparently quite a famous Jazz trombonist, he also played the conch and had a collection of shells with specially cut mouthpieces, each for a different register. But I am digressing. Back to the train station. Andrei shepherded me along to the car where he introduced me to Evgeny who I assumed was his son at first. He wasn’t. 24. Nice guy. No English.

They took me on a mini guided tour of the city to kill time before the concert. It was bitterly cold and would be for the duration of my stay in Yekaterinburg. We blitzed throught the Romanov Cathedral which looked really interesting even though we were only in there for about 5 minutes. The assassinated Tsar Nicholas II and his family were recently made saints by the Orthodox church. Much of the tourist sites here seem to be dominated by the Romanovs as it was the place of their assassination. As we were driving Andrei pointed out the President’s residence which is apparently where Medvedev stays when he’s in town. It just looked like a Tsarist palace to me, ironically.

All the while this was going on Evgeny was cheerfully chauffeuring us along while I sat in the back seat trying to work out what the crack was. At one point Andrei got out to buy batteries. E. asked me if I was bored. I didn’t fully understand the question at the time so probably just said ‘Да’. I wasn’t bored. Just confused.

Anyway, we got to the venue which was a concert hall with a few different venues inside it. A bit like the HK Exhibition centre though smaller. The gig was in one of the larger halls and there was a good turn out for a Sunday night. It was quite a smart crowd with some people more glam than others – I fell into the latter category, naturally. The gig itself was great. Based on the programme notes I think Steve Turre is quite well known in jazz circles but then I know nothing about Jazz. He was backed by a 4-piece Russian band who I think he is touring the country with: piano, bass, drums, sax. He put on a great show and I really enjoyed it. Highlights being his ‘jazz battles’ with the saxophonist on soprano sax, his sea-shells and various mutes he used including a toilet plunger. After the concert Andrei insisted we go back-stage to meet Steve which I thought was a bit pushy but Evgeny and I indulged him nevertheless. I had a brief chat with Steve about Ronnie Scott’s in London and how it had gone down-hill as a venue. Andrei kept chirping in and wanted me to translate whatever it was he was blathering about. I just made something up and we left shortly before we outstayed our welcome.

Back at Andrei’s flat now. Turns out he’s an art dealer. Andrei and Evgeny chatted away over the tea and cabbage together for what seemed like hours with me now both bored and tired. I think they know each other through ‘work’ somehow. A little bit weired-out by everything as the setting and host are both quite strange. Every spare wall space in A’s flat is taken up by a really mixture of paintings ranging from old icons to modern portraits of Nicholas II to Holbein prints to modern crap. There’s a samovar on the table from 1892 and a bookcase filled with all sorts of junk behind it.

the photos are taken from Richard's archive

(c) Richard Breeson

Hint: 5 Russian books to read

According to the top lists of best books in the world (The New York Public Library's Center for the Humanities, the Project '100 best books', data of 'Daily telegraph') , here are 5 books that you should read in order to be 'well-bred person' 






1. Leo Tolstoi 'War and Peace'/ "Война и мир"

The diary of a traveller, entry 20. Back on train again

20 November

Almost 3 weeks I’ve been in Russia now. Doesn’t feel that long at all. It’s been great so far! Certainly hasn’t been stressful at all but it’s not lounging around on a beach either. Novosibirsk is probably the first place I’ve visited I would like to live in. Went back to the art gallery again to see the permanent exhibition (I missed last time). Had a great display of photos submitted by people from all over Russia which was cool. Some kind of nation-wide competition I think. All the photos looked suspiciously professional to me – like they’d all been taken by people who had access to some really expensive kit. Indeed some of the captions said that they were in fact part of photo-shoots for magazines and suchlike. But there were some great shots there nevertheless. Like the ones of various protest marches and demonstrations.

Personal Note: don’t order hot chocolate in a café in Russia again. It is essentially a cup of melted chocolate you eat with a spoon and not the milky hot-drink I’m used to. Had a tasty колбаса (Russian sausage) for tea! Spicy with potatoes and cabbage. Good choice for my last proper meal before the train.

The Novosibirsk central station is a very attractive building.

 I guess they have renovated it recently based on the freshness of the paintwork. Biggest I’ve been to yet I think. Back on the train again now: #1 Rossiya which is the top end in terms of cost and smartness but that’s just because they’re newer trains I think. 

In fairness I don’t find this wagon anymore comfortable than any of the others I’ve been in. Just has more snazzy folding beds and compartments, thicker curtains and a TV tuned to show “Girl Who Played with a Dragon Tattoo” or whichever one it is. My companions are two middle aged gents who seem alright. Conversation hasn’t been particularly forthcoming as yet. Chiefly because I don’t speak Russian but also because I’m tired and can’t be bothered. 

photos are taken from Richard's archive
(c) Richard Breeson

The diary of a traveller, entry 19. Novosibirsk and Akademgorodok

19. November

Bulk of the day was spent on a round trip visit to Akademgorodok and meeting with the Novosibirks State Uni Russian Language dept. Met the admissions tutor (who spoke better English than most people in England) and the Director of the dept. Both were very nice and I got a good impression about the Uni. Only issue is that it’s in the middle of nowhere but that could be a good thing for studies. They’re going to send me a test to gauge my grammar level (brilliant!).

Akademgorodok airphoto

Grabbed a quick meal of pelmeni before heading off the Opera and Ballet Theatre for Cinderella. People certainly smarten up for the theatre over here which is nice! Thankfully they still let me in despite looking like I was about to go hiking round the Lake District. Tried some Russian champagne before heading to find my seat. The ballet was good but didn’t bowl me over – remember seeing it before in Hong Kong and I wasn’t overly impressed then. Don’t get me wrong it was an awesome way to spend 9 pounds and the view and the Theatre it’s self were both awesome! And Cinderella was brilliant as was the evil step mother. Liked her a lot.

Last day in Novosibirsk tomorrow then on to Ekaterinburg. It’s been a really good few days – possibly my best stop so far.

(c) Richard Breeson