We had decided to take a gypsy cab to the train station for our overnight train to Nizhny Novgorod. Andrew initially suggested we walk, but it was late, and the train station was 20 minutes away and not being quite comfortable walking around suburban Moscow at night yet, I preferred the less risky option.
Andrew stuck out his hand to hail one down, and in a few moments an old Lada pulls up alongside the curb. (A gypsy cab is basically an ordinary city citizen who owns a car and is looking to make some quick cash on the side by offering taxi services)
We head off to the train station but first we need to stop and get some change because we have too large a bill to pay the driver, so the driver pulls up at one of the roadside kiosks opposite the train station, so Andrew can hop out, buy something and get change, before driving us across the road. But when we get to the station it seems eerily quiet, the drivers asks, are you sure this is the right station? Andrew pulls out our tickets, and checks the departure location - somehow he'd mistaken Kurski Vokzal for Ryizhski Vokzal. The train station we needed was on the other side of town! Good thing we hadn't walked there!
We ask the driver if he can get us there in time? He puts his pedal to the metal in response.
Unfortunately it was only momentarily as the driver actually had to stop for gas, he didn't think we would get there on what he had in the tank, but he made it up by speeding at around 120 kmph (about 75 mph) across the city. I was hanging on for dear life, while the driver and Andrew joked in the front. But we made it, ran with our bags to find our platform, boarded the train, said hello to our two roommates, set up our bunks, breathed a huge sigh of relief, and settled in for the night.
Fingertip facts on Nizhny Novgorod:
(Russian: Ни жний Но вгород, Nižnij Novgorod), colloquially shortened as Nizhny, is the fourth largest city in Russia, ranking after Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Novosibirsk.
It is the economic and cultural center of the vast Volga-Vyatka economic region, and also the administrative center of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast and Volga Federal District.
From 1932 to 1990 the city was known as Gorky (Го рький) after the writer Maxim Gorky who was born there.
Henry Ford helped build a large truck and tractor plant (GAZ) in the late 1920s, sending along engineers and mechanics, including future labour leader Walter Reuther. There were no bridges over the Volga or Oka before the October Revolution in 1917. The first bridge over the Volga was started in 1914, but only finished in 1927. During much of the Soviet era, the city was closed to foreigners to safeguard the security of Soviet military research and production facilities, even though it was a popular stopping point for Soviet tourists traveling up and down the Volga in tourist boats. Unusually for a Soviet city of that size, even the street maps were not available for sale until the mid-1970s. An end to the "closed" status of the city has accompanied the reinstatement of the city's original name in 1990.
There you go, tid bits on the provincial city where Andrew spent eight months of his mission.
On with the story
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We arrived in Nizhny early the next morning, and took a cab to Irina and Uri's house in the suburbs. They were getting the kids ready for school but welcomed us in, sat us down, made us eat some blini, yogurt, and hot chamomile tea for breakfast. After the kids (they have three boys) and Uri (the husband) had all set off, we chatted a bit with Irina before my eyelids started feeling droopy and she suggested I take a nap. Great idea! Sleeping on trains is not the recipe for a good rest, that is, unless you go deluxe (or so Noelle tells me!). So while I napped, Andrew went off for a quick walk around town to refamiliarise himself with the area, and managed to get some nice shots while he was at it.
Where Uri & Irina live
Cute church in a cute park
This is how I know my husband loves me, he took pictures of trees for me
more parks, and more cute churches
When I awoke, we took the bus into town with Irina and Dima (the middle son) to see an exhibition by one of Nizhny's local artists, a friend of Irina's. We were tempted to buy one (or several) of her pieces but would have had to get approval from Moscow to take it out of the country, and we didn't have enough time there to make it work!
Next stop was the city's red-brick Kremlin, which is one of the strongest and earliest preserved citadels in Russia, built in 1508–1511 under the supervision of Peter the Italian. The fortress was strong enough to withstand Tatar sieges in 1520 and 1536.
We enjoyed the panoramic view of the frozen over Volga and Oka River's
Saw some Soviet-style remembrance art, at a WWII memorial
Soviet-style statues, and yet more churches
The city shopping area, theater, and banks all enjoyed some lovely architecture
getting my walking shoes polished
The next day, we met up with Anatoly, one of Andrew's mission companions who now lives in a neighboring town. He offered to be our chauffeur for the next two days, and so on Andrew's instruction we set out on an adventure to an artists village he had read about in the guidebook called Gorodetz.
It took about 2 hours to get there, and both of us regret that we didn't take any photos of the countryside as we passed by. It was lovely. White aspen tree forests against the melting snow. Frozen lakes and rivers. Russia has some absolutely beautiful scenery once you get out of the cities.
Gorodetz is a small quaint town, full of small museums showcasing local handicrafts, and histories of certain industries. I think we went to nearly all the museums, and learned about the local region, about woodwork, a certain type of bread called priyaniki, tea makers called samovars, and some other random things.
I loved all the ornately carved window frames
here we are in the schoolhouse portion in the museum on local life (I think)
We stopped into a local dumpling house for lunch, unfortunately while Andrew and Anatoly were up at the front ordering, I was dealing with two rough-looking drunk men sitting at the table behind us who had decided to chat me up. Once Andrew and Anatoly came back, they did the best they could to tell the guys to leave us alone without offending them and starting a fight. The guys wouldn't take a hint, the drunker of the two when he found out Andrew was American actually started getting a bit verbally abusive, but finally the manager of the store told them to leave, and we were able to finish our meal in peace. Towards the end, the less outspoken drunk came back with a bar of chocolate for me. We thought it was as an apology so I accepted it, but we made sure to leave the place very carefully in case the other guy was lurking around.
Anyway, we set off on our return journey to Nizhny and as we were driving back along this frozen river/lake, we saw all these guys out ice fishing. Andrew said he thought they were penguins at first!
Anatoly wearing Andrew's shades, we think they suit him.
You've got to love Soviet-style, only in Russia could they have a sign like this. This is the town where Anatoly lives.
Anatoly and his wife and their two cute girls
Friends and Companions
After we finished meeting Anatoly's family, we were due at the church to meet up with a group of Andrew's friends for dinner. So we invited them to come along, and we all piled into Anatoly's tiny car. Anatoly and Andrew up front, me Tamara and the two kids behind. Anatoly's car, by the way, is about the same size or smaller than a European Fiat. When you count everyone's winter jackets, legs, arms, bodies, it was a full car. We then had to stop and pick up supplies for dinner, making it even fuller. Half way into the 45 minute journey, I realised that being squashed, having someone on my lap and needing to go to the toilet did not make for a good mix. Thankfully we all arrived without any mishaps! :)
We had dinner at the church with as many of the people Andrew had taught or known from the local branch who were able to come. Here we have (from left to right), Boris, Tamara, me, Andrew, Masha (Anatoly's oldest girl), Anya, Valery, Anatoly, Vladimir, Tatiana, her mother Natasha, a random woman we don't know (but who had volunteered to help us cut up al the fod we had brought - we later found out she was in the other branch's RS), and Tatiana's father Vladimir.
The next day we went to Church with Uri and Irina, and while chatting with some old friends of Andrew's, we were pulled aside by one older gentleman in particular who asked us if we could help him find a wife. She needed to be musical and most impotantly speak English, so that they could serve a mission together, and he could speak in Europe about human rights. We asked if she needed to speak Russian or what else he was looking for, but he said English was the most important. So anyone musical, English-speaking ladies out there looking for an older Russian gentleman who is passionate about human rights, plays the violin, likes swimming, and wants to go on a mission, please get in touch.
We then headed to the other branch in Nizhny to meet up with the other people Andrew knew there.
Us with Tatiana, her daughter, and her parents
After Church, we visited Luda and her son, Alexei.
They lived next door to the apartment block Andrew lived while here on his mission.
The more things change, the more things stay the same
Us with Uri & Irina's family just before we left Sunday night.
We're so grateful for this lovely family's hospitality and warmth, I know Andrew was appreciative of the conversations he was able to have with them which helped him get a better sense of what life is like for regular Russians. What they think about the government there, and how it affects society. I unfortunately can't fill you in on that, because I can't speak Russian. Perhaps next time? :)
(from left to right) Us, Natasha, Mischa, Anatoly, Irina, Uri and Dima in the front. We thought he looked a lot like Josh Hartnet.
Uri and Irina gave us a lift to the station, and made sure we got to our train and cabin, before making faces at us through the window to see us off.
The train station in Nizhny has these amazing Soviet-style wall mosiacs about three stories high.
And so ended our short time in Nizhny Novgorod. We caught the train back to Moscow, arriving sometime in the wee morning hours. We stumbled back to Irina's apartment, washed our faces, turned the lights off, and fell into bed around 5am, only to be surprised when we heard the door to our room being opened.
We both looked around, and there in the doorway, stood Irina's mother, in her underwear, gently swaying to and fro, trying to figure out who on earth was in her room! Andrew without pausing, just lifted his arm into the air and said loudly, Zdravstvuytye (hello). He repeated this several times, until she seemed to figure out, oh, it's those two crazy foreigners, and then she wandered back to the other room where she had been sleeping. Andrew got up, locked the door just in case, as we tried to stifle our laughter. We got a few hours sleep, before we were up and out to discover a few more Moscow sights...
quite obviously, Andrew and I have trouble sitting still or staying in one place for more than a few days at a time (that's why we're the International Couple of Mystery), tonight we're off to Bangkok, Thailand for a few days (for the HK/China Reunification Holiday).
