What is the world coming to??
Well, as I digest and accept this news, let me tell you what we've been doing that has kept us so out of the loop of celebrity news.
Let's go back in time a little, shall we?
EKATERINBURG: Last you heard of that city, I was alive in it and we were off to explore. If I judged Irkutsk too harshly last time, some of that was within reason because Irkutsk is a little, well, seedy, as the guidebook suggests, and has its quirks, and I had reason for being judgemental due to the timing of the program, etc. But I definitely was way way WAY too hard on Ekaterinbug, probably due to jetlag (we flew in there from Germany) and due to the fact the only other place I had been in Russia before that was St. Petersbug which, of course, nothing holds a candle to in my mind. But after the disappointments of Nizhnii Novgorod, Ekaterinburg was WONDERFUL. It helped that we stayed at such a lovely hostel, but also Meri and I just had such a nice day. The weather was gorgeous (which always helps), and we went first to the photography museum which wasn't just a history of photography museum like all of the ones I hit up in the Baltic states last August, but a real photo gallery with these gorgeous, gorgeous photographs by photographers from all different countries all focused around the themes of immigrants and people living on borders in Europe and Asia. Basically: awesome travel photography. I went nuts. My favorite ones were about people who break up old ships in Bangledesh and people who live on the Chinese/Russian border. An awesome exhibit. We walked around more, saw the place where the Romanovs were shot, wandered through Geological Alley (some big unlabeled rocks in a dirty park), and then, most importantly, got our final fill of Stolle as the only other Stolle location in Russia that isn't in Petersburg or Moscow is in, none other than, Ekaterinburg. We had our little selection of perogi and felt wonderful and content as we wandered off to our next train.
GETTING TO OMSK: Painless overnight train ride in the luxuries of kupe (not really that different or better, actually) as it was the only ticket I couldn't get platzkart for. One other person in our cabin, a 26 year old man who said he was a doctor who wanted to chat a lot because he'd already been on the train for two days and was bored. But he drank tea all night and left us alone which is all that matters.
OMSK: We got to Omsk the next morning after leaving Ekaterinburg with basically low to no expectations. Therefore, unlike with Nizhnii Novgorod (which has become our basis for anything vaguely shitty, which, fortunately, we haven't had much of since then) we were in no way disappointed. In fact we were pleasantly surprised and quite content when we found an only-slightly-dirty beach by the river in Omsk to sit on (and, yes, I put sunscreen on my face and shoulders but neglected my legs and feet...?? and got a burn?? of course??!!) and drink iced coffee and then get back on our train.
GETTING TO IRKUTSK: We then spent a very long time on the train. Two nights and a full day. I finished reading Middlesex by Jeffery Eugenides -- highly recommend it (thanks, Gen, for loaning me your copy. Meri has it now, then it will be abandoned somewhere in China, probably.) Our platzkart car was good, full of pleasant people who didn't harass us or judge us but who were friendly. Lots of cute sneezing children though, so lots of Meri's hand sanitzer was used.
IRKUTSK: I already told you about our first day there. It was good, despite not getting to Bolshie Koty.
OLKHON ISLAND: And then, the majesty, the wonder, of Olkhon Island. The original plan was to camp.... but our tent was too heavy and got left behind in.... Moscow. So instead we stayed at this WONDERFUL place called Nikita's Homestead (run by a former tennis-table champion), SO HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. They give you a room in a little cabin with quilts and homey wonderfullness and the cost of the place includes three homecooked meals every day by sweet Russian girls who must only be 17. It was great, and it's about three feet from the famous Shaman rock. It takes about 6/7 hours to get to Olkhon from Irkutsk by a minibus, so we arrived in the early evening of our first night, and after dinner Meri and I wandered around the rock, sitting on the pebbly beach, in awe that we had made it all the way there. That was when I started to feel like maybe I have actually learned a fair amount of Russian this year. Compared to the last time I was at Baikal, I could barely introduce myself and count, let alone organize buying train tickets to get me all the way from St. Petersburg to Mongolia, on our own, without Wellesley College chaperones. So I felt fairly accomplished, and kind of overwhelmed with happiness that I had actually made it back to Baikal, but also sad that we didn't get more time there because of my visa expiring and all that.... but I know now that if I made it back once, I can certainly get back there again. So on our full day at Baikal, we wandered mostly on the beach, and I christened my morzhika bathing suit by dunking into the freezing, freezing, FREEZING Baikal waters (see below).
That was pretty much the extent of our day, wandering in the partially sunshine blue and clouds, but it was wonderful, and I can't wait already to go back to Baikal again. It's such a beautiful place. We spent one more night at Nikita's and then came back to Irkutsk today.
AND BACK IN IRKUTSK: By the time our minibus got us back into the city today we had missed the 2:45PM ferry to Bolshie Koty, so alas, that was the one thing we did not get to do in our time around Baikal. But we've been wandering more around Irkutsk, enjoying the juxstaposition (spelling??) of the little wooden houses next to the Soviet skyscrapers, drinking coffee, preparing to get back on trains again.
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