Carnage on the Bridge

In my most recent post I mentioned the Stone Bridge in Voronezh and the fact that newly married couples celebrate by attaching a padlock to the bridge. Well, it seems one couple took the celebrations to the extreme. On Saturday night we were walking through town, over the bridge, when we noticed this: a pile of smashed champagne bottles and empty chocolate boxes. I’m sure someone had a good time that night.

The Bridge at Night

Sight Seeing in Voronezh

Last week we decided to visit the Stone Bridge (Каменный мост/Kamennyy Most), in Voronezh. It is one of the must see sights in Voronezh, maybe even the whole of Russia. It is situated in a really nice part of town, among the old apartment blocks and domed Russian churches. There’s a view of the river as well, which looks really blue from the bridge, not the brown that it actually is.

The bridge was built in 1826 and then restored in 1986 ready for the 400th anniversary celebrations of Voronezh.

However, I wouldn’t write about any old bridge, oh no. The Kamennyy Most is the stuff of Voronezh legend, a place of pilgrimage for those in love. When people get married here they visit every sight in Voronezh and pose in front of every monument in their wedding dress. High up on the itinerary is the bridge as the young couples attach a padlock with their names engraved into it to the bridge. How romantic…!

So, that was the Stone Bridge, hope you enjoyed it!

Banquet

Last week we were invited to one of the student accommodation blocks (obshchezhitie) in Voronezh where a lot of foreign students live. After waiting for half an hour due to the fact that the babushka at the reception would not let us in, we finally got upstairs. What awaited us was out of this world; two tables groaning under the weight of every dish under the sun. It was seriously good food, including African and Indian recipes. This being Russia, there was also (a little) vodka!

More importantly we experienced a totally different way of life. Me, Claudia and Ross live with Russian landladies but in the various student accommodation blocks there are students from every corner of the globe; Venezuala, Colombia, France, Kenya, Indonesia. It’s a social and cultural melting pot that goes off, and they, like us, are united by a love of Russia and the Russian language. A lot of the students are here for a whole five year degree and who knows, after that they may choose to spend the rest of their lives here in Mother Russia. Maybe we will too…

One Month On…

Yesterday Claudia and I walked past the bar we went to on our first night in Voronezh. We were both a bit starry eyed when we realised that a month and half has passed since that night. A month and half already gone, two months to go… time flies when you’re having fun.

And we have had fun. Before we came I must admit that I had reservations about coming here, not really knowing what to expect. I had visions of tumbleweed blowing across the deserted streets but it’s not like that. There’s plenty to keep us entertained and we go out a lot. There have also been excursions around Voronezh, and next week we’re going south to the Caucasus, and then after that we’ll visit Rostov-on-Don.

But it’s not just the big things like trips or parties, it’s also the people and the everyday experiences we have with them. We’ve met so many random people and made so many good friends and I know that when we leave in December there won’t be a dry eye in the house… Me, Claudia, Ross and teach English at Voronezh State University and it’s a good way to meet Russians. I teach the fourth year English and they help me with my Russian, so everyone’s happy. They’re all so nice and funny and I feel so lucky to be their teacher. I love them all, they’re great! On Friday (the day me and Claudia were reminiscing) I had a lesson and my students invited me to go bowling and then to a halloween party and I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes… I like being a teacher!

So, although I moan about Russia a lot, on Friday, a month and a half after being here, I felt like it was home…

1, 2, 3…

 

This is a comprehensive photo of us all, with the three from Bath, the two who make up our lessons, and the four Austrians, plus two Russians, who work at the International Faculty.

Back Row: Ross (Bath); Me, Joe (Bath); Richard (Texas); Dan (Graz, Austria); Manuela (Graz)

Front Row: Claudia (Bath); Yulia (Russia); Yulia (Russia); Kersti (Estonia); Andrea (Graz); Nino (Graz).

Klass!

Monumental Discovery

Voronezh is a city of monuments. Everywhere you go in this city, every corner you turn there’s another one. They’re really cool as well and it makes the city more interesting. The good old hammer and sickle features quite a lot, as you can see in this one, the Stela. It’s one of my favourites.

The Great Patriotic War

These pictures were taken a week ago, and as you can see the sky is blue and it was boiling hot. This week the weather’s suddenly changed and it’s so cold here now. I wonder when it will snow?…

Autumn in Voronezh

What Time Is It?

I saw this in a cafe yestarday. It just proves what everyone knew all along; London, Paris, Tokyo – Voronezh is up there with the best of them!

Trip to Divnogore

On Friday we (i.e. 2 Brits, a German, an Estonian, an American and 4 Austrians) went to Divnogore, a monastery complex built into some chalk cliffs. It was a two and a half hour trip in a minibus, on Russian roads, and it honestly felt like a roller coaster. Luckily we got there in one piece and what we saw was pretty impressive.

We went inside, through all the tunnels and different rooms, which was fun. It was really cold inside and they were changing the lighting system so we all had to carry candles. It was kind of spooky. After that we climbed 400 steps to the top of the hill, where there used to be a chalk fortress. It’s not there anymore but here’s how it did look.

It was so peaceful at the top, and the view was absolutely amazing. We could see for miles around and there were no towns or settlements, just trees and fields. It was so beautiful and Ross had visions of himself riding off into the sunset on a horse, no other people – the dream life!

The River Don

Voronezh, 1991

I found a very interesting article about Voronezh the other day. It originally appeared in the Financial Times and describes life in Voronezh in the Autumn of 1991, a few months before the Soviet Union ceased to exist. Check it out here.

The article describes a sad, gloomy city where the smell of petrol fumes hangs over every street and where the shops are staffed by babushkas who treat customers as an irritation. It is a world away from the bright lights of Moscow.

And what about Voronezh today, seventeen years later? Some things never change and the article is very interesting because it is still the same here, at least some of it. When I walk down the street in Voronezh I can feel how dirty the air is and at the end of each day my shoes are covered in grime. It was the same in St Petersburg last year where I made the mistake of wearing flip flops and my feet turned black with dirt. Not good. And the service here? Don’t get me started – it’s the worst thing about this place. Every time I go into a shop there’s maybe five old women, no other customers and still it takes an age for them to actually bother to do anything. Then I say hello, they ignore me, I say thank you and goodbye, they ignore me. I hate it. Other times, when I say something in Russian but with my British accent they become even worse and follow me around, convinced this English student is going to steal from them. Yeah, right. 

Moscow is still another world (14 hours on the train – remember that blog post?). Moscow has actually got stuff do see and stuff to do. 

However, things are changing. The money and investment that was directed solely towards Moscow in the 1990s is now trickling down south, to Voronezh. There are visual signs of improvement and more money; everywhere you turn there’s a new apartment block, or the street is being repaved, or an old building is reconstructed. There are western brands here, like Calvin Klein and Adidas, and even Dolce and Gabbana, from next year. (Some) people have money to spend. As the article says, for many ‘New Russians’ the only ideal is money.

What about the attitudes of the people? People in the shops and in the street do not smile, they just don’t do it. They push and barge and jump the queue. Maybe they’ve got a lot on their mind. And some, not all, of the young people we’ve met in Voronezh want to bail. They say they don’t like living here because there’s nothing to do or there’s no work and they want to escape to Moscow or maybe even Western Europe or America. Do they make it? I don’t know.

But I think Voronezh is becoming a better place in which to live or study or work. There are more and more leisure opportunities and cultural sights and the streets and squares are nice. More and more young people do want to stay here and work here and raise a family here. Voronezh has potential and should make the most of its position, close to Moscow as well as Ukraine, and become a magnet for industry, tourism and investment. Voronezh’s future is very exciting indeed.