Rixos President Hotel Astana

With a fair wind this is to be my last day in Astana. Armed with the camera I walk to the other side of the river to photograph some of the famous new structures in the new centre with its most amazing array of government and private buildings. My other purpose is to see if I can remember where Dmitri's workshop is. I take my pictures and after a bit of retracing my steps and using Dracula's Castle, an expensive hotel, as my guiding landmark sure enough, amidst all the ...

... Our conversation is through the good offices of my new dictionary, Nikolai's few words of English, but mostly he speaks German. Whatever works! "What does Nikolai work at?"

"This and that, control".

All I can say is that "control" seems quite profitable!

We end up at Astana Motors where there is joy all around at the good news. Another photo ...

I spend a pleasant day wandering around downtown Astana, along the river and visiting the Fine Art gallery and the President's Cultural Centre. All very cultural and enjoyable. The Cultural Centre is informative about Kazakh history, culture and traditions. I can't help but notice how many modern wonderful gifts were bestowed by large corporations and governments at it's opening. The Fine ...

It takes me an hour to pack up and then to the cafe for breakfast. I say good morning and order with authority and my nyet lady compliments me on my improving Russian!!! The rescue truck is expected at 14.00 and bang on time pulls up outside. I had in mind a truck with a small low trailer, hopefully double cabbed so I could catnap on the way to Astana. You win some, you lose some! A product of Soviet mechanical engineering the Gaz pickup truck that ...

Wed.17th Jun. Karaganda-Astana

Susie is having a day off today so it's my turn to stun you with my take on the visual delights etc. It was only a short drive today, 242ks, so we were able to have a leisurely breakfast and wait for the day to warm up a bit before setting off. The very cold breeze had gone so it was quite nice in the sunshine, with another brilliantly fine day and unlimited visibility. The landscape changed to green again as ...

... natürlich auch mit we***** Schlaf v**bunden war. Dafür habe ich russisches Billard kennen gel**nt, größ**** Tisch, größ**e Kugeln, dafür klein**e Taschen und ganz and**e Regeln. Am Ende hat Team Astana Team Moskau in drei Sätzen geschlagen, so dass ich auch ohne Vodka gut schlafen konnte.

Das Wochenende wurde wie fast schon üblich teilweise in den B**gen v**bracht. Ein** Wand**ung steil b**gauf zum Almatin ...

Die Woche bisher: Drei Tage im Büro, einer mit Russischunterricht. Dieser hat mich mittlerweile ein bisschen in die Ecke getrieben. Da ich ja hier auch andere Dinge zu tun habe als Russisch zu lernen komme ich mit der Sprache bisher noch nicht so wirklich gut zurecht. Die Sprache, also jedes einzelne Wort, das ich mir hier merken soll, ist meiner Einschätzung nach so entstanden: Kyrill von Saloniki ist bei der Bibelübersetzung mit dem Kopf auf seiner Schreibmaschine ...

Privet everyone! I'm back from France and I'm glad to be back in Almaty. The weather is great here. I got a bicycle!!! I will send you some photos when I have a chance. It's an old Soviet road racing bike. It's fantastic! For those of you who don't know, I am writing for ...

... drawings, and laughter. They fretted over my being too skinny, and fed me chicken, bread, cheese, candy, horsemeat sausage (I know, but I tried it to be polite), washed down with liberal amounts of tea and beer. They worried I would be too cold in my little shoes, and tried to give me thick heavy socks for my journey. Not that I needed them for the train- it was at least 300 degrees in there and everyone had BO and sweat stains. Except me. I think you are aware that ...

... in attendance were: Ministry of Health, Department of Education, Science and International Collaboration, Ministry of Education, Local Akimat (city government), Health Lifestyle Department, Ministry of Sport and Ministry of Labor and Social Protection. Most of the people were from Astana but the Deputy to the Akim (city mayor) was there from Zhezkazgan. It was very personal for me as the Deputy is also my host Aunt. It was great to have her there to ...