Snow!
Trip Start
Jun 15, 2007
1
98
163
Trip End
Ongoing
Perm,
Privolzhsky,
Russian Federation
Sunday, September 28, 2008
We are really glad we stopped off in Perm, even though we were advised against it by a guy we met in Irkutsk. We loved Perm. It has a really good atmosphere and is actually quite a vibrant little town. Plus it snowed which made the whole experience ten times better, as it is our first snow this year and our first snow in Russia. We were like little kids at Christmas!
We only had 2 days in Perm, so we spent our time walking around the town, and checking out the sights as we came across them. The guide book was not very detailed when it came to Perm, so it was a case of finding things for ourselves. We found a beautiful little church, which we went inside of, only to come face to face with a dead person. I kid you not, we walked straight into the middle of an open casket funeral! That was a little uncomfortable although the mourners didn't seem at all phased. I think it happens quite a lot over here. Obviously, we decided against taking photographs, which was a shame as the church itself was beautiful. We left pretty sharpish though as we didn't want to intrude on such a personal moment.
We also found an outdoor market which was quite cool. You could pretty much buy the kitchen sink if the urge took you, but we settled for some toiletries and fruit. We were quite tempted by all the furry hats though!!
A mammoth walk through the town led us to "Big Ben", which we were expecting to be a copy of the real Big Ben in London. After an hour of walking, we were a little disappointed to realize that Big Ben is actually just a restaurant and not at all like the London Big Ben. But finding the positive, the walk was really nice as we got to see a lot of the town that we probably would have missed out otherwise. We saw a sign for a new Hilton Hotel but we couldn't see the actual building, so whether it is in progress or finished we are not quite sure. Mr Hilton certainly gets around doesn't he?!!
Although our hotel in Perm was a little more expensive than we wanted to pay, it was a lovely hotel. Breakfast was a challenge! The menu was completely Russian and the girls on the desk didn't speak English at all. There we were, Russian dictionary in hand, trying to decipher each choice on the menu. Imagine how difficult that is when the Russian alphabet is completely different to the English alphabet, and so even finding the right word is a challenge. In the end, we just pointed to one of the breakfast options and hoped for the best. Luckily that worked out for us so we were well fed in the hotel too! Although the language barrier is a potential problem, it is so much fun!!
