The center… Parking is a problem. If you
don’t know peculiarity of national parking – it’s very uneasy. Of
course, you can’t park the car where you want. There are a lot parking
signs with odd notes (the period of sign’s validity, for example).
Finally, we dared to park our car on a little street and local mom
explained us that at the very moment and at very this place we can park
our car for free, and after that she commented on idiocy of the rules
that even local residents are not able to understand.
Everybody seems to understand English.
The writings on the signs are made in Finnish and Sweden.
There are a
lot of cars – a lot of different cars, in particular. You can meet with
old clunkers and even with Zhiguly.
The hills in the city are all around. You can stand at the traffic
light only with handbrake, and local drivers used to keep the distance
in several centimeters.
Railway station building. It reminds me
of long queue to the exchange office located there. We decided not to
wait and made our way to the bank nearby. There wasn’t a queue (at first
sight). We took a coupon with number and began to wait when it would
appear on the indicator board. But after a while to our great surprise
we noticed that the number on our coupon is greatly less than the
increasing number on the board. Discontented faces of other clients told
us that they had the same problem. But in half an hour a counter was
overfilled and countdown began from zero. In another 15 minutes we
reached our turn.
Complete chaos!
We are in the historic center.
Unexpectedly we realized that drunks are not exception there. We
met several ones and one of them all the time asked something, but not
in Russian.
They were so lonely.
The Uspensky Castle, built by
A.M.Gornostayev. “Lada 09” with Russian numbers was parked at the
entrance.
That’s what I want to notice about city’s architecture in common… If
it’s suitable to compare, I would compare it with Moscow. But here
everything looks more naturally, “glass and concrete” buildings usually
have an original idea, they are decorated in unique style and go well
with other buildings nearby. All that you see doesn’t provoke negative
emotions.
I was trying all the time to find out an entrance to the dirty
courtyard, that so natural for us, but I didn’t met with such one.
The bay. This ferryboat is often to be
seen in Saint Petersburg.
Beyond the frame there are the stalls where they sold the national
souvenirs (like our matreshka). To my great surprise, there was a plain
sign on the tent that they accept VISA and MASTERCARD.
“Parking.”
The plenty of mobile phones
is striking – even children have them. I read later that Finland take
first place in it.
Finnish.
As opposed to this picture I dare to say, that there are less young
people on the streets here, than in SPb.
(and even in this case SPb is supposed to be an “oldest” city in
Russia).
Their bird looks weekly against to our
one
Cats show in the park.
It’s a common scene by the shop. I have
already mentioned that there are special bicycles paths and they are
mostly in use. From this picture you can see the scale of the phenomena.
Actually, it’s bigger than simple
pedestrian subway. Under the city center there are a whole system of
little shops, parking, pedestrian subways, metro and so on. Everything
is connected to each other and has exits to the surface.
Take a good
look at the walls- instead of smoothing and covering with something
special they were simply colored.
Cheap but good!
Thus one of the biggest shops looks like.
Several levels and hollow in the center.
The bookshop with computer
literature was boring (we have the same). “Windows for dummies”. “Perl”
for those who can read” and so on. And prices are 5-7 times greater.
Senate Square and Lutheran Cathedral
(1830) built by K.L.Engel..
This square seems to have the same meaning
as Palace Square in S.Petersburg.
Here the monument to Alexander the 2-nd.
To our one.
For a long time (until 1917) Finland was a part of Russia and it
influenced on Finnish architecture.
Another Cathedral and another monument. I
didn’t notice to whom.
That’s all. Of course, it was fleeting
glance on the city with very superficial judgments (which else should
they be for three days spending mostly in the room), but I don’t have
anything better.
It’s time to go home, you know the saying – East and
West, Home is best!
I have not decided about the next album, so I don’t want to predict
its contents.
