We crossed the Volga at nightfall and did not get to see much of the river but had to drive over a very long bridge to cross it. The reflections of the city of Saratov gave us an idea of how wide the river runs. After some nights in rather crappy places we were looking forward to explore a bit of city life again in Volgograd (formerly named Stalingrad) and we were not disappointed: Volgograd was stunning. Although most of the city was destroyed in WWII during the monstrous battle of Stalingrad the remains of pre-war Volgograd displayed an aura of splendidness and grandeur. As per usual we spend about an hour driving though the city to find our bearings and discovered that the old city where the hotel was situated we were looking for is not where the city’s heart beats nowadays. ‘Downtown’ is a fairly modern affair with big shopping malls, designer shops and – tatterattatata – McDonalds! What a joy that was :o) The fast-food outlet had just been opened and was swamped with people, young and old. It was huge and quite chic, the staff had handheld POSs to limit the queues and in no time we had placed an order with a friendly lady who spoke some English.
After lunch we set off to find the hotel and some friendly locals showed us where to go to come to the old part of the city. The hotel was probably the most luxurious place we had been to during the whole journey. It spanned a block and had several restaurants attached to it, among them a premium coffee-bar and a very decent looking pizza-place.
The entrance hall was all marble with huge paintings, thick carpets, plush sofas and doormen in livree. The staff spoke several languages and because not all rooms (particularly the bath rooms) have been renovated they also had economy-rooms which were in our price range. The room was furnished in dark wood, had red curtains and high ceilings, it also overlooked a large plaza. Breakfast was included and the next morning saw us face the last Russian style breakfast on the tour which we made the most of :o)))))
After check-in we spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the famous memorial park situated on a hill which was a main battleground in the battle over Stalingrad. The park is called Мамаев Курган (Mamajew Kurgan). At the heart of the richly decorated park is a statue of a fiercely looking Mother Russia stretching a sword into the sky.
The statue is huge, apparently about 80 metres high and can still be seen from very far away. Many vendors have stalls set up along the steps leading up to the statue and the memorial hall, selling souvenirs ranging from beer mugs to medals. Old grannies sell flowers and the memorial hall with its eternal flame and the massive rolls of honour was a prominent spot for photographs. In summer the place is probably buzzing with tourists but the approaching dark and the chilly wind saw only a few people explore the area.
Next day we set off to organize a ‘green card’ for troopy which is obligatory for cars not registered in Europe but roaming European streets. While trying to find the right building we encountered again numerous adventures: I was nearly imprisoned because I entered the wrong building (which was a bank and had a security gate I kinda ignored on my quest); we met the slowest teller machine ever (which needed 5 minutes to give us the cash – I am not exaggerating here); walked into a shop where you could buy really big bolts for tractors and the like before finally entering the right building!
Getting to the Ukrainian border took us another day and a half and the drive was not very memorable because the road was full of trucks and since we had left the Ural the country was heavily plastered with industries and large agricultural facilities.
No comments:
Post a Comment