The train ride is pretty uneventful. Providnitzas are very business like. Windows open so we can ventilate. Laura is pretty much done with trains. I've been on the for 61 hours in the last week. When it is over, if I close my eyes, I feel the train moving for quite a few days afterwards. As we rattle into the evening there is the most spectacular sunset as we move across a vast steppe. Russia is huge. The sky is huge.
We arrive in Saratov about 9am on Saturday morning. Dr. Bobarykina has texted me stating that Valia will be there to meet us and help us into a cab. I feel a little guilty about this as we could probably do this ourselves and I hate that Valia has to get up early on Saturday morning. I can see her waiting on the platform from the train as we arrive. Introductions all around, we are train lagged. Valia kindly walks us out into the huge confusing train lot. In Russia it is advisable to call a cab, otherwise with the language barrier, things can get weird. It takes a while to find ours....you look for the license plate number---all cars have a 3 digit middle number. We thank Valia, hustle into the cab and head towards my apartment which is east near the river. As we cross Moscovskaya I begin to tell Janet and Laura our whereabouts. My cabbie exclaims loudly...."Nye Moscovskaya.....Eta Prospekt Lenina!!!!" The main drag WAS named after Lenin and changed in the 90s. Quite a few people around here would prefer it had stayed the way it was. The cabbie also points out the city jail and police station, and it is our feeling that he does not like these entities by the tone of his voice.
We arrive at the apartment, drag everything in.Cab fare about $5 for 3 people, bags, 3 miles. This is not Moscow.
I check email after a while....Natalia has emailed me a couple of hours before inviting us to go to an Astronaut Day celebration of Yuri Gagarin---the first human in space----he crash landed near Engels, across the Volga. Big event, thousands of people. By the time I see her email, she and her family have left. Afterwards she tells us it was an all day affair, dusty, no bathrooms, lots of walking--6K---I think it was a good thing we didn't go. Might have killed us after all our traveling. As it is both Laura and Janet have lingering colds.
I cook everyone a big breakfast, eggs, potatoes, fresh bread, red chile and we rest up a bit.We go out for a walk on the Volga embankment later----then up to the Institute to get a look, then some Prospekt Kirova shopping.
That evening I cook up a pretty good Pasta Primavera. Girls go out shopping for the ingredients. Yay. I hate shopping. They are fearless in Russia and return with red onions, broccoli, zucchini, and spinach. I have a great little green grocer about 100 yards away near my apartment.
The girls also upgrade my wine supplies. I buy the cheap sweet stuff because I won't pay for good wine to drink by myself. With them here it is nice to have something better.
Stepan checks in by text at some point to see that we've arrived safely. He was also prepared to help us with transport from the train station. We make some plans to try to see him soon. Sunday we will spend the day with Natalia----very kind of her---especially since she had spent Saturday traipsing around the Engels countryside.
We arrive in Saratov about 9am on Saturday morning. Dr. Bobarykina has texted me stating that Valia will be there to meet us and help us into a cab. I feel a little guilty about this as we could probably do this ourselves and I hate that Valia has to get up early on Saturday morning. I can see her waiting on the platform from the train as we arrive. Introductions all around, we are train lagged. Valia kindly walks us out into the huge confusing train lot. In Russia it is advisable to call a cab, otherwise with the language barrier, things can get weird. It takes a while to find ours....you look for the license plate number---all cars have a 3 digit middle number. We thank Valia, hustle into the cab and head towards my apartment which is east near the river. As we cross Moscovskaya I begin to tell Janet and Laura our whereabouts. My cabbie exclaims loudly...."Nye Moscovskaya.....Eta Prospekt Lenina!!!!" The main drag WAS named after Lenin and changed in the 90s. Quite a few people around here would prefer it had stayed the way it was. The cabbie also points out the city jail and police station, and it is our feeling that he does not like these entities by the tone of his voice.
We arrive at the apartment, drag everything in.Cab fare about $5 for 3 people, bags, 3 miles. This is not Moscow.
I check email after a while....Natalia has emailed me a couple of hours before inviting us to go to an Astronaut Day celebration of Yuri Gagarin---the first human in space----he crash landed near Engels, across the Volga. Big event, thousands of people. By the time I see her email, she and her family have left. Afterwards she tells us it was an all day affair, dusty, no bathrooms, lots of walking--6K---I think it was a good thing we didn't go. Might have killed us after all our traveling. As it is both Laura and Janet have lingering colds.
I cook everyone a big breakfast, eggs, potatoes, fresh bread, red chile and we rest up a bit.We go out for a walk on the Volga embankment later----then up to the Institute to get a look, then some Prospekt Kirova shopping.
That evening I cook up a pretty good Pasta Primavera. Girls go out shopping for the ingredients. Yay. I hate shopping. They are fearless in Russia and return with red onions, broccoli, zucchini, and spinach. I have a great little green grocer about 100 yards away near my apartment.
The girls also upgrade my wine supplies. I buy the cheap sweet stuff because I won't pay for good wine to drink by myself. With them here it is nice to have something better.
Stepan checks in by text at some point to see that we've arrived safely. He was also prepared to help us with transport from the train station. We make some plans to try to see him soon. Sunday we will spend the day with Natalia----very kind of her---especially since she had spent Saturday traipsing around the Engels countryside.
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