Welcome to Russia! I am invited to give a talk at a Russian IT Conference.
The conference is held at the Bannoye Ressort. This is East of the Ural mountains.
The conference is located in a beautiful mountain resort.
Local customs have adapted to the weather. Here is a hybrid baby stroller (land / ice / water (?)).
Due to the cold weather, all restaurants have a garderobe — even the conference canteen.
We visit a dog nursery. They breed security dogs here. This one looks more like a bear.
The cat of the dog nursery has no hair at all. It is a Sphinx.
Bannoe Lake
The conference is said to be near a lake. But where is that lake?
Can you see it?
It must be somewhere near, for sure...
Oh, found it!
Local fishermen venture with their boats onto the lake, and throw out their nets.
At the shore, you can listen to the sound of the waves...
... or take a stroll at the beach promenade.
Trip to Chelyabinsk
We are on our way to Chelyabinsk.
This is the beginning of Siberia. The landscape looks like an ocean of snow.
We pass through little villages...
...with dirty roads...
...and cute little houses. Note that they are made of stacked wood logs...
...as explained here.
Chelyabinsk has long served as the entrance to Siberia for European Russian migrants.
It is, so to speak, Russia's entrance to the Wild East — with an architecture that reminds us of the Wild West.
A bit like Saratov, Chelyabinsk combines wooden architecture...
...with Soviet charm.
The Soviets made Chelyabinsk a major industrial city. Ever since, the city has grown so that it now entirely surrounds the industrial park.
The Miass River flows North, and ultimately goes to the Arctic Sea — although it looks as if it rather came from there.
Chelyabinsk University
I give a tutorial about Information Extraction at Chelyabinsk University.
Even though it's Sunday, the hall is packed. People want autographs, interviews, and pictures. I feel like Elvis.
The university has a dress code. It is, however, in no way detrimental to beauty.
In these rooms, you can write on the walls. Yes, you can do that at Télécom ParisTech, too — but here you can also wipe it off afterwards.
Food
Russian food is far enough from Western foods to be interesting, but close enough to be tasty for us. This is breakfast.
The food has a variety of influences from Asian cultures. Here are different pastes made from walnut, in a Georgian restaurant.
Here is a cheese cake. That is: a warm cake made from dough and melted cheese.
This is a horse steak with grenade sauce. I have always wondered what horses are good for...
This fish comes directly from the Bannoe lake — with only very little post-processing. It tastes great!
Until now, I have never paid for my own food, let alone hotel or transport. My hosts insist on taking care of everything. I don't even know how Rubels look.
My host asks the waitress “Can we have an English menu for Fabian?”. Waitress: “Why? He's Russian!”
Host: “No, he's German”. Waitress: “But then how does he speak English?” Very sweet.
Trip to Kazan
I had a great time in Chelyabinsk. I even got a gift!
Today, I fly to Kazan, across the Urals. There is a time difference of 2 hours, but no time zone in between.
Therefore, I arrive before I left.
Kazan
Kazan lies at the confluence of the Kazanka river (pictured) and the Volga river.
At this time of the year, the Volga is 3km of frozen water.
Kazan is the capital of the Tartastan State, and the “third capital of Russia” (behind Moscow and Saint Petersburg).
The region is rich in oil, and this shows in the buildings.
Kazan is truly imperial (here: the Palace of Agriculture).
Russia also does not implement the EU directive that new buildings have to be ugly by law. They are actually not.
The population is 50% Muslim Tatars and 50% Russian Christians.
Lots of money is invested here (see how the columns on the left correspond to the columns in the advertisement). Note that the planned church is not “modern”. It's just beautiful.
This is the Church of the Erection...
...of the Holy Cross. The Tikhvin Church of Our Lady (pictured) is on Open Street Map, but not on Google Maps — as many sights actually.
Kazan also sports a shopping mall.
In the metro station, people have shops so small that you would not expect to find a person in it. But there is one in every booth.
Some work, however, remains to be done. Also absent is a powerful sewage system. The snow water just evaporates (probably in May).
Museum of Soviet Culture
The Museum of Soviet Culture is a colorful collection of stuff that is somehow related to the USSR. This jacket was sewn out of the leather covers of Communist party membership books.
Chewing gum was scarce, and so people would revigorate used chewing gums by soaking them in sugar water. In the times of the prohibition of alcohol, some would drink perfume. Several people died.
How to “burn CDs”: Take a vinyl (left), and then copy the tracks physically onto a carbon plate (right). Obtain the plate by melting the old radiographies from your local doctor.
Showing Western movies on video cassettes to friends would make the owner rich. When the KGB suspected such activity, it would disconnect the electricity for the entire building before entering the apartment.
Then the cassette was trapped in the recorder, and the KGB had a proof. Are these stories representative for the life in the USSR? I don't know. They're fun, though...
The White Kremlin
This is the White Kremlin. It was once a Tatar fortress. It was destroyed by Ivan the Terrible when the Russians invaded Tatarstan.
The Tatar princess agreed to mary Ivan the Terrible only if he could build the highest tower in Kazan in seven days.
He did, even if it is leaning (pictured). But instead of marrying him, she climbed the tower and jumped to her death. Ungrateful.
The Kremlin used to comprise an entire city. Nowadays, it comprises mainly government buildings...
...as well as the Annunciation Cathedral.
The most impressive part, however, is the Qolsharif mosque. It was built in 2005, and is the largest mosque in Europe.
This is the entrance to the “tourist balcony”...
...which permits the view on the magnificent interior of the mosque.
Also shown are copies of the Quran. The verse shown here (14:1-5) warns the “disbelievers from a severe punishment” — a popular theme across all major religions and in the Quran in particular.
Kazan Federal University
I give a talk at Kazan Federal University. In terms of its international visibility, its openness to English, ....
...its strive for excellence, ...
...and its positive self-perception, it reminds me of my own institute.
Hygene and looks: There is a washbasin not just in the restroom, but also at the entrance of the university canteen. They are also actively used. (Just sayin')
I saw girls carrying a hair brush with them, and using these mirrors at the entrance to make sure they look good. They do.
Trip to Moscow
I take the Transsibirian Railway to go to Moscow.
I booked the “Deluxe” cabin, which I have for myself. The table can be shifted left, and the right bench transforms into a bed.
It even has a private toilet and (right over it) a shower. Better actually than the place I used to rent in Paris.
I arrive at 7:00 in the morning at the Kazansky Train Station in Moscow.
While Moscow's tramway may seem outdated...
...the metro is not. Traversing the city from periphery to periphery takes only 15 minutes (in words: fifteen minutes).
Moscow
At this time of the day, the Red Square is empty.
The view on the Saint Basil Cathedral is unencumbered. The Kremlin is shown left.
The GUM shopping mall at the Red Square is still closed...
...but opens a bit later.
This cathedral at the Red Square is named after Kazan, the city I just came from. It was reconstructed in 1993.
As last year, the city is in great shape: clean, renovated, and well-organised.
I discover churches that I did not see last year...
...as well as a monument that was just unveiled a few months ago by Putin. Is it a coincidence that it is a monument of “Vladimir the Great”?
Maybe Russia has to recover from Soviet architecture, which they do by investing in pre-Soviet buildings. Quite successfully so.
The Cathedral of Christ the Savior, first destroyed under the Soviets, and then rebuilt in 2000, is the tallest Orthodox Christian church in the world.
The bridge was constructed just in 2004 — and still it is not ugly but beautiful. How do they do it? The Kremlin is shown in the background.
I leave Moscow in the evening...
...for a city that is 10 degrees warmer.
