BryanskMapMay 2–3, 2014 You can judge a city’s level of development by its dummy highway patrol cars. This place is more like a forgotten village.  Every city in the temperate zone has to have its own decommissioned fighter jet on a pedestal (see everything from Lugansk to Tver).  Russia doesn’t generally have very many cities that make you feel depressed, but Bryansk is one of them. The bars are awful. The only normal-looking restaurant in town won’t let in anyone wearing sneakers. The border between the city and the country is very apparent here.  The city ends abruptly, and a forest begins.  A patriotic concrete bus stop.  A fanciful bus stop.  A bus stop of unbridled creativity.  The street signs are of the hefty old plastic Soviet variety (like the ones previously seen in Baku and Kiev).  A unique Bryansk detail: intricate barriers separating the sidewalks from the roadways. Every tenth or fifteenth decorative module has a built-in trash can.  The beautiful lamppost bases are living out their last days (like in Kostroma, Volgograd or Makhachkala).  On the bright side, there are wheelchair access ramps everywhere.  An advertising pillar.  Incredibly ugly stairs that lead up to the shops on the first floor of every building.  A traffic light.  Marred beauty.  Landmarked building. Mid-1950s. Marriage registration hall. Protected by the government. Unmarred beauty.  One of Bryansk’s distinctive features is its trite and meaningless slogans.  Keeping the city clean—it’s everyone’s responsibility! They’re everywhere.  Parents! Don’t leave your children unattended! Even in places that are supposedly the domain of private business and not the municipality (despite the misleading name). Then again, what can you expect from a provincial backwater?  City Hall. Cabaret, Karaoke, Beer. City Hall is against drugs! |
