SeveromorskMapDecember 23, 2012 Severomorsk is a closed military town.  Restricted Zone. Do Not Enter The main base of the Russian Northern Fleet is located here.  Surplus anchors are repurposed as railing ornaments.  A pike-like submarine has been permanently laid up and turned into a museum.  The inside looks incredibly tacky. At first I was worried that the entire submarine had been turned into a high-school history fair.  But the ship turned out to be very long on the inside, and not all the compartments had been completely ruined.  The torpedo room was particularly surprising. The breech doors of the torpedo tubes are decorated with big red stars—it totally looks like the set of a Hollywood movie about a Soviet submarine, only everything here real.  The Russian approach to interfaces (see also the story about grain processing).  The city reminds me of Norilsk in some ways.  But here, the buildings grow on different levels.  And the traffic lights are flat.  Let’s take a stroll through the streets.  The holidays are almost here.  The city is decorated with pretty lights.  It’s polar night right now, so the sun comes out for a couple of hours, but doesn’t rise very high. This is one in the afternoon.  A pillar for flyers.  “Let’s make our city as clean as a ship deck!”  The proximity of Norway is evidenced by the Norwegian Christmas candelabras in every other window. These are referred to as “pyramids” here and can be purchased at gas stations.  A curious local feature: the canopies over shop entrances have several triangular peaks. The apparent rule of thumb is to have a separate peak over each door and window. For aesthetic reasons, presumably.  Bus stops also have zigzag-shaped roofs.  Romantic.  |
