TomskMapNovember 2325, 2007 There’s a new trend in Domodedovo airport — piling up grey clothing trays across all of the passages. There’s also a concomitant special new profession — stackers, who stack the trays in order to transport them all of ten metres. ![]() When you travel often, a three hour flight feels just long enough to take one bite of your sandwich and to yawn once. ![]() There isn’t all that much to do in the city at night, plus you risk falling into an uncovered manhole roughly a hundred metres away from the spot where Tomsk was founded. ![]() Having said that, you can always find something of interest, no matter where you might be. For example, this sign, simply executed in the spirit of the 1930s. ![]() Push To all the lucky buggers who managed to avoid taking a tumble earlier, a fall awaits you — all of the pavements are equipped with icy paths, long-forgotten in Moscow. ![]() Compared to Novosibirsk, where they completely forgot to build anything in the least bit interesting, Tomsk is simply magnificent. ![]() To start off with, there’s the Kirov statue adorning the stairwell. There’s no inscription on the pedestal, but we’ve already seen his clones in Murmansk, Rostov-on-Don and Borovichi. On that basis we can conclude that this particular model of Kirov was not brought to any of the dud cities. ![]() There are lots of universities in Tomsk, therefore half of the city’s population are students. Can’t blame a man for having trouble choosing then. ![]() Katyushka, I love you! Come back... Lena! I love you! It comes as no surprise that scientific research is more advanced here than practically anywhere else (plus Seversk is just five kilometres away). ![]() Tomsk Nuclear Centre Science and innovation You can even sense the scientific touch in the way they drafted the text on the warning sign that hangs on the signal booth by the railway level crossing. ![]()
Driver! There’s even a drawing of the bus route tied to the topology on bus windows. ![]() If there’s anything cheerless in Tomsk, it’s the fact that the old wooden town is gradually sinking into the ground. ![]() It’s cheerless because the wooden houses are being replaced by brick ones with modifications in the poorest possible taste. Brick palaces in the presently very popular style of roadside snack bars serving food from the Caucasus are all the rage. ![]() This sliding wardrobe manufacturers’ advertising explains that swiftness suddenly expired in the making of this poster. ![]()
Sliding wardrobes There’s so much snow here that it’s easier to put up a warning sign on every single buildling than to go around removing it. ![]()
Warning Two distinctive details set Tomsk apart from other cities. The first is the overhead line poles right in the middle of the railway tracks. This immediately makes the street look like an early XX century postcard, despite the fact that there’s some sort of brick dross already there on the left side: ![]() The second — the wooden houses’ windows are set outside the plane of the wall. It’s unexpected and beautiful. ![]() The balcony glazing also features unexpected plane designs. We spotted these kinds of crane cabins several times: ![]() There are two types of rubbish bins dotted around the city — this is the kind you can’t throw anything into, you can only carefully deposit your rubbish in there by bending your arm. ![]() The other kind — a lottery ticket drum for hoboes. Spin, then fish out your ticket. ![]() No reason to worry about the city’s public services: they’re still coming up with new terms. ![]() Yard waste only The traffic lights deserve special mention. For instance, this one — one bunch for the entire intersection: ![]() Or this one — it’s got decorative arcs: ![]() Clearly the people in charge of the traffic lights are passionate about what they do. ![]() If they ever have trouble coming up with something out of the ordinary, they just put in the pole at an angle. ![]() At our stroll draws to close, here’s a Tomsk optical illusion for your viewing pleasure. Up close it’s a boy and a girl holding a flower in their hands. ![]() Care for each other At a distance it’s a one-eared cat with a red nose and bulging eyes. ![]() |
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november 2007
Tomsk
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