TverMapAugust 4, 2007 A while back I decided to visit all of the towns connected to Moscow by a highway. For instance, I had to take the Borovskoe highway to get to Borovsk. There’s also the Kievskoe highway — takes you to Kiev. Today to get to Tver you have to drive along the Leningradskoye highway, but it actually begins on Tverskaya street. I liked Tver.  They’ve got their own telephone demiboxes here.  Half of the city looks like Moscow; the other half resembles St Petersburg.  The Volga flows through the city, hemmed in by wonderful granite waterfronts on each side.  An aquabiking championship of some sort was taking place on the Volga, so the entire city was sitting on the waterfront. At the same time there were terrible yet sporadic downpours.  Whenever the clouds dispersed a little, you could see the sky. The sky here is exactly as it should be, nothing like it is in Moscow. In fact the sky here is a very St Petersburg kind of sky.  Because of the water show, they closed off half of the city centre. Three coppers — three no entry signs.  The bus stops in Tver are a real treat — they’re perpendicular to the flow of traffic. You can sit and watch the road without having to turn your head. Although to be fair, half of the people have their backs turned to the bus.  It’s always interesting to read how the municipal authorities self-identify.  Tver — a clean city full of kind people Interesting special effects spotted on the “Knigi” bookshop sign. It seems to say “Knigi”. But when you read it more carefully, it’s as if there were other letters hidden in there too (cf. its sister sign in Vladivostok).  There are also simpler signs.  Old street names haven’t been replaced by new ones, they just hang side by side.  “In the name of God, I entreat you to cross when you see the green man!”  Those who cross when the light is red end up in the magnificent Tver sky.  |
