Vladivostok

As you know, I did not think I would get much time in Vladivostok. I thought the train was to arrive the morning the ferry left. Fact is, though, that the train arrived a full day ahead of time. Enough time to take in the sights. 

I figured I could sleep a few hours in the train station after my 1:45 arrival.  And it was working fine. Until the guy next to me decided he wanted to learn English. For the next 45 minutes, he had me read from the "Learning English" text he had in his bag. And he practiced. And practiced. But I wanted to sleep and sleep. Luckily, around 3:00 the cleaning crew came in, and made us lift our feet. So, I retreated to a further set of chairs and set myself for sleep. I did not get much, but it was tolerable. They actually turned out most of the lights. But they kept up the every fifteen minute recorded announcement. I am sure it was all about security and not smoking, but its real   intent was to make sure our sleep was not peaceful. 

I figured about 6:30, I would find the buses running and head for the hostel. Instead, I found a raging downpour, with wind and lightning and all. I did not need to go out in that, so I waited an extra hour for it to abate. I got to the hostel about eight, but it was not ready for me. So, I had some tea, and headed out to see Vladivostok. 

There was, after all, only seven things listed in Lonely Planet to see. 

The weather was miserable.  Vladivostok is known, among other things, as "the San Francisco of Siberia." We'll, it does have hills and tall bridges, I hear, but I could not see them for the thick fog. It was muggy, rainy, and murky. The fog was everywhere. 

Beautiful day for museums. So, after a stop at the ferry terminal to check things out, I headed to the first museum. It was closed except for the first floor. I skipped it. The second museum was closed indefinitely, but had a temporary exhibit open twelve blocks away. The third indoor activity, the picture gallery was closed for repair. The fourth did not open until August 21. Frustrated, I went to what Lonely Planet described as "vladivostok's favorite attraction may just be the smoothest-running operation in the Far East: the well-oiled funicular rail way, which every few minutes makes a fun 60 second ride up a 100 meter hill."

It looks like this:

Maybe it is hard to pick up in the photo,but note the piles of trash and the barred doors!  

(I climbed the four billion stairs to the top, because the sun was burning off the fog and I wanted to see the city. It was getting nicer--although still hazy. )

At any rate, my museum closing luck left me only the war museum, based on the gun  emplacement  that defended the city. I eventually found it. The entrance had been moved, and I had to approach from a different street. And the old submarine museum was right where it was supposed to be, and fairly interesting, if campy. 

But as the day wore on, the weather cleared, showing off a city with lots of spectacular sights. Water, and hills, and lots of walking. This last pic was taken out o me side of the hostel. The other side shows a similar scene, since we are out on a peninsula. 

At any rate, I have to get ready to leaveRussia  tomorrow.