Day 4: The Streets of Irkutsk

Now that we checked in to the hostel and dropped our luggage, we set off in search of food (and to see what we could of Irkutsk).

Taking a rather circuitous route, we first went to see Kirov Square before looping back around.  Kirov Square is where the city government headquarters is located and it contains a nice park with various displays describing the history of the region and city.  Kirov Square is named after Sergey Kirov, one of the Bolshevik leaders in the Communist Revolution, who was assassinated in 1934.  This sparked the beginning of a series of purges under Stalin which culminated with the Great Officer Purge of the Red Army setting the stage for the abysmal performance of the Red Army at the start of World War II (during the Winter War against Finland in 1939-40, and against the Germans in 1941-42).  The Soviets also named a nuclear-powered battlecruiser class after him.

Kirov Square, looking towards the government building.	Looking back towards the fountain, with historic displays and flowers.

Of course, there’s nothing like a carefully maintained bed of flowers to attract a two-year old kid…

A thunderstorm was brewing and there were several lightning strikes in the area, though we didn’t get any of the rain.  We tried to get some photos of lightning strikes with the buildings in the background, but had no luck.  In the process, we observed two people riding Segways.  Apparently, they aren’t quite as useful if the city doesn’t have handicapped accessible sidewalks.

Kirov Square.	Segway defeated by curb.

We eventually made our way to the restaurant recommended by Nadia, our hostel manager, but found it closed.  So, we walked back down Karl Marx street (or, if you read the English translation on the street sign, “Karl Marks St.”) and found a nice Italian restaurant that was open.  Apparently, a lot of restaurants in Irkutsk close down by 8PM on a Sunday night.

Karl Marx St.	The Prego.  It’s located a bit away from the main street but was worth the detour.

The restaurant featured a guitarist playing music, interspersed with Russian techno when he wasn’t there, and gave Jasper a balloon to play with.  They also took our picture – perhaps in response to a search for a similar looking two-year old playing in the Kirov flower beds?  Anyways, they didn’t try to sell us the picture, nor did they give us the picture.  We’ll probably appear on some propaganda post a couple years from now.

After dinner, we walked back to the hostel for a good night’s rest.  It was a bit warm in the room (no air conditioning) but it was nice to get a “real” shower as compared to the past few days on the railroad.  Tomorrow: Listvyanka, the resort town on Lake Baikal.

Walking back to the hostel on Lenin St.