The changing face of Russia – musings and pictures from Togliatti

[Manny]

Those boats you saw...  That's a Volga River tour.  Price is 130 roubles for a 1 hour tour of the river - per person.  And, YES, I did go for a ride.    I think there's 3 of those boats by the pier.  The day we visited, 1 was out with 2 more waiting the next departure.

Must have been closed when we were there.     There were no signs indicating that. I would have happily gone on a one hour boat ride on the Volga. 

Yes there are three districts - Aftozafatskoy, Central and Komsomolsky. Most of our time was spent in Komsomolsky and Central. I only go to Aftozafatskoy for my visa registration.

[mendeleyev]

Suggestion: Bulgaria's strides have been astounding and with it's official introduction into the EU in 2007 things will likely continue to improve.

We recently purchased a one bedroom apartment in an older but decent building there in an oceanside vacation town.  It's less than 2 blocks from the water and we got a "garage" with it.  Total cost was less than a new car in the USA.  It seems that the EU has toned down the corruption so prices are not artificially inflated, yet the economy is evening out and showing nice signs of sustainable growth.

Not that I'd want to be caught looking  but there are plenty of Bulgarian ladies who are as Manny describes, "smokinhotkovas."  The language (Български) "bal-gar-ski" uses the Cyrillic alphabet so signs are easy to understand and most people speak Russian as a second language.  As part of the Slavic race, cultural norms and values are very similiar to Russia and Ukraine.  EU membership makes the Visa process more accessible too.

Lots of Russians hanging around too.  Just as nice as Sochi but much cheaper to enjoy...at least today.

[Olga_Mouse]

We recently purchased a one bedroom apartment in an older but decent building there in an oceanside vacation town. 

Oh, Bulgaria has an oceanside now? What a discovery! 

Here in Russia we learned at school that it has access to Black sea only... 

[mogurx]

Where to Live?  Oddly enough that someone mentioned living in Russia with their second half.

I have a new and pretty expensive house here in USA.   She has an older small house - like the typical cottages.  I mean the ones that have 3 windows across the front, or the larger ones with 4 windows.  She is in Komsomolsky area, which I gather is "old section" of town.  (Correct me if I am wrong in that assumption.)

So, we both have homes in respective countries.  We have thought about (and even talked about) living in both the USA and Russia.  I don't want her to give up the house in RF, and I don't want to give up this one either. 

So, perhaps there will be long visits both ways, until one or the other gets on your nerves (the countries, I mean) and you head back over the pond.  There are a lot of things I like over there more than here.  There are things I like here as well, so perhaps there will be a combination.

I saw lots of MBZs, BMWs, and japanese cars all over.  The buses and trolleys seem to have a life of their own, or are protected from banishment to the pointless forest.  There were occasional new ones, but most were old, older, and wow! that thing still runs?  There appears to be more affluence than even 3-4 years ago.  By the same token, there are still dilapidated, or old burnt-out places that have not been rebuilt.  I am speaking of the smaller cities - not Moscow or StP. Expenses are up all over FSU, so the economies are on the minds of everyone.

Yes there are gas lines above ground, water is shut off at odd times, militsia are generally scumbags, corruption is the rule in Moscow ministries (got a picture of one guy to send to Putin!), the metro is great, and so on.

I am not sure what our future will be like - but it does mean some pretty close ties to us - both in Russia and the US of A.

By the way, the smokinhotkovas are all over Independence Square in Kyiv, and Ukraine smaller cities are great.  Try Poltava or Kharkov or Kremenchug.  Smaller cities in RF also offer a lot of opportunity - in a lot of age groups, I might add.  The first number of her age DOES NOT have to be a "2".  The main difference from here to there is still the attitude of FSU women - I like it a lot more than "home-grown" trophy goldilooks.  (Spelling on purpose) 

just my 2 rubles