I Love Volgograd Posted by yelena on Apr 20, 2010 in Culture, History
Volgograd, my hometown, is relatively obscure in the West. Most Americans ask me where in Russia I am from and look seemingly lost when I say I’m from Volgograd. The notable exceptions are these three categories:
«Знатоки Второй Мировой войны» [WWII history buffs] – «Сталинградская битва» [Battle of Stalingrad] was one of the major battles of the World War II and one of its turning points. It is also known as one of the bloodiest battles in the human history.
Trivia collectors – one of the world’s tallest free-standing statues, not including the pedestal, is in Volgograd;
Men looking for Russian wives – It’s a well-known fact, confirmed by Boris Yeltsin during his May 1996 visit to Volgograd, that «самые красивые девушки – из Волгограда» [the most beautiful girls are from Volgograd]. How else to explain all those annual beauty contests, including «Мисс Выпускница» [Miss High School Graduate], «Мисс Студентка» [Miss College Student], «Невеста Года» [Volgograd Bride of the Year], «Мисс Волгоград» [Miss Volgograd], «Миссис Волгоград» [Mrs. Volgograd]…
I think this semi-oblivion stems from the fact that Volgograd does not boast any ancient golden-domed churches. Instead of quaint crafts, such as «лакированные шкатулки» [lacquered boxes], «расписные подносы» [colorfully painted metal trays], or intricate «кружева» [lacework], the city produces lots and lots of heavy industrial machinery and chemicals (not at all quaint). Compared to Moscow and St. Petersburg, it is very blue collar and provincial.
Yet this large (around 1 million residents) industrial city remains one of the nicest and quirkiest places to visit, especially in the summer and not just for history buffs or men looking for their future Mrs Volgograd.
If you are planning a trip to Russia, plan on spending a few days in Volgograd for some of the best real-Russia experiences:
Riding the only underground passenger tram in Russia (and maybe in the entire world)
Volgograd doesn’t have beautiful subway stations (this honor goes to Moscow) or the deepest ones (that’s St. Petersburg claim). Instead it has a «метротрам»– a tram that, for 3 out of its 30 or so stops, runs under ground. The extension line with some more underground stations has been in the works since 1984 (I remember watching some of the construction work from my 2nd grade classroom window).
Driving over the longest bridge in Europe
Unbelievable as it might sound, stretched for almost 100 kilometers along a river bank, the city only has one bridge across Volga. It took 13 years to complete; but to be fair it is now the longest bridge in Europe.
Checking out the world’s largest statue of a real person
The 52-meter tall statue of Lenin is officially the world’s tallest statue commemorating a real person. Hand on his hip, «вождь мирового пролетариата» [the leader of the world’s proletariat] is overlooking the workings of the Volga-Don Channel.
Testing your “lucky 13” theory
Why not take a look at the world’s tallest Lenin from aboard one of the many river cruise ships passing through the locks of the «Волго-Донской канал» [Volga-Don Channel]. Your ship will have to move through 13 locks on the way from Volga to Don – a trip that takes 10-12 hours (maybe you get exceptionally lucky with an unexpected delay of some non-alarming sort and it’ll take you full 13 hours then).
Driving along the longest street in the entire Mother Russia
Russia is the largest country in the world. Wouldn’t it be so very cool to travel the length of the longest street of the largest country? (Especially as a low-cost alternative to the epic Trans Siberian Railway trip)
Hail a cab (they are refreshingly cheap after the rip-offs of Moscow) and do a round-trip of the «Вторая Продольная» [lit. Second Lengthwise Street]. Not only will you get to see much of real city life along its 50-km stretch (one-way), but you will also understand why it is said that Russia has two banes – fools and roads.
Checking out the most romantic (per linear foot of bench space) park in the entire nation
Fresh from your round-trip along the longest street, ask the cabby to drop you off at «Педагогический университет» [Pedagogic University]. It is on one side of the «Первая Продольная» [lit. First Lengthwise street] in the «Центральный район» [Central district]. It is right across the street from «Политехнический университет» [Polytechnic University].
Here’s the easy way to tell apart the two institutions of higher learning even if you can’t read the plaques on the facades. If 90% of people walking through the building’s doors are girls, then it’s the «Пед» [short for Pedagogic]. If it’s mostly guys, then you’re in front of the «Политех» [short for Polytechnic].
Now cross the street half-way to a long and narrow park. If it’s a warm late-spring day and the air is filled with the aroma of lilacs, you will have a hard time securing a seat on one of the many benches in this lovely park filled with kissing and making-out «Пед-Политех» couples.
Tasting the world’s best tomatoes and watermelons
We all know that supermarket tomatoes smell or taste nothing like the real thing. But let me tell you – even your best farmer’s market organically grown Brandywines are no match to Volgograd’s finest, like «Бычье Сердце» (Bull’s Heart). You will dream about these juicy warm meaty tomatoes for the rest of your life, guaranteed. Same goes for the sweet melt-in-your-mouth «арбузы» [watermelons].
Have you been to Volgograd?
Build vocabulary, practice pronunciation, and more with Transparent Language Online. Available anytime, anywhere, on any device.
Comments:
Karyn:
Hey, you’re forgetting the fourth category of people who know about Volgograd: foreign exchange students!! I studied there in 2003 – neither at the “ped” nor the “polytech”, but at Vol Gu (Volgograd State University, for your readers.) I wish I would have known all of these interesting facts when I was there. I love Volgograd, too! (Thanks for the great post.)
yelena:
@Karyn Karyn, I actually went to college (Волгоградская архитектурно-строительная академия) with a couple of people who later became instructors at VolGu. You’re right, there are international students in Volgograd; I just never ran into anyone here, in the States, who’d say “Yeah, I know Volgograd. I went to college there!”.
Stefaan:
There are other underground trams in the world. Brussels has a normal subway and – as we call it here – premetro (which are underground tram stations, there are 16).
yelena:
@Stefaan oh, but where else do you have a underground tram with 2.5 underground stations (the rest are above ground)?! In case you’re wondering about that 0.5 station, the Pionerskaya station is only partially underground as it was built into the side of a large ravine. It even has its own Wikipedia entry – http://tinyurl.com/y4p74f7
Evan:
I lived in Volgograd central district for almost 6 months. What a fasinating city. Thanks for the blog post! I, too, love Volgograd.
yelena:
@Evan Were you there in summer or winter months? What was your favorite hang-out? Last time I was in Volgograd, I spent a lot of time in a small cafe in the lobby of Hotel Volgograd. They had absolutely the best hot chocolate ever!
Evan:
I lived in Volgograd central district for 6 months when I was there as a missionary. What a great city…so much history! I, too, love Volgograd!
josefina:
Yelena, now you make me want to go to Volgograd! Aaaaaa!!!! How to make it happen? Now THAT’S the main question! There’s no other problem – I’d be there in no time if I had my way!
Arkadiy Birger:
The small cafe mentioned above is the Grand Cafe I believe, and it is one of the best places in the city, in my opinion. Whenever I go to visit friends and family there, I always go to this great place to have my cappuccino (one of the better ones I have had), solid even if high-priced food and of course one of the very few places in the city that serves ice in their drinks in the summer.
And I do agree – the exchange students are actually a very large portion of visitors, including the Med Institute visitors.
MarkSpizer:
great post as usual!
Dale D:
I spoke with a friend last year about your city. They made a reference to not needing to know every small town in Russia. They compared it to some small village in Washington State. I started to laugh very hard. I said, I am sorry. Please excuse me. I was just thinking about someone saying it about a city in close size on the Missippi River. They looked puzzled and asked what city? I said St. Louis. Close in size and on major world river. The look of surpise was wonderful. 🙂
I have spent a month in Russia. At the rate, I visit areas of Russia, it will be about 24 more months of visits before I can feel safe say I have visited Russia. Some day I hope to visit your city.
yelena:
@Dale D LOL! I’m with you – Volgograd is a large city, but few Americans have heard of it 🙂 To be fair, few Russians have heard of Raleigh, NC – the city I live in now.
Amanda:
Great post!! I spent some time in Volgograd as an exchange student and I loved the city and the people! I studied at the Политех- I must have been one of the few girls 🙂 I lived on ул Ким, with a family… I wish i had stayed in contact with them!
yelena:
@Amanda Ул. Кима – так у меня же там дедушка с бабушкой жили, прямо возле торгового центра! How did you like studying at the Политех?
Amanda:
How neat, Елена, maybe they were my neighbors? And I certainly did love the shopping that was in the area!
Vladimir Kishinevsky:
Dear all people of Volgograd!
My name is Vladimir Kishinevsky. I am 73 years old retired mechanical engineer. I was born in Blagoveschensk, Khabarovsky region, grew up in Odessa, Ukraine. In 1977 my family left USSR for good and for the 25 years we lived in Cleveland, Ohio and now for 8 years we are in Bradenton, Florida.
I missed terribly my friends and some relatives who are still hopefully alive. I do want to locate my cousin and his family.
We lost the address and telephone number of Aleksandr Kishinevsky, his wife Victoria and their son Misha. Last time I saw this family was in 1996 when they visited us in Cleveland.
We had a letter from Volgograd after they returned but we moved several times since and I cannot find my dear brother.
Sasha is a very well known as a great biologist, Victoria is the excellent dentist and Misha used to be a car mechanic.
I and my wife would greatly appreciate people in Volgograd in
any way of letting this family that they are loved and I missed talking to them.
My telephone number is 941-753-8191 and my mailing address is
Vladimir Kishinevsky
4416 Calm Harbor st.
Bradenton, FL 34207.
e-mail: vkishinevsky@hotmail.com
Sarah:
Another language student! Visited Volgograd in spring 2000. Really liked it, especially the planetarium.
Lewis:
I am an American moving to Volgograd and would like to know if there are any expat groups for Americans or Brits in town? Perhaps a British pub or hangout. Your experience would be appreciated.
Lewis