Winter in Siberia

Since its so hot outside, let's talk winter.  In Siberia.  In February.  Pretty much as cold as it can get, it got.  I was only there a week in the major city of Novosibirsk, and most of the week was spent working.  So, there's not a whole lot of sightseeing to do, nor was much done.

However, we did get out for dinner most nights.  Where do you dine in Novosibirsk?  IN A MEXICAN RESTAURANT!  Of course!  As any Mexican food loving traveler will tell you, nobody does Mexican like America.  Or maybe Mexico, but I digress.  So, anytime you venture into a Mexican restaurant, you never know what to expect.  In this case, the surprise was good Mexican food!

Yea, really.  We went more than once.  Tasty.

As luck would have it, the week in Siberia was broken up quite nicely by Defender of the Fatherland Day, a holiday know locally as Man Day.  The holiday itself was originally a day to celebrate the armed forces and all that they had given up to protect Mother Russia.  But nowadays, it celebrates men in general, as a counter-holiday to International Women's Day.  As you might expect, the men on my team were demanding proper respect on a day dedicated to men, and we ladies were happy to oblige.  But, how do men in Russia celebrate Man Day?

Duh.  Grilling animal flesh outside.  In FEET of snow.  We however, found the expat bar, an Irish pub, and managed to stick around long enough that we earned a prized reserved booth.  Upon being seated in the booth, we made a key decision--ordering a jug of Carlsberg beer.

This decision was the best made all week, as it allowed us to drink more without having to depend on wait staff that we could barely communicate with, due to the language barrier.  Of course, when we ordered it, we thought that maybe the English menu had mistranslated pitcher as jug.  But no, I'd say it qualifies as a jug.

The night continued on, and there was a paper kissing contest that I helped a guy win.  He then wanted to dance and gave me a Jamieson polo shirt.  I'm not exactly sure what it was all about, but he spoke a bit of English, and he wanted to practice his skills.  Since it was Man Day, I must oblige.

There was also a club on the top floor, where there were more men dressed up in military costumes.  From here, the night devolved into an all-night affair.  Details best left to memory.

The next day, a few of my colleagues got out and managed to find an ice playground.

Our hotel happened to be in the middle of the woods, so we had some long running jokes about being eaten and/or watched by white Siberian tigers with blue eyes.  But what we didn't know is that we should have been fearing the Chupacabra! 

All in all, it was quite a journey into the wilderness.  One of the most memorable and best times I had on the road.  Also, I managed to survive a personal best coldest temperature of -36 F.  Yes, that's cold.  But it was a good time.

Photo Credit:  KS