Chelyabinsk 8/3-8/5

R to L: Tatyana, Jon, Natalia

Chelyabinsk was such a modern city, I felt like someone moving from Vermont to Boston. Our home for 3 days 8/3-8/5, Hotel Victoria was top notch, very classy. Our first stop was to work. The office here is much bigger, multiple floors and so modern. We went out for business lunch where I had traditional soup and modern pizza, it was awesome, accept Jon is annoyed that instead of saying lunch in Russian on the menu it is transliterated to say “business lunch” биснис лунч.

We had met the classy, brilliant and beautiful Natalia and Tatyana at the company picnic, the two women Jon would be training the next few days who are now our friends. They are amazing and took us out to a classy traditional restaurant where we sat on the patio. It was located in this one very pretty part of the city that reminds me of Faneuil Hall. It is a stone walkway shut down to traffic with plenty of shopping, music and souvenir vendors.


The women took us around on a tour. I made sure I hit it up the next day for a shopping extravaganza, treating myself to some cute clothes for my birthday. We also walked through a park to see their former alma mater. We learned how competitive it is for a job and how rigorous the interview process is. We also learned how smart and talented these women are: Tatyana being a math scholar and former mathematics teacher; Natalia being a Information Technologies major. Both can program even thought their job position is software tester, both studied English at university as well. Not only are they brilliant, they are certainly the best tour guides!

Natalia's University (A Technology and Engineering School)

Cool Chelyabinsk Church now an Organ Concert Hall

On Wednesday, we went out for Chinese food at an amazing restaurant: Dragon. Again, we were completely impressed.


But the kicker for me was the fancy grocery store that blew trader Joes and whole foods out of the water with their array of gourmet naturals and savory prepared foods section. I ate my foot as all the food products I had told legends about thinking were only found in the US abounded the aisles. I’m talkin’ lobster tails, orange marmalade, maple syrup, fresh mozzerela, and basil. I was so excited, I got in trouble for taking pictures of the store. I spent over an hour here with my jaw open, muttering in awe in English (scaring many, I’m sure). There was a drawback though: the basil cost I kid you not $20 USD! Right there, it was a luxury store, but some items were out of reach, unlike at Trader Joes. ALSO- they were missing chocolate chips and peanut butter. I asked for them and they brought me over to the chocolate covered potato chips! My day ended for a cool 1000 rubles with only 6 treasures: fresh sunflower seed bread, pasta sauce, hot sauce (burritos here we come), sweet and sour Chinese pomegranate sauce, birch tree juice, and marmalade and chocolates for friends.

Note the Traditional Wedding Swan Bread!
Hot Russian Delights- Mmmm!

We had a great time in Chelyabinsk, but I am glad we are in Miass because of the nature here. It’s more different from home and therefore exciting for us. Plus, the bus system is so easy here because really there is one main road. In Chelly, I ended up riding buses in the wrong direction until they would turn around and bring me back to where I was trying to go. One bus ride was over an hour. Oy vey.

Met Gorbechev while out shopping.