Hittin' the Road to Tobolsk (Тобольск)

I've fallen out of the habit of writing more than one post per week, but since I went on a special excursion this Sunday, I made an exception. The plan to go to on this trip had been in the works for a few weeks and it was my first opportunity to get out of Tyumen since arriving. Our destination was Tobolsk. It's a city to the northeast, about four hours by bus. I went with a couple of my colleagues, Svetlana and Irina, and about twenty or so students. I wouldn't say I was exactly enthused at the start of the trip. I had to get up around 6:45am to get ready and walk over to campus to catch the bus. My sleep schedule currently doesn't permit me to get to sleep before 12:30am, so I wasn't exactly well-rested for the start. As soon as the bus started moving, our tour guide started talking. Undoubtedly, she was saying some interesting things about Tyumen. However, I was a bit too tired to care. Nevertheless, I was a little torn over whether I should just let myself sleep or try to listen. I slept off and on throughout the first couple hours of the ride, played a quick game of "stickers" with my seatmates, Nadya, Katya, and Zhenya, and I also did a little work with Irina and Svetlana.  Here's the short version of what they needed help with. On Wednesday, some high court judges from England are coming to town to visit our institute and give a sort of lecture/workshop type thing. It's Irina's and Svetlana's job to help screen and translate some of the questions for the judges (who don't speak Russian). The only problem is that I hardly know any legal jargon, both in English and in Russian. My neighbors were actually much more helpful than I was.

The courtroom with a portrait of Nikolai II

Our first stop in Tobolsk was a place to get some lunch. We went to a place called "Fiesta." Also written on the sign was "Bistro." I can tell you one thing for sure about this place; it has absolutely no connection with Mexican or Spanish cuisine as the name might indicate. I felt like I was eating at the university cafeteria only with nicer seating. I had my quick fill of plov, bread, and tea and we were off to see our first site: a courthouse from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Our tour guide at this particular museum talked about the history of the court system in Russia and how it related to Tobolsk's system. We saw a pretty nifty restored version of the main courtroom. After the court, we walked across the street to one of the former offices of Emperor Nikolai II. They had some interesting pictures of his family life in Tobolsk and much of the furniture was authentic. Oh!! And before I forget, on the way to Tobolsk, we stopped in a small town and our tour guide briefly showed us the exterior of the home in which Rasputin was born! It was lucky that I woke up for it at all.

The primary church at the Kremlin

Anyway, from Emperor Nikolai's office, we then went to the Tobolsk Kremlin. It's probably the coolest part of the city because it sits very high on a hill overlooking the whole area. Hundreds of years ago, it was used primarily as a fortress and religious center. On top of the hill, we saw rebuilt/renovated fortress walls, a large church with a bell tower, and an old (and miserable-looking) prison. All of this was really interesting to look at, but by far the most impressive thing was, in my opinion, the view. With the city covered in snow, everything covered in a sort of fog, and a river off in the distance, it was a beautiful sight.

From there, we hit the road back home. At the time, I didn't realize that we were going to make any more stops, but we did stop at a monastery/repentance church on the way back. We got to walk into one of the churches and it was pretty incredible. All of the walls were covered in Russian Orthodox style frescoes that I believe were painted within the last five years or so. Everything was vibrant and there was even an amazing view from inside the church of the surrounding countryside. Again, we were located on a hill overlooking a river basin covered in a light fog.

Me along the edge of the Kremlin overlooking the city

This time, we were actually off for good. After a couple hours, we stopped again at the same rest stop we hit on the way to Tobolsk for random snacks and bathroom breaks. I decided to buy a Snickers and heard a female student make an off-hand remark saying that it's unhealthy. She then immediately bought hard candy... I decided to not take any offense from her claim (even if she may be right). On the way back, I played a few more rounds of "stickers" with my neighbors and I even taught them a favorite group car game of mine, called Ghost. It was a word game and we played in Russian. Therefore, I was the first one to lose... but it was fun all the same!

The end of a long staircase leading up to the Kremlin

 We got back at around 10:00pm and I walked home from the university. Even though I was pretty exhausted from a long day, my internal clock still didn't let me sleep until after midnight. However, once I finally got into bed, it didn't take too long for me to get to sleep. All in all, it was a worthwhile excursion and I was happy to see another part of Siberia with a little more more of an ancient Russian flavor.

The view of the river from the monastery