By the artificial sea
110 years ago a new street separated new constructions from the river. Since that time the architects have been trying to turn the city to the Ob River. They have succeeded in recent years. Embankments have become the place of folks’ holidays. An entertainment park, where rock-music festivals near take place, and a fountain near the bridge are active in summer. In winter the embankment is decorated with fairy figures, ginger bread houses and attractions.
The main street which heads from the Ob River is called “Krasny Prospekt” meaning “Krasivy prospect” (“Beautiful prospectus”), though in the Soviet times the name of the street sounded very revolutionary. The widest traffic area of the prospectus is divided by an avenue.
What should you visit in Novosibirsk? A theatre, a concert, an exhibition, a caf? or a club. As far as nature attractions are concerned, we would advise you to visit a zoo and Akademgorsk town. Novosibirsk won’t surprise you with monuments of architecture. It is the people and not walls that present the city. The Opera and Ballet theatre building noted for a huge stage, high-rise dome, and festive decoration is an exception in architectural image of the city. One of the best in Russia ballet schools is located in Novosibirsk and modern plays have been performed in recent five years. The building of the theatre was opened in December after reconstruction and the president of the Russian Federation arrived to the city.
Novosibirsk is a city of theatres. An old “Krasny fakel” (“Red Flame”), “Globe”, a former Youth Theatre, a young but very famous small state theatre under S. Afansyev was warded in international and Russian festivals not once. There are more theatres and theatre studios and there are two Novosibirsk theatre festivals: “Sib-Altera” meaning “Another Siberia”, the festival of private theatres. Last year, audience from St.-Petersubr attended Sib-Altera to enjoy the plays of St.-Petersburg’s theatre “Derevo” (“Tree”).
The second festival is “International Christmas festival” takes place once in two years in December. The festival demonstrates theatrical and musical performances recognized by critics and audience. “Christmas festival” is a tradition; “Sib-Altera” is search for innovations.
Novosibirsk is a musical city. Various kinds of music are performed in the city: classical, jazz, pop music. A symphonic orchestra conducted by Arnold Kaz, early music group, numerous jazz bands, and two philharmonic halls: one of them is a former house of political enlightenment and the other is a former Lenin’s house erected in the citizens’ funds. Every citizen purchased a brick and as a result there appeared a beautiful building with good acoustics. Youth Theatre was located in the building for a long time but then it moved and nowadays, you can enjoy music concerts there.
You can always find a couple of interesting exhibitions to visit. Moreover, there are cafes for every taste: French and German confectionaries, Chinese restaurants and Ukrainian eateries, not mentioning various fast-food cafes. There are also a lot of various clubs in the city: a fashionable ‘Rock-City” club, youth clubs, pop clubs, clubs for teenagers, clubs for famous people and so on. There are a lot of places to spend time with friends in Novosibirisk.
If you are not a local and haven’t got any friends then you should visit the zoo. The zoo of Novosibirsk occupied a tine territory near a market fro a long time but then it was moved into a forest and park area. This happened due to a famous within the city man R. S. Shilo, the head of the zoo. Spacey open-air cages, young stock areas, horse back riding and the forest is around. The zoo makes a wonderful impression. If the animals suffered in the zoo then there wouldn’t have taken place such a peculiar misalliance between a lion and a tiger the result of which has been growing in the zoo for a year already – prodigy of nature – LIGER. The head of the zoo is proud of felid that are in great number presented in the zoo: besides lion-tigers, there is snow leopard, hunting leopard, American leopard, and panther and so on.
I am sure, you have at least once heard about Akademgorsk town. A new region for research assistants was established in a coniferous forest 40 km of Novosibirsk in the late 60s of the 20th century, when people believed in scientific and technical progress that would make mankind happy. Designed as foreign ones with cottages and numerous institutes for scientific research the town expanded within the forest and became a very green and cozy forest town where modern high-rise building have failed to hide its original image.
A famous Novosibirsk state university is located in the town, so Akademgorsk is a town of students. Finally, Akademgorsk stand by the sea. Though the sea is artificial and the construction of OB-hydro-electric power station resulted in flooding many villages and climate changes, the locals of the town have got accustomed to the “sea”, Resorts, tourist camps and beaches are active in summer. Yacht competitions take place there, the y sea is stormy sometimes and seagulls fly above its waves. What if the artificial sea is getting real?
Once in early spring two French actresses said that most of all they liked the people and then it was the sea which had just come out of ice that impressed them much.
But for now, when the sea is covered in ice, the forest is covered in snow. “A Siberian man is a skier” is a motto of the Soviet times. There are a lot of ski resorts in Novosibirsk outskirts where you can rent skis, mountain skis, snowmobiles and snowboards. Be it a city of music and theatres, you will enjoy winter kinds of sports when winter lasts for six months.
