OK - here we are. Vladivostok Airport certanly isn't a major hub. We are help up waiting - we thought that we were waiting for a gate, but now suspect that we were wating for the stairs. Two planes landing around the same time creates a bottleneck. Down the stairs and into the bus to be carried to the terminal. The bus then moves 15 m to the terminal and we disembark.
To our surprise, both we and our luggage managed three flights and two connections without incident. Exactly as planned, we met our guide (Natalia) at Vladivostok airport.
Vladivostok airport is 50 km outside the city, which sits at the end of a long peninsula. The single road from the airport is under repair - all 50 km of it - so that it is like a cattle road, crowded, dusty, bumpy and slow. We discovered that Vladivostok is to host an APEC meeting in 2012, so they are making major infrastructure upgrades to improve the city.
Our hotel is a couple of km outside the central city, but is clean and comfortable. It must be a god hotel - a plaque on the room opposite ours records the stay of Kim Jong Il some years ago.At least we have discovered that we can buy Baltica beer for about $1.50 nearby.
We had a good Russian meal - Solyanka (a meat & vegetable soup) and fish and got a good nights sleep. The best wine that we could find was "Wallaby Creek", a S.E. Australian chardonnay - served at room temperature. I think that we will have to get used to meals without wine. Only beer and vodka is served cold.
The next day (Monday) we met our guide and had a tour of the city. Vladivostok is not an old city (founded in 1860) and it is certainly still under development - in fact, everything seems to be in some sort of state of repair. This doesn't mean that we are seeing a brilliant city emerge from a major co-ordinated urban re-development. Far from it, it's all a bit run-down, tired and dirty with many repairs seemingly half-finished.
Many of the better buildings were probably built in the late 19th and early 20th century, before the heavy hand of Soviet architecture was applied. Some are in good condition, but many more need some care. Later building are bland and often slowly decaying. Some new construction appears abandoned, thought here are a couple of more modern new shopping complexes. Most footpaths seem to be partly dug-up, but there is little evidence of activity to complete any work.
We have to guess that the infrastructure for APEC (the freeway from the airport and two massive bridges) will possibly not be completed in time. Maybe they can arrange for all the dignaturies to arrive and leave in darkness.
The city is a major commercial port. An arm of the port near the city is called the Golden Horn (it is a sheltered harbour, shaped like a single cattle horn) and is lined with commercial port facilities (and some naval facilities). One of the major new bridges will span this waterway.
So, we had a good look around the city. We saw a submarine museum (inside a WWII submarine) and the Regional Museum, which has some interesting displays of some of the regional animals (suitably stuffed).
A small market near the railway station was doing a good trade in fresh vegetables, fish, meats and baked goods, but otherwise the shopping areas were uninspiring.
We successfuly negotiated the bus system to get back to our hotel. We dined there, as the food had been reasonable the night before (and because there wasn't anywhere else nearby). Apparently, it doesn't matter what you ask for on the winelist - they haven't got it. We eventually settled for an over-sweet French wine (which wasn't on the list). We think that they have a supply of about four wines.
To our surprise, both we and our luggage managed three flights and two connections without incident. Exactly as planned, we met our guide (Natalia) at Vladivostok airport.
Vladivostok airport is 50 km outside the city, which sits at the end of a long peninsula. The single road from the airport is under repair - all 50 km of it - so that it is like a cattle road, crowded, dusty, bumpy and slow. We discovered that Vladivostok is to host an APEC meeting in 2012, so they are making major infrastructure upgrades to improve the city.
We had a good Russian meal - Solyanka (a meat & vegetable soup) and fish and got a good nights sleep. The best wine that we could find was "Wallaby Creek", a S.E. Australian chardonnay - served at room temperature. I think that we will have to get used to meals without wine. Only beer and vodka is served cold.
The next day (Monday) we met our guide and had a tour of the city. Vladivostok is not an old city (founded in 1860) and it is certainly still under development - in fact, everything seems to be in some sort of state of repair. This doesn't mean that we are seeing a brilliant city emerge from a major co-ordinated urban re-development. Far from it, it's all a bit run-down, tired and dirty with many repairs seemingly half-finished.
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| Attractive buildings, but the footpath and underpass need some attention |
We have to guess that the infrastructure for APEC (the freeway from the airport and two massive bridges) will possibly not be completed in time. Maybe they can arrange for all the dignaturies to arrive and leave in darkness.
So, we had a good look around the city. We saw a submarine museum (inside a WWII submarine) and the Regional Museum, which has some interesting displays of some of the regional animals (suitably stuffed).
A small market near the railway station was doing a good trade in fresh vegetables, fish, meats and baked goods, but otherwise the shopping areas were uninspiring.
We successfuly negotiated the bus system to get back to our hotel. We dined there, as the food had been reasonable the night before (and because there wasn't anywhere else nearby). Apparently, it doesn't matter what you ask for on the winelist - they haven't got it. We eventually settled for an over-sweet French wine (which wasn't on the list). We think that they have a supply of about four wines.
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