Make America Great Again in Russia
When most people think of Russia, images of Vladimir Putin, St. Basil'due south Cathedral and copious caviar probably come to heed. But there'south a lot more to this potential superpower than that. All beyond its half-dozen million square miles, y'all can observe strange sights, community, delicacies and more than — all unique to Russian federation itself. From swimming with sex dolls to visiting an enema museum, take a trip around this curious former communist state from the comfort of your own abode.
Enema of the State
Sorry to start this off on a low note, but let's talk about enemas. Apparently Russians don't shy away from this medical help, because in June 2008 a monument in accolade of the enema was unveiled at a health spa in the southern city of Zheleznovodsk.
The lxx-pound bronze monument designed by local artist Svetlana Avakova is held proudly aloft by 3 Botticelli-mode angel figurines. And in an arguably rare insight into Russian sense of humor, it's complemented by a imprint on one of the spa'south walls reading, "Let's beat constipation and sloppiness with enemas."
Good, Clean Culture
Continuing with the health theme for a moment, how almost a visit to a museum dedicated to hygiene? Taking pride of place in a former palace in St. Petersburg, the Muzei Gigieny, or Museum of Hygiene, opened manner dorsum in 1919 to educate residents on health and personal hygiene issues.
There's a cinema within that shows lectures on contemporary hygiene topics, such as smoking, drug corruption and AIDS risks. You tin also savour displays of infectious diseases — including STDs — and get run-downs on bad health and hygiene habits, bizarre waxworks and, for some reason, Pavlov's actual dog. The pooch is somewhat badly taxidermied, and photography isn't allowed.
Admiration for Alcohol
As well in Saint petersburg, you'll find Russia's vodka museum. In accolade of the national drinkable — in the 19th century the only legal vodka distiller in Russia was the government — this museum has information technology all covered.
You can learn all about vodka's origins dating back centuries and rails its development in civilization over the years. Yous'll besides run across ornate and baroque bottles, stoppers and spectacles. Of grade, at the end of the xxx-minute bout, you can enjoy some vodka tasting with borscht and caviar and even purchase a bottle from the over 250 dissimilar types of vodka available.
The Erotic Empress
Empress Catherine the Neat II of Russia was credited by many as being the force behind the modernization of the Russian Empire. Unfortunately, her legacy is somewhat overshadowed by shocking reports of her sexual behavior.
Permit's address the elephant — or horse — in the room. There were rumors that Catherine died every bit a issue of sexual relations with an equine, when in fact she died from a stroke. Some rumors held more truth though, such as the fact that she had many (often younger) lovers throughout her lifetime. She was also an gorging collector of erotic furniture decorated with phallic and yonic carvings.
Babe Bonanza
Russians are granted state-funded parental leave, which of course isn't unique to the land. What is i of a kind is the official vacation in the birthplace of Vladimir Lenin, Ulyanovsk, where anybody is allowed a twenty-four hours off for baby-making fourth dimension.
The Day of Conception is held on September 12 and is taken and so seriously that anyone who gives nascency nine months later, on June 12, tin be awarded prizes. These often include vehicles, video cameras, TVs, refrigerators and washing machines. The holiday was launched to overcome sexlessness among young Russians. Perhaps they should follow Catherine the Corking's lead?
Swimming With Sex Dolls
Arguably, more than procreation might be possible if some Russians weren't busying themselves with blow-upwards dolls. Each yr in Baronial, brave competitors plunge into the freezing waters of the Vuoksi River in Novosibirsk as part of the Bubble Baba Challenge. What makes this cold-water swimming outcome unique to Russia is that entrants must race 100 meters…using a blow-upwardly doll as a flotation device.
The first 5 swimmers across the finish line get prizes, and in 2011 at that place were an impressive 800 entrants. Any gender tin participate, but they can't visit the vodka museum offset; breathalyzer tests earlier the race are compulsory.
The Absurd Cat Cabaret
At present over to Moscow (or should that be Mosc-meow?). The Yuri Kuklachev Cat Theatre is the habitation and workplace of 200 cats of 38 different breeds that "perform" for visitors. The theater was founded by Kuklachev — a famous clown — around 30 years agone and features feline performers who dress up, bound through hoops, residual on assurance, walk upright and perform other tricks.
Although there have been some claims of cruelty, Kuklachev reassures that, in typical feline form, information technology'due south the cats themselves who choose which acts they perform. Apparently the preparation process involves simply playing with the cats until they reveal their special talents.
Rifles Not Rollercoasters
Who needs Disneyland when you tin take the kids to Patriot Park? You won't observe log flumes, princesses or friendly mice hither, but you can play with grenade launchers and have a go in i of the 32 shooting ranges (the longest being 1,400 meters).
Patriot Park, based in Kubinka, covers 13,380 acres and was opened by Vladimir Putin in 2015. During the opening speech, he proudly alleged that the military theme park would exist "an important element in our system of military-patriotic piece of work with young people." Pretty useful stuff, considering Russian youths still have mandatory conscription at the age of 18.
Liaise With Lenin
When it comes to something you'd definitely merely see in Russia, it'due south Vladimir Lenin himself. Subsequently the Soviet leader died in 1924, a determination was made to embalm the revolutionary and put him on display in a mausoleum in Moscow.
The slightly waxy but asleep-looking Lenin is on brandish to the public four days a calendar week. There practise have to be some gaps in the exhibition though, as Lenin needs to exist re-embalmed every two years. There are necessary touchups made to details such equally his pilus, nails and eyelashes — at a cost of around $200,000 per year.
The Embalmed Buddhist
If you want to make a tour out of visiting preserved Russian figures, then add Ivolginsky Buddhist Monastery near Ulsan-Ude to your listing. The Buddhist monk Lama Dashi-Dorzho Itigilov died in 1927, and he was preserved in the lotus position. Before his expiry, he instructed followers to exhume his body in xxx years, and when they did, they found him still in the lotus position.
This led to some believers thinking he wasn't dead after all, just in a deep meditative state. However, this somewhat goes against some other theory that he exists every bit a ghost who walks the monastery grounds.
Beware the Babushka
This is one you can experience outside of Russia — if you ever have the pleasure of meeting a Russian grandma, or babushka, anywhere. The condition gained when a Russian woman becomes a grandmother is sacred, and she's a strength to be revered and occasionally feared.
Babushkas are well respected and feature in Russian folklore and superstitions, although sometimes a picayune stereotypically. Just to be condom, though, e'er accept advice from a babushka, whether yous asked for it or not. Never say no to her. If she cuts in front of you in a line, proceed your rima oris politely shut.
Lose Your Bottles
Russians accept a tendency to follow omens and superstitions, with one uniquely Russian belief being that empty bottles left on tables can bring most financial hardship or other kinds of suffering or grief.
In particular this is applied to bottles that once had alcohol in them, and information technology's believed to stem from Cossack soldiers who returned from French republic after the Napoleonic Wars. In an attempt to bring their eating place bills down, the soldiers put empty bottles on the floor so the waiters wouldn't count them in the concluding check — and the superstition built a more sinister momentum from at that place.
Leap Cleaning Saturdays
It'southward common for Russians to dedicate a subbota, or Saturday, in the springtime to do unpaid or voluntary work. This can include tidying up the neighborhood or offer services to local hospitals, schools and other facilities.
The tradition stems from a post-revolution effort to raise enthusiasm among Soviet people and promote ideas of socialism. The annual tradition was held on Lenin's birthday in the past, only present, rather than being obligatory, it has friendlier connotations. Young people see it as fun and community-building, and although withal called subbotnik, it doesn't strictly have to exist held on a Saturday or on Lenin's birthday.
Animals in Outer Space
Russia is well known for its eagerness in the infinite race, then of course there's a monument to the first Russian to go in a rocket: a domestic dog named Laika. Although America pipped Russia to the mail, showtime with fruit flies and then with a rhesus monkey called Albert, these journeys were merely suborbital flights. Laika, a "quiet and charming" mongrel, actually went into orbit on the Soviet Sputnik 2 in Nov of 1957.
Sadly, this adventure doesn't take a happy catastrophe. Laika died during the expedition, likely due to overheating, merely she lives on proudly as a statue in Moscow.
A Meaty Treat
Practise you like Jell-O? And then imagine it without the fruitiness and with meat products such as boiled craven anxiety and offal instead. The dish is called kholodets and is regarded as a effeminateness reserved for large gatherings or festive events. Kholodets can take more than seven hours to gear up.
Many households accept their ain versions with dissimilar meat or poultry combinations. Merely in essence, the most gelled parts of the animal (anxiety, legs, ears, tails) are chopped and boiled. Then the combo is left to set. People ofttimes serve information technology with a dollop of horseradish and, frequently, vodka.
A Whale of a Time
Fashion upward north in Russia is "whalebone alley." Yous can kind of judge what this looks like past the proper noun: There are whale skulls and other basic stuck in the ground, forming eerie structures.
Although the exact history is not known, information technology's idea the area was used equally a shrine by various villages along the coast, or maybe intended as a site for rituals or sporting events. Yet, looking at the etymology of the expanse's name, which to locals is siklyugak, significant "meat pit," it suggests whalebone alley was simply used as a butchering and storage area for whale meat.
The Terrifying Ticking
In St. petersburg you'll notice the iconic Monument to the Heroic Defenders of Leningrad. Underneath the monument is a vault where people could seek shelter during wars. Information technology now serves equally a subterranean museum, displaying things like documents, awards, soldiers' personal belongings, weapons and handwritten messages from young boys pleading to join the army.
And so what makes this museum unique to Russia? Well if the displays weren't eerie plenty, the merely sounds playing in the museum are the countless ticking of a metronome interspersed with onetime emergency announcements transmitted on the radio. These were the only noises transmitted during the siege.
Su-purr-b Pest Command
You've not heard the terminal nearly cats on this list. Withal, rather than performing tricks in funny outfits, there are around lxx felines with a more than serious function in St. Petersburg's m Hermitage Museum.
The Hermitage cats roam the grounds of the museum — which has around xiv miles of marbled corridors — to baby-sit its many treasures against rodents. There are special kitchens for preparing the cats' food and even a pocket-sized vet clinic. The furry workforce was introduced in the 18th century when the girl of Peter the Great, Empress Elizabeth, spotted how well cats controlled the buildings' mice populations.
The Conundrum of the Chamber
This is some other Russian relic that only exists in hushed whispers — considering no one knows where it actually is. In that location was a lot of upheaval during WWII, with plenty of wreckage in its wake. One of the most puzzling mysteries is that of the Amber Room, which once stood proudly in the Catherine Palace of Tsarskoye Selo near Saint petersburg.
The chamber, busy in amber panels with gold foliage and mirrors, was trashed by the Nazis merely brought to Königsberg (at present Kaliningrad) for reconstruction. Yet, it was somehow mislaid at some betoken and has not been traced since.
Time Afterwards Time
Russia has had more than time zones — once a total of 11 — than any other country. Yet, since 2011 there take only been nine in use.
In add-on, Russia has changed its listen a few times virtually daylight saving time on multiple occasions. It was outset introduced in July of 1917 by a decree of the Russian Conditional Regime, but a Soviet Government prescript abandoned it six months later. The USSR reintroduced it in 1981 merely decided to switch to European daylight saving time in 1984. This ended in 2011, when Russia stopped observing daylight saving time.
Swing High, Sweet Chariot
In Russia, y'all can have a keep the highest swing in the earth, the SochiSwing, situated in the Sochi SkyPark. Home to the 207-meter-high SkyBridge, the swing flings riders 458 meters across a ravine. As if that wasn't plenty, you could as well try out the goose egg wire ride, which reaches speeds of around 90 miles an hour.
Alternatively, visitors can have a scary stroll along the bridge above Krasnaya Polyana valley. This is 1 of the longest suspended pedestrian bridges in the world. It sits among lush mountains and gorgeous scenery of the Black Sea coast.
Part-time Politicians
As if running a country wasn't difficult enough, a couple of Russia's most renowned rulers have been neat to show off the remainder of their skill sets. Beginning upwards? Erstwhile Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev. In 2009, a CD of Gorbachev singing was sold at auction for around $165,000. The album was called Songs for Raisa and featured a number of tunes that his wife, who died in 1999, loved.
If you lot're more into sports than music, peradventure you should seek out Putin'due south DVD. Allow'southward Learn Judo with Vladimir Putin was released in 2008, and information technology teaches viewers about Vlad's favorite combat moves.
The Surreptitious Security Shuttle
Although this isn't something that ordinary people tin meet for themselves, it is a surreptitious exclusive to Russian federation. Legend has it that at that place's some other metro system, Metro-2, that connects a collection of military bunkers running parallel to the main Moscow Metro. It'southward allegedly run by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation and was congenital between l and 200 meters deep during Joseph Stalin'due south era.
Metro-ii — codenamed D-vi (or Д-6) — has been said to have four lines (shown equally dashes in the picture), connecting the Kremlin with the Federal Security Service headquarters, the government airport at Vnukovo-two and even an cloak-and-dagger town.
The Island of Attractions
Vasilyevsky Isle in Saint petersburg is a must-visit destination in Russia thanks to its sheer variety of curious attractions, including everything from a pair of 15th-century Egyptian sphinxes to the skeleton and middle of Peter the Great's giant personal servant.
The easternmost tip of the island, known as the Spit, is home to numerous museums, palaces, cathedrals and universities, many of which date from the 18th century. Recently installed is a floating, illuminated musical fountain. In the center of the island, you can visit the Museum of Electric Send, which is situated in a charming old tram depot.
Gallivanting at a Gulag
Believe it or non, there are discussions underway about converting old gulags — Russia's hard labor camps — into tourist attractions. The Sakha Commonwealth in Eastern Siberia is because the controversial plan as a way to concenter more visitors. While Sakha, which is nearly the same size equally India, is the biggest subnational governing body in the world, it has fewer than a million residents.
And so, the tourism department hopes that a makeover will boost the population and company count. Tourism master Yekaterina Kormilitsyna was quoted as saying, "This projection will preserve the historical heritage not only of the region simply of the entire country."
Feel the Chill
Likewise in the Sakha Republic, y'all can find the coldest inhabited place in the world. Oymyakon, literally meaning "frozen lake," has the lowest e'er recorded temperature of −67.7 degrees celsius, which was logged in Feb of 1933.
Information technology's cold for many months of the year, and snow is a regular occurrence. However, people do notwithstanding live hither, including young children, who are all the same allowed to attend schoolhouse as long as it doesn't get colder than around -50°C. Unsurprisingly, the population is shrinking. At its peak, in that location were around 2,500 inhabitants, just in 2022 the number was downwards to fewer than 900 people.
Terminal Chance for a Language
If you're a fan of all things linguistic, you might want to blitz to Russia'southward Kola Peninsula. There, you tin hear the last speakers of the aboriginal Ter Sámi language. In one case, Sámi languages were spoken across parts of northern Russian federation, Norway, Sweden and Finland. Considering the Ter Sámi language has no standardized written form, only a few examples of audio recordings and rudimentary dictionaries exist for study purposes.
The turn down of the language was due to it beingness prohibited in Soviet times, and sadly, inhabitants were forced to leave the largest Ter Sámi village, Yokanga, in the 1930s.
Pollution Aplenty
Thankfully at present filled in, Lake Karachay was a small lake in the southern Ural Mountains that the Soviets used in the 1950s every bit a dumping footing for radioactive waste. It was said that standing for merely one 60 minutes abreast the lake could be deadly, and in fact according to the Worldwatch Institute, an environmental research organization, Karachay was the near polluted open-air space in the world from a radiological perspective.
After a regional drought in 1968, the wind blew 5 millicuries (the unit of radiation) of grit away from the dried-out lake, irradiating half a million people.
An Infamous Phallus on Display
If you visit the erotica exhibition in St. Petersburg, exist certain to take a peek at Rasputin's penis. Yes, y'all read that correctly. Although the display has its doubters, museum founder Igor Knyazkin is sure that the thirty-centimeter-long pickled penis does belong to the infamous playboy priest.
The problem is, in the many years since Rasputin's murder in 1916, this isn't the first time people have come up forwards to say they have his severed fellow member in their posession. Nevertheless, the erotica exhibition, which is open 24 hours a day, is nonetheless worth a visit for its other oddities (including a brandish dedicated to Catherine the Great, of course).
Double the Fun
After that interesting, shocking and sometimes baffling tour of Russia's weird and wonderful, let'southward terminate on a positive note. Hoping to place Russia on the culinary map, identical twin chefs Ivan and Sergey Berezutskiy run a restaurant chosen Twins Garden. Their first venture attracted thousands to its tasty food and unique experience, owing to the fact that the whole restaurant was staffed by — you guessed it — twins.
The restaurant is stocked by a subcontract outside Moscow, which produces seventy% of the ingredients used in the kitchen. Leftovers are sent dorsum to feed the farm's animals, making the restaurant a almost-naught-waste performance.
Source: https://www.faqtoids.com/travel/bizarre-stuff-experience-russia?utm_content=params%3Ao%3D740006%26ad%3DdirN%26qo%3DserpIndex
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