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  • Day 11

    Furniculi, furnicular

    April 3, 2018 in Russia ⋅ 🌙 5 °C

    And other Vladivostock miscellanea.

    Most of the attractions here tend to the military, and we've certainly seen a good number of monuments, war memorials and battleships. Didn't really feel the need for a military history museum as well. So once we'd tracked down the ferry ticket offfice and paid for those, we headed to the local history museum. Very interesting - concentrates on neolithic up to about 10th century, then has a special display on a local late 19thC naturalist/mapper/explorer, and 2 Lenin rooms. And a very smart museum cat (see previous post for pic). Sadly he had important business elsewhere so couldn't stop to chat.

    After lunch at Coffee Company (no real veggie optiond, but splendid hot chocolates with a choice pf non-fairy milks) we walked along the non-frozen harbour for a bit then up to the furnicular railway. Excellent value at 14 roubles a trip, with a walk at the top to an observation platform. We were just trying to work put the way back down wjen we realised we were in the middle of the very small) road, with a car coming. Lept to tje sides to let it pass, only to discover it contained the only other person we know currently in the city. Quick chat with Jonas, then worked our way down to the local Arbat equivalent in search of promising places for dinner.

    The guidebook promised an Italian restaurant that does 'probably the best pizza east of the Urals'. Not having tried any others this side of the Urals we weren't in a position to verify this claim, but thought it a promising recommendation. Except it wasn't there. Nor was our backup option, another branch of Shashlikoff, which we'd found good in Ulan Ude. Eventually located the latter up a rickety set of stairs. Passed a Moomintroll place that didn't look very Moomintrolly at all (turns out it is named after a local rock band, which is named after the Moomintrolls).

    Where the pizza restaurant should have been there was ... well, we're not sure what it was. The sign with the name was too stylised to read and the tableau outside (last picture) really didn't help. Answers on a postcard.

    Retired to 5 o'clock - an English tea room - to consider matters. Had tea under the watchful eye of her maj, and concluded a retreat to the hotel room to pack for the ferry was in order. While doing that I had a quick Google and found the pizza place had moved a block down, so we wandered back there and had quite decent Italian food.
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