The End of the World at Chichen Itza

Chichen Itza, just outside of Cancun, Mexico on the Yucatan Penninsula is where one of the biggest events is happening this holiday season.  It's not about Christmas.  It's not about Winter exactly.  It's not about anything that most people would think, or maybe they would.
 
The Mayan world left a lot of legends and mysteries behind for us to think about, and one of the most famous has become their calendar.  It ends on December 21, 2012.  Why?  Well, the common theory has become that it's because the world is going to end.  That's right, sports fans, it's all over before Christmas.  I figure that would make Christmas a lot cheaper.
 

At any rate, that's a wonderful theory, even though it's wrong.  The calendar ends because it has gone through all of the ages that were laid out by the Mayans.  We are currently finishing up the iron age, which by the way was supposed to be a dark age, and we're beginning the Gold Age, which is supposed to be much more prosperous.  If you're going to listen to Mayan legend, pick this one.  Trust me.  So the end of the world was not the intentions of the Mayans.
 

The solution as to what to do with the end of the world thing seemed obvious to the people of the Yucatan Peninsula.  They're having a festival.  It's a winter solstice festival, but it's going to be overcrowded this year, because of all the people who are coming to celebrate the end of the world.

Chichen Itza will be hosting Synthesis 2012 to celebrate the calendar and the solstice.  There are many musicians coming to this celebration of culture and the galactic planet alignment.  There are many people who believe that the date of December 21, 2012 is going to be a significant date.  Do the rest of us think that?   I don't know, but Cancun certainly is a great place to visit in the winter.  There are wonderful temples and ruins to visit all over the area.  The beaches are world class, and the people are friendly.

There will be artists displaying their wares, and all sorts of activities.  It's a great gathering of like minds.  I think that everyone should take a little time learning what others believe in.  Do I believe that this is going to be the end of the world?  No.  I think what the experts think.  The Mayans made a calendar that went until the ages started over.  It was a wheel, and it came full circle.  Nothing more than that.
 

But, if you decide to go to Mexico to witness the end of the world with the ancestors of the people who called it for that date on the cosmic betting pool calendar, then maybe you'll want to try a real adventure while you're there.

This guy in the picture above is riding a jet pack.  Isn't that cool?  Well, Cancun is one of the only places on Earth that you can try this activity out.  Jetpack Adventures Mexico has trained instructors on hand to teach you how to use a jetpack so that you can go out and try it for yourself.  They do it over water for obvious reasons.  The landings are softer and the thing is largely powered by the water that it sucks up through the attached tube.  But, inevitably you will need to be able to swim.

This is a once in a lifetime experience here.  Wouldn't that go great with the end of the world?
 

Cancun and the Yucatan are beautiful places to visit.  They are very popular with foreign tourists.  The place is full of Americans, especially during Spring Break.  But if you're looking for something a little more unusual than the regular climb to the top of a Mayan Pyramid Temple before hitting the bars, then you might make reservations to come for the end of the calendar and join in the local celebrations making the transition from the Iron age to the Gold age.  Enjoy the beauty of a place that is so steeped in legend that the tourism rate is climbing steadily and there are very few hotel rooms left to book for the big day, and kick back and listen to lots of music while waiting to see if it's really going to be the end of the world on December 21, 2012.
 

So come and visit and go to the concerts that will be happening for Synthesis.

Come enjoy the pristine beaches and get away from it all.  Wouldn't you rather be here than at work if the world does come to a screeching halt?  I mean, vacation is always better.
 

And if all else fails, you can always go out on a jet pack.  It's a wonderful memorable concept to go to the Mayan temples of the Yucatan to celebrate the cycling of the Mayan calendar.  Flying over it in a jetpack?  Priceless.

http://synthesis2012.com/
http://www.chichenitza.com/
http://www.yucatantrip1212.com/index.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2076801/Mexico-Mayan-region-begins-apocalypse-countdown-World-ends-December-21-2012.html
http://www.e-travelsolution.com/Partners/Reservations/Tours/IList.aspx?ID=31&Asoc=docancun&View=Welcome&Idioma=ING
http://thingstodo.viator.com/cancun/cancun-and-the-2012-end-of-the-world/
http://www.foxnews.com/travel/2012/03/20/cancun-end-world-celebrations/
http://www.jetpackmexico.com/index.html
http://www.cafepress.com/artisticcreationsbyninakindred1
http://pixels.com/profiles/terri-dixon.html
http://www.zazzle.com/imagings
 
Reserve your rooms fast.  This is a really popular destination for December, and they're not all going because they think that it's really the end.  Most of them are looking for that something that says that they did something special while other people worry about the end of the world.
Enjoy!

Lake Placid, More Than Just a Memory

Winter is coming.  It arrived yesterday here in the Northeast, so it makes me turn my attention to the fact that there are a lot of wonderful things to do in the winter.
Let's start with Lake Placid.  It's a wonderful place that we all know has hosted two Olympics in 1932 and 1980.  We all know that the Miracle on Ice happened there.  But, what happens after the Olympics go away?  Do things deteriorate and fall apart?  Do the towns nearby turn into ghost towns?  Do people forget?  I suppose that could happen, but it doesn't in Lake Placid.  There are wonderful things to do there.
Above is a picture of the bobsled run.  This is for highly trained individuals, right?  Wrong!  At Lake Placid they have what they call the Bobsled Experience.  That's right.  You get to take a whirl at bobsledding.  They teach you how it works, and you get to ride with a trainer who really knows their stuff.  All the guidance and support you need to try this high speed ultimately dangerous sport.  You won't ever forget the feel of flying down a bobsled run.  And you won't want to.  It's the thrill of a lifetime.
But, if that's not your cup of tea, Lake Placid has much more to offer.
 
This is the toboggan chute near the Olympic Complex.  This is a great family friendly ride that runs all year in North Elba and was a favorite activity for me when I was growing up.

Have you ever wondered how anyone becomes a Biathelete? Well, here's your first step.  At Lake Placid you can take lessons and learn with the best how to shoot and ski into this sport.  The trainers are highly experienced athletes in this somewhat elusive sport.  And the best part is that you get to shoot!  It's a great activity.     
              










Dog Sledding is something else that you can do in the area.  You can learn how to take the dogs for a whirl by yourself with lessons from their highly experienced trainers or you can just go for a ride.  It's up to you.  It depends on how much time you have and how daring you are.  Dog sledding takes a little work.


Cross Country Skiing is the one thing that almost anyone can do.  There are a lot of folks that shy away from skiing because they don't want to go screaming down a hill, scared that they'll inadvertently have an unexpected turn that sends them hurtling into a tree.  Lake Placid has the cure for that.  There are many, and I mean many places in the area that you can go cross country skiing.  Take your pick.   It's a great way to get in touch with nature, with just a little less thrill.

You don't have to go looking far either.  You can do your skiing on the 50 km of trails right in the Olympic Complex area.
Those cross country ski areas are also great for showshoeing.  So either way, check out some fabulous scenery with some cross country skis or snowshoes.
And for you skiers, there's Whiteface Mountain. There are 86 ski runs and 11 ski lifts on this famous two time Olympic ski mountain.

  

                                        
There's everything the skier will love here from lessons and the bunny slopes to highly advanced runs for the thrill seekers and adrenaline junkies.

Snow tubing is another family friendly activity.  The tubing chute is ready and available all season for you sliding needs.  This one is great for the kids.

Then there's the skeleton experience.  This one is for the people like me who did crazy stuff on their sleds as a child.  Take your childhood fantasies and run them down the bobsled run at speeds you can't even imagine.
Now, not everyone is going to want to slide, shoot, and ski to their possible deaths.  Not everyone is going to want to risk frostbite just to have fun.  Lake Placid's got you covered too.  The area is unbelievably beautiful.  The towering Adirondacks are some of the most amazing mountains around.  They are the highest mountains in the east accept for the tiny White Mountain Range in New Hampshire.  The rocks are jagged and the waterfalls are huge.  Great Falls Gorge isn't far, and the views are great.

The village of Lake Placid is a beautiful almost Alpine looking place with lots of accommodations, good restaurants and clubs and little shops to keep you busy all day long.  If that isn't what you're looking for, you may want to try some ice skating at the Olympic Complex.
 
Then again, for all you sports history buffs, there's the Olympic Museum where you can relive the story of the miracle on ice.
There are many things to do in the winter in Lake Placid.  There's a reason why this location was chosen for the Olympic Games not once, but twice.  It's small and peaceful, with friendly folks and world class athletes in training.  So, if you've always wondered what it would be like to scream down that bobsled run, this is a great way to find out.

http://lakeplacidvillage.com/
http://www.lakeplacidnews.com/page/content.detail/id/503398/Fast-track-fun-continues-at-the-Lake-Placid-Toboggan-Chute.html?nav=5005
http://www.shermanstravel.com/united-states/new-york/lake-placid-and-whiteface
http://www.northelba.org/community/recreation.html
http://newyorktraveler.net/olympic-center-and-lake-placid-olympic-museum-lake-placid-ny/
http://www.lakeplacid.com/do/family-fun/olympic-center-and-lake-placid-olympic-museum
http://www.skisnowboard.com/lakeplacid/other.html
http://www.whiteface.com/activities/bobsled-experience
http://www.whiteface.com/activities/be-biathlete
http://www.whiteface.com/activities/skeleton-experience
http://www.lakeplacid.com/do/outdoors/winterspring
http://www.cafepress.com/artisticcreationsbyninakindred1
http://pixels.com/profiles/terri-dixon.html
http://www.zazzle.com/imagings
 

Come on, wouldn't you like to visit a place where miracles happen and dreams come true?
Enjoy!

You Too Can Feed the Babies...Elephants That Is!

Over many years elephants have been abused, used, hunted, and tortured.  That's just a fact.  They have been killed for their tusks, used in circuses by less than qualified trainers, and some owners have starved the poor things.  They've had it tough as a species.
Well, there's a place for them too.

This is the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage in Sri Lanka.  This is one of only a very few Elephant Orphanages around the world, and they've been taking care of injured and orphaned elephants since 1975.
 
The orphanage started out with five baby elephants whose mothers were missing.  Over the years, they have taken in elephants who have been injured by land mines and are missing feet as well as always taking in babies whose mothers have been trapped or killed by poachers and other people who have no heart.  Today, the orphanage is home to 84 elephants.  They are fed every morning, then they go to the river across the way to bathe and play.  They do this twice a day before coming home to their stall area to rest for the night.


The Pinnawala Orphanage is a great place to see true humanitarian work in action.  The elephants are so comfortable at the orphanage that they have successfully bred them in captivity.  This is the only place in the world where elephants have bred in captivity of their own free will.  That's how comfortable it is to them.

Make no mistake, some of these animals will never be able to return to the wild, because they are missing feet or legs.  Some of them need special diets due to damage to their insides.  Some of them are too old to be re-assimilated to the wild.  Someone needs to take care of them and the people at Pinnawala have taken on the job.
Watching elephants eat and bathe and play in their own habitat is something special.  It's a once in a lifetime event for most of us.  But that's not the only thing that you get to do there.  This place was turned into a tourist attraction to help fund it's good work.  They knew that they would have to supply something to make people want to come.  Watching the elephants at the river is good, but the people at Pinnawala have done better.
You can interact with them.


If you're lucky, you'll get a chance to play with them in the river or feed them in their stall area.
But the real attraction is the babies.
 
Elephant babies who have lost their mothers need to be bottle fed, so if you want, you can buy a bottle and feed one yourself.  There are three feeding times during the tourist hours each day, so you should be able to try it at least once.


Looks like fun, doesn't it?  It's a great time that you'll never forget.
But that's not all.  Right down the road from the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage is the Millennium Elephant Foundation.  They have eight elephants in residence who are retired work animals.  There you can see how an elephant helps humans with work and can also be part of their lives.

The elephants here are much older than most of them at the orphanage.  The aim of the orphanage is to in most cases return them to the wild.  The aim at the foundation is to make the aging animals comfortable in their golden years.  But there is much to do with the older elephants, and if you would like to volunteer in this place to help with the veterinary services, it is greatly appreciated.  You will once again get to help with feeding some of the animals, bathing and maybe even giving them their medication.

Elephants are loving mammals who are very doting and patient with their babies.  They are a gentle creature that holds no malice against anyone without provocation.  It's disturbing that in this day and age people are still killing these animals for their tusks.  It's amazing to me that there are still pits dug to trap them in the jungle.  It's nice to know that there is someone looking out for them, when they are truly outnumbered by a species that although is noted for it's intelligence sometimes makes me wonder.
 

So come and hang out with the elephants.  Help give them a bath or feed the orphaned babies.  It's an experience you'll never forget, and you can only have it in Kandy, Sri Lanka.

http://www.scenicsrilanka.com/elephant-orphanage-in-sri-lanka.html
http://www.mysrilankaholidays.com/pinnawela-elephant-orphanage.html
http://travel-srilanka.info/pinnawala-elephant-orphanage-sri-lanka/
http://www.lanka.com/sri-lanka/pinnawala-elephant-orphanage-in-sri-lanka-94.html
http://elephant.se/location2.php?location_id=43&show=1
http://www.cafepress.com/artisticcreationsbyninakindred1
http://pixels.com/profiles/terri-dixon.html
http://www.zazzle.com/imagings
 
Come and help make a difference in an injured, abused or orphaned elephant's life.
Enjoy!

Surfing in Switzerland?

This is some of the most fascinating adapting to the environment I've ever seen.  This is the Aare River in Thun, Switzerland.  This is one of several places that you can go river surfing in Switzerland.
Let me begin by saying that this is one of the most dangerous ways to surf in the world.
That being said, here's how it works.  You find a deep, very quick part of one of those Alpine style rivers.  If need be, you sink a wedge to the bottom of the area.  Then, you surf on the sucker, just like on a cruise ship.  You really don't move.  The water moves under you and it's your job to stay standing.  Interesting?  Yes it is.
  River surfing is the latest rage in landlocked and other countries.  Europe is a buzz on the subject.  There is river surfing in several countries from Germany to France to Slovakia to Switzerland and more.  Here you can see that there are even books on the subject.  There are also professional river boarders.
River surfing is rumored to have begun in Munich, Germany which is also the site of the only true competition that I could find.  It is a phenomenon though, and it's spreading all over the world.  They even do it in Colorado and Canada.

Now, all kidding aside, this is different.  Regular surfing is where you go to the beach, paddle out into the ocean, catch a wave and ride it back to the beach.  We all understand that.  But this is fundamentally different.  With this, you find a bend that creates a quick moving section of river.  You take your board out into the whitewater and get up on it and stand there.  The water moves around you.  You don't move.  You could stand there indefinitely, surfing, because the water will run forever.  Interesting, huh?
That's not all.  There are shorter, wider, flatter boards for river surfing.  It's a whole cult sport of it's own.  It's amazing, but amazingly dangerous.
 
This is one of those things that you want to include in an Alpine vacation though.  Driving through Bremgarten or Munich or Thun or Lyons or Bern on a hot summer day you might just get a chance to watch it or join in.  If you are traveling Europe check it out.  The locals will know all about it.  They'll tell you how to find it and anything else you want to know.  So, if you think that the only adrenaline junkies in Europe are doing the Luge, Skeleton, or Heliskiing, you're wrong.  They have extreme summer sports too.  Check it out and add something amazing to an already amazing vacation.

http://monkeysandmountains.com/surfing-in-munich
http://www.surfersvillage.com/surfing-news/22653#.UJFmToanmeQ
http://www.eisbachwelle.de/2011/eisbach-munchen-buch-riversurfing-flusswellen-von-munchen-bis-zum-amazonas-dieter-deventer/
http://www.waveriding.ch/jos25/index.php?option=com_content&view=featured&Itemid=101
http://www.wannasurf.com/spot/Europe/Switzerland/river_reus/
http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/culture/River_surfers_set_their_sights_on_Bern.html?cid=29694648
http://www.mrsapo.com/Riverboarding
http://www.dallasnews.com/travel/headlines/20100828-A-chilly-float-down-the-Aare-2253.ece
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0R_Z0rH0psU
http://www.yosurfer.com/surf_spots/europe/switzerland/index.htm
http://surf-holiday.com/europe/switzerland
http://www.cafepress.com/artisticcreationsbyninakindred1
http://www.zazzle.com/imagings
http://pixels.com/profiles/terri-dixon.html
 
Don't just look this stuff up.  Go out and try it!  It's fun!
Enjoy!

Thanksgiving in Its Truest Form at Plimouth Plantation

 

 

This is a beautiful Thanksgiving spread.  And this is where you find it.
This is Plimouth Plantation.  This one is for history buffs.  This is where it all started.  The very first Thanksgiving Dinner was right here in 1621.  For anyone who didn't know that the first Thanksgiving Dinner was held to celebrate a successful harvest and was shared with the local Native Americans, I'm sorry.  I realize that they don't have pageants about this in elementary school anymore.
Now, Plimouth Plantation is the beats all ends all of historic villages that are in operation to teach and remind us of our European heritage in the U.S.  There are several versions of who came here first these days, but there's no argument about the first Europeans that stayed.  That was the Pilgrims.  And visiting Plimouth Plantation for Thanksgiving is a very special event.  That's right, after all these years, they still have Thanksgiving Dinner right here in the village.

This is something that you don't see at a lot of historic villages.  This is the Mayflower II.  It was built in 1957 and sailed here from England to live its life out at Plimouth Plantation.  It was built as an exact replica of the original ship, and it's quite an experience.  You can go aboard and look around and see the abysmal conditions that the Pilgrims faced on their trip over here centuries ago.  There are both knowledgeable modern folks and folks in period dress around to show you how things work and answer all your questions about this time in what is now American History.  It actually happened before American history had been created.
  Here's another part of the Plimouth Plantation experience.  This is the Wampanoag site.  This is a replica of the Native American village as it was in 1621.  There are Wampanoag people here to help you understand their traditional ways of life.  And remember, they as a people, were there for that historic first Thanksgiving.

You can also visit the craft center and see how many of the artisans of the day way back in 1621 made the furniture, tools, and other things that were necessary for frontier life.

On certain days, you can attend services here at Plimouth Plantation.  Most of the original settlers who came here from Europe came in part for religious reasons.  Most of them wished to practice their chosen religion and were being denied in their home countries.  Coming to America meant religious freedom, and the Pilgrims were a big part of that.  When you go to services here, you will be taught about the religious practices of the time and have a window into the motives that these people had for braving the unknown here across the pond.
Plimouth Plantation is a fabulous way to learn the history of the original permanent immigrants to North America, but to have Thanksgiving Dinner with the original ideas?
 
Check it out.  It's priceless.  Take a step into the past and see how the original Thanksgiving Dinner really was.  Eat the food that they ate.  Meet representatives of the peoples who were there.  Take part in the one and only reproduction of the original.  It's a Thanksgiving that you won't want to miss.

http://www.plimoth.org/
http://www.bostontours.us/?event=offer.type&productType=AREA&mpt=237&ctt_id=2008970&ctt_adnw=Google&ctt_ch=ps&ctt_entity=tc&ctt_cli=11x23045x693
http://www.johncarverinn.com/?Source=MSN_rock
http://www.seeplymouth.com/things-to-do/plimoth-plantation
http://blogs.plimoth.org/players/
http://www.eventbrite.com/event/1474595555
http://www.history.com/topics/plymouth
http://www.pilgrimhall.org/Rock.htm
http://www.seeplymouth.com/things-to-do/plymouth-rock
http://www.plymrock.org/
http://www.cafepress.com/artisticcreationsbyninakindred1
http://pixels.com/profiles/terri-dixon.html
http://www.zazzle.com/imagings
 
Oh yes, I hear there's a very historic old rock you can visit in the area too.

Enjoy!

Winter is the Time to Visit the South--Antarctica!

This is not your average pile of ice and snow.  This is Adelaide Island at the continent of Antarctica.  In the winter time you can visit this harsh, freezing cold and beautifully amazing land for a very short time.  The tourist season in Antarctica only lasts a couple of months, and it's so far off the beaten path that there are only so many ways to go there.  Book Early, and book smart.  There are more and more companies braving the weather and heading to the ultimate southern destination, so you can cruise on any number of kinds of ships, and you can even do a fly over from Australia.

Here's my idea.  This is the Kapitan Khlebnikov.  This huge ship is a Russian Nuclear Icebreaker from the 1980's.  This ship means business.  There is no chance that you won't be able to get through the ice to see what you wish to see in Antarctica.  And, it's an adventure.
The landscape of Antarctica is something that will seem otherworldly to you.  It will seem like you've landed on Saturn in a frozen world that is so foreign, that even when you're prepared, you're not.  There are several areas now where cruise ships go.  There's Snow Island, the Ross Sea, the Western Peninsula, Goudier Island and Port Lockroy, and so many others that are now open to visitors.

The Kapitan Khlebnikov has gone to pretty much all locations in Antarctica.  They've been doing it since the mid 1990's.  You might ask yourself why you would ride an icebreaker other than the practical aspects of getting to your destination.  Well, a while back I recommended riding on a container ship for the experience of it.  This is a lot like that.  But don't think that it will be bare bones travel.



 
It's a pretty classy ride.  This ship has been outfitted with two dining rooms, a lounge, a theater, a heated swimming pool (indoor of course), a sauna, a library and more.  All the comforts are there in the middle of the Antarctic Ocean.  Imagine that.  There are also activities.  There's a helicopter to fly you off to land excursions such as visiting a research station or visiting with penguins.  You can also go sea kayaking around the shore where all the icebergs are.  A trip to Antarctica is unique in the first place.  To go on a Russian Icebreaker is the icing on that cake.  The crew on this ship is knowledgeable.  This ship was the very first one to offer a cruise to tourists back in the 1990's.  Remember, the idea of going to Antarctica as a tourist on a cruise ship is only about 20 years old.  It's still new and interesting.  It's still remote and undisturbed.


Remember, things are a little different in Antarctica.  Take the dining hall for instance at South Pole Station.  It's not the Tavern on the Green.  This is pretty basic, but it's far more advanced than it was just 20 years ago.
 

Also, remember before you get yourself in a tail spin about going to the South Pole, remember, this picture here is of summertime.  It's a hostile environment down there, but it's fascinating.  It's not for the weak or for the person who wants to live in Florida or Arizona.  It's cold, just above freezing with 24 hour sunlight.  It is an adventure though, and isn't that what life is all about?
 



Why go there?  You will simply see things that you will see no where else.  This picture is just of the clouds in Antarctica.  Those beautifully multi colored images are just clouds.  Nowhere else on Earth.
So, the season is coming.  There are a dozen or more ways that you can go and visit this amazing land these days.  Take the time to see things that only a few people when you think about it have seen.  It's wild and untamed and becoming more and more touristy all the time.  See it before it looks like Vegas down there.  The clock is ticking on this one.  Pretty soon they'll have a Wynn resort and an Indian casino.  Get there while it's still unspoiled and really special.  Get there while the main transport is still dog sled and snow machine.
Oh yeah, and take an icebreaker for a truly unique experience.

http://www.coolantarctica.com/gallery/Antarctica_gallery_home.htm
http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/living_and_working/virtual/travel/lockroy.php
http://www.slideshare.net/marioricca/port-lockroy-antarctica
http://ukaht.org/peninsula/port-lockroy
http://www.fesco.ru/en/assets/fleet-fesco/vessels/icebreakers/kapitan-khlebnikov/
http://www.globalcruiseship.com/ship/na/Kapitan-Khlebnikov.html
http://www.quarkexpeditions.com/antarctic-expeditions
http://www.tauck.com/tours/antarctica-tours/antarctica-cruise-xr-2013.aspx
http://www.expeditiontrips.com/antarctica-cruise.asp?source=msn3
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/antarctica
http://www.southpolestation.com/
http://www.nsf.gov/od/opp/support/southp.jsp
http://quest.nasa.gov/antarctica/background/NSF/sp-stay.html
http://www.cafepress.com/artisticcreationsbyninakindred1
http://www.zazzle.com/imagings
http://pixels.com/profiles/terri-dixon.html
 
Now, pack your favorite parka, get some Bunny Boots and go explore the most southern spot on Earth!
Enjoy!

Welcome to Siberia! And it's the city

Well, I'm not one for the city, but here's one that you shouldn't miss.  This is probably the first place you will see when you get to what's lovingly been called the wild wild east.  This is the train station where you could depart to visit the city of Novosibirsk, Siberia.
 
Novosibirsk is the third largest city in the Russian Federation.  During the Soviet era, it was used as a major academic center.  The section of the city named Akademgorodok is still centered around learning institutions and universities. I very rarely talk about large cities.  I sometimes talk about unusual things in large cities, but this is one of those rare occasions where I'm saying that you should consider visiting the city as a total tourist destination.
 
  Yes, it gets cold, so if you want to visit, you might wish to come in the summer.  Novosibirsk is one of the coldest major metropolitan areas in the world.  It is in the western more civilized part of Siberia, barely across the Urals, but it is still in Siberia.
 
The amazing thing about this place is that it is so modern.  I think that's why it appeals to me.  It was one of the first bastions of capitalism to pop up after the fall of the Soviet Union.  The people of Novosibirsk are used to being on the cutting edge with all of the research facilities in the area, and it was natural for them to be the first ones who really took capitalism out for a test drive.  They did it in no small part with help from America.
 
The SAIC, American Business Center is an organization that works hard to partner with American businesses and use that cooperation to further the standard of living for Novosibirsk.  It's almost antiquated at this point in time, but back in the 1990's when the country was going through the enormous change to capitalism, the people of this area reached out and got some advice and help.  It was a time in history that made the city what it is today.
 
And no story about Novosibirsk would be complete without the story of Eric Shogren.  He's in all kinds of trouble now for taxes that he hasn't paid since the economic problems all started a few years ago, but in his time, he was a hero.  Eric Shogren comes from Minnesota.  He moved to Novosibirsk in the 1990's and started a pizza place called New York Pizza.  Now this is an institution in the city.

It was a simple idea.  Shogren soon found himself the most successful entrepreneur in town.  He married a Russian girl that he'd met years earlier in America on an exchange student program and they had five kids.  In the years of his great success he not only owned the pizza places, but a bakery, a furniture business and a Victoria's Secret.
Novosibirsk was very western very fast.  IKEA, McDonald's and all the other popular chains are commonplace in the city.  It's a fascinating combination of old time Russian, secularist Soviet, and modern western.  It's the kind of cityscape that you very rarely see, where three distinct cultures that are so vastly different meld together.  That's what makes Novosibirsk so interesting.
  
In this picture you can see the Times Square like images across the street from the Lenin Statuary Park.  It's a combination that you won't see anywhere else.
  The mixing of cultures is something that you can't help but notice.  In some places is looks like Moscow.  In some places is looks like New York City.

The towering apartment blocks look like Soviet Moscow.

   And there it is.  Ancient Russian shrines and churches right in the middle of it.
Novosibirsk has it all.

 
They have all the stuff you want to see when traveling to Russia, but it's different.  It's modern.  It has an American quality to it.  There are Americans there living and working.  It's their chosen home.  Those who live in Novosibirsk love it.  That's why you should take the time and visit.

Even the bridges over the River Ob are worth viewing.  But that's not all for water here.  There is a giant reservoir that's called the Ob Sea.  It's huge and it's every bit as much of a water draw as a great lake.

It looks like the shore of Lake Michigan.

You can go sailing from the marina.  Most places have rentals.

You can even go to the beach.  Try that anywhere else in a city in Russia.  Try it.
At any rate, you can do all the quintessential Russian stuff in Novosibirsk.  You can go to the opera, the circus, the churches and the Lenin Statues.  But, you can also get an American Pizza, American lingerie, Swedish furniture, and a Big Mac.  You can go to the zoo, or go to the beach.  You can go sailing or ice fishing depending on when you visit.  You can see all the Russian stuff, Soviet stuff and modern stuff you want.  You can go to the big city and see the most amazing combination of things you'll see almost anywhere.  So, instead of doing what everyone else does, like going to Moscow and St. Petersburg; take a look east and try out the new look of Russia in Siberia in Novosibirsk.
Then there's that other thing.  In the beginning of the story, I mentioned that you would probably be arriving by train.  Well, not only do they have a train museum in Novosibirsk, it's a major stop on the Trans Siberian Railway.  So, if you have the time, take the train.

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http://www.reuters.com/article/2007/11/07/us-russia-novosibirsk-pizza-idUSL1934732820071107
http://business.highbeam.com/137256/article-1G1-19898177/pizza-king-novosibirsk-brooklyn-park-native-eric-shogren
http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Europe/Russia/Novosibirskaya_Oblast/Novosibirsk-584398/Restaurants-Novosibirsk-TG-C-1.html
http://novosibirskguide.com/
http://www.legendtour.ru/eng/russia/novosibirsk/index.shtml
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http://www.cafepress.com/artisticcreationsbyninakindred1
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http://www.zazzle.com/imagings
 

Enjoy!