Sex And The City

Omsk

Both here and in Yekaterinburg there are very few conventional pubs, instead locals drink in little marquee things that are set up in various parks and open spaces around the city. It would be just like those great beer gardens in Munich, if it wasn't so bloody cold and wet. I went into one last night to read a bit more of my pretentious book and found everyone in there was playing backgammon. There was some great Russian indie on the stereo though so it was a pleasant enough hour or so.

Got back to the hotel to find Sex And The City, dubbed very badly into Russian, on the local TV channel. All the way through the bottom part of the screen was full of adverts for credit agencies and Lada dealerships in the Omsk area, which proves that with only a little local variation everyone's culture is becoming more or less the same, even in Siberia.

The sun's out and Omsk looks almost appealing. There are quite a few parks and trees around in what's called "Siberia's greenest city" although the phrase 'polishing a turd' springs to mind. Anyway, it's enough to overcome my slight disappointment at Scotland's draw last night and put me in a decent mood to head further east.