Oto in Motherland: a (huge) photo log

[Otohiko]

Abandoned monuments

Sad. I can tell these have not been visited for years.

Trash


Brothers


And here we are at the site.

This, mind you, is after nearly an hour of walking through the graveyard – it’s that huge.

A rock.

Or is it?
I was told a story by my relatives after stepping on that rock once. Apparently this is a gravestone of a woman whose family could not afford a proper monument. Looking at the way it seems to be in its own separate plot, that certainly makes sense. Again, very sad.

*to be continued*

[Otohiko]

Some of the other ‘neighbours’


There! We’re done our handiwork. Took us a while to clean and fix everything up.

It was cloudy for most of the day, but just as we left and I turned around to take one last look, that ray of sunlight you see fell on the grave. I personally felt very good about it.

A less forested area of the cemetery


Back on the bus


“Beware of dog”

More accurately, the Russian version of this is “Warning – angry dog!”

*to be continued*

[Otohiko]

Getting off the commuter train at Shuvalovo, a nearer suburb


Train leaving


Shuvalovo/Ozerki. Well-known lakes at which many of the old nobility’s (and new rich elite’s) dachas stand


Picturesque


A new home stylized to look like the old.

Aside from the obvious lavishness, a sign that this is not a poor man’s home is the high, solid fence. Whoever lives there clearly has something to fear for; unlike the West where people have no problem with keeping wealthy houses in the open, in Russia they are uniformly fortresses – this is one of the less impressive ones. Some have two layers of concrete fencing and/or private guards with dogs.

*to be continued*

[Otohiko]

The far less wealthy – DIRECTLY across the road from the building in the previous picture

Again to illustrate that weird socioeconomic contrast

Bottles




And there’s that funky (and very clear) transition from suburban to urban


*to be continued*

[Otohiko]

The Vyborg highway


Tram line at the edge of town


Buildings at the edge of Composers’ Street


Beer ads.

Alcohol addiction, the eternal plague of Russia. More people die of alcohol-related causes each year in Russia than of any other cause (and possibly of all other causes combined). No, I’m not exaggerating.

Inside the typical residential blocks; service building and flower beds


*to be continued*

[Otohiko]

Playground and typical residential blocks

Very typical living arrangements for many citizens

Non-functional ping-pong table


Garage


The corner of the building where I lived during this trip.

You can see just how worn-out it is here!

Prospekt Prosvescheniya (‘Enlightenment Avenue’), right near my windows


*to be continued*

[Otohiko]

Trash can


Enlightenment Avenue

Sign reads “what’s next?”

No comment?


Shopping arrangements nearby, I’d often go for groceries there

The car in the middle is apparently a ‘veterinary ambulance’

Inside the block where I resided for this trip


*to be continued*

[Otohiko]

Another day; a tram ride down the Enlightenment Avenue
Interesting Oto fact:
Oto’s grandfather, the one who was seen in previous pictures, spent all his adult life (until very recently) involved in building these tram cars. He rose from assembly line worker to the factory’s HR manager in later years. A real hard-working guy, he didn’t retire until almost the age of 80, and now spends most of his time doing all sorts of handiwork at his dacha for himself and the neighbourhood.

That’s not to say the trams, most of which are now decades old, are particularly good – sturdy, though!

View out the window.


A demolition site behind the fence.


A Soviet-era movie theatre turned shopping centre


Heavy ConstruKction


*to be continued*

[Otohiko]

Tram door


A nice neighbourhood park

There seems to be a recently-built church (could not have been there in the soviet times) in the background; the car in front is a typical VAZ of perhaps 25-year vintage

Random Oto on the tram.

I kept it since it’s the only picture I’ve seen which is accurate to my actual eye colour

A brick apartment block.

A step up from those doubleplus ungood prefab cardhouses!

Passing another tram


*to be continued*

[Otohiko]

Concrete building of the same so-called “ship” series, in all its true-to-life ugliness

These were built mostly in the 70’s and by now are in an absolutely awful state

A new building


The far end of Englightenment Avenue at Grazhdansky Prospekt (‘Citizens’ Avenue’)


Buildings


A Soviet version of a skyscraper or something

*to be continued*