A real fall

Since I was told last year that I arrived in Siberia one week too late to see the best season, I was looking forward to the last week of September to see what it would look like. It looks really good. Other things I was told and I wanted to check:
"In Akademgorodok, there is a season called Indian summer. It lasts all September and it is warm ..." That is true, given that this statement was given to me by -20C in December. But coming from summer, it is cold.
"In Akademgorodok, in the fall, the sky is always blue." That's true only if we assume that the fall started and ended last Saturday. Otherwise it is gray, dark, windy and rainy.
"In Akademgorodok, the trees are wonderful in the fall". That's right. And i am embedding a few pictures to prove it. But with the wind and the rain, it does not last for very long.
"After one year in Russia, you will speak Russian very good". No comment.

The first snow!!

Believe me or not, today, we saw the first snowflakes of the season... It is 3°C outside, and they still look like heavy and wet rather than light and fluffy (Damn global warming, it even spoils snowflakes). I tried to take pictures with my cell phone, but they are not good, so I just stole a picture from someone else (see below).
I guess that marks the end of the hurricane season here. My friends from Houston, I am thinking about you and I hope Ike did not affect you too much. Cheers...

A cool place to chill out

The comments on my last post clearly indicate that, by letting my soft side coming out on my blog, I am confusing my male-based audience, and this without expanding my female-based audience by the slightiest epsilon. So back to more male-oriented posts: The pictures below include alcohol, a blond girl at a bar and a furry animal, which should satisfy my redneck friends who like watching girls and drink alcohol and shoot critters. It is a bar in Novosibirsk, which is not that great, primarily because it is -15C inside. The staff is nice enough to give away some coats and gloves, but I wasted a new haircut and ironing my dressy shirt by going there and looking like everybody else. Anyway, there was nobody else... too cold... And they only serve Vodka and strong drinks. I think this place is not going to last. We did not last there too long either...

A Sunday at the datcha.

Finally I got to go to a datcha. A datcha is a kind of cabin,where the locals spend their week ends and sometimes their whole summer. My coworker and friend Dmitry invited me to his datcha near the town of Isskitim. There we had the last shashliks of the season in a beautiful garden, full of exuberant flowers which show off their colors before the long and cold winter. You can see the pictures of my quiet Sunday afternoon below, with a few shots of the garden flowers.
By the way, i do not recommend to try the berries that almost look like blackberries on the picture. It doesn't taste like much first, but then it leaves a sour taste for very long in the mouth. I should have listened to my friends when they told me these berries were not edible... but they looked so good and juicy. You guys don't realize how lucky you are to have a friend who is nice enough to try all these disgusting things and share his experience with you.