Saratov and Volga river

It's been a long time since the last post -- over 3 moths. I almost quit, but now I'm trying to return to blogging.

Last week I was on a business trip to Saratov. It is a town on Volga river. We had a chance not only to see Volga, but also to swim there, fish there, spend a day on one of the many beautiful islands scattered all over the river. It is amazing to know that the width of Volga there is over 16 kilometers (which is equal to about 10 miles as suggest my online converter).

The places there are very beautiful. We traveled to Saratov by car (took two days with overnight stay in Ufa). The road was very crowded so sometimes we could not go faster then 35-40 km/h (20-25 mph). The total distance we traveled from Yekaterinburg to Saratov was about 1700 kilometers (about 1050 miles).

Trip to Tyumen

Last weekend we traveled to Tyumen. There are hot natural springs that are said to be funny to visit in winter. It was funny indeed. The weather was not very cold, but it was still pretty exciting to go outside dressed only in swimming shorts. Sitting in a small pool of hot water that was steaming and watching the snow outside was pretty cool.

It took us over 4 hours to drive to Tyumen from Yekaterinburg. The road was pretty good and not very crowded. We enjoyed the trip very much.

Holidays were good, but short. Back to work!

Our holidays in Prague were very good, but too short. We walked around Prague, consumed lots of meat and very good beer, listened to jazz music, visited Karlovy Vary and enjoyed our 5 days in Czech Republic very much. Now we're back to Yekaterinburg and back to work.

While we were in Prague, Yekaterinburg got another portion of snow. The picture displays Anna working hard to get the car out of it.

Going to Prague

Our decision to go to Prague came just out of the blue. First of all our close friends Khorobrykhs told us they were going to visit Prague for a week in the middle of February. They asked if we wanted to join them and we refused. We though winter was not a good time to go to Europe.

A week later I got a message from my old friend Vova living in Israel. He wrote he and his wife Natasha were going to Prague to celebrate Natasha's birthday there. So they asked if we wanted to go to Prague too and celebrate all our birthdays together. It needs to be said three of us have our birthdays very close. My wife Ann's birthday is on Februalry 7th, then goes mine on February 9th, then Natasha's on February 10th.

The idea to celebrate all our birthdays together was too good to be refused without thinking. Besides we did not have a chance to see Vova and Natasha for over 3 years. So we though we'd give it a try.

That's how it all happened. Then we called our travel agent, learned that we only had one day to make a decision or we would not have enough time to get Czech visas. Without much time for thinking the decision came fast. We should go.

So yesterday I already paid the money and gave our passports to the agent. We'll be in Prague from 7th to 11th of February. And yes, Khorobrykhs will be there too! They'll come 2 days later then we and stay a little longer. Still we all will have 3 days in Prague together and I am very much excited about it.

I do hope the weather is going to be fine.