Day #33: Amusing Siberian monuments

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In Siberian cities, it seems it is popular to erect comic or eccentric monuments.

In Novosibirsk, there is a monument to (supposedly) the site of the the first traffic light in Novosibirsk, showing a traffic warden saluting it in confusion. There is also a monument to the first general manager of the Siberian Telecom equivalent, a huge monument with a phone box on one side, a bust of his head on the other, and in between some "lamps" where the lampshades are old-fashioned telephones. Then, in Tomsk, there is a famous monument to Chekhov, who was vocal in his dislike of Tomsk, showing him as an idiot. This is hugely popular as a tourist site. It was so busy with people wanting to get a photograph with Chekhov when I was there that I practically had to queue to see it. There is also a statue to a cartoon character who (I was told) is very popular in Russia, which looks like Wile E Coyote.

In Omsk (I didn't see it, not having been to Omsk, but I took a photo of the fridge magnet I saw in Novosibirsk) there is a monument dedicated to workers, with an underground worker on the edge of a pothole.

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