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Published: September 3rd 2009
On the evening of 10th of August, we climbed into a chasnik taxi and made for St Petersurg station, where our two-day train voyage was to begin. Many cups of tea, several chapters of 'war and peace' and a game of chess later, we arrived in Tolyatti; home of that wondrous machine, the Lada. Tolyatti is an industrial city, well off the beaten tourist track, with a population of around a million. Apparently, around a half of the people in the city work in some capacity in the production of Lada cars, either at the massive Lada factory or one of the smaller component manufacturers. According to my sources, 25% of Russias cars are produced in this city. Enough about Ladas.
Two of Tom's Russian friends, Katya & Sergy, were waiting to collect us at the station. From there we took busses to Katyas apartment in Jiggliophsky (incorrect spelling), otherwise known as 'Jigglypuff', a town on the outskirts of Tolyatti. That afternoon we went to Katya's 'Dacha' (country/summer house) a short drive away. Accommodation-wise Russians tend to live in apartments, houses are fairly uncommon. Most Russians seem to supplement their city apartment with a Dacha, for weekends and breaks etc.
The Dachas we visited were all fantastic. In essence they can be defined as an allotment with a small house and Banya (Sauna). I was really impressed with the range and quantity of food grown at the Dachas. Russians seem t be self-sufficient for salad, fruit and veg, at least for the summer.
That evening the Banya was lit, and later on we all took turns, sweating it out in the small wood-clad room, then jumping in the cold paddling pool, and so on and so forth. Katya prepared an excellent meal of roast potatoes with dill, Russian salad (tomatoes, cucumbers & mayo) and BBQ chicken- the last of which I skipped. We were treated to lots of home-made Russian food while staying with families in and around Tolyatti. Some of the highlights included 'she', a traditional Russian cabbage soup; Roasted marrow; and pancakes with homemade jam. The Russians are certainly a hospitable bunch, even accommodating my vegetarianism- a concept yet to reach Russia. All of the home-made food was really very good. Interestingly, this is quite a contrast to the the food I've sampled from Russian supermarkets and street vendors, much of which verges on being inedible.
The next morning involved a hang-over ('packmellya' in Russian), much exasperated by the lack of still, potable water at the Dacha. Katya's father was rather keen for me to drive him to the local shop so he could purchase more beer, a somewhat daunting task which I reluctantly agreed to. Later on in the day, we left this Dacha, and met up with Sasha and Irena, two more of Tom's Ruskie comrades, and that afternoon we went to Sasha's Dacha. A similar evening to the one we had just had, was repeated in different company.
The next day we headed back to Jigglypuff, and then into Tollyatti itself, where we spent a couple of days looking around and meeting up with friends and acquaintances of Tom's. As was pointed out to me, i experienced something of the 'real Russia' during these days in Tolyatti. The place is quite a contrast to the touristy, European St. Petersburg. I was able to look around a typical industrial town with it's skyline of samey apartment blocks, meet loads of Russian folk, and experience first-hand some of the cultural corner-stones of Russia, dachas, banyas and vodka.
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