Oktyabrya Prospekt

Throwing it back to Russia for the moment in this post. Right before I left, A and I went for a walk up Oktyabrya Prospekt. It's almost like we went full circle because it's actually what we did on our first "date." We walked so far we almost made it to Chernikovka! If you live in Ufa, then you know that it's a pretty far walk. I had a list of things I wanted to see and do before I left and the marten statue was one of them. I was definitely drawn to its 70s look. I also wanted to take photos of the street in general to remind myself of it since I used to walk it a lot. I'm glad I did, but it's pretty hard to write this post because I truly miss Ufa.

I had never walked further than Gorsovet Park, so there were a lot of new landmarks that I'd never noticed before while riding the marshrutka. The building above is supposedly going to be the tallest skyscraper in Ufa. A was really interested in it, so the only reason I took a picture was because we were standing there for too long and I had nothing better to do. On another note, you can probably guess how excited I was when I saw the puppet theater and the castle playground as we continued walking north. The puppet theater fountain was in rough shape, but I wish I could have taken the fish to display in my house. The fountain was actually a nice size, but there was no water in it at that time. I'm sure it looked better in it's former Soviet glory.

Since we walked up one side of the street I was hoping we'd pass the street art on our way back. I had been wanting to take pictures of it for a long time but just never made it that far with my camera. My feet were killing me, so we ended taking the bus back home when we were finished. It rained a lot the last few months before I left so my long list of places to visit never got finished.  We managed to make it back up Prospekt one last time, though, and I was able to take pictures of the art.

I've been pretty "homesick" for Russia the last few months. I absolutely love my job here in the USA, but I can't help but wish I was back in Ufa. Anyone else ever feel this way? What's the best cure for this "homesickness?"