kazan in winter: cold, chaotic, and kinda perfect?
i’m writing this from under three blankets because apparently kazan thinks -15°C is a reasonable temperature. i just checked and it’s -15.73°C there right now, hope you like that kind of thing. the air feels like it’s personally offended me, and my nose has given up on existing.
anyway, here’s where i’ve been stumbling around:
the volga river looks like a solid block of existential dread right now, but someone told me that in summer, people actually swim here? wild. if you get bored, the mari el republic and chuvashia are just a short drive away-though i can’t imagine why you’d leave this freezer of a city.
the kazan kremlin’s towers are comically pretty against the gray sky, like someone dropped a disney castle into soviet russia. someone also told me that the planetarium here is the only one in the country that’s not depressing, but i haven’t confirmed that because my fingers are too numb to buy tickets. the streets are half-empty, everyone’s either inside drinking tea or pretending they don’t hate winter.
pro tip: don’t wear jeans. just don’t. dress like you’re ascending everest, and even then, you’ll lose feeling in your toes by noon. but hey-unlike moscow, nobody’s judging you for looking like a walking pile of laundry. also, the metro smells like borscht and regret, but it’s warm, so i’ll take it. they say this place is a symbol of muslim-christian harmony, and honestly, freezing together really does bring people closer.
You might also be interested in:
- https://topiclo.com/post/lusaka-a-whirlwind-of-information-and-unexpected-weather
- https://topiclo.com/post/nagoya-where-industrial-meets-industrial
- https://topiclo.com/post/calgary-sun-wind-and-a-whole-lotta-prairie
- https://topiclo.com/post/tokyo-where-exhaustion-meets-adventure
- https://topiclo.com/post/shangqiu-okay-so-its-a-thing-and-a-surprisingly-interesting-one