Taomeow

That Ermakov book was first published in 1995. The 90s were the lawless decade for the freshly collapsed USSR, and there's no end to horror stories I heard and read about those times... but they were unique in that respect, those times I mean. I did take that trip as a toddler, and I could swear I remember stuff -- except my mom told me stories about it later, so it's hard to tell now which ones I really remember and which ones came alive for me based on what she told me. If anything, according to my mom people on the train were afraid of me, because I looked like a much younger child but talked like a much older one -- they thought I was some bewitched infant, and some old ladies discreetly made the sign of the cross...

double

Interesting thread, thank you.

This thread has lake Bikal and lake Bakai but it is Baikal. Buryat-Mongolic languages origin. In Buryat it is pronounced closer to Baygal, the meaning is something like "rich lake" or "nature" -- I guess it was almost the same thing to the folks who named it.

Pushkin Boulevard, Donetsk. It used to be my most stomped stomping ground -- the road from home to school, then to the university, then to work. To two theaters (Drama and Opera/Ballet) and two movie theaters. Also a meeting place when planning stuff with friends (many benches to sit on, wooden and comfortable). A dating launchpad (the monument on the right is to Alexander Pushkin, referred to by the locals as "The Head" -- circa high school years, if undecided in advance where to go or if to go somewhere with this guy at all, agree to meet "under The Head," take it from there). And a walking strip with kids -- in a stroller first, and later on foot. Roughly 15-20 minutes to get anywhere at all from home. No car and screw public transportation. It was a lucky location in that respect.

Do you mean "where is this place" or "why am I not in this picture?"

Ack, I forgot. "There was a study" (got to use this ridiculous phrase that, without further examination, has 0% information validity value in all cases) which asserted that people who live together for a long time use each other as extended memory files, which benefits their individual memory. Perhaps people who post together for a long time also reap those anti-forgetfulness benefits? My favorite lines were, "This octopus, let's give him boots, send him to North Korea" ...and the way they rhymed it with "gonorrhea."