Schadenfreude

Judy — Fri, 16 Aug 2013 08:24:56 +0000

I know, it’s not very nice to laugh at others’ misfortune, but today’s little incident was the most entertainment we’ve had since the season premiere of Breaking Bad … and so much funnier!

We had just walked out of a supermarket in Irkutsk, sat down on a seat in one of the main streets to share a block of Ritter chocolate, and noticed a tow truck on the road right in front of us, about to hook up a car and tow it away. And then we noticed a couple more tow trucks, and a policeman. The cars were parked in a 30 minute zone, but we think they got pinged because they were angle-parked and jutting into the traffic. The cars that were parallel-parked didn’t get towed away. In total, 5 cars were towed while we sat and watched, several more were driven away by their owners and as we walked down the street, we noticed that one tow-truck was back to pick up his second car. Apparently simple parking fines don’t work in this town, so the cops have resorted to towing and impounding cars instead.

The owner of the first car arrived on the scene just after it had been loaded onto the truck, so he did the only thing he could – hopped into the truck with the driver and his offsider to go and pay the hefty fine to get his car back. We didn’t see any other owners, but it would have been most disconcerting to get back to one’s car and discover it wasn’t there. And then to go to the police station to report it missing and find out why … well, we did laugh. I know, it’s mean, and in case you don’t already know, or haven’t yet worked it out, here’s the definition of Schadenfreude

The first car to be towed away. By the time we left, the rest had also been towed.

Tow trucks removing illegally parked cars

Irkutsk, Siberia

Judy — Tue, 13 Aug 2013 02:29:55 +0000

I bet you thought it was always cold in Siberia. Yep, so did I. And, a tiny confession here, I thought it was always snowy. But we’ve just spent the day wandering around Irkutsk wearing shorts, singlets and sandals, and the forecast for the next few days is Fine, with top temps of 27 – 29C. It’s late summer here, even though it’s only the middle of August. Trees are starting to change colour, flowers are going to seed and the local produce market is full of vegetables I associate with autumn at home – tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini. It’s a short summer, and a very, very long, hard winter. Food preserving is a big thing here. The market had quite a few little stalls that were selling jar lids, setting agent and other bits ‘n’ pieces.

So, we’ve spent 2 nights in Irkutsk, staying in an apartment attached to the Irkutsk Hostel. We’re going to Lake Baikal today and will spend a couple of nights in a cabin at the Derevenka Family Hotel at Listvyanka, then on Thursday we’re going on the Circum-Baikal Railway, which is a day trip that goes around part of the shoreline of the lake, along the old Trans-Siberian route. We’ll be back in Irkutsk on Thursday night, at the Irkutsk Hostel again, and get back on the Trans-Siberian train on Saturday night.

See you in a few days!

Judy coping with the Siberian weather at the market in Irkutsk

Tents, Trains and Tales » irkutsk

Schadenfreude

Irkutsk, Siberia