What is the dominant feature of the Belkino ensemble? Estate "Belkino" in the suburbs of Obninsk

(Russia, Kaluga region, Borovsky district, Obninsk)

The former estate of the Vorontsovs, on the outskirts of modern industrialized Obninsk, is experiencing better times. This applies to a greater extent to the house (V.D. Polenov, I.I. Levitan, A.V. Sredin, V.A. Serov, V.Ya. Bryusov were here) ... and to the huge park - the destruction of which It began under Obninsky, who mercilessly used birch line-alleys for firewood. The Church of Boris and Gleb (1773, possibly designed by architect K.I. Blank), unlike the house, has been renovated and is operational.
Belkino (Borisoglebskoe) - “an ancient possession of the Belkin nobles, in the second half of the 16th century. guardsman G.L. Velsky (Malyuta Skuratov) and then his daughter’s husband, Tsar Boris Godunov; from 1605 to 1611 - uncle of the last wife of Ivan IV M.F. Naked. Then the estate was granted to the voivode, Prince. DI. Dolgorukov, since 1626 was owned by his son, the steward, Prince. G.D. Dolgorukov and in 1676 the estate transferred to the patrimony was inherited by his son, the steward, Prince. P.G. Dolgorukov;

from 1687 it was owned by his son, the steward, Prince. G. P. Dolgorukov on a section with his stepmother Prince. A.Yu. Dolgorukova (nee Prince Baryatinskaya), who married boyar T.N. at the end of the century. Streshneva; from 1719 G.P. became the sole owner. Dolgorukov, who soon gave the estate as a dowry to his daughter A.G. Volynskaya (later in Shepeleva’s second marriage); from the 1740s gt. until 1761 it was owned by her daughter, Prince. E.V. Urusova (nee Volynskaya).
The estate belonged to gr. I.I. Vorontsov, who rebuilt it in the 1770-1780s; in 1789 he was succeeded by his son, Count. A.I. Vorontsov (godfather of A.S. Pushkin), since 1793 owned by the husband of his daughter Anna, the famous bibliographer gr. D.P. Buturlin. Since 1833, the estate was leased to the manager of the Voronezh estate of the Buturlins, Buturlinovka I.A. Kavetsky, since 1840 it belonged to his daughter’s husband, Colonel N.A. Obninsky, from 1863 - to his son, public figure P.N. Obninsky and until 1917 his son B.P. Obninsky,” wrote A.B. Chizhkov and A.A. Zorin in the book “Kaluga Estates”, M., 2007.
The palace, supposedly built by Karl Ivanovich Blank in the 1770s, has preserved only the ruined outer walls. It was so dilapidated that they surrounded it with a fence and posted a sign warning that being nearby was dangerous to life.
Until the mid-18th century, Belkino was like most rural estates. The estate included wooden mansions with “red” windows and tiled stoves, and an orchard. After the “Manifesto on the Freedom of the Nobility,” the construction boom reached the Kaluga outback.
Count I.I. Vorontsov (1719-1786) resigned from civil service, and began to build a large, but at the same time compact three-story palace in his “hunting” residence. (Let me remind you that the count had another estate for living in the summer - Voronovo near Moscow).
The house, capable of accommodating a large retinue, was complemented by symmetrical wings with services. The ensemble was surrounded by a beautiful park with access rays-alleys and cascading ponds.
The architect designed the facades of the “hunting castle” in the spirit of early classicism. Despite the absence of mandatory order elements, the architecture of the house could hardly be attributed to the Baroque style, of which the Boris and Gleb estate church is a representative. Various panels and rustication dissected the smooth surfaces of the walls. From the side of the courtyard and the park, the axis of symmetry of the structure was marked by balconies and two-column entrance portals; the centers of the other two facades were marked by barely protruding risalits.
During Soviet times, the palace housed various institutions, including a hostel.
For many years, the wonderful palace has been on the verge of collapse, is it really impossible to save it? From the buildings of the manor's estate you can also see the outbuilding and the barn. The park has recently been put in order, a road and path network has been laid, and gazebos have been installed in several corners.

Photo captions in the text:
1. The main house in the Belkino estate (modern photo)
2. A.V. Middle Room in the Obninsky Belkino Estate
3. V.A. Serov Hall of the old house. Belkino estate, Kaluga province. 1904

) became the Belkino estate.

This “object” is located on the street. Borisoglebskaya, where we stopped at a small “home parking lot” (55.126243, 36.594307).

This is how the estate appeared before the artist D.I. Arkhangelsky in 1938

and here it is in this form before us...

We slowly walked around the main manor house

(or rather, what is left of it).

It was late afternoon and in the rays of the setting sun the ruins looked quite “pretty”.

In some places (through “windows” and other openings) some interior elements were even visible.

The ruins of the main manor house were surrounded by a high chain-link fence, on which there were posters warning of the danger - the remains of the three-story mansion could simply crumble at any moment. On the back side of the building, in front of the fence, we saw an information board. We approached him. It turns out that the entire history of the estate is reflected here,

which has its roots in the 16th century.

According to surviving historical documents, the village of Belkino was located here, which in 1567, for “special” merits, was given ownership to the head of the oprichnina investigation, Malyuta Skuratov. His daughter, Maria, soon marries Boris Godunov and the Belkino lands go to her as a dowry.

After the Time of Troubles, the Dolgoruky princes became the owners of Belkino, and in the 70-80s. In the 18th century, the owner of these lands was already Count Ivan Illarionovich Vorontsov,

at which the construction of the estate begins: an architectural and park ensemble is created in the style of early classicism, including regular and landscape parks with a cascade of ponds, the main manor house with outbuildings, a stone temple of Boris and Gleb...

In 1789, the estate was inherited by Ivan Vorontsov’s son, Artemy. His wife, Praskovya Fedorovna Kvashnina-Samarina, was the cousin of Maria Alekseevna Hannibal (grandmother of A.S. Pushkin). In 1799, Artemy Ivanovich Vorontsov became the godfather of the future great poet.

Soon the Belkino estate passes to the daughter of A.I. as a dowry. Vorontsova - Anna, who married Count Dmitry Petrovich Buturlin (privy councilor, senator, first director of the Imperial Hermitage). Since the Buturlins were friends with the family of A.S.’s parents. Pushkin, then in his youth (before the lyceum) the future poet visited Belkino (it is assumed that the title of the book “Belkin’s Tale” is associated with the estate).

In 1840, the Buturlins departed for Florence and sold their estate to the Polish nobleman Colonel Narkiz Antonovich Obninsky, after whose death (in 1863) he was inherited by his eldest son Peter (lawyer and publicist).

Peter Obninsky

Family P.N. Obninsky

IN late XIX At the beginning of the 20th century, the Belkino estate turned into a regional center of cultural life. Serov, Levitan, Polenov, Korovin, Konchalovsky, Grabar, Chaliapin, Medtner, Bryusov often visited the Obninskys. Many of them not only loved to relax here, but also engaged in creativity.

In 1904 (after the death of Pyotr Narkizovich) the entire family estate was divided between four children. Pyotr Narkizovich's eldest son, Victor, received the Turliki farm, his eldest daughter Anna received the Bugry farm, his youngest daughter Lydia received forest land in the vicinity of modern Obninsk (a farm was supposed to be built there), and his youngest son Boris (a judicial investigator, Minister of Justice of the White Guard government of Crimea, was shot by the Bolsheviks in 1921) - the Belkino estate, which at that time looked like this.

After 1917, the estate was nationalized and virtually abandoned (only for some time a dormitory was located in the main house). In 1948, the estate was “registered” (under state protection). In the 50s of the last century, cracks appeared in the walls and the inhabitants hastily left the building. The ponds have dried up, the park is overgrown... Restoration began only in 2002. By this time, the Belkino estate was already somewhat different...

It's 2018. Since the start of restoration work, the Belkino Estate Foundation has done a lot of work, the results of which, as they say, are obvious.

Here in front of us is a restored one-story outbuilding, in the chamber hall of which classical concerts are held today.

Having gone around it we come to another “auxiliary” building,

behind which the park area begins.

But before we walk through the park, let’s take a moment to look at the Boris and Gleb Church,

which was built in 1773 according to the design of K.I. Blanka

at the expense of Count I.I. Vorontsov, and, as we mentioned above, was part of the estate complex.

Having examined the church area

We, having rounded the upper pond, which is part of a complex hydraulic system, enter the park.

Since we have already touched upon the issue of the “water component” of the Belkino estate, we will dwell on this issue in more detail.

In accordance with the estate development plan, two large ponds and a cascade of four small ponds should be located on its territory. Today, thanks to the activities of the Belkino Estate Foundation, all of them have been restored, as we will see now.

Here in front of us is the next (second from the top) pond.

We go around it along the tiled path

and at the end of the pond (in the water) we notice a certain figure.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a goldfish.

The next two ponds from the group of cascades

separated from each other by a dam on which a “wedding” bridge is installed.

We move towards him.

On the way we meet a number of playgrounds

And here is the bridge. It is purely decorative, and received its name because of the newlyweds’ affection for it, who “decorated” its railings with numerous locks.

Having followed it

we go to the Big Pond,

on the bank of which there is a rotunda gazebo.

a panoramic view of the 52nd microdistrict of Obninsk opens.

On the left (from us) part of the Big Pond is located

boat station.

Here you can rent a boat and, using this vessel, explore the manor park from the water surface.

Unfortunately, we don’t have time planned for such entertainment, so we continue our walk through the park.

During the time of Count Vorontsov, many park sculptures were installed in the estate park. Today they (modern versions) can also be found in various parts parka.

In addition to them, there are other elements of “park decor”, which are difficult to find out anything about without outside help.

However, the lack of some information does not affect the quality of our walk around the Belkino estate, the park of which at this time of year (end of May) is simply surrounded by greenery.

Having “examined” all the secluded places of the park, we go out to the central alley

and soon we find ourselves in the “square”,

where the monument to A.S. is installed Pushkin (work of local artist V.S. Denisov). If you remember, we talked above about A.S. Pushkin may have visited these places in his childhood. Obviously, this monument “reinforces” this fact.

Ultimately, all the paths of the park converge in one place -

at the main manor house.

On the website of the Belkino Estate Foundation, we learned that this organization plans to restore the manor house. If this ever happens, then this corner of Obninsk will take on the finished appearance of a unique architectural and park ensemble of the 18th century.

We are heading to the parking lot of our car (which during our absence was under the reliable protection of the local “lads”) to continue our acquaintance with Obninsk and its environs.

On January 21, I, together with the “Traveling with Friends” club, went on a photo trip to the city of Maloyaroslavets. On the way we visited the Belkino estate, which is located in the village of the same name in the nature of Obninsk. The temple, outbuildings, and a regular linden park with a cascade of ponds have been preserved from the estate, but the main house is in extremely poor condition and could collapse at any moment...

The main house is surrounded by a perimeter fence with warning signs " Do not approach the building LIFE THREATENING! "But there is no security here, and such a sign will not stop me,
When you go inside, the first thing that catches your eye is the miraculously preserved painting on the walls. To be honest, I have never seen anything like this anywhere else.

Apparently, balls used to be held in this room on the second floor.

And this might have been the living room.

Outbuildings

Belkino is a very romantic place...

Belkinsky Park

Flying stage in the park

The bust of A.S. Pushkin was installed in 2008, the author was sculptor Vladimir Denisov.

Cascade of ponds (Belkinsky ponds).

Lover's Bridge

Children's playground in the park

Rotunda

Views of Obninsk from the shore of the pond.

Lions in the park

View of the main house from the park

The village of Belkino, named after the nickname of the first owner Ivan Belka, was first mentioned in 1588 as the patrimony of Boris Godunov. In 1567, the village was received by Malyuta Skuratov, the head of the oprichnina investigation, who transferred it to Boris as a dowry for his daughter Maria. Back in the 19th century, an elm “three girths” grew in the park, which was called “Godunovsky”. After the Time of Troubles, Belkino passed to the princes Dolgoruky.
In the 70-80s. In the 18th century, when the estate was owned by the richest nobleman Count Ivan Illarionovich Vorontsov, an architectural and park ensemble in the style of early classicism was created here: a regular and landscape park with a cascade of ponds, a manor house with outbuildings, and a “Riga” park pavilion. Stone Church of St. Boris and Gleb was built in 1773. The magnificent cascade consists of four small ponds, which descend along three stepped gentle terraces to the Big Pond.
In 1789, the estate was inherited by the son of Ivan Vorontsov, Artemy Ivanovich, married to Praskovya Fedorovna Kvashnina-Samarina, a cousin of Maria Alekseevna Hannibal, grandmother of Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin. In 1799, Count Artemy Vorontsov became the godfather of the future poet. Artemy Ivanovich's daughter Anna married Count Dmitry Petrovich Buturlin, and the Belkinskoye estate was given to her as a dowry. Count Dmitry Buturlin, the first director of the Imperial Hermitage, was a famous bibliophile who collected one of the largest libraries in Russia.
The Buturlin family had a close friendship with the family of A.S. Pushkin’s parents, and historians believe that the poet visited Belkino as a child, before the Lyceum. In addition, nearby is the Polotnyany Zavod estate, where Pushkin came to woo Natalie Goncharova in 1828, shortly after the creation of the drama “Boris Godunov”. It is likely that the title of the book “Belkin’s Tale,” written in 1830, goes back precisely to our Belkino estate.
In 1840, the Belkinskoe estate was purchased from the Buturlins, who had left for Florence, by a Russified Polish nobleman, Colonel Narkiz Antonovich Obninsky. Then Belkino was inherited by his son Pyotr Obninsky, a talented lawyer and publicist. In 1904 the estate was divided among his four children. The most famous of them is Viktor Petrovich Obninsky - deputy of the first State Duma from the Cadets, author of the book “The Last Autocrat”. But the Belkino estate passed to the youngest son Boris, a forensic investigator.
At the turn of the 19th - 20th centuries, the Belkinskoye estate became a true center of cultural life of the Silver Age. Friends of the Obninskys often visited here, whose names constitute the glory and pride of Russian art - artists Valentin Serov, Isaac Levitan, Vasily Polenov, Konstantin Korovin, Pyotr Konchalovsky, Igor Grabar, singer Fyodor Chaliapin, composer and pianist Nikolai Medtner. In 1910, Valery Bryusov created a series of wonderful lyrical poems here dedicated to the decline of the Russian estate.
After the 1917 revolution and nationalization, the Belkino estate was virtually abandoned. For some time, the main house housed a dormitory, but in the 1950s, cracks appeared in the walls and it was abandoned to its fate. In 1948, the estate was placed under state protection, but this status remained only on paper. Over the years Soviet power the park became wild, the ponds dried up and became overgrown, the buildings collapsed. By the end of the 20th century, the estate was on the verge of destruction; the state did not have the funds to save it.
The restoration of the estate began in 2002, when a group of Obninsk entrepreneurs established the Belkino Estate Charitable Foundation. The Fund's activities are financed through gratuitous contributions from its participants. The Foundation has set itself the task of reviving the Belkino estate in its historical appearance in order to create here a comfortable, environmentally friendly recreation area for residents of the city of Obninsk and its environs.
Over the course of ten years, the Belkino Estate Foundation managed to restore and improve the abandoned estate. At the same time, the special unique appearance of the architectural and park ensemble of the 18th century was preserved. The estate's hydraulic system was completely reconstructed: two large ponds and a cascade of four small ponds. A regular linden park with a historical layout of alleys and lawns was restored, and more than five hundred new lindens were planted in place of the lost lindens. The building of the one-story outbuilding, where classical concerts are held in the chamber hall, has been restored.
Small park forms were built in the estate according to the designs of the Honored Artist of Russia A.P. Shubin: the Hermitage summer stage, the bridge of lovers, the rotunda. The Belkino Estate Foundation regularly supports the park in well maintained condition. In the future, it is planned to restore the main house with outbuildings, where a historical and cultural center will be located.

Temple of Boris and Gleb
At the end of the 19th century. The interior of the temple was decorated anew: secular painting was replaced by paintings of Gospel scenes, and images of cherubs appeared under the dome. In 1815, under the next owner of the estate, D.P. Buturlin, a warm chapel was built in honor of the icon of the Mother of God “Quench My Sorrows.” Count Dmitry Petrovich Buturlin, director of the Imperial Hermitage, grandson of Field Marshal P.A. Buturlin, was a deeply religious and devout man. The count spent every summer at the estate and sang in the left choir of the temple. In 1885, a parish school was opened at the church, the trustee of which was P.N. Obninsky.
The temple was closed in 1930 and transferred to the ownership of the local collective farm. A warehouse for fuels and lubricants was set up in his building, and then fertilizers were stored there. The temple was transferred to the church on May 13, 1988.

If you like to travel around Russia, you can join the trips of the Traveling with Friends club. You can find out how to do this
Our next trip will take place on February 4 to Kashira and the surrounding area.

Belkino Estate (Russia) - description, history, location. Exact address, phone number, website. Tourist reviews, photos and videos.

• Tours for the New Year in Russia
• Last minute tours in Russia

Once upon a time, the Belkino estate, along with other noble buildings, was considered the main decoration of Obninsk, but now it is more like ruins, in which it is difficult to guess the outlines of its former scope and luxury. What is interesting is not so much the buildings, most of which have not survived, as the picturesque park. About 15 years ago it was improved: alleys, bridges, benches, gazebos and sculptures appeared; The cascade of small ponds was filled again. Two outbuildings were also restored, but restoration of the main building is still in the plans.

A little history

In the 16th century, the estate belonged to Malyuta Skuratov; later he gave it as a dowry for his daughter to the future Tsar Boris Godunov. The next eminent owner is Count I.I. Vorontsov. By his order, Belkino was rebuilt in the classical style, the Boris and Gleb Church appeared, and the park acquired regular and landscape features in its different parts. The main three-story house was planned as a hunting residence, that is, modest by the standards of those years.

The Vorontsovs were related to the Pushkin family, so there is a version that the poet visited the estate and called “Belkin’s Tales” so not by chance, but there is no documentary evidence of this. Just in case, a bust of A.S. Pushkin was installed in the park.

At the beginning of the 20th century, when the Obninskys owned the estate, it was the center of cultural life: artists and poets came here. V. A. Serov has a painting depicting the interior of the house. After the revolution, there were communal apartments in the building, in the 60s. they were resettled, and the house began to rapidly deteriorate.

What to see

The estate stands on the shore of a large pond. Previously, it separated it from the village, now - from the rows of high-rise buildings built on the site of the former wooden houses, so the view is extremely urban. The park itself is spacious, with many paths lined with sculptures. The main decoration is a cascade of ponds. If you go up along it, the Boris and Gleb Church of the 18th century will appear, and from there you can see the ruins of the manor house. This brick walls with gaping windows, even without ceilings, so restoration requires considerable funds, which do not yet exist.

The statues of lions, naked and clothed girls are actually completely new, although they look ancient, almost antique.

Two wings have been restored: a two-story and a one-story, the latter contains a chamber music hall. These are simple white houses rectangular shape without decoration, with small windows and a gable roof. The remains of the barn have been preserved, separating the landscape park from the regular one: two one-story buildings with a semicircular passage.

Practical information

Address: Obninsk, Belkino Estate. GPS coordinates: 55.124576, 36.590622.

The estate is located on the northern outskirts of Obninsk. Nearest stop public transport- "Belkino".

We go to the hotel for the night. There was also an idea to go to the Ascension David’s Hermitage (it’s very close to the Chekhov Museum) and admire the temples, but Anton Pavlovich didn’t allow it - while they walked around the house, while they petted the dachshunds, the already short winter day passed. We'll leave the deserts for the next trip. There is still a lot of interesting things to do in these parts.

Belkino Estate

The first stop on the way to Borovsk is the Belkino estate in Obninsk. The city itself, by the way, greets us with the ambitious slogan “Obninsk is the best city on earth” on the coat of arms at the very entrance. The roads in the best city, however, turned out to be, to put it mildly, not the best. Nothing else remarkable was discovered in Obninsk, so we are moving to the city park, where we plan to get acquainted with the wonderful estate. It is very close from the hotel to Belkino. But the estate is nowhere to be seen. City park, temple and ruins of a three-story building. It turns out that this is the estate. More precisely like that. The ruins are the main building (the master's house), and the surrounding area has now become a city park.

Frankly speaking, the state of the manor house is depressing and, although I am not a restoration specialist or even a builder, in my amateurish opinion, this building is unlikely to be subject to any reconstruction. The walls didn’t just collapse, they moved in different directions like a fan, and the warning on the fence about the danger of passing through the fence does not seem unnecessary at all.

However, the adjacent park looks much more lively - there are benches and a pond and mothers with strollers. It’s true that in winter you can’t see all the splendor, of course. But, they say, everything is being done to restore this place to its former attractiveness and make it one of the most interesting attractions of the Kaluga region. To date, the park's hydraulic system has been reconstructed: two large ponds and a cascade of four small ponds, a park with a historical layout and a one-story wing building at the main house, where a concert hall is located, have been restored. Well, God forbid, of course.

In the 15th century The estate was owned by the Belkin family, which is where the name of this place apparently comes from. At the end of the 16th century. Belkino belonged to Malyuta Skuratov, an associate of Ivan the Terrible. In 1579, Boris Fedorovich Godunov married the daughter of Grigory Skuratov-Belsky, Maria, being at that time an eighteen-year-old guardsman. As a dowry for his daughter, Malyuta gave these lands to Boris. Belkino was first mentioned as the patrimony of Boris Godunov in 1588. Subsequently, the estate changed owners more than once. In the Soviet era, of course, the estate changed not only its inhabitants, but also its purpose.

After the Great Patriotic War The Belkino estate was finally abandoned, despite the fact that in 1948, by decision of the Kaluga Regional Executive Committee, it was recognized as a monument of history and architecture of regional significance and taken under protection.

In 1984, city authorities promised to find funds for restoration. It is planned to create a local history museum in the estate buildings. The administration of the Borovsky district promises to transfer the estate to Obninsk. The townspeople, not wanting to wait for the city or district to begin restoration, create an initiative group to save the estate. They carry out emergency work in the church on their own and repair the roof. Hundreds of people, museum employees, members of the historical club, schoolchildren and students go to the park to clear the territory. According to the museum’s archival documents, the children’s film studio is filming the film “Before It’s Too Late.”

Church of St. Boris and Gleb

Next to the main building of the estate there is a Temple in honor of St. Boris and Gleb. More precisely, the church is also part of the estate, because in those days any large construction was accompanied by the construction of a church. Count Vorontsov did not break this established tradition. It must be said that the Church of Boris and Gleb was much more fortunate than the mansion building - now the church and the surrounding area are in excellent condition. The temple had a fairly typical layout for that era with a longitudinal orientation.

From the east there is a two-height rectangular altar apse, in the center there is an “octagon on a quadrangle” dome, from the west there is a refectory and a three-tiered bell tower directed upward, crowned with a high spire. Since the quadruple almost did not protrude beyond the edges of the octagon, the overall result was an unusually slender, elegant side silhouette, creating the impression of airiness. The facades of the temple were decorated with pilasters and high windows with a semi-circular finish, which was characteristic of early classicism. Each window corresponded to a small oval window of the second light; this gave the temple a special originality, characteristic of Blanc’s buildings and the uniqueness of the Baroque style. The facade of the church was painted in two shades of white and light ocher. With its modest but elegant appearance, the temple resembled a park pavilion, which was fully consistent with the traditions of estate architecture of Catherine’s era. IN Soviet years the temple was “repurposed” as a warehouse, which was traditional for the Bolsheviks and, perhaps, turned out to be saving for the church building.

Adventures in TsIPK and Olivier

Why I love provincials Russian cities, because they perfectly reproduce the atmosphere of the Soviet past. Obninsk is only 70 km from Moscow, and in years, in my opinion, it is 30 years away, if you use a time machine. We checked into the TsIPK hotel. This is the best hotel in the city. The best because the only one. On booking.com the hotel awarded itself 3 stars. Maybe because there is an elevator or because some rooms have an LCD TV. By the way, the name stands for Central Institute for Advanced Studies. It is not difficult to guess that the main contingent of the hotel are business travelers who have arrived to improve their qualifications in the field of atoms at the institute adjacent to the hotel. He is TsIPK. On the hotel website I read a phrase that decided our choice: “To rent a room at the TsIPK Hotel in Obninsk means to ensure yourself a first-class vacation, regardless of the category of the chosen room, the purpose of your visit and the time of stay at the hotel!” Eh, if only the site corresponded to reality... No, of course, there is a certain level of comfort here and it’s suitable for “spending the night.” There is water in the tap, clean (no sarcasm), there is also a shoehorn. First class holiday! Otherwise, “everything is as we like it.” Have you booked two rooms? Great! Here's one on the 2nd floor, and this one on the 6th. Comfortable! Is it okay, I say that there is only one reservation? There is an elevator, use it, and have a first-class holiday.

Dinner didn't go well either. The closest place to the hotel was the Olivier cafe. Good feedback on TripAdvisor, delicious, inexpensive. What more do you need... The place turned out to be self-service. Ok, that’s even better – I looked and chose. However, optimism disappeared when the barmaid appeared at the counter. Her fierce gaze almost immediately took away my appetite. It’s a pity that I didn’t beat it off completely, because the seemingly edible dishes turned out to be completely inedible. Well, that is, absolutely. In general, I remembered the rule: if there is a McDonald’s in a provincial town, then spend a romantic evening there. Get exactly what you expect without heartburn. No more and no less. The rest is a lottery with low chances of winning. With a slight feeling of hunger, we went to the hotel, where a surprise awaited us: the light bulb in the toilet had burned out. We call the reception: the light bulb in the toilet is inconvenient, please replace it. Bulb! Answer: wait for the electrician, he will be there on Monday! So I’m leaving on Sunday, I say. – The electrician will only be there on Monday, he doesn’t work on weekends. It’s logical, of course, I don’t work on weekends either, so maybe he’s not a human being or something... I asked for a candle, but in response there was silence... the humor was not appreciated. People here are serious, the nuclear industry after all, high tech. They have no time for jokes and certainly no time for light bulbs.