If the light is blinking, RUN!

A little bit about the traffic here. It's crazy. I wouldn't want to drive here. We are surprised to see nice newer cars, even some expensive cars like Mercedes and BMW. Most of the cars are smaller and a few years old. Some are unusual makes like a Russian one or European one. Some are variations of things like Toyota, some are imported from Asia and are right-hand drive models. 

All in all, the driving is crazy. There aren't really lanes marked like we know, maybe suggestions at times. Drivers are not so much aggressive, but try to 'butt' in line so to speak. If a lane is a right turn lane, then you get 2 cars side by side trying to get through. If the light is about to turn red, you see cars (especially at the end of the work day) push through the intersection (and possibly block it).  The drivers don't normally like to yield the right of way to pedestrians. Even when the light changes and they are turning your way, even though the pedestrians have the right of way, the cars get as close as they can until they have to stop. Even worse if the light is about to change and you are still crossing.

Their traffic lights make the situation a little worse. They are green, then the green blinks when about to change, then yellow then red. If you have a red light and it is soon to go green, both the yellow and red light up. This lets the drivers prepare to go like it is a drag race or something. They roll forward and try to get a jump on the traffic, or the pedestrians if they are 'in the way'. It leads to a situation where you sometimes need to really watch out for yourself, as some drivers can get close to you as they go by.

We ended up eating at the Italian place, Mama Roma's, which was very good. I had spaghetti bolognese and Heather had a grilled pork chop. Both were very good and we will surely go back for more items and dessert. We tried their lemon sorbet (server in a hollowed out lemon) which was good. We then went to another little market next to it and bought some Dove soap, a little more of home with us. Simple things, but god nevertheless. 

A few pics now for your enjoyment ...

This is our 'after court' photo. The far left is Galena, the head doctor at the orphanage. She was very nice and we saw several times at the orphanage. Heather next, then me, then the rep from the Ministry of Education. Far right is our translator/coordinator Ludmila. (Click picture for a larger one)

Here is a shot in the morning from our hotel. The theater is to the right, the other half of Krasnoyarsk in the background and then the mountains. 

Here is an electric train we drove by on the way to the orphanage. We follow train tracks for a portion of the trip, but didn't realize until today that the two lines were for electric trains. I don't believe I have ever seen one of those before, and this shot makes it look like a little model train.

Tomorrow is our excursion so more pictures then. We will first be going to a famous church I believe, somewhere that they fire of a cannon at noon each day. We have heard it from our hotel but didn't know what it was until recently. It sounded like someone closing a door down the hall. It is near the California Pizza, so maybe we can suggest that we should eat at California Pizza! We actually might try their California 'flavor' which is a BBQ pizza and then get some dessert. Maybe we can get her to suggest a more Russian place that we wouldn't normally go since we don't speak Russian. More on all of that tomorrow.