WITH APOLOGIES TO WC FIELDS, WE WENT TO ASTANA and it was closed. Actually, we cocooned in our room both Sunday and Monday recuperating from the trip from Kuwait — a combination of a 4 AM departure, another layover in Abu Dhabi, airline food, dehydration and a three-hour time change.
Cold Kidz
Today we ventured out into the cold and hiked the icy streets of Astana from the aptly named “Tent” to the “Pyramid” or Palace of Peace and Accord, about six miles. Astana would be a wonderful place to walk in the spring when the newly planted trees are green. The mall which extends two kilometers from the Tent to the Presidential Palace is designed for pedestrians. But despite the workers chipping away at the frozen snow, the footing is treacherous in the winter.
Billboard Independence Square
Golden Man Pyramid
The Tent is actually a rather tony mall filled with high-end shops, not exactly what I expected to find in Kazakhstan. Not that I had any expectations. At the other end of the walk, the Pyramid was closed due to “technical difficulties” and Presidential Culture Center was holding a special event to which, surprisingly, we were not invited. We did make it to the museum but decided the $15 entry wasn’t worth it if the docent/guard was going to shadow us. Oh, well. We got our exercise for the day.
