Walking to the Yenisei

Krasnoyarsk is a beautiful city with the Yenisei river running through it, flowing to the North. One of my favorite things about our visit four years ago was walking to and from the library on the other side of the river.  I would cross the Komunalny (Community/Сcommunal) Bridge.  The bridge spans across first to the "recreation island" where there are some sports stadiums, beaches, and other activities, and then across the main channel.  The main channel runs fast and deep and there are often barges going up and down it.  Sometimes they are floating logs down the river to processing plants.  The bridge is famous because it is on the 10 ruble bill.

The bridge is the symbol, along with the church, of Kranoyarsk

The bridge is noisy and dirty and heavily-trafficked but it is high above this deep, dark, beautiful river flowing north to the Arctic Ocean and I love it. Yulia and I took a walk one day across the river to the opera theater and fountains that are there.  We wanted to have a walk and that was where I wanted to go.

A selfie on the square after we walked across the bridge.  We took the bus back :)

On other days we walked south (upriver) along the embankment and watched the fishermen, the people out on boats and jet skis, and the ducks along the shore. Behind Yulia's Mom's house toward the factory where she used to work is a little reservoir area that was made by creating some levees.  It is where the ships were launched out of the factory before they were put onto the river.  The girls went there one day without me, and we all walked down there one evening together and spent an hour wading and skipping rocks.

Nika trying to figure out the skipping motion.  She never did quite get it.

Kids and water.  The recipe for contentment on any summer day!

Some ducks in a row.

One afternoon when we were walking along the bank going south (upriver) we saw a huge fish swimming close to shore in the shallows.  We had seen a lot of little fish, but this was was huge.  We couldn't tell exactly what it is, but we suspect that it was a sturgeon. You can see it in the photograph here in the middle of the frame as a shadow.  It was over two feet long, and probably closer to three.  We watched it for about 2 minutes before it swam out into the deep part of the river.  It was about 100 meters upriver from where there were four fishermen. I guess the fish won that day.

See her there about a third of the way up in the middle. She's a big one! 

It is often the simple things that are the best. Our little walks to, along, and across the river were one of the highlights of our visit to Krasnoyarsk this summer.