There's been a lot of coverage in the media about one Russian actor and activist, Mr. Okhlobystin, who recently made very harsh remarks toward gays, one was that he would prefer them to be burnt in stoves, and the second is that he would like to consider being gay as criminal offense and he even was stupid enough to write an open letter to our president as well. These actions of him drew unnecessary attention from the media and some anti-Russian media were quick to jump to conclusion that Russia is totally antigay or anti-LGBT for that matter. Looks like we need to step up and explain all this a bit.
Ok, first of all, Mr. Okhlobystin is an idiot. He is a talented actor, but it doesn't make him any wiser doing his remarks. He obviously doesn't like gays, but the coverage his words got in media shouldn't mean that 'whole Russia' is anti-gay. It is probably true, that average Russian person doesn't like gays. But we're very far from openly hunt them (and hopefully will never come to that) and all this idiot is saying about 'burning them in stoves' is just HIS OWN CRAP.
There is NO DANGER to gays or other LGBT persons in Russia. The only thing is that some gays choose to draw public attention and provoke! And the provocation they get! If gay people would want to tell everyone who would listen about how gay they are and seek immediate public approval (especially in social places like pubs), this just might end up with bleeding nose for them as average Russians don't like gays. But in most cases they don't care and unless the issue is thrown into their faces they couldn't care less!
So all in all, if you happen to be of LGBT, just don't start demonstrate it in provocative way or otherwise overexpose yourselves while in Russia and you will be just fine.
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Yes! McDonald's finally opened in Novoibirsk, or to be specific in the food court of the Aura shopping mall. Ok, that's crappy food all right, but we truly welcome them mostly because of the 'famed' influence of McD on the investment attraction to the region - this is sorta common factor - if McD is fine to do business here, then it should be fine for most of Western Business.
Just in case you use Facebook - there is a great page there - Natasha from Russia. You will love it in the instant!
One of the Nsk curses is that it is fairly away from Gorny Altay which is perfect tourist's place. A lot of nature, forests, mountains and mountain rivers. Getting there by car is 7-8 hours driving. Now it is also available by air. The small aircrafts with capacity of 19 passengers are flying to Gorno-altaysk, the capital of Gorny Altay, twice a week, making the trip like 1 hour endeavour.
This is really cool. Now foreign passengers can stay up to 72 hours in Novosibirsk with no visa requirement when passing through.
Featured
Tiflis - the Georgian restaurant in the middle of the city.
This is the place where all Russian-Georgian tensions would go away if our leader ever met there. Located at the corner of Sovetskaya and Frunze, this is a fantastic island of Georgian food and culture.
Remember two words - hachapuri (this is bread covered with cheese - absolutely fantastic to go with red wine, and they have plenty), and khinkali - like Russian pelmeni, but much bigger and with different taste, they're must-try if first time there.
