It was most likely the most convenient way to travel between these cities. It cost some more than a bus, but the difference was huge. Comfortable cars with lots of leg room, ability to walk and stretch yourself, TV which showed movies, toilets and even in-car bar!
To our great sorrow this service fell victim of the recent crisis, the management cited loss-making since passenger flow dropped as the reason to close. However, to our inexperienced in mass transit minds it is just unbelievable that this great service became loss-making and couldn’t survive, we still observe huge number of people traveling between the cities everyday and we’re very sure many of them would be willing to pay more for more comfortable service comparing to buses between cities. And we greatly hope that one day it will come back to life again.
DAMPS/NAMPS network, formerly Beeline / Fora
Not that we would miss it too much, but as a tribute to something once very trendy.
The 90s saw the rise of mobile networks and while nobody then could predict which standard will win. These were the glorious days of mobile phones costing 3000-5000 dollars, you can never be as cool again as you were those days if you had mobile phone.
The 2000s came in with DAMPS/NAMPS network going full ahead, it was then known under Fora trademark, then Beeline bought this company and started upgrading it to GSM standard, while DAMPS/NAMPS network became outdated and phased out. However, it continued to service some of its diehard customers till this very New Year. The company pulled the plug on it 1st of Jan, 2010.
New York Times bar
This was a fantastic bar and disco at Lenina, 12. It’s recipe for success was dead simple - good location, live music, drinks at liberal prices. Very simple, isn’t it. It won our hearts by meaning live music as live rock-n-roll most of the time, and it was just great for us probably getting too old.
It was swept away as its parent company ran into difficulties, following the economy crisis. The details are not very public, but it seems that the parent company ran aground, and either lost this business to creditors or was forced out of the premises for non-payment.
Hangar bar
When it opened in around 2002 (not sure about the year), it was pretty solid hit. It was unusual, it was trendy, it was hip, it was cool and all that, and add to this what we call ‘liberal prices’. And the location was top.
For those who’ve missed it - it was the aircraft/aviation themed restaurant/bar, located on the corner of Sovetskaya and Vokzalnaya Magistral.
Unsurprisingly, it was a big difficulty to get in past 6PM, normally all tables were booked.
Well, the reason for great success of the place was pretty simple - it was very good, it has great location and the most importantly, at the time the number of really good bars was fairly low.
However, what happened to it is that it’s success just dried up as the times change. There are now much more bars/restaurants in the city, and in the central part as well, and Hangar bar lost its ‘trendy’ feeling. We’re not sure if it changed owners, but the last time we were there it gave feeling as if run by completely other people, and as if it very basic normal bar which just happens to be located in the premises of the old one.
Autoland (car dealership)
Another story of how crisis turns things sour. Autoland was one of the oldest car dealerships in Novosibirsk, it sold many famous brands - Ford, Land Rover, Jaguar, Volvo, Mistubishi and some more). In 2008 the company had roughly 25% of official car dealership sales share in Nsk. In September 2009 the company closed its doors never to open them again. While there might be some management mistakes, the most obvious reason is tremendous drop in car sales since the crisis started.
If you have any comments, suggestions, ideas, please email us. Your feedback is very important.
Mr. Gorodetskiy, the Mayor of Novosibirsk, announced yesterday that the amount of financing provided for the construction of the awfully needed Third Bridge will be doubled this year thus hopefully increasing construction time. No exact indication however on the shortened schedule.
Today Putin announced that he believes that the gasoline price is too high in Russia and this is just damn great development for everyone who like us has a car. We truly believe he is right and whatever the possible decrease might be, we will welcome any.
Not sure if this is linked to heat wave in Moscow or not, but our weather forecasters expect heat wave of up to +30C coming to Nsk within a week's time.
The company you probably never heard of, Tomsk-Avia, announced launch of the new flights to Tomsk and Omsk from Novosibirsk. The flights are run three times a week, Monday, Wednesday, Friday. The only problem with the flights is the aircraft it is run on - the dreaded An-24, Soviet-made. Though we don't have worries about its safety and reliability, the comfort is a big question mark. Anyway, the ability to get to Omsk in less than two hours is a huge improvement over train trip which is 6-8 hours.
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.
