Saiga's Notes

NN is divided on two parts by the river Oka. One part is low and is called 'Zarechje' (on the left shore). Upper part is called 'Nagornaya' (on the right shore). It is situated on high-lands called 'Dyatlovy Gory' (Dyatlovy Hills'). 3 bridges connect parts, and that's our main problem - traffic through bridges. The best sight is lower shore from the opposite. The best local sightseeing is Kremlin, churches (a plenty in different parts of town), Rozhdestvenskaya str. with the houses of merchants, Bolshaya Pokrovskaya str., Verchne-Volzskaya Naberezhnaya. There are 7 districts. Nizhegorodsky - the oldest. Most sight seeing is located here. Business and administration centre of the city. Sovetsky - new district. Nearest to Nizhegorodsky. Nothing interesting. Good to live in. The same goes to Prioksky. These are three right-shore districts. Now about left shore. Kanavinsky. Second the oldest. Some good sightseeings, including ancient Fair...

Here I give two good galleries of NN: http://www.admcity.nnov.ru/references/views/index.html http://www.unn.runnet.ru/rus/volgovy...nizhnov/nn.htm

If you have been to Moscow, NN's climate is much the same, it's humid continental. The difference is that we have 1-2 weeks longer winter and a bit more snow. We've got two large rivers, the Volga and the Oka, and a large hydroelectric reservoir 50 kilometers from the town, named Gorky Sea. Climate makes possible the following outdoors: skiing (there are 3 big ski parks in the city and lots of other facilities in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast), mountain skiing (there are about 5 or 6 equipped facilities in the region), boating of all kinds, biking. Hilly right bank of Oka  makes possible mountain skiing and rocky biking just in the centre of the town. There are some large forestlands, mainly pine-trees and fur-trees.

Now about culture. Except sightseeing, you can visit art museum ( http://artmuseum.r52.ru/ , http://www.unn.runnet.ru/rus/volgovy...izhnov/museum/ ) pretty good one. There are a plenty of pictures of famous russian and european artists. It will take about half a day to go through all the pictures. Now local theatres and more. Ballet Theatre - not bad, though can't be compared to Moscow or St. Pete theatres. Drama Theatre - plays classical (Hello Dolly, Mack the Knife) and of modern russian authors. Comedy Theatre - I don't quite understand it's speciality, though this one is the most fashionable. Young Spectator Theatre (Tyuz). While touring, most of Moscow troupes give performances here. Interesting local event is annual 'Ads Eaters Night'. Puppet Theatre. For kids mostly, though a lot of adults get much of pleasure at the performances. Conservatory. Classical music. Chamber theatre. I never was at. Kremlin Concert Hall. Base...

Now some words about Nizhny Novgorod fitness and sports centres. As I can judge, there are a lot of dance schools throughout the city. The choice you make depends on the area you live or work and your own preferences. Listing local yellow pages, I counted about 50 schools teaching all known kinds of dance. The most well-known fitness centres are 'World Class' ( http://www.worldclass.nnov.ru/ru/ ) and 'Jogy' ( http://www.joggyfitness.ru/ ).

If you come abroad, there are Lufthansa flights from Europe. If there's need to get from Moscow, there are flights, train and bus. Comparing plane and train from Moscow, I would advise train. It would take less time and more comfortable schedule. Nizhny Novgorod is 6 hrs by day train or about 8 hours by night train or by bus from Moscow. Train takes: 1 hour from hotel to station; 6 hours in train; 0,5 hour from station to hotel. All together 7,5-8 hours. As to schedule, you would arrive at 8-9 p.m. Plane takes: 1 hour by underway; 1 hour by bus or train to the airport; 1-2 hours waiting and registration; 1 hour flight; 0,5 hours to get a luggage; 1 hour to hotel from airport. All together 5,5-7 hours, and you would arrive at 11 p. m. I would dare to recommend to take some lessons of Russian before arriving to town, or find a person who would follow you here. It isn't always possible to find someone English-speaking at the streets.