Day 12

After breakfast we did a trial run to train station. Our train tomorrow is 7:40 and we don’t want to miss it. The station is large and pretty. We entered in the main entrance but were told we should go in entrance #4 so we did, and found out that the train number will be shown on the status board to tell us which track it will depart from. We then took minibus #20 to the Decembrists museum, but the bus driver was an idiot who couldn’t even read a city map and did not know anything so he told us to get off at a wrong place.  It was a 10 minute walk to the museum. The museum actually has two parts – it consists of two “mansions” of the two most famous Decembrists (members of a secret society who plotted a rebellion against the tsar and were sentenced to exile to Siberia in 1825) the Trubetskoy and the Volkonskis. Both of them were wealthy aristocrats (princes), but they had to do hard labor in a mine near Irkutsk and then live in the area for many years. Their wives followed them and both households became the center of Irkutsk intellectual life. The museums are very interesting and well done, with explanations in English. After the museum we took the #20 bus back to our headquarters in Kirov square to have a little rest before further activities. Our next outing was for an afternoon meal.  We had several recommendations for the best restaurant. We walked 20 minutes to fifth army street to the restaurant (trapeznikov}.  It was the best food we have had here. Then we walked – total 8 miles.  Evening meal (8pm) at English Pub in our hotel.  The food was good.