05/08/2019: Guided tour in Omsk

The first impression has been confirmed: at least the city center of Omsk is very beautiful. This is probably due to the many buildings along the "main street", which were built during the tsarist era and were intended to imitate St. Petersburg.

Our local guide Wladimir told several stories about it (too many for some), which made the whole thing even more vivid.

We skipped the museum visit and instead went to the beer garden, which allegedly serves the best beer in Siberia (Sibirskaja Korona). The brewery was equipped with German equipment, so Spaten or "Lowenbrau" was also available, which is brewed on site under license.

In the evening, during dinner, we had a meeting with a representative of the Russian Germans here. The region is a stronghold with about 50,000 members of the German minority. The German government provides financial support. According to nasty rumors, only to prevent them from heading to Germany as well.