omsk

made it to omsk. this bit of lonely planet seems hopelessly out of date :-(

went to get a nice cup of coffee and check email, only to wander the cold and windy streets for a couple of hours looking hopelessly for either. upon giving up, I wandered over to a district of the city which my guidebook implied was Mostly Harmless, I discovered instead a bustling shopping street, with not one, but two delightful coffee shops *and* a busy internet cafe/bar where the attendant even spoke english, enough to say "No, I don't speak English; use the computer first and then pay afterwards."

There are some fun statues/memorials here -- an eternal flame (either for war or revolution - not sure), and a crazy modern-art iron skeleton man on horse.