Astana skyline at night

LtoR: Khan Shatyr, football stadium, Triumph of Astana, ice-stadium, etc.

Astana, it has to be said, is quite a spectacle at night, with its flamboyant architecture and colourful lighting. This is the view from my roof - more of this to follow.

Jazz inside the circle of folly

The circle. Of folly.

The Norwegian embassy put on a free concert in the circle of folly and this was a great chance to see inside. It's a great building actually: iconic from a far, but also with an interesting presence when you're nearby, and the inside flows naturally and curiously. We were in an auditorium for the Norwegian jazz, which was mostly barely jazz - just the odd but very welcome blue note - but nonethless really good.

Jazztastic. Bring on the cheesy saxophone.

Before the concert began someone was tuning the piano and the sound of it was really warm and beautiful; following that it was mic'd up and some horrific reverb was applied; the whole concert proceeded with the speakers louder than the piano itself and the sound was disappointing - I might as well have just listend to a CD.

Not to worry, some entertainment was due near the end when some students came to join the pianist: a bass guiter, drums, and two saxohphonists, one of whom was painfully familiar.

Drunk on Norwegian jazz; the pyramid is opposite the circle.

More toilet signs?

Mmmmm ....

Mmmmm ..... zzzhhhh ... mmmmm... zzzhhhh?

Plov is usually a safe bet in Kazakhstan. It's an Uzbek dish: rice and meat and some veg, simple but delish; and it's well served in an ostensibly Uzbek restaurant called Kyshlak, in town under the big arch of KazMunaiGaz (the national energy company, pics to follow). So I recommend Kyshlak, it's got a lovely interior and a good atmosphere. Good luck finding the right toilet though.

Krusty Krabs

Textbook branding disaster

Exquisite bench

Glorious

What a glorious number. This manifestation of divine inspiration is a credit to mankind and his creator (a rather objective process of natural selection, with some mutation thrown in there). Who would want to sit still when it's cold enough to freeze mercury (not to mention the round cushions atop one's thighs) I do not know, but on the thawing of winter this exsquisite bench will simultaneously host a great number of guests, all of whom will surely be content to the highest degree; and should they not be then they should move aside and allow that pleasure to another, for they do not know what they have, and it should not be wasted upon them.

Lifted higher by the Lufthansa Nauruz bunny

The Nauruz bunny.

Continuing with our series of reviews of airlines that fly in Kazakhstan, Lufthansa are a great airline on which with whom to whomever with to fly to Astana with because their sandwiches are of a very high quality. 

On my recent flight with Lufthansa, which is German for 'lifted higher by the Lufthansa Nauruz bunny', I was given a special chocolate bunny, probably to celebrate the recent festival of Nauruz. By coincidence it was the week running up to Easter, but I don't think that's relevant. It was delicious.

It was only when exiting the plane and walking through POSH class that I realised that they were given a far superior Lindt bunny. I felt most agrieved.

Ski Sunday

Gulim steams ahead

It's difficult to spend more than a few minutes outdoors in the middle of winter. A great exception to this is skiing, and there is no better day to ski than Sunday. 

I couldn't find Sue Barker anywhere, and there is not a hill in sight, so you may wonder how Astana might host such an activity (duh duh dum .. di di dee di di dee di di dee ... etc). 

Park, winter, beaut.

Well cold means snow, and we are blessed with Astana City Park. Put the two together and you have cross-country skiing. This park is overlooked by most residents due to its great age. While in London the age of parks is celebrated, some of them well over 100 years old, in Astana a park is not considered desirable beyond its fifth birthday.

Neverthless, there is a track and ski hire in the park, and one can burn quite a lot of energy on a Sunday afternoon, easily spending an hour outdoors enjoying the fresh air and the beauty of the snow covered park.

Me, taking it all very seriously

Folly

Thanks to Andy Lyle for this panoramic of Astana, which I have annotated.

Follicles in eastern Astana, from a portion of Andy's panoramic. Click to see more.

Central perk

You've perked up: sitting on the Ishim in central Astana.

I had a great suggestion for a fluid mechanics experiment in the rivier Ishim, which cuts Astana in half, but was shot down immediately when I was told that it had frozen! This was back in November, when the winter was still to unleash its full potential (or lack of it, if you're a physicist). Nevertheless the river was frozen and this was, to me, a curious and novel thing. My only experience up to then was a frozen stream in England, where there's ice on top, and water running beneath, and if you tap your toe on the ice it cracks and water comes streaming out.

Spritely sprite: 2D me, facing the other way.

When I arrived at the frozen Ishim I realised how different a real frozen river is. Not only is it frozen but (obvs!) it's covered in snow. So the centre of this capital city had this huge, white, empty field in the middle of it. Absurd! But it has its perks: children (and adults, who are we kidding?!) enjoyed sledging down the icy river bank, which is clad with ice bricks hosting coloured lights within them, and there was a display of ice sculptures on the river. Some fishing holes are drilled through the ice, and generally it's a nice big open space for a walk. I think someone was selling rides on a snowmobile too.

Technical note: photos taken in February