Matviy Andreyev

Dnipro: children's railway and a ropeway

Matviy Andreyev

There were no railway tickets available this time, so we had to take the bus. Being bored, I took a photo of the stupid movie far away near the driver, but the road quality was very bad somewhere after Kremenchuk.

That photo turned out to be a plot of shaking over potholes:

a long exposure night photo of a TV movie on a intercity bus when riding on very bad roads

Had my brains a bit shaken and sleep-deprived. Forgot my mobile phone in the bus early in the morning. Tried to run back but — alas! — the bus had already departed. After talking to the manager and the bus driver, I got the phone back in five days.

Here is one of non-trivial buildings of Dnipro.

a non-trivial building in Dnipro

The so-called stairs of Dracula.

stairs of Dracula in Dnipro

Old insides of the old living blocks in the city center. The painted text «трудоустройство» is russian for «employment».

Напис «Трудойстройство» «employment» painted on a brick wall with a boarder up window

A very unusual class letter on the sidewalk near some Montessori school: «11-th У». Parallel class letters on the post-soviet territory start from letter A and continue alphabetically. It is not an option that some school had, has or will have that many parallel classes. Maybe they let the schoolkids choose the letter of their class by casting votes? The letter is insignificant and could be sacrificed to entertain the kids easily.

Floor painted letters «The last 11-th У» on the tarmac near a school in Dnipro, Ukraine

Outskirts? No, this was a street called Tallinnska in the downtown.

A little side street Tallinnska in the center of Dnipro

I went to see the children's railway in Hloba's park. I came too late to ride it on that day. The trains were standing simply under the sun, and their «faces» resembled skulls.

The faces of kids railway trains in Dnipro, Ukraine

Best before dates on a railway carriage. One date had already passed, but was prolonged.

A carriage built on 23.04.1960 usage prolonged until 17.11.2010

The Hloba's park is okay.

A retro tram car for a slightly bigger ticket price — it was UAH 1.5 versus the UAH 1 in usual trams.

A retro tram carriage in Dnipro

I noticed that there must be a ropeway in Dnipro when preparing my sightseeing list. It existed indeed, but as a non-moving object having rust on it.

Abandoned ropeway in Dnipro, 2010
Silhouettes of ropeway booths in Dnipro, Ukraine, 2010

It was a pity. I was going to use it to get on the Monastyrsky island. Had to walk — an option I totally and gladly welcomed.

THe pillar of the ropeway in Dnipro, Ukraine, 2010

There was a tiny zoo on the island. It looked sad to me.

A tiny zoo on the Monastyrsky island in Dnipro

Here is the full version of the broken warning from the previous photo: «Food to be thrown into the feeder or over the fence. No hand-feeding».

A tiny zoo on the Monastyrsky island in Dnipro. Warning about how to feed and how not to feed the animals