In July after we had gotten settled in our townhouse, and all our furniture was more or less in place, I ventured alone on a fact-finding mission……… just what is at the City Mall anyway?

I wasn’t  sure just how far away it was, having only driven past it when on the way from the airport, and once with a friend, so I called a taxi.  Imagine my chagrin when I found myself there in about 3 minutes…… and paid 250 rubles ($8.00) for the privilege. “OK”, said Self, “unless I am carrying very heavy objects, or a great amount of groceries, I can walk here.  No taxi required. First stop was the grocery store….. not to buy anything yet, but I had discovered that the ATM there would accept my Norwegian bank card, and not many will.  Armed with a wad of ruble notes, I began my reconnaissance mission.

There are four floors in City Mall, with a huge open area in the middle.  Floors 1 and 3 have floors , while on floors 2 and 4, one can look down from a balcony, with stores ringing the centre court.

I wandered all around the mall.  The top floor seemed to be all furniture, the rest mostly clothing.  I discovered later that there is an electronics store on the 4th floor, and bought a new printer there….. but I’m skipping ahead of myself.

The third floor has a huge kids store – toys and some clothing as well.  Outside, there are these huge riding horses. Ok, I thought – I see that you pay so much for 15 minutes – but how do they go?

I discovered later that there is some sort of spring action in the legs, so when a child sort of bounces up and down, the legs spread forward and back and it rolls along.  It looks like great fun.  I wish my granddaughter was here so we could try it out.

The third floor also has the food court.  There is a wide array of choices – chicken, burgers, Russian food, pizza, donuts, and three oriental food stalls.  I went to the Japanese one because the pictures on the menu were the clearest,

and ordered a fish soup, I think mostly by pointing at the menu board. It was good.

Afterward, I went around and checked out some of the other choices – donuts

Cinnabon –

several ice cream venders – the Russians really like their ice cream……

and a wonderful chocolate shop with amazing sculptured chocolate – as well as some coffee, tea and flavoured syrups.

I looked at some of the clothing store windows.  As well as a Nike store and a Sportsmaster, there are numerous stores we recognize – like Max and Gloria Jeans.  And fancy lingerie  and bathing suits –

and shoes.

Ands childrens’ clothes that will drain your wallets, and knock your socks off.

Here is a more recent photo, just to give you an idea of what your little princess could wear in the winter.

There are also souvenir shops, a hunting and outdoors kiosk, Japanese and Korean shops –

glasses, restaurants, camera stores, watches…….. everything you would expect to find….

and a huge grocery store that is fairly well stocked – especially the liquor section.

As it is quite close, I often go to City Mall to do my shopping.  It is not the most exciting place in town, but sometimes, a bit of the familiar is exactly what this adventurer needs.