Irkutsk is basically in the center of Russia. It was an outpost in Siberia where mostly nomad people lived and took weeks to get to from Moscow by horse and carriage over horrible roads. At the end of the nineteenth century the merchants waited patiently hoping that the Trans-Siberian railroad would come through Irkutsk. By this time, the village had grown to a much larger town and it was becoming a center of trade. The decision of where the railroad would be built would determine the fate of Irkutsk. Alexander the II decided on Irkutsk despite the difficulties building through the mountains and close to the lake. Irkutsk became a booming city.

But this was later and we need to go back into the time of the Czar, Alexander I. A group of Russian aristocrats were in France fighting in the Napoleonic Wars with an army of Russian peasants. Russia was still in a state of serfdom and the aristocrats observed that the peasants from other countries, who were fighting, were free. These peasants would be going home to their own land, while the Russian peasants were expected to go back to their homes, with or without limbs, and work the soil for their lord.

Once they were back home these aristocrats formed a secret society. One was in Moscow and the other Kiev. They wrote a manifesto to present to the czar giving freedom to the peasants, freedom of speech etc. but circumstances prevented them from presenting this manifesto and they decided to stage a revolution. The czar got wind of this and defeated them.

This is a simple version of the history to explain how the Decembrists came to be. Some of the men were hanged or shot and others were sent to Siberia for twenty years of hard labor. Most of them were young and not married, but those that were had to leave their children and wives behind. They were not allowed to speak French (the language of the Russian aristocrats) and they were scattered in different areas in Siberia.

Some of the wives followed, some had to leave their children behind. If the wives followed they were not allowed to take very much money, no longer allowed to return, and their only contact to the outside world was through letters or the occasional visitor. These women were brought up to entertain, paint, etc, found themselves relying on the local peasants to help them establish a small hut and learn how to grow food in order to survive. They were allowed to visit their husbands twice a week.

Meanwhile, the Decembrists, using their education and individual strengths would gather at night in dark, after working in the mines and teach each other English, astrology or other sciences. There were doctors, geologist, artists, and linguist among them so they kept their minds sharp in this way. Children were born, some survived but none would ever be able to take the title that had been their birth right. They would be peasant children.

The Decembrist and their wives started schools in the villages and when they were finally allowed to leave, having served only 8 to 10 years, the village people were upset because they had never imagined that their children would have been able to be educated as they had been and this would no longer be available to them. Slowly the Decembrist were allowed to move into Irkutsk because of pressure from relatives in Moscow and sympathetic people. Their homes became gathering places for intellects. Irkutsk became a stopping point for many travellers such as Chekhov. He remarked that Irkutsk was the “Paris of Siberia.”

Irkutsk is a city of diverse architecture, from the Russian orthodox churches to the wooden homes painted in bright colors and elaborate shutters and window trim.

From large Russian style sculptures of Lenin, Alexander the Second, and the fierce tiger with an ermine in its mouth, the symbol of Irkutsk.

A river divides the city flowing north out of Lake Baikal eventually to the Atlantic Ocean. Our guesthouse was in the center of the city, built of logs inside and out. Charming and convenient, we were able to walk to many restaurants. This is not our guest house!!

Back to the train station with the realization that I would have to lug my suitcase down the same set of stairs that I had come up four days before and once again back to the platform. I figured there had to be a porter somewhere in the train station and our guide was able to locate one. Never have I been so happy to see this strapping young man carry both of our suitcases up and down the stairs like they were featherweights. Seriously, next long trip is going to be two pairs of pants and two shirts. Well maybe three so I can wash one. I would be fine if I did not have to have 6 different layers to stay warm. Yesterday I started with long underwear, warm ski pants, fleece, wool vest. Parka, raincoat, wool hat, mittens and a neck warmer and still could have used another layer.

I think spring is coming, there are budding trees everywhere.