Taste of Zabaikalye Tour 2018, No. 2

CHUCK RITCHIE WRITES:

August 21: One of our outings here in Listvyanka was dinner in the home of Sergei and Irina Beznosov.

The Beznosov home near Listvyanka. (Editor’s note: Listvyanka is a town on the banks of Lake Baikal a quick 90 minute drive from Irkutsk, now the principal tourism destination on the lake. Historical note: this road was dubbed “the Eisenhower road” when it was developed in the 1950s specially for a visit by President Eisenhower, a visit that was cancelled when a US spy plane was shot down over the USSR, exacerbating Cold War relations.)

Sergei and Irina Beznosov

The Beznosovs often open their home to foreign visitors so that we can see how a typical Russian family lives in the village. They have a fairly sizable lot, though much smaller than when their children were growing up. She washes linens  in a local hotel and he and one of his sons are professional drivers.

Their yard holds a very attractive yellow home with a large garden, several tool sheds, a classic outhouse, a guest house where we ate, and lovely gardens. Sergei’s “golden” hands built everything on the property. There is a shed that houses all kinds of artifacts from the Soviet era, including a mini library with Das Kapital, works by Lenin, and other Communist members. There is a delightful array of very creative figures that adorn the gardens and walks. I asked Irina who is the creative one, and she said, “B>oth of us. We think something up and then just go and do it.”

Irina and the pie to die for

Dinner at the Beznosovs

Dinner was all from their garden or larder. Vegetable salad, borsch, meat and potatoes and a fruit pie to die for. They are a very engaging couple and as they talked about what they have built for themselves it reminds me a lot of what life on the farm would be. Hard work, some ingenuity, ability to build and fix anything, a relationship with the soil. 

The Beznosov’s little museum of USSR era things

We exchanged gifts, at which time I made some mention of Trump. Sergei was quick to say we don’t talk politics: why after a lovely meal and good discussion would you want to bring politics into the mix? He gained my respect as he preserved what for our group was a wonderful evening of traditional Russian hospitality, good food, and a chance to make new friends.