Astana - Part I

We have a very nice one bedroom apartment in Astana which is extremely close to The Residence, which is basically the Kazakh version of the White House. How close, you ask? So close that I am actually willing to walk there when the temperature is below freezing to take pictures.



The Parliament and High Court buildings are also in this area. I've decided that some very important people must live in the building next to our since there is always a row of brand new, freshly wash Toyota Camry’s with drivers ... just waiting.

We are in the new part of Astana that has been built since the capital was relocated here in 1997. There is a ton of construction under way, but according to our translator, much of it has been put on hold due to the global financial meltdown. The architecture is much more interesting than what we typically see in Texas, and apparently it is because much of the city was designed by Kisho Kurokawa and Norman Foster.

Today we our translator took us to the trading center, which was sadly just like an American mall, same products, same prices. It even had a Sbarro. Across the street was an entertainment center which had some arcade games and an aquarium. The aquarium was small, but nice. I think it was probably better than the Texas State Aquarium in Corpus Christi. Another American couple may be arriving next week so we hope to get out and take in some more sights when they arrive.