Rostov Practicalities

ORIENTATION.
The bus and train stations are located on the road from Moscow to Yaroslavl. The city centrum is located 15 minutes walking from the bus and train stations along Lunacharskogo and Belinskogo streets. At the end of Belinskogo street there's a small market, some food shop and the main shopping street of the town - Karla Marksa street. The core of the centrum is the Kremlin, and behind the Kremlin there's Nero lake.
If you take a bus from the busstation to the direction of Yaroslavl, you'll reach a residential area with a strange name - 'Kuba'. There's the main post and phone office in the city, as well as some shops and cafes.

COMMUNICATION.
The phone code of Rostov Veliky is 08536. If you make a local phonecall inside Rostov you should just dial a 5-digit local phone number, without any codes.
The main post, phone and telegraph office in Rostov is located a bit far from the city centrum in the eastern area of Rostov called 'Kuba' for some unknown reason. The address of the place is #44, Severnaya (Северная) street, and it's opened 24 hours a day. You can get there from the bus station taking bus routes #1, #2, #5, #107, or #101 (it'll take around 10-15 minutes). To find the needed stop easily, ask any local where's 'Yartelecom' (the name of the local telecom company): just say 'gde yartelecom?' and make the emphasis on the question mark. If nobody knows where 'Yartelecom' is, ask where Kuba is ('gde kuba?').
The fastest internet access is available at the 'Yartelecom' office (see the location above), but there's only one computer, so you have to come early or queue to get it.
There's also a computer salon closer to the centrum at the dormitory of Agriculture colledge, located in #47 along Oktyabrskaya (Октябрьская) street that leads to Moscow. It's a 15-minute walk from the Kremlin. The computer salon is opened daily from 9 to 23. One hour costs 30 r ($1 US), but the internet connection is quite slow.
The closest computer salon to the centrum (where they want to install internet connection in the end of September) is located at the entrance to 'Spartak' stadium, which is just 5 minute walk from the Kremlin. It's easy to find: walk away from the west gate of the Kremlin to the direction of 'Nero' cafe until you see a big stadium. Cross the stadium and walk in the small building behind it. The computer salon is opened 24 hours. Phone: (08536) 3-28-44.
The mobile phones of 'MTS' company are working in the whole Yaroslav region, including Rostov. Aminute with 'MTS' costs around $0.50 if you phone inside Yaroslav region, and around $0.70 if you phone to Moscow. If you have roaming with this company, you can easily use your cellphone in Rostov.

MONEY.
(the prices are in $US) You can find the currency exchange in 'Sberbank' bank office 5-10 minutes walk from the Kremlin along Kommunarnaya street.
The prices for food and clothes in Rostov are the same as in Moscow or St Pete. You can have a dinner in a local restaurant for 30-100 roubles ($1-$3.5), depends if it's a tourist place of for locals. The price of accommodation depends on the quality: the cheapest bed in a dorm is 70 roubles ($2.5) in 'The House on Cellars' hotel, the double room with a kitchen, a living room, and a nice view on Nero lake is 450 roub ($15) a day in 'Hors' guesthouse.

SHOPPING.
All shopping can be made on Karla Marxa street, which is abundant with shops of any kind. There are many food shops, mostly opened from 9 to 17 (or 18), the main pharmacy of the town, a photoshop (opened 9-18 weekdays, 10-15 on sat and sun), some souvenir shops, clothes shops, and others.
Also, there are some 'produkty' (food) shops along the street that leads to the bus and train stations.

WHERE TO EAT IN ROSTOV.
The most centrally located restaurant is 'Trapeznaya' restaurant inside the Kremlin. Great location, large ancient hall of the Kremlin with big tables covered with red clothes (you start to think about the Slavs who feasted their victories here, talking loudly and throwing the chicken legs behind the shoulder). But the restaurant is not good at all, because the style is not kept: there's some crappy modern Russian music playing from a big sound system, and a TV with the latest news on air installed in the ancient dining rooms.
But next to this restaurant, inside the Kremlin, there's a small cafe in a souvenir shop in the same building as 'Dom na Pogrebakh' hotel. There you can have a traditional Russian alocohol - 'Medovukha' ('Медовуха') or a sweet non-alcoholic dring 'Kvas' ('Квас'). Both are very nice and cost only 10 roubles ($0.3).
Another central restaurant called 'Slavyanka' is located behind the eastern Kremlin walls, on Sovetskaya quare #8. (phone: 3-22-28).
If you want to go native, try the local favourite – 'Nero' cafe on Kammeny most (Каменный мост) street, within a 2-minute walk from the western gates of the Kremlin, next to 'Spartak' stadium. The interior is simple but clean, the toilets stink, but the waitress is cheerful and the food is nice and cheap: you can have a meal (consisting, for example, of a salad, a starter, a chicken with baked potatoes, pancakes (bliny) with honey for dessert, and a juice) for as little as 40 roubles ($1.3). The cafe is opened from 10 to 22 daily.

BOAT RIDES.
Opposite of the Kremlin, on the shore of Nero lake, there a boat rental, working while there's no ice on the lake from 11 in the morning until 8 in the evening. Actually the boat rental consists of two boats, a guy, and a witty boy who finds clients for the guy. A 15-minute ride by motor-boat around an island costs about 50 roubles ($1.7), you can also rent a boat and row for one hour, costs 100 roubles ($3.5), and up to 4 people can fit into this boat. The prices given were bargained, so negotiate.

SWIMMING.
The 'Nero' lake in Rostov is the biggest natural lake in Yaroslavl region. It was created by the glaciers, and in its longest and widest parts is 12 km long and 8 km wide. It takes the space of 56 sq kilometers. It's not very deep, the average depth is 1 - 1.5 meters, the maximum depth is 4 meters. The bottom of the lake is soft, and because there are not many industries it's ok to swim there.