Blogs from Kaliningrad, Northwest, Russia, Europe
September 4th 2010
I've got a late flight from Kaliningrad to Minsk on Belavia, the Belarusian national airline. Check-out time at my hotel is noon; I've arranged to leave my suitcase, but I need to find something to do with myself from noon until my ride at 18:00. It's raining again. Alexandr has urged me to tour the блиндаж (Nazi bunker), and I've gotten good instructions about how to find it, so I have the hotel call a taxi for me and I wait outside on the covered patio. Several kittens and I vie for the few dry spaces. There are cats all over Kaliningrad (and most subsequent cities). I don't know if they're true strays or just pets allowed outdoors, but there lots of them. This seems consistent with what I've noticed on every European trip: pets here ... read more
I'm not even supposed to be here today!
Published: February 1st 2011Europe » Russia » Northwest » Kaliningrad » Baltiysk
September 3rd 2010
A new day! Did I mention how great the breakfasts are in my hotel? Hot dishes! Блины (blini)! Potato pancakes with sour cream! Nom nom nom. In the morning, I'm met by Elena, my paid tour guide. We're heading to Балтийск (Baltiysk), a coast city which is almost totally uninteresting except for the compelling fact that even today, nobody in Kaliningrad really understands whether foreigners are allowed to visit it or not. Back in May, the aforementioned Staus and the aforementioned Aleksandr had a heated argument about this, in Russian, on a CouchSurfing forum, which I followed along by running their posts through Google Translate: Aleksandr argues that he has taken foreign tourists there many times, and the official rule doesn't matter because (paraphrasing), "the old grandmother who checks passes at the entrance to th... read more
Determined to find the cloud in this silver lining
Published: September 12th 2010Europe » Russia » Northwest » Kaliningrad
September 2nd 2010
Well, here it is, my first real chance to travel somewhere non-touristy, and I'm sad to say I'm being a total wimp about it. I still hate the hordes of tourists in places like Prague, and I still prefer hanging with locals or otherwise trying to blend in, but here on my own I'm missing little conveniences. Specifically, right now, a bottle of fizzy water. I know it's a source of humor regarding Americans and our free refills of everything, but seriously, I do not get how Europeans manage to be anything other than permanently dehydrated. And this is coming from me, who at home am well-known for being mostly dehydrated. One of many ways to easily spot a tourist in Europe is if they're carrying any kind of water with them. In Gdańsk, my hotel ... read more
September 1st 2010
On the evening I arrived in Калининград (Kaliningrad), I had arranged to meet Staus, a CouchSurfer who had been particularly helpful to me online. He worried I might be tired from the trip, which I was, but I suspected I would need a really fundamental orientation to the city when I arrived, which I desperately did. It wasn't quite what I got, but I got something way more fun and memorable. Staus and his friend Anton (who did not, as far as I can tell, speak English) arrived late to pick me up, having gotten lost trying to find my hotel. This continued to not bode well for the location of the hotel. We walked toward the city, I pretended I wasn't struggling to keep up with young long-legged dudes, and we ended up at a ... read more
I HAVE CONFIDENCE IN ... oh help
Published: September 8th 2010Europe » Russia » Northwest » Kaliningrad
August 31st 2010
"What do you mean, the train takes six hours? It's only 150 km; that's not more than three!" - a Polish person Yeah, about that. The border crossing between Poland and Russia is not part of the EU's Schengen Area, so getting into Russia is almost as time-consuming, numbingly bureaucratic, and infuriating as getting into the USA. The train between Gdańsk and Kaliningrad only resumed operation this summer, so even locals were surprised to know it was running. I actually scouted out the train station the day before, to be absolutely goddamn sure which platform, and I arranged a cab from my hotel rather than deal with luggage and cobblestones and weather and my propensity to get lost taking irresistible "shortcuts" through the old town. The train itself is adorable; that's the only word for it. ... read more
June 10th 2010
Vandaag een rustdagje in Rusland. Een beetje langer geslapen na de late nachtconversaties. Bij het ontwaken was enkel Vladimir hier. Beetje relaxen. Tegen de middag kwam zijn moeder thuis die in den naburige school, ze maakte verse groentesoep. Oh dat smaakte na al die instantsoep. Ook nog iets van vlees in een bladerdeegzakje, aparte smaak. Na de middag hebben we nog een wasmachine gestart en dan ging Vladimir even uit huis en toen zijn zuster, Irena thuis was ging ik met haar op pad. We gingen naar de zee waar er een metalen constructie fungeerde als wandeldijk. Er was opvallend veel volk op het strand aanwezig voor een weekdag. We gingen nog even langs het aanpalende bos waar er toch opvallend veel vervuiling aanwezig was. Ecologie is niet echt HOT hier. Hier in het dorp zijn ... read more
June 9th 2010
Na iets teveel getreuzel men pensojonat verlaten. Nog even wat inkopen gedaan om met Zloty’s op te maken maar ik heb er nog 50 over, dan richting grens. 3 checkpoints staan met te wachten. Bij de eerste kijken ze enkel men reispas na en visum, de tweede is immigratie waar ik een formulier moet invullen over men verblijfplaats en duur. Op post drie delen ze wat stempelkes uit en wordt de reispas nog eens nagekeken. Dit duurt wel heel erg lang. Hij vraagt iets over de foto en nog een ander document. Ik weet van niets. Dan verdwijnt hij met men reispas. Ik wacht ongeduldig af. Ondertussen staat er nog een officier in een mooi carnavalskostuum rond te draaien. Uiteindelijk mag ik toch vertrekken. Een bord verwelkomt me in het Engels. Ik heb hier maar geen ... read more
May 9th 2009
I had been told that the old city of Königsberg was gone and that the present city of Kaliningrad was nothing to write home about. But I have decided to write home anyhow. Kaliningrad is a fascinating place seeing that almost all the inhabitants are immigrants from Mother Russia. This old Preussian stronghold which fostered people such as Immanuel Kant, is today a Russian exclave in the center of Europe and enclosed by EU and NATO countries. Here in between Poland, Lithuania and the Baltic Sea, everything is in cyrillic, people speak nothing but Russian and the reminder of grotesk Soviet architecture is everywhere. The people of Kaliningrad But though the people of Kaliningrad are citizens of Russia, and vivid supporters of the Russian ice-hockey team, they also seem very European. In difference to Little Moscow ... read more
May 8th 2009
May 8, 2009 Bus: Eurolines, Riga, Latvia - Kaliningrad, Russia The bus to Kaliningrad left Riga last night at 10PM.. arriving at 7AM in Kaliningrad city. The bus only stopped twice, once about 00:45 at Šiauliai in Lithuania, then again at 3:15 at the Russian/Lithuanian border at Sovetsk. First we were stamped out of Lithuania (stayed on the bus), then drove across the bridge to the Russian side where everyone had to get off and go through immigration. There was a long line of cars waiting here at the border even at 3:30AM! The buses get preferential treatment however and it only took about 30 minutes to get everyone stamped and back onto the bus. I had gotten a dual-entry Russian visa, once for St. Petersburg, the other entry was for Kaliningrad. We were soon on ... read more
July 16th 2008
On the 6th week of my overseas trip I am currently sitting in a park witha beautiful fountain writing this on a nice summers day. The weather here is very strange. It has been humid at times, but most days it is cloudy and often looks like it will rain and it has a fair bit. Bu currently it's quite clear. Today I eel 100 times better than yesterday. I feel as if I have new eyes and a new heart to the city. Aside from normal reasons for grumpiness, I think Russia can overwhelm you. You can't let it break you. It takes a little while to adjust,it's hard to explain. This is Russia, once one of the worlds leading superpowers (is it still?). It's enormity covers many areas, geographical, presence, language, the list goes ... read more
