What really sold Kaliningrad Region as a destination to me was its complex identity as well as the beautiful scenery without the crowds typically found in the country’s South in the summertime. I wasn’t fooling myself by expecting to be able to duplicate my European trips. I’d been thinking of ways to process this trip … Continue reading Conclusion. Did I Find Europe in Kaliningrad Region?
The more I travel, the more I grow to appreciate being able to try new foods. Probably as you grow older (regardless of the amount of traveling experience), you learn the importance of mundane things. In my attempt to get a little taste of Europe in this complicated part of my country, I wanted to try something … Continue reading Kaliningrad Region. Food
Given the massive historic transformations over the last century, we can expect people living in Kaliningrad Region to have complex identities. When Königsberg was renamed into Kaliningrad, this region had already been German for about 700 years. At some point in its history, it was cut off from the mainland Germany and there were a … Continue reading Kaliningrad Region. People
In places with such a complicated history and identity as Kaliningrad Region, little details are really important to absord and process. While traveling, you don’t normally expect wherever you are staying to be of any great significance to the place’s or region’s character unless you are specifically on the lookout for something quaint. We weren’t looking for that, but as given the current popularity of Zelenogradsk, … Continue reading Kaliningrad Region. Man-Made Environment
It seemed symbolic to start my exploration of Kaliningrad Region by spending a while taking in the views of the Baltic Sea at sunset in the town of Zelenogradsk (formerly Cranz), our base for the next few days. Living in a country known for its harsh climate during a good part of the year we still see a sea … Continue reading Kaliningrad Region. Natural Environment
Kaliningrad Region is a Russian exclave sandwiched between Poland and Lithuania. Where do these two EU members stand in the heterogeneous unit? Before Lithuania joined the EU, it had been part of the USSR. Can this European state sitting 'on the front line between Russia and the West’ fully embrace its Europeanness? Among the other two states with the … Continue reading Kaliningrad Region. Geography
BACKGROUND In August 2021, without leaving Russia I got the closest I had ever been to Europe in the last two years. But what is Europe to me, a female teaching an international language for a living born in the late 1980s in a tiny town in what used to be the USSR? Besides, given my humble origin, I … Continue reading Looking for Europe in Kaliningrad Region
I am not a fan of group tours, but it is good to have somebody else take care of navigation and time management for a change. Places like the one I have visited today might need a professional tour guide to help you decipher, decode and generally make sense of what is in front of you. I could have gone to one of the neighboring republics (Mari … Continue reading Kazan. Part 6.Travelling Way Back in Time (The Volga Bolghar). Concluding Thoughts
As per usual, my last full day in a new city is about exploring some parts which seem to have been left ignored. Well, it is no wonder these are often those closest to where you stay. Kremlin Street, which is home to the government institutions, is one of them. Actually through a glass window in my apartment landing going up and down … Continue reading Kazan. Part 5. Great People of Kazan: Literature, Linguistics, Politics, Science
A graffiti showing a man wearing a tubeteika (a national cap) in Tatarstan Avenue Tatarstan Avenue led me to finally see the Volga River which has a special place in the hearts of Russians. It flows entirely through Russia. I knew I had to see this national river here for the first time in my life. While a … Continue reading Kazan. Part 4. The Volga River, Music, Metrolingualism
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