Kaliningrad

On my walks up and down the main street, I’d noticed how bad the footpath was. Potholes everywhere and the street looked like it wanted some maintenance too. I hoped this wasn’t indicative of Russia in general. After cashing a cheque, I went in search of food, and found it in the nearby mall, conveniently opposite the hotel. I ordered by pointing and holding up fingers. Actually, I first tried my Russian, but my accent and memory were rubbish. I ended up with something cheap and tasty. And something caffeinated to drink.
I felt comfortable in Kaliningrad, but the weather decided it was time for a change. For the first time in my trip, it rained. Not on the first day in Russia, but the next, after I had rested, found some food for breakfast and started on a tour of the historic city. Koenigsburg used to be the capital of Prussia, then East Prussia and is a city ripe for historic tours. Unfortunately, when the Russians were chasing the Third Reich back to Berlin, Hitler decided that every major city became a fortress, and Koenigsburg had to be taken by storm after a bit of a siege. The result was a developer’s dream.
Stalin decided that redevelopment would take a certain form: the Germans would move out and the Russians move in. End of story. A few major landmarks survived the ravages of war. Immanuel Kant’s church is intact and quite pretty, as are several of the old gates from when K’burg was a fortress city at the end of the 19th century. There is still one gate from the time of Frederick the Great, but it is rather tatty. All the old gates are made of brick, and artillery is not brick-friendly. One is now a museum dedicated to the history of the (now demolished) fortress and gates. Some of the gates have had quite a chequered history, serving as warehouses, workshops, and so forth.
The Communist regime decided that K’burg would suffer for being a “fascist city”, and restorative maintenance was kept to a minimum. Consequently, a number of interesting landmarks are in appalling condition. The former palace of the elector of Brandenburg is an archaeological dig. It was almost completely destroyed. The regional government, freed from shackles of doctrinal thought, is hoping to reconstruct it, but don’t hold your breath. Kaliningrad is now an enterprise zone, so there are plenty of Euros and dollars floating around, but most of these are going toward infrastructure development.
Actually, this is the second time East Prussia has been under Russian rule. First time was during the Seven Year War, when Frederick the Great decided to snatch Silesia from Austria. While he was able to keep the Austrians at arm’s length, the Russians prodded buttock, and were camped in Berlin for several years. They would have won the war if Tsarina Elizabeth hadn’t died and been followed by the idiot, Peter III. Peter gave back everything in a vain and useless bid to reclaim some of his patrimony, Holstein.
East Prussia was and still is a source of amber. It financed the Teutonic knights. That and tourism: go to Prussia, beat up a few pagans, spend up large and have your sins remitted. Medieval tourism at its finest. There is a thriving amber market here, as well as an amber museum. As it was raining when I was taking my excursion, I declined to get thoroughly soaked and missed it.
Watched a few hours of telly in the hope of recovering some language, but no joy. Sunday, 31 August, I had to be at the airport. This was either going to be an expensive taxi or take the bus. I found a taxi outside the hotel (surprise, surprise) and spent 100RR getting to the bus station about 2km away. Bought a ticket for the 20km bus ride: 30RR. Had a bit of a wait at the airport, as I prefer to arrive early rather than try and make an undignified run for the gate after panicking at check-in. Everything went smoothly.
Flew Aeroflot Nord to Moscow Sheremetyevo on a Boeing. A fortnight later, they parked one into the railway tracks near Perm and 88 people died. Then waited about 5 days for my connecting flight to Kazan (or Казань in Russian). I knew there had to be a better combination of flights, but the travel agent hadn’t been able to find them. So I was due to arrive in Kazan at 10pm. Later found out there is a direct flight that takes about 3-4 hours. Flew in my first Tupolov, a Tu-154, operated by Tatarstan Airlines. They made the effort to be friendlier than Aeroflot. And in-flight announcements were in three languages: Russian, Tatar, and English.
Arrived earlier than advertised, and then had a short wait while my bag, which was slowly shedding handles, to arrive. Met the taxi driver, who spoke acceptable English, and was soon whisked into Kazan. Arrived at my home for the next 15 weeks and met my host family, a pensioner called Galina. It was still before midnight, I was knackered, and now I was in Russia, miles from any border. Tomorrow, I started learning Russian for real. Gulp.
Next: Bureaucracy or Bust!