Kaliningrad, Kaliningrad Oblast, Russian FederationHotel Tchaikovsky
Is it Tuesday today? Amazingly I woke up at 7 am today - latest ever on this trip! I went to breakfast around 8 am and had cheese, a slice of black bread, a hard-boiled egg and lots of melon plus orange juice and a latte today - only one.
Then I went back to my room to organize myself for today's excursion to the Amber Museum. The weather forecast had been cloudy so I decided to postpone the botanical garden and the beach. I only have three days left to see eveything in Kaliningrad well, maybe not everything...
Setting out around 9:00 or 9:30 am, I asked directions to an ATM. The two women at the desk gave me directions. I didn't try to clarify because one was a little abrupt so I took a chance that the first left was to be taken once I hit the street. It worked out and I got the maximum - which is not that much - and got it in a single bill even though I pushed the 100 rouble option. I will be smarter next time and enter an amount 50 roubles short of a big round number. Then, I asked a woman for the post office and she pointed to the building on the corner. So now, hopefully, I have stamps to send out my postcards. Not sure if I have enough postcards.
Then I set off for Victory Square. I found the street that led to the Amber Museum.
It appears to be in a defense tower of some sort - I think I remember now that there is an Amber Fort - no, that was in India, wasn't it? There is a moat behind the tower and there is a restaurant close by that also looks like an old fortress. I got tickets for the permanent and temporary exhibits. Each takes up a floor - going around the interior perimeter of the round tower. In the basement there are displays of local craftspeoples' wares and a shop at one end. I liked the historical exhibition that had lots of examples of amber jewelry and art objects. The temporary exhibit had prize-winning entries in an exposiion - they were interesting but not to the same degree.
Once I finished the exhibits I checked out the indoor kiosks and then the outdoor ones. The outdoor ones seem to have less expensive and lower quality souvenirs but I found a few things I liked. Then I went back inside, looked at the kiosks and then went back to the basement to reexamine the shop area. Somehow these appealed to me more - I think the designs were more unique - if that is possible - less formulaic. So I added to my collection of souvenirs.
I had an idea for taking my walk around the perimeter of the old walled city and visiting two of the old gates. Somehow I got off the main street I thought I was following and ran into the Russian Orthodox Cathedral dedicated to Alexander Nevsky. It appears to be very new and I liked the interior. A caretaker invited me despite my having forgotten my scarf.
I started to take some exterior shots and then got sidetracked by some old-looking buildings that turned out to be some sort of shopping park with restaurants and things. There were not many people there though.
I had stopped at a store and bought some wafer cookies and a yogurt drink that I had for a light lunch. Then I had to retrace my steps back to the intersection where I went wrong and I took Litovsky Val. This street was not particularly historically interesting but I did feel that it parallelled the old ramparts. Many of the buildings along the street looked like Soviet-style apartment buildings. I saw at least one gas station. As I went farther along, I ran across an old-looking brick building and soon after that was my firt gate - the King's Gate. There was a kind of hodge-podge after that until I got to my second gate. This one was not even labeled - it had a cafe or offices inside it. As I tried o take some photos, I encountered a woman in a long dress who was walking back and forth behind the gate on the sidewalk - who knows why.
Mission accomplished, though I have to say it was somewhat disappointing, I started my return to the hotel. I was quite tired by now and knew I had a long way to go. Eventually I saw the Konigsberg Cathedral on Kant Island and retraced yesterday's steps more or less. I struggled to find the way back up to the major street that crossed the highway separating me from Victory Square and my end of town. Back on Leninskaya Street, I crossed Victory Square and landed behind the RR Station and had to backtrack to get around it. I turned onto Sovetskaya Street and saw that my turn onto Tchaikovsky Street came much sooner than I expected. Then the hotel came much later than I would have hoped but I made it. Then I only had the 60 steps up to the 4th floor to negotiate. I am getting my exercise now. I got back early - only 5 pm.
I thought it would be too early for dinner so I tried to make a cup of espresso with the machine in my room. No go. I had to go downstairs and ask for help. Someone came up and poured about a pint of water in for one itty-bitty cup.
I think I put in too little, because it worked for her.
So most of my day has been blogged, my camera photos uploaded and phone being charged. It is now 7 pm and I am getting quite hungry. Maybe I will have dinner here at the hotel tonight.
I did decide to have dinner here and went downstairs only to find the door to the restaurant closed but the reception desk assured me that it was open. Not only was it open but it had reserved cards on my two favorite tables at the end of the dining room. Another solo woman and I had come in at the same time. I am not sure where she went but the waiter led me into the back room....and then into the patio....of sorts. I was happy to be outside, but it was chilly. I said I needed to go back for my sweater but he showed me the blankets that they have handy just for this problem. I put on two cozy red blankets and was promptly stung by mosquitoes - at least I thought it was mosquitoes.
One waiter brought me a menu. I had already looked at the menu in my room, but the menu here was different.
Instead of vegetables for the halibut, I think it said fennel. I am not sure. I asked if the halibut was available and he said he would check. I waited. A second waiter came and I repeated my request and he just took the order along with one for a glass of pinot grigio. We communicated in a mixture of English and Russian. He had apologized for his English but it was better than my Russian. He came back and asked about bread - I ended up with 4 slices of black bread, but no butter. Bread is extra in Russian restaurants. The halibut came - it was OK - not overcooked, but not as good as I had in Iceland. The accompanying vegetable was unidentifiable by me, but fine - crunchy julienne strips of a pale beige yellow. The wine was very good and I ended up with a second glass while I finished 2 slices of bread and wrapped the remaining two in a napkin for lunch tomorrow. I will need to take some cheese from breakfast.
I just about managed to climb the three flights of stairs to my room. I read a little and went to sleep before 11 pm....I think.
2025-05-22