RUSSIA, KALININGRAD: A LAKE, AN AMBER MUSEUM, AND A LUNCH

 June 29, 2020

Remember that story about Bob's grandfather serving a mission in Konigsberg and the missionary who tragically drowned in a lake? Our guide could think of only one lake where that could have happened. It is named Verkhneye ("Top") Lake now, but it was known as the Oberteich ("Upper Pond") while part of Konigsberg until 1945. That turned out to be the name Bob's grandfather recorded in his journal. The lake was created by Teutonic knights in 1270 as a reservoir and fish pond above the castle pond. It covers 102 acres.

Oberteich in 1930 (photo from here):

Verkhneye Lake today:

On the shores of the lake is an art museum unlike any other we've been to. It is housed in a Neo-Gothic fortress built in the mid 1800s. (Photo from here.)

An iron sun sculpture shines on the museum 24/7.

I quite liked this unique chair. Note the giant spider guarding a very large chunk of yellow amber that sits on the arm rest.

What makes the museum unique is its dedication to a single mineral: amber. Almost 11,000 square feet are full of information about amber and artworks that have amber as the principal material.

We skipped through the natural history and geology section rather quickly. (We were "running behind schedule" and had only 45 minutes in the museum.)

For example, we learned that amber is a gemstone, is found primarily in the Baltic region, and is relatively soft, measuring between 2 and 3 on the Mohs scale.

We learned that amber is made of fossilized tree resin produced by extinct coniferous trees. It is usually gold or yellow in color but includes s a broad spectrum of other colors. The largest piece of amber, found in Poland in the mid-19th century, weighs 21.5 pounds and is on display at Humboldt University in Berlin.  The Kaliningrad Amber Museum has a piece that weighs about 9.5 pounds.

I don't have a photo of the 9-pound chunk of amber, but here is one that is 6.5 pounds:

Before this trip, I knew amber primarily as a transparent honey-colored stone famous for encasing and preserving insects and small reptiles, such as this piece, which is estimated to be 50 million years old:

I had no idea that amber could be a milky white or all shades of yellow, never mind all the other colors it can be, and that it can be made into jewelry so beautiful that I succumbed twice.

The part of the museum in which we spent a little more time had all kinds of decorative pieces made of amber, such as this 1979 replica of a "coffer" that was made in Danzig (now Gdansk) in the 1600s. The original is in Russia's Catherine Palace.

This mug is a 1979 replica of a late 17th-century creation that is kept in the Hermitage in St. Petersburg:

 This double-tiered "casket" is an original, made in the 17th century:

 There are many pieces of religious art:

The museum has a few stunning reconstructions of  parts of the famous "Amber Room" in the Catherine Palace.

 Every piece in this scene is made from amber:

This is a model of the Swedish warship Vasa, which we saw in Stockholm on a visit there in 2011:

 Even the papery sails are made from amber.

This stained glass window (not amber, although made in the colors of amber), shows a monk making amber jewelry, something that has been done in this region for centuries.

I nice tableau seen out the window (and which has nothing to do with amber):

By far my favorite section of the museum was the portrait gallery. These are all relatively recent creations, as in the last 20 years.

There is Emperor Alexander II of Russia:

Peter the Great of Russia:

I'm not sure who this is. Perhaps Constantine the Great?

How about this tiger? Every piece, including the red and green and black, is made of amber.

I especially loved the "painting" of the Russian poet, novelist, and playwright of the Romantic era, Alexander Pushkin:

But my favorite piece is this moody, forceful depiction of the great Russian writer Leo Tolstoy. Aren't those eyebrows fantastic?

We checked out a few more displays before heading out. The variety of color, translucence, and texture in individual pieces is unbelievable.

Well, our 45 minutes were up and it was time for lunch. We were hungry.  We bypassed this place . . .

. . . in favor of this one, "Parmezan," a place Bob had scouted out on TripAdvisor before we left home. Irina came in with us to help us order.

 

We began the meal with a delicious drink loaded with fresh fruit:

Bob loves appetizers and ordered two for his meal. They were beautiful to look at and pretty good to eat: grilled vegetables with a mild pesto sauce and roasted camembert cheese in a puddle of raspberries and cherries. 

I was excited to try this dish, a traditional Russian way of eating salmon we had never seen before. The raw fish is frozen and then cut in very thin, long strips, which curl when cut. It is served quickly before it can thaw out. It was okay, not great, but not bad, maybe a bit flavorless, but very fun to experience.

I also had a dish that was a lot like pierogi--little pockets stuffed with meat. They were good, but not as good as what we had in Poland.

It had been at least 24 hours since our last dish of ice cream, so . . .

We finished our lunch and met up with our new guide, who turned out to be perfect for the second half of our long day in Kaliningrad. She was much more flexible, but then, we were headed out to drive along the Curonian Spit, which meant a lot more driving and not as many things on the list.

Our new guide pointed out a few interesting things as we left the city, including the Russian Orthodox Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, completed in 2006.

These awesome fighting bulls:

A mural of the much-loved Soviet cosmonaut, Yuri Gagarin:

And a large bust of none other than Mikhail Kalinin (aka Colonel Sanders) himself:

Next Up: The Spit