RUSSIA, KALININGRAD: EEL FOR DINNER, A CAT CITY, AND GOING HOME

June 29-30, 2019

Just before we arrived at the end the Curonian Spit, we stopped for dinner at what looked like a lodge surrounded by cabins. The restaurant had a fun atmosphere created in part by the heads of a dozen or so African animals on the walls. While we were waiting for our food, the bombastic Russian owner, dressed in camouflage pants, a dark t-shirt, and black gloves, invited Bob to sit in a chair "that used to belong to Kaiser Wilhelm and then to Hermann Goering, head of the Luftwaffe."  It was a large armchair with pretty new upholstery, and we suppose it could have been the Kaiser's and Goering's chair, but we were a little skeptical.

The owner brought us a glass of complimentary wine as we were waiting for our food, which we refused, explaining that we don't drink any alcohol. He was very insistent, but we continued to refuse it, and we were afraid we had offended him.

To start the meal, Bob ordered a really good egg, cucumber, and pickle salad . . .

. . . and I had a delicious fresh sauerkraut salad.

Bob was delighted to discover they had one large fresh eel that they would bake for us. (We discovered later that they charged us $70 for it, a huge amount given what we were paying for other things in Kaliningrad.) It was AMAZING (once I could get over its appearance)--tender, moist, and so flavorful. The spine was still in but easy to cut through for individual portions and then to remove. Unlike most regular fish, there were very few little bones.

RUSSIA, KALININGRAD: THE CURONIAN SPIT

June 29, 2019

In an earlier post I mentioned the Curonian Spit, a geographical and geological oddity that separates the Baltic Sea from the Curonian Lagoon. This UNESCO World Heritage Site (since 2000) shared by two countries is a 61-mile-long sand dune that connects to Kaliningrad on one end and to Lithuania on the other. At its narrowest point (which is on the Russia side) it is only 437 yards across, and at its widest point (which is on the Lithuania side) it is almost 2.5 miles across. The spit is the only national park in Kaliningrad.

We spent our last afternoon of the 21st day of a very long trip driving and walking along this unique landform. We made five main stops: 1. the Baltic Sea, 2. an ornithological station, 3. the Curonian Lagoon, 4. the largest sand dunes on the spit, and 5. the Dancing Forest.

1. The Baltic Sea

Our guide Elena told us that the spit was heavily wooded until the 1500s when German invaders cut down all the trees. Wind and water swept over the spit, covering it with sand. For the last few decades, conservationists have been working to reclaim the spit from the sand, planting hundreds of thousands of pine trees (mostly) and other trees and grasses that hold the soil in place and create new land. It is a very slow, tedious process that will take a century or more to take root. (No pun intended.) The spit, in most places, looks heavily wooded, but pull away the delicate grasses and lichens, and the foundation is sand. It is really bizarre.

There are many hiking "trails" made of wooden planks on the spit. Any footsteps on the fragile growth contribute to erosion. We walked on four or five such paths, including this first one shown below that led to a beach on the Baltic Sea. 

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.)

RUSSIA: KALININGRAD CITY TOUR

June 29, 2019

We began our day with a city tour led by our guide, Irina. She had a list she wanted to get through and didn't adjust very well to our interests.

Our hotel was located in an area of the city known as the "Fisherman's Village." We probably did spend too much time getting acquainted with this rakish sailor and his clever monkey . . . 

. . . but they were so friendly.

We could tell that luck-seeking passersby had rubbed their noses a lot.

Further along the walk we saw but didn't speak to this lady of the night. Her nose has been rubbed a lot too.

We rushed right by this fellow, who had set up shop on one end of a bridge.  I had to use Google Translate to learn that his sign says "Sale of finds from excavations in Konigsberg."

Looking at the photo now, I wish we had been able to stop and take a closer look!

RUSSIA: ARRIVAL IN KALININGRAD

June 28, 2019

My husband Bob's grandfather Edwin Q. Cannon served an LDS mission in Prussia in the first decade of the 20th century. In April of 1908, he was assigned to work in Konigsberg, the capital of the Prussian Province of East Prussia. One day when EQC was out of town on an assignment, one of the other missionaries drowned in a lake in Konigsberg. The body had been recovered by the time EQC returned, and EQC, who apparently had some leadership position in the mission, was given the task of dealing with the body. In doing so it was revealed to authorities that EQC and his companion were LDS missionaries, which was not permitted, and they were summarily banished from the Kingdom of Prussia.

Because of this story and others from his grandfather's mission, Bob has always wanted to visit Konigsberg, which was annexed by the Soviet Union after World War II and renamed Kaliningrad. He decided that since we were so close in Poland, it made sense to tack on a visit to what had already been a long, intense trip through Iceland, Greenland, and Poland. 

It's not an easy visit--it requires a Russian visa, there aren't many flights in and out, and it is VERY Russian, unlike it's European neighbors where signs are written in English and many people speak English. 

As you can see in the map below, Kaliningrad (the name of the state and also of the capital city) is about 500 miles from any other part of Russia--like Alaska or Hawaii for the US. You can see why Russia would want this port on the lower end of the Baltic Sea. It's a very strategic location for them.

Map from here

West of Kaliningrad is a 60 mile long spit that has one end in Lithuania and one in Kaliningrad. A UNESCO World Heritage site, the spit is shared by the two countries.

Map from here

ARGENTINA AND BRAZIL: OUR LONGEST/SHORTEST VACATION EVER, PART 3 (THE JOURNEY HOME)

March 13-14, 2020

On Thursday night (March 12), after we had gone back to our hotel and gone to bed, my brother Dave was contacted by the Church's legal counsel in Argentina. He said the government had drafted a proposal that would call for an mandatory 14-day quarantine of visitors to Argentina from high risk countries: China, Japan, Iran, South Korea, all of Europe, and the United States. The proposal could be formalized at any time, meaning that we would be in quarantine, unable to travel and possibly unable to leave the country. He advised that we get back across the border into Brazil as soon as possible and that we catch a flight from there back to the United States.

Major bummer.

Dave shared this information with us at breakfast, and while we sat at the table together, the Joneses and we booked one-way flights for later that day that would take us home. At over $1,200 a ticket, it was an expensive decision, and we doubted that we would be able to recoup any of our losses on three other flights we would no longer be able to take--to Buenos Aires, to Patagonia, and back to the USA.

The disappointment was immense, but our decision would turn out to be the right one.

Our incredibly patient, tolerant driver agreed to take the four of us back to Brazil, and then drive back to the Argentina side of the border to take Dave and Bonnie to the airport to travel to Buenos Aires on the flight we were supposed to join them on.

We said a tearful good-bye to Dave and Bonnie, the three Kenison siblings in tears (it's genetic), grateful for the very short time spent together and mourning the lost shared experiences that should have been ours during the next few days. We would have a great story to tell, but we would rather have had the trip we had planned.

ARGENTINA AND BRAZIL: OUR LONGEST/SHORTEST VACATION EVER, PART 2 (A GREAT DAY AT IGUAZU FALLS)

March 12, 2020

Iguazu Falls is considered by many to be the world's most spectacular waterfall. For its curving cliffs and multitude of individual falls (there are 275) and beautiful surroundings, I would have to agree, although I think Victoria Falls, which we visited in 2018, is definitely more powerful. There is a story that when Eleanor Roosevelt visited Iguazu Falls, she exclaimed "Poor Niagara!" By any standard, Iguazu Falls is magnificent.

The Falls are located on the border between Brazil to the north and Argentina to the south, about halfway between Rio de Janeiro in Brazil and Buenos Aires in Argentina. Approximately 80% of the falls are located in Argentina and 20% in Brazil.

Map from here

Here is a close-up:

Map from here

Since we had slept in Brazil, we started the day on the Brazil side of the falls. After breakfast, our driver deposited us at Helisul Helicopter Tours. For $100 per person, they take tourists on an 18-minute air tour of the falls. Here is a scan of the postcard they gave us:

Because this is fun only if you have a window seat, we self-sacrificing wives decided to let our husbands go alone so that they could all have a window. Besides, $200/couple for 18 minutes seemed like a lot of money at the time. However, Bob did spring for the video the photographer made of their take-off: