Do you like to travel? I don't think I do. I prefer the comfort of my home. Yet, on occasion, I go on short trips. More often than not, these trips have been exhausting and the amount of pleasure I received wasn't worth it.

During our book club meeting in July, one of the girls mentioned that she wanted to go to Kaliningrad for her vacation. Another one added that she planned to go to Kaliningrad too. They started talking about going together, so I said half-jokingly, "Can I tag along?" and they agreed with no hesitation. I was honestly surprised at how quickly things moved along. Planning something with my friends is always such a hassle, and our plans usually lead nowhere. And here we are just deciding to take a trip together in all of 20 minutes.

Our trip started at the beginning of September. It takes four hours by train to go from my hometown to Moscow, then another one and a half hours to get to the airport. The flight to Kaliningrad itself takes two and a half hours — it used to be one hour shorter, but because the airspace above the Baltic countries is closed to Russian aircraft, the plane has to take a longer route above the Baltic Sea.

We rented a flat in Zelenogradsk — a small town at the Baltic Sea. They call it "Cat Town" — and it's true, there are cats everywhere. Not only are there a lot of cats on the streets, but the town's logo has cats, and even the manhole covers have them. In the center of the town there's a 40-meter tower called "Murarium" (murr in Russian is onomatopoeic for purring, hence the name). It serves as a viewing platform and as a cat museum — there are a lot of souvenirs, pictures, and other stuff related to cats inside. There's also a ferris wheel. Other than that, there's not much to see. But the town itself is beautiful; I love the architecture.

We took a bus to the Curonian Spit, which is a sand-dune spit that separates the Curonian lagoon from the Baltic Sea. It connects Kaliningrad Oblast on the Russian side to Lithuania. It's a national park, so we took a short hike to see the sea and sand dunes. The sea was way too cold for me to take a swim, but I saw people swimming. But then I wasn't even planning to swim in the sea when I decided to go on the trip, so no big loss there. There's also amber jewelry for sale everywhere; Kaliningrad is famous for its amber. I bought a bee-shaped brooch for my mother.

The next day, we took a bike ride to Pionersky, a nearby town on the seashore. There's a 30-km bike path that connects Zelenogradsk, Pinoersky, and Svetlogorsk, and it's very cool! There's not a lot of bike infrastructure in Russian towns, so it's nice to see some change. And the views are beautiful. You ride along the sea for the most part, then there are some parts that go though forests. The only downside is the people. I don't think they are accustomed to bike paths, and some of them see them as something to walk on. Of course you'll slow down for them when you're in a town, but imagine going 30 km/h in the middle of nowhere and seeing somebody on the road! How do they even get there?! There's nothing around! Anyways, I liked the exercise and even took a swim after.

For the next day, we finally went to Kaliningrad proper. We took a suburban train to get there, and the tickets were surprisingly cheap. Our first stop was Kant Island. There's a cathedral there where they play live organ music. At the beginning of the concert, they told us about the history of the cathedral. When British bombers were raiding the city, it was hit and all of the inside burned up, but the structure itself remained. The restoration didn't start until 1992. Anyway, the music was spectacular. We then took a walk through the city and visited some of the tourist landmarks. There's a "Fish Village" — a city block constructed in the architectural style of the pre-war city. But it was all built recently, and it's only several buildings... So it was a little underwhelming. In fact, we didn't spot a lot of architecture in that style anywhere else — I guess, it was all destroyed in the Second World War? Even Zelenogradsk had more of architecture in that style, whether or not any of it is actually old is anyone's guess.

We finished our day with a concert my friend wanted to attend. It's a pop group I didn't know, so I wasn't too eager to go, but I didn't want to leave my friend alone in an unfamiliar city that late. I listened to their songs beforehand and thought it wasn't terrible, but the actual performance was pretty enjoyable — nothing like their studio work. I've never been on these kinds of concerts before, so now I'm stoked to go see bands I actually like.

On the last day, we went to Yantarny. There's a beautiful beach there, but unless you plan to go swimming, there's really nothing to do. And the water was 17°C, so... yeah. I'm not sure why we even went there. But I had no plans of my own, so I went along with my group, and they seemingly enjoyed themselves... that is, at least they seemed to get a kick out of just taking endless pictures pictures on the beach. Later, we headed to Svetlogorsk, another seaside town. Sadly, there was a lot of construction, so a lot of tourist attractions were inaccessible. The town is slightly above sea level, and there’s a short funicular, as well as an elevator, that take you up to a viewing platform that extends to the shoreline. I don't think anything else in this town is worth mentioning. Overall, it was the most underwhelming day of our trip. But at least I was able to buy marzipan there — another thing Kaliningrad is famous for — for my friends and family back home.

I liked Zelenogradsk the most, so we were lucky to have accomodations and spend most of our time there. And I enjoyed the trip overall. Maybe for the first time in my life, I don't feel like hiding in my room for half a year after a trip but actually look forward to visiting some other places.