On August 2nd I landed in Kaliningrad, which is a little section of Russia separated from the main land by Poland to the south and Lithuania to the north, plus Belarus separates them from Russia also. About half a million Russians live in this exclave and it is not very touristy.
Statue of Sea Creatures built in 1913
I arrived at the hotel and promptly passed out for two and a half hours as jet lag overtook me. Once I woke up around 4:30pm I decided to take a walk around the nearby pond/lake. What I noticed was how similar we are in the world. I saw families at an amusement park riding the same basic rides as we do. Parents pushing the same strollers as we have around the path. The dogs being walked were the same, they still sniffed everything and had to pee everywhere :). I walked through a small flea market where people were selling similar junk as I see at our flea markets. I even saw a small group of teenage girls playing Uno on the bank.
Even though I could not read the signs or understand the conversations, this lake and all its people could have been any small town in America, because people basically have the same needs and desires. They were there to relax and spend time with family and friends.
