TUMBLEWEED

Kaliningrad was once known to the world as Königsberg, the headquarters of the Teutonic knights, then the capital of Prussia, the birthplace of Immanuel Kant and Ernst Theodore Amadeus Hoffmann, the place where Richard Wagner lived and worked. The German city of Königsberg died in the fires and blasts of the World War II, and a new city of Kaliningrad, received as war reparations by the USSR, was born from its ashes. Statistically, there's still 8% of old Königsberg left, hidden in the courtyards and alleys on the outskirts of the city. Some of those buildings still bear a mark of their period, others became somewhat Russified, and hardly recognisable as pre-war German houses. 

Today's Kaliningrad is certainly not the most picturesque Russian city. It was sporadically rebuilt after the war when esthetic side of architecture and city planning was out of question. It had to be cheap and efficient, able to accommodate hordes of resettlers who moved here from devastated regions of Central Russia. Old German city with little houses with gables and cozy cobbled streets became an industrial Soviet city with ubiquitous Khruschev-era apartment blocks, massive concrete bridges, and a monstrous House of Soviets which grew on the place of a ruined medieval castle. Yet, there is another side of Kaliningrad. It's a bustling city with a unique vibe created by the amalgamation of Russian and German, of old and new. The city boasts superb museums and sights, concert halls and cinemas, most of which are somewhat related to the turbulent past of the city. It is also a perfect hub to explore the Baltis sea coast and the Curonian Spit located an hour away from Kaliningrad.