Where to go to May in Russia
May holidays we are waiting with no less impatience than the New Year, but unlike the winter, the spring weekend is traditionally divided into two short periods. This year we rest for four and three days, respectively, which means there are two chances to go on a short trip somewhere nearby. Based on this, we chose several colorful places in Russia and in Europe, where you can coolly spend the first days of May. We start with a patriotic collection: about the merits of spring Rostov-on-Don, Kazan, Kaliningrad, Pyatigorsk, Crimea and Nikola-Lenivets, we were told by locals and travelers.
Kaliningrad
In Kaliningrad it is better to go by air - for the train you have to pre-arrange a special permit for transit at the Lithuanian consulate, and if you go by car, you will need a Schengen. Even if you are unlucky with the unpredictable Kaliningrad weather, a trip to the Curonian Spit should be a mandatory item. It’s probably early to swim, but the beauty of the Baltic doesn’t affect the beauty of the Baltic. In addition to the popularized Svetogorsk european visitors, you can look into the small, cozy Zelenogradsk - the former Krantz. In Kaliningrad itself, it is worth going to one of the many museums, to look at the Baltic seals in the zoo, to walk among the von Koenigsberg villas, bastions and a church in the brick gothic. Well, do not forget about the grave of Kant, of course.
I love Kaliningrad for two things: for the remnants of Koenigsberg, scattered throughout the city and the entire Kaliningrad region, and beyond the sea. It is also a great place to feel the real spring. Spring in Kaliningrad is wonderful - everything is blooming all around, trees of all kinds smell so that you can walk for hours along the alleys. This is what I lack in smoke and dusty Moscow. That is why spring walks are so beautiful: Chapaev, Kutuzov, Engels, Kashtanovaya Alley, Krasnaya, Pobedy streets with small two-story houses and well-kept gardens still keep the nobility and unhurried pace of the past. The city is not rich with super cool cafes or shops, everything is quite modest, except for a few places where something really interesting is happening. If Kaliningraders want good food or cool shops, they usually go to neighboring countries: Poland, Germany or Lithuania - perhaps this is what prevents the city from truly turning around. We should also mention the local "Apartment", "Bird" and "Chop-Chop", which are really active citizens with ideas. Despite the fact that several owners have recently changed in Zarya and the quality of food is slowly slipping down, I love this place for the interior, the backyard and the cinema, which until now, thank God, do not let visitors in tights. You should also go to the “Fish Club” in the Fish Village in Kaliningrad, the “Schloss Hotel” - an excellent restaurant at the hotel of the same name, and the “Manor” in Orlovka, on the way to Zelenogradsk. Good cafes: "Shipyard" in the Fish Village, "Capuchin" and a network of coffee shops "Croissant Cafe" - in fact, Kaliningrad "Coffeemania". Cafe owners "Kafema" - the only people in the city, zamorochennye coffee. Plus, recently in the lighthouse in the Fish Village on the second floor, a cool cafe, Madame Bush, was opened, where you can eat delicious food, and then climb the lighthouse itself. The beginnings of nightlife - the clubs "Artichoke" and "Capuchin Dark"; catching cool parties can also be in the "Red Bar" club "Lining".
Nikola-Lenivets
You probably heard about Nikola-Lenivets, an art space located in a spacious natural park near the village of the same name, in connection with the Archstoyanie festival. On 650 hectares of green fields and forests, a couple of years ago, we pitched camping and an open-air cinema, built a comfortable hostel, equipped bicycle rentals and held Wi-Fi. This is not to mention the art objects left after the Archstoyanie. On the approaching May in Nikola-Lenivets they arrange a special program. Guests will update the Saray Saray, build a bird watching site, smash and plant eco-houses for the art project Cloud Kitchen, lay an asparagus plantation and so on - a detailed program hangs on the site. After all the glorious work, you can relax nicely: they promise master classes, film shows and healthy food. There is no better option to take a break from the office and the city, having driven only 200 km from Moscow.
Three to four hours by car - and you can be in Nikola-Lenivets, the largest art park in Europe, which has found a place among the picturesque forests and fields of the Kaluga region, on the banks of the Ugra River. In addition to the natural beauty, the center of attention in Nikola-Lenivets is art objects at the junction of sculpture and architecture that came from the shooting of science fiction films: the snow-white Brodsky Rotunda and the 22-meter Bobur with a viewing platform on the top, erected in the midst of Woven from elm trees "Lighthouse" by the river, twisted from wood, metal and mirrors "Universal Mind", as well as many smaller miracles scattered across forests and edges. Here you can watch the work of art workshops and rent a garden bed at a local farm. In walking distance there is a cafe with a simple kitchen. For those who want to stay overnight, it is worthwhile to preoccupy with places in rented houses in Koltsovo or the so-called Barracks - by the way, they just built a bathhouse with her, and not a bad one.
Pyatigorsk
If you are not interested in exploring the forests in Nikola-Lenivets, and the sanatorium daily routine does not cause unpleasant associations with childhood, it is time to go to Mineralnye Vody. This is a whole agglomeration with many sources and almost the oldest Russian resort. The largest variety of sources, perhaps, in Pyatigorsk. So if you can not decide which of the resorts of Mineral Waters to choose, go there. On the territory of Pyatigorsk, Mount Mashuk rises, which can be climbed on the fastest cable car in Europe. Returning, go to Lermontov places, for atmosphericity, taking with you the collected works of the author and admiring Elbrus far afield. If Pyatigorsk is bored, take a look at Kislovodsk - from there, by the way, you can reach the Byzantine temples at the foot of the Arkhyz River.
I was in Pyatigorsk for only a few days at work, at the WOMAD music festival, but what I saw there (and heard about what was around) was enough to be impressed. In Pyatigorsk, of course, there is an obligatory set of entertainments for city guests: go to the place of Lermontov’s duel, buy suluguni in the local market, drink mineral water, maybe even ride some horses - but the main thing is local nature. The beauty in Pyatigorsk and around it is such that it captures the spirit: the five mountains and the surrounding forests, lakes, valleys, and so on. Getting out of a big city here is a very strong impression. One evening I came under a torrential rain on a mountain (fortunately, it was very warm - and indeed there, as I understand it, it is more often warm than not) and then somewhere around forty minutes unhurriedly descended from it and went to hotel, soaked to the skin. So, the forest in the mountains during and after the rain is probably one of the most beautiful things I've seen in life.
Kazan
To go to Kazan no longer than to Peter, so if in the latter you were already more than once, feel free to buy tickets to the capital of Tatarstan. The question of what to do will not arise. Just go out and start walking: the local Kremlin must be on the list of must-see attractions, just because you cannot go to Kazan and not look at the Kul Sharif mosque, built on the site of a mosque destroyed by Ivan the Terrible. In addition, it would not hurt to walk along the Bauman tourist street, past the legendary Kazan University. And when you walk around the city at night, plan the route so that you can see the Millennium Bridge connecting the two parts of the city.
On May holidays, it will be more fun to go to rallies - local party cells are planning to hold as many as five, for every taste. Who does not like such cases, they can drive to the ancient city of Bolgar or the island-town of Sviyazhsk - this is not far from Kazan, and the weather will obviously whisper such an option. On the road, you can grab the Bugulma balsam or the national chak-chak dish, bought in one of the local Bahetle and soaked in alcohol beforehand - both of these options will thoroughly brighten the way. And if you get a skullcap and trump ichigi in a souvenir shop, then follow any Kazan cat - it should lead you either to the Old Tatar settlement (look at the attempt to recreate Kazan a hundred years ago), or to the Tatar Gold Storeroom exhibition in the National Museum of the Republic Tatarstan.
Rostov-on-Don
The beautiful southern city of Rostov-on-Don is beautiful in its color: this is the place where you, on the one hand, begin to unconsciously quote the movie "Boomer", and on the other - eat crayfish with new acquaintances dressed in COS. For the 2018 football championship, the city is trying hard to pull up, and you can see what comes of it now. The right bank was ennobled - now there is a neat embankment with old women on the benches, fountains, flowerbeds and pastry shops, where even local people don’t mind walking, but all the post-perestroika fun is left on the left bank of the Don. In the same place, by the way, they plan to build a stadium for the World Cup, which so far, for lack of an official name, is called “Levberdon”. Those who like to travel by boat, will be able to immediately cover many Rostov sights. If you sway on the waves of the Don there is no desire, just go for a walk around the city. The legs of your companion, even if he is not oriented at all in the city, will surely lead you to the famous Rostov Ryumochnaya on Bolshaya Sadovaya or the aesthetic beer shop Hunky Dory & Dudes.
If you find yourself on the May holidays in Rostov-on-Don - leave the city. Even short trips around the neighborhood will bring much more pleasure than staying in the city. On the left bank of the Don River there are beaches, bonfires, wine and a panorama of the city. In Taganrog: only 60 km of the way - and here you have the embankment overlooking the bay, the men catch gobies, the local guys drink in a huge untidy park. On Lago-Naki: 350 km from the city - and in front of you is a mountain plateau in Adygea, forests, noisy rivers, streams, wooden guest houses and a glacier on the top. To the southeast of the region is the Rostovsky reserve: at the end of April wild tulips bloom in the steppe, irises and herds of horses roam.
Crimea
If political views allow, in May it is quite possible to go to the Crimea. Those who have never been there, now have a reason to fix it, and those who have been more than once can go on the waves of memory - remember trips to a children's camp and rest in a sanatorium with their parents. If you are lucky with the weather, the most cold-resistant will be able to swim in the sea. Everyone chooses the place himself, someone like the pebbles of Yalta, Alushta and Alupka, with constant excursions to the Ay-Petri plateau, someone prefers the sand to Evpatoria, and someone - Sevastopol, where in May there will be a salute. In general, there is something to see in addition to military attractions.
Dust in the air, cold sea, tricolor matter on the windows, black and orange ribbons on the inhabitants. With hotels in large localities tight: everyone is busy with officials who came to synchronize local authorities with Russian ones. The one where the number the size of a Moscow treshka comes at a seemingly reasonable price turns out to be a branch of paradise located at the bottom of an industrial pit. "Is there really no restaurant? And you can't even buy bread?" The nearest shop is one and a half kilometers away and they mostly sell tires there. But, having reached a public catering, even devoid of the sense of beauty will go to write an ode to joy: 800 rubles is the toughest check on the peninsula if you dine without Gargantua and Pantagruel. Rubles, by the way, you need to take cash. ATMs belonging to polls registered in Kiev organizations no longer give money. “We live, maybe, and poorly, but we do not have gays in Crimea,” the taxi driver explains the local specifics. On an open veranda, next to the final destination of the trip, a guy with a waxed mustache eats mitboli, and his food is clearly jealous of the joystick lying next to it from the console. The procession goes by, everyone shouts "Fascism will not pass," the leader beats the drum. "From you, if in rubles, 660", - the driver pushes by a shoulder. "You said the whole road for 60 rubles ?!" - "Yes, the whole road is 60 rubles. Per kilometer. Will you pay, or will I call for self-defense fighters?"
Photo: cover photo, 1, 3, 4, 5 via Flickr, Wikimedia Commons