A Stop in Kaliningrad

Reached the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad, as a stop on a tour of the Baltic countries, crossing the border from Lithuania. The frontier is marked by a river crossed at this point by a bridge, at whose entrance into the enclave there is an arch introducing the town of Sovetsk. Crossing an oil-extraction area one reaches the capital of the enclave of the same name, where the scene is dominated by the shabbiness of the structures and the state of abandonment of the port that was once one of the main Soviet naval bases. The city, architecturally Stalinist in style, is rather anonymous, with broad avenues and all-identical buildings, since it was entirely rebuilt by the Russians after the bombings suffered in the Second World War, when it was German territory of East Prussia. The famous philosopher Kant was also born here. At Bagrationovsk we crossed the Russian border to enter Poland.

This is not an indispensable trip for a traveller. To enter Kaliningrad a transit visa was required, which I obtained in two days in Tallinn, Estonia.