Summer trip to Carelia. part 1

Hello friends!

Just in case you've missed one of my posts here are links to all the parts of the story of our Russian adventure: Part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4.

It's been a while since I've told you about my travels. Now I'm going to tell you about my latest journey. Last week I went to Carelia in Russia. It was a short trip. Julius and I just wanted to say hello to my human's grandmother who lives in the countryside outside Medvezhyegorsk. It had been a while since we visited her. Grandmothers always have candy stuck away somewhere so you should visit them regularly.

To get there we first took a bus to Petrozavodsk (the capital of the Republic of Carelia). It was a long trip but at least it wasn't expensive, €30 for a 12 hour trip. Luckily Julius had one of his good days unlike the kid sitting behind us. He was screaming non-stop in Russian and Swedish. Next time I'll definitely bring earplugs... or some duct tape.

I'm so tired of that kid. I wish I had a gun...

At the border. Time to stretch my legs.

When we got to Petrozavodsk we went to the bus station to get the bus to Medvezhyegorsk. We had to wait for three and a half hours. Julius went crazy in the heat, started climbing everywhere and scaring people. I was so embarrassed. Good thing our human found a kiosk that sold freshly baked buns. That calmed him down for while at least.

Me at the Avtovokzal or bus station

Around noon we got to Medvezhyegorsk or Karhumäki as it's know in Finnish. I've already been there several times before and never particularly liked the place but after some exploring I found it quite a charming and "instagram-friendly" town. Just look at all these old and worn-down but colourful wooden houses.

We wanted to go to the cinema to pass the time but the Druzhba movie theatre turned out to be abandoned.

Me in front of the colourful train station. Notice that the sign is in English even here in middle of nowhere in the Russian countryside.

Karhumäki (bear hill) got its name from a nearby hill that supposedly looks like a sleeping bear. We didn't see any sleeping bears, though, only sleeping drunks...

It was hot as fuck, so I went to get some ice-cream. A tear came to my eye when I realised I'm famous even in Russia. They even have ice-cream named after me!

Me with my Vanja-icecream.

I didn't take any pictures of Julius during this part of the journey. He wasn't doing too well because of the heat, it was probably 30 °C and it took us more than 24 hours to get to our destination, so no wonder he was tired. I'll tell you more about our stay in Russia tomorrow. Lots of pictures, I promise!.

Do svidanya!