September 2019
Vyborg is a small city way up north (which I suppose explains the Viking longships) near the Finnish border and is a quaint old town. Visited here as wanted to see a smaller quieter remote part of Russia.
Over the centuries Vyborg has been bounced between being a part of Russia and Finland and scattered about are memorials to those killed in these conflicts. Just north of the town is a small castle which dates back to the 13th century and around it are the remains of a star shaped defensive wall.
The downside with staying in a remote small town is that if you don't like the hotel restaurant/bar then it can be hard to find somewhere to eat. Our fallback plan in these scenarios is to visit the local supermarket and pick up a bottle of wine and the makings of a picnic. In this case the items were
- Very dense bread
- Pickled herrings
- Smoked Salmon
- Tub of, according to Google Translate, Sea Cabbage with Crab
- Tub of, according to Google Translate, Piquant Mushrooms
All in all a very tasty, albeit a bit odd, dinner.
The second night we tracked down the one decent, and occupied, restaurant. Definitely felt underdressed in our travelling clothes.
The hotel we stayed at had a definite Soviet era feel to it (big, solid and functional) but also the choice of convention groups. In this case Puppeteers.
After a good days wandering we were heading back to the hotel and spotted attached to a small rock in the middle of the harbour a pink penny farthing. Still don't know why it's there.
Next stop - Moscow.
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