July 2019

After a 14 hour train ride from Moscow alongside a continuously arguing family, I finally reached an enchanted forested lakeland right out of Nordic mythology known today at Karelia. It’s a region in Russia alongside Finland, known for containing the two largest lakes in Europe as well as birch tree forests as far as the eye can see. Culturally it is different than most of Russia (as I will soon write about), but for now I’ll just show you a photographic preview of my trip. It is centered around the capital city of the region, Petrozavodsk (literally Peter’s Factory in Russian), but I made sure to wander out into nature where the real adventure exists. Anyway, please enjoy the forests, lakes, folklore statues and Soviet relics.

Representing good music in the far north.

Soviet Cafe clashes with Amstel and Cocoa Cola

Forrest goddess statue with Awesome Stuffed Animal (see Hanka in Awesome Peope)