{"id":6451,"date":"2022-05-15T20:42:42","date_gmt":"2022-05-15T18:42:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/expatkaliningrad.com\/?p=6451"},"modified":"2022-05-16T11:37:44","modified_gmt":"2022-05-16T09:37:44","slug":"9th-of-may-kaliningrad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/expatkaliningrad.com\/ru\/9th-of-may-kaliningrad\/","title":{"rendered":"Triumph and Trips on the 9th of May Kaliningrad"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Celebrating Victory Day across the Kaliningrad region<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Published: 15 May 2022 ~ Triumph and Trips on the 9th of May Kaliningrad<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The weather was so gorgeous on this year\u2019s 9th<\/sup> of May morning <\/span>and there was so much of it, that I thought it must have been something the West had sanctioned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sun was shining like a bright new stable rouble and the sky so blue that had it not been for the exculpatory fact that everyone was as happy as Larry, it could have been mistaken for the Polish Prime Minister\u2019s temperament (Well, he never felt more like singing the blues, did he!).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As it wasn\u2019t ~ the sky as blue as the Polish Prime Minister I mean ~ and before Arthur Eagle realised that he was standing in sabaka gavnor<\/em> (that\u2019s dog\u2019s s!!t to you), planted on the verge no doubt by an expelled Polish diplomat (they can be very temperamental, those Poles), there was nothing for it than first to be thankful that we were not all standing where Arthur was ~ I called it in the West ~ and then to drink to Russia\u2019s Victory and, of course, to Victory Day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Triumph<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As I wrote in my previous post Victory Day Russia 2022 Brings Record Turnout<\/a><\/em>, our first victory today was finding a square foot of space among the crowds where people weren\u2019t, and then, once we were in it, moving with the multitude onto and into Victory Park. The last time I saw this many people crammed into one place it was on a Royal Navy ship trafficking migrants to Dover. The atmosphere was different, of course; it was not the jubilation of grabbing all that you can get, like a free-for-all in a jumble sale, but a moral imperative fuelled by gratitude and patriotism, which, as you should know dear reader, is a rich resource in Russia and which, like gas and oil, and it would seem most other things, is a sanction-proofed commodity.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whilst this sincere demonstration of social cohesiveness and high regard for cultural integrity could not be anything else but a source of complete frustration for Soros and Co, that infamous firm of migrant movers and embargoists, it did cause a minor inconvenience for us, as Arthur had to park the Volga some way away. But with the usual dexterity of Russians to turn a potential handicap into advantage, we found our route on foot taking us over the vertical lift bridge, a grand old double-decker design with its roots firmly planted in the industrial age. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This meant photographs, and even an arty farty one (well, almost) shot through the steel and rivetted girders of the bridge, framing two distinctly different periods of architecture and juxtaposing the old and the new both in terms of design principles and the materials employed. If you look closely at the photo below at the inset panel, you will see, in the foreground behind the weather ship, the recently completed World Ocean Museum globe and peeping out behind it to the right the time-honoured turret of K\u00f6nigsberg Cathedral.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Kaliningrad<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The other advantage of Arthur\u2019s parking was that he had found a quiet street where those of us who were not behind the wheel could partake of another quick snifter of delicious homemade vodka ~ vodka distilled with a twist of lemon. It was also a nice street for Arthur\u2019s shoes, as there seemed to be nothing NATO-like for them to accidently stand in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Triumph and Trips on the 9th of May Kaliningrad<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Having made everyone jealous with our improvised boot fare, we then \u2018classic-car-d it\u2019 to Mr Zverev\u2019s museum in Nizovie<\/a>, where, in keeping with the tenor of the occasion, the frontage and grounds to the back of his fine old german building had been requisitioned by the Soviet era.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Out front, a Soviet Capitan was keeping watch. He was wearing the khaki uniform of the Red Army, consisting of an officer\u2019s visor cap; a Gimnasterka<\/em> ~ loose fitting thick cotton shirt; Harovari<\/em>, \u2018elephant ear\u2019 cavalry-style britches; and thick canvas and leather Sapogi<\/em> (boots). Around his waist he has a broad leather star-buckled officer\u2019s belt. The gun he is carrying is a ppsh sub-machine gun with drum magazine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Mick<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We know all this not from research for this blog but because when we lived in England we were, for a while, members of the Red Army\u2019s 2nd<\/sup> Guards Rifle Division<\/a>, a re-enactment group that attend 1940s\u2019 historical events at locations throughout the UK and where at some they fight it out with the Germans ~ entirely, I hasten to add, in the spirit of reconstruction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"1927<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Mr Zerev\u2019s Capitan now no longer a stranger to us, I said my next hello to the star of Yury Grozmani’s film Last Tango in K\u00f6nigsberg<\/em>. The swish 1927 Cadillac shared the billing today with two Red Army motorcycles (one pictured below) and, just around the corner of the building, a curious armoured vehicle. I never thought to ask if this is a real military vehicle or something cunningly mocked-up for display purposes. See the photos: what do you think?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Triumph<\/figure>\n\n\n\n