Polessk in summer - Expat in Kaliningrad, Russia

Summery Scenes in Kaliningrad and its region 2024-2025

26 June 2026 – Kaliningrad weather? – A What You Need to Know Post!

Brr, that’s all I can say. That was a quick post, wasn’t it? My allusion, as distinct from illusion – that’s one of those that everyone who voted for Starmer has since become acquainted with and will no doubt once again with the installation of Andy Burnham; oh, how fools are easily fooled – is to my last post (It’s sounding over Britain!), the one in which I appear to ratify the collective delusion (delusion this time) that it always snows in Russia, which it most certainly does in a good many Frederick Forsyth and Len Deighton novels and in most mainstream spy films based upon their books. It even snowed in the pop video used to promote Elton John’s Nikita. I almost said Akido, but I’ve practised that enough (ooh, my aching joints!), and very nearly Akita, but that’s my brother’s dog, neither of which, as I recall, are remotely connected to snow. Do you remember Peter Snow and his infamous ‘swingometer’, replaced today by Sky News’ military analyst Michael Clarke, who is a hybrid of Peter Snow and a friend of mine called Greg? Sorry, it’s all getting so confusing. That’s flux for you.

In order to demonstrate, therefore, that it always snows in Russia, but it doesn’t, well, not here in Kaliningrad at any rate, I’ve whipped out the old photo album and borrowed from myself some lovely, summery, sunny pictures that rather prove my point.

Kaliningrad Weather? – A What You Need to Know Post!

My previous post was built around snowy scenes in Polessk, so I thought it only fair in order to dispel notions that it always snows in Polessk that I contrast those images with their summer counterparts. These photographs show the Deyma River and Polessk Canal, together with the landmark Eagle Bridge. The sun is shining, the snow has gone, the ice has melted, and the boats are out.

Brick riverside building with a red roof, reflected in calm water near a red bridge edge.

Red-brick bridge with two small towers and red roofs rising from a stone base, reflected in a calm river. Kaliningrad weather is excellent in September!

Two people in a small boat wearing orange life jackets on calm water with reeds in the background.

Wide river with a small boat in the distance, banks lined with trees and houses home along the shore.

Here am I, sitting outside Königsberg’s Rossgarten Gate, outside the Rossgarten Gate restaurant. It’s not that they wouldn’t let me in, but the restaurant’s name, Solnechny Kamen, which, as you students of Russian know full well, translates to ‘Sun Stone’, subliminally inspired me to capture the first rays of summer, which were breaking prematurely over the city in the last month of May 2024. Incidentally, I’ve not gone mardy and am not refusing to eat my food because, instead of a pint, I’ve been given a cup of coffee; I’m just thawing out after a long, hard winter.

Mick Hart sits at an outdoor cafe table with two plated meals and a coffee against a brick wall. This is Königsberg's Rosgarten Gate.

Summer in Kaliningrad and its region is not all about beer and sun lounging – more’s the pity. On the contrary, it’s a time to get things done! Do those knee pads suit me? I’m doing a real conquistador job on upcycling that old open-arm bench, and our good friend, artist and conservationist, and, quite frequently, Immanuel Kant, is treating our historic Soviet statue to a summer makeover.

Mick Hat in a light blue shirt and jeans sweeping a sidewalk with a straw broom, wearing gloves, knee pads, cap, and safety glasses outdoors by a fence.

Mick Hart in an orange shirt paints a weathered wooden, vintage bench-seat red outdoors, using a brush with a paint can nearby.

When the sun’s out, you want to be outside with it, but as my friend’s father, Mr Wilcox, used to bawl at me whenever I was ‘holidaying’ at his farm in my youth, “We’re fighting a war against human nature, Hart!! There’s work to do!!” And you couldn’t say fairer than that, because you daren’t. As his ghostly voice echoes across the decades, I assuage his wrath by turning my hand to a little shabby chicing in the country house hallway. Alright, alright, I admit most of the ideas were Olga’s.

Rustic kitchen scene with a vintage metal stove, a straw hat, a vase of bright flowers, and a wicker basket of apples nearby. Mick Hart's dacha in Russia.

Rustic still-life: pink cosmos flowers in a copper vase and glass bottle vase, with apples on a lace-covered table against a shabby chic brick wall backdrop. Mick Hart's and Olga Hart's country retreat in Russia.

And when the work is done … (most of these ideas are mine.)

Mick Hart with gray hair and beard sitting outside, holding a beer mug; a white cat sits on a chair nearby in a sunny yard. Kalingrad weather is made for it!

A small group of four adults sitting in lawn chairs around a picnic setup with blankets, flowers, and plates of food outdoors in a garden. A day when the Kaliningrad weather encourages such relaxation.

Celebrating summer’s divine attributes.

Olga Hart reclining in a small green boat on a calm Curonian Lagoon, with a sandy shore in the foreground and a blue sky above.

Olga Hart standing in a floral dress with arms spread wide in a grassy area near the coast, sea in the background. Celebrating the Kaliningrad weather!

Am I responding to the dulcet tones of my authoritarian guardian Mr Wilcox, or is it just excellent weather to be doing it? All my own work? Leave it out!

Wooden garden bench with beige cushions under a tree, a tray with cups and snacks on the seat. Mick Hart's garden in Kaliningrad.

Mick Hart in a red shirt, jeans, and cap stands on a circular brick patio in a leafy garden, holding a green item and wearing gloves, enjoying the Kaliningrad weather.

And when the work is done … it’s time for a libation with the neighbours.

Mick Hart and neighbour smiling and toasting glasses at a candlelit gathering. on the veranda in Kaliningrad.

Table near a doorway with two lit lanterns, a vase of red and orange roses, a ceramic owl mug, and a glass of tea on a wooden table; garden in the background.

Going German bunkers on a hot day in Kaliningrad. Meanwhile, Ginger teaches himself how to hide behind a flower before venturing out onto the terrace to assess how invisible he has become.