Marco You can read this article in Italian on L’Ordinario magazine.
Click here to read the first part
The meeting point with Georgy is outside my hostel. He took me to the Temple Pub in the city center, they brew their own beer! He is a guy who, due to the pandemic, is no longer able to do the job he would like. He fits in with small businesses in the city, but his dream of him is to return to cruise ships in the Caribbean. He has already done this over the years, it is an intense and stressful job, but when he talks about it he is happy, the meeting with so many different people, he misses the life on board of the staff. He tells me that there were only about three thousand workers on the ship for about six thousand passengers. Practically an average Italian country that sails between the Caribbean islands. Georgy is a super football fan and his great passion is Roma, he knows everything: the football songs, the words, the rivalries, the great players and the street culture of the fan. He has visited small Italian towns on Iseo Lake and his favorite city is Novara, after Rome of course. His Italian is funny, through hymns and songs he has learned the language a bit and his Russian / Roman accent makes him very interesting. Unfortunately, I am not very knowledgeable on the subject of football and I am unable to follow him in his speeches. I still like to listen to his point of view and how he sees my culture. This too is exchange and growth. I enjoy the craft beer which is very good accompanied by the inevitable grenky, or as I call it: the bread of friendship. Salted and fried bites of garlic bread that are perfect with beer. The bread of friendship because if someone in a group of people does not eat it … poor him!
Open air market in Arkhangelsk 
Two ladies are going to the market in Arkhangelsk 
The central market in Arkhangelsk 
Marshrutka – local buses in Arkhangelsk
The days are spent walking and photographing the city, I want to explore the streets, the courtyards, the shops and see how ordinary life goes by. Let’s say that at -30 ° C, life outdoors is not exactly lively. I go, as usual in my travels, to the central market. Externally hardly anyone works, too cold, only some intrepid clothing salesman offers his goods. Inside it is better and there are typical Russian products. Tomatoes, cucumbers, apples, oranges, mandarins, salad, all accompanied by dairy counters where smetana (sour cream) and tvorog (a cheese with a texture similar to fresh ricotta) reigns. The fish is moslty all frozen, it could not be otherwise, ships cannot set sail. Salmon, trout, plaice and carp are the most common fish and then the red caviar, the black one is too expensive, not available to ordinary people. A few stalls of meat and the market is all here, there is everything you need.
Malye Karelye museum
I decide to visit the Malye Karelye museum, about 30km from the city. A minibus (marshutka) every thirty minutes takes you directly to the park entrance. It is an open-air museum. Here the typical houses of the Arkhangelsk (Pomorie) region have been rebuilt, sometimes moved. There are churches, chapels and above all peasant collective houses. Two or three historical wooden houses where the life of several families took place in its entirety. The basement was used as a pantry, in the summer it kept the temperature cool and in the winter it was isolated from the external frost. The ground floor was normally used as a stable / chicken coop. Here were the animals necessary for work and survival. The first floor was occupied by the house and the rooms dedicated to working. Small workshops where boats were built, clothes were sewn or tools were made. During the winter, everything necessary for the hot season was made. The rooms were heated by stoves that never went out. In each house in the park, a guide waits patiently for visitors and illustrates the exhibits and local history. Each house has a different exposure, outside we are at about -30 ° C and inside the houses the temperature is about -20 ° C, today there is no heating. The ladies are very kind, they welcome tourists by experiencing these temperatures daily. They are dressed very, very heavily. On their feet they have the typical felt boots (valenky) in which I can only imagine the layers of socks. The coat is also made of felt or in any case wool, a material that maintains body temperature and allows, in some way, to feel warm, underneath there are many, many layers. The fateful question comes and I am presented with a bar of chocolate called Mishka Na Severe (the bear from the north). Despite the difficult conditions, many people do their best to make me feel comfortable and welcomed. Even a small gesture like chocolate means a lot, it warms the heart and soul. The smiles of these ladies who work at -20 ° C are the most rewarding part of the park.
One of the biggest Roma football fan
The Chester pub is the meeting point with Anya. From the outside it is invisible, I get there because she sent me the address. At 18:30 we practically arrive together and sit down. I am amazed to note that inside the pub there is a tub with fresh mussels and oysters, but I will not taste any this time. Let’s start by ordering the beer and baked potatoes, they will keep us company for the next two hours. Anya is a young journalist from the local magazine and hopes one day to stop writing news, I talk to her about The Ordinary, and one day she would like to be able to write about positive events and stories of hope. As a second job she deals with beauty and it is perfectly consistent with what she would like to deal with: Beauty in the world. Anya loves to make her clients beautiful and attractive because she knows perfectly well that when a woman feels beautiful she is also happier and, above all, stronger and more confident. Anya is sweet, dreamy, delicate, she is married and one day dreams of having her own family. She loves traveling and she would like to know more about Russia, she would like to know the various regions and republics that are part of the federation and she dreams of one day going to the Baykal lake. As often happens, conversations between strangers are intense, you may feel freer and less judged to talk to someone outside your circle of acquaintances.
The best coffee ever
Walking around the city they are often looking for a coffee, one of the good ones that is not limited only to the classic American or drink. Walking around the pedestrian area these days I have always seen a small kiosk, with the coffee sign, but I have never noticed it too much, it has no internal tables and it looked like a container, but then I peek inside and see which is cute and cared for. I enter, Alexandra welcomes me warmly and warmly. Maybe just normal, but when the cold is intense, a simple welcome means a lot. I order an espresso and a chocolate, you need energy. She is intrigued by my accent and asks me the big question. First of all she is surprised that I know Russian and then she is definitely embarrassed and excited to have to prepare a coffee for an Italian. I don’t expect anything in particular, my goal was just to warm up a little and have a quick coffee. She explains to me that the blend is 100% Arabica from Brazil: ok I try it. Well, great, just great. Intense, round, soft as only a properly made espresso can be. The preparation is meticulous, the grinding, the cleaning of the machine, the dosage. The result can be seen and it warms the soul to think that the best coffee I have tried in Russia is in a small kiosk on a cold day almost at the Arctic Circle. Alexandra is a bit skeptical before, maybe she doesn’t think I like her so much and she thinks it’s just to pay her a compliment. She tells me that the ingredients are good, but the hands are what they are, nothing professional. Then she probably realizes that my pleasure is real and sincere and she is very happy with it. I went back a second time for coffee, the conversation was short, but there was happiness in both of us.
Then there are the casual encounters, those on the street when I ask for information, at the supermarket checkout or on the bus, all the people I met were open, kind and helpful. Arkhangelsk people definitely warmed my heart, thank you all!
In the meantime, as I write to you, as I told you at the beginning, I am on my way to Moscow and I still have to tell you about the last meeting. I was getting into the carriage when a couple in their fifties approaches me and asks me if they can entrust me with a bag to take to Moscow: it happens on Russian trains that people use them as a courier. I remain a bit doubtful, but in the end I accept. He hands me a ticket with the recipient’s phone number and tells me he will come to the Moscow station to pick up the package. The train leaves and I’m curious, what will there be? Will I have done well? What if it’s something illegal? I open the zipper slightly and… well it’s a bag of homemade food for the son who lives in Moscow almost a thousand kilometers away. The world is all the same, it will be a pleasure to deliver this suitcase of happiness!
