We’re back in the Mediterranean. Trying not to take for granted the stunning views as we try not to take the beauty of northern Ontario for granted.
Meet our neighbour in the next flat, Alexander. He’s Russian, from Murmansk, and identified quite easily with the photos of our home territory. His home was pine trees and snow as well. Though Murmansk is considerably to the north of us, at latitude 68.9733 N, the only major city north of the Arctic Circle. Yellowknife is only 65.453972. And London is north of Sioux Lookout, though warmed by the Gulf Stream.
Alexander is an interesting bloke. He no longer lives in Murmansk but now has a home in Kaliningrad, city in the province of the same name. It’s part of Russia but exists as a separate nugget, technically an exclave, completely surrounded by Poland on one side and Lithuania on the other. We hadn’t met him before as he’s not here in the winter so we haven’t previously overlapped. In fact could almost have alternately occupied the same flat box and cox style. Kind as well as interesting. When we arrived about midnight on Monday he came out with a light as J struggled to find the keyhole in a dark hallway. And has also lent us a large water container with plastic pump as the water system in the building is about to be repaired.