How to show Smolensk to friends and relatives

Last week Pasha and Katya came to visit from Voronezh. We met Pasha on an educational trip to America a year and a half ago.
Despite the fact that our delegation was full of bright personalities, Pasha was impossible to miss: huge, loud, in a butterfly, tireless to joke, as well as questions from all areas of knowledge, with which he usually tortured all those who came in his way. Whether they were Americans or Russians.

Director of the Voronezh Regional Chess Club and Vice-President of the Voronezh Regional Chess Federation Pasha knows how to find chess everywhere. Once in St. Louis, he told everyone that this city is the chess capital of America. One evening I accidentally decided to go with Pasha to the local chess headquarters. And here we go.

It turned out that Russian-speaking chess players almost everywhere, Pasha met a bunch of friends with whom he once played in Voronezh or elsewhere, played a game with Czech champion Katerzhina Nemtsova, and then he really wanted a souvenir from St. Louis, but could not find anything suitable.

His charm could not help but bewitch the woman at the reception of the institution, she said that they had a souvenir from last season and brought us two jackets with chess symbols. I gave them for free.

The jackets came in handy and we were in heavy rain. They turned out to be very cool – waterproof and warm. And most importantly, no one else has such souvenirs from the United States.

Both Pasha and I still wear these jackets, and now they meet again.

As it turned out, after our acquaintance and my stories, Pasha decided to definitely visit Smolensk during his vacation. He came with his wife a year and a half later. For that, I am very grateful.

On the first day of the evening, we took a little walk around Smolensk, enjoyed local delicious souvenirs, visited the creative space “Staff”, and on the second we rushed to Smolensk Poozerie.

On the way, they collected apples for bison, fed bison, spiritually visited the Cordon of the forester Vitaly Zenkovsky (his wife Elena still makes cool cheese), wandered around the lakes, fed Przewalsky’s horses, looked into the museum of the famous traveler Nikolai Przewalsky, wet the legs in Chistika.

A good day with good people is the main thing in tourism and travel. Now I am waiting for a return visit to Voronezh, and I feel that I will not turn away.

Come to Smolensk, Smolensk region, Smolensk Poozerie, bring friends here, there is something interesting for everyone.

And we will introduce you to the most interesting people of Smolensk and Smolensk region. We always do this, but we have only gradually begun to understand how important it is.

History and sights are good, but it is the encounters with people that leave the most vivid memories in us. And interesting people we have a lot, and they always meet on excursions to Smolensk.

For example, we are sitting at the grottoes of the Royal Fortress on a bench, and Alexei Nebylitsyn runs past, and I certainly pay attention to him: “Look, this is the man who took and pulled out of oblivion Smolensk sweets, not thanks, but in spite of it.” And the story comes alive.

This is the true story of our lives that unfolds here and now, and that’s why we love it.

We're waiting for everyone in Smolensk!