Russia: Stavropol

So where is Stavropol?

My boyfriend, Vlad, always describes it as south Russia, near the Black Sea. Here's a little more direction.

We spent a little over a week in Stavropol, where I got to meet Vlad's family and his friends from childhood. I actually LOVED Stavropol. Vlad described it kind of like a small town, which I could see. It was a lot of apartment buildings and strip malls. There's a little downtown area with fountains in the middle and of course bars and a mall. It was quaint, but nice and modern. Even the bars downtown had like an American hipster feel to them with their craft beers and rustic decor.

The best part by far though, was the people. This may be Russian culture everywhere, but here is where I really felt how welcoming and generous Russian people can be. The whole time we were there, Vlad's friends and family were having us over, cooking huge dinners for us, pulling out all the stops for us to have a good time. And OH the drinks! My glass was never empty! I can now confirm, that Russians do love to drink. Not just vodka either. Vodka, wine, cognac...you name it. But, man, did we have a good time!



Everybody was so wonderful and accommodating, especially because I speak barely any Russian. And I ate SO much food. Everybody had fresh home grown/made food and alcohol that came from their gardens. I mean how do you say 'no' to homemade wine after you've heard their story of picking the grapes from the vines and making it into wine themselves? And then there's fresh fruit from the garden, apples, melons, grapes, etc. And then the rabbit that they went out and hunted for this meal. One day there Vlad and I even went out to his grandfather's farm outside the city to help pick apples, walnuts and grapes. And afterwards his grandfather gifted me a bouquet of fresh picked flowers to take home.

Outside of Stavropol

So, the food was definitely good, and I even enjoyed the Russian dishes. For the most part. There are certain things I may never get used to (I'm talking about you, herring salad), but so much of the food is so fresh and personal, it's hard not to like it.

We got into some other adventures during our time in Stavropol. I got to go to a real Russian spa there. We did some exploring and Vlad showed me where he used to run around as a kid. Near Vlad's mom's house there is a nice forest-y park where they have kids attractions on one side and a shady little forest road on the other side.

On another day in another forest, we came across some natural spring pools, which were freezing, but Vlad assured me people swim in there, even in winter.

I was surprised after staying in Stavropol, how high the quality of life was. I think sometimes the messages we get in the US about life in other countries is a bit skewed. But maybe I've just seen too many youtube videos of crazy things going on in Russia. If you don't know what I'm talking about, google "only in Russia." Do it! It'll make you laugh.

Anyways, I really enjoyed it. We were even thinking about staying a few extra days in Stavropol, rather than going back to Moscow, but we decided not to, because Vlad's sister was coming from Saint Petersburg to meet us in Moscow.

So back to Moscow we went!

But, we did catch one really nice sunset before we left.

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