Murmansk: Cold Coffee & Concrete Dreams
okay, so murmansk. it’s…a place. i wasn’t exactly planning on murmansk, russia, to be honest. it was a last-minute thing, a weird detour after a gig fell through in st. petersburg. the numbers 577881 and 1643447458 keep popping into my head, which is probably just sleep deprivation. i’m a touring session drummer, and let me tell you, the van life is not glamorous.
we rolled in and it was…grey. like, aggressively grey. i just checked and it’s hovering around six and a half degrees, but feels like you’re staring into the soul of a freezer. the air is thick enough to chew, honestly. the humidity’s at sixty-two percent, which explains why my cymbals feel permanently damp. pressure’s normal, apparently, but my head isn’t.
finding decent coffee is a mission. i stumbled into this little place near the *port, “Kofe s Soboy” (or something like that - my russian is…developing). it wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t exactly third-wave pour-over perfection, you know? more like “hot brown liquid that vaguely resembles coffee.” i overheard someone saying it’s the best in town, which either means it is the best in town, or murmansk has very low standards. TripAdvisor has some reviews, but take them with a mountain of salt.
the buildings here are…sturdy. soviet-era concrete blocks, mostly. not exactly picturesque, but they have a certain brutalist charm. i’ve been sketching them in my notebook, trying to capture the mood. it’s a mood of…resilience, i guess? or maybe just cold.
someone told me the locals are super suspicious of anyone who looks like they’re not from around here. apparently, there’s a lot of naval activity, and they don’t take kindly to people poking around.
i spent an afternoon wandering around the city center, trying to find something interesting. there’s a monument to the atomic submarine, which is…a thing. and a surprisingly good museum of regional studies. i also found a vintage shop crammed with fur hats and old military uniforms. seriously, the fur hat game is strong* here. if you’re into that sort of thing. Check out this local forum for events.
my neighbors seem to mostly consist of stern-looking babushkas and guys in tracksuits. if you get bored, the Kola Peninsula is just a short drive away, apparently. i heard from a guy at the bar that the northern lights are incredible if you get out of the city, but you need to go with someone who knows the area. he also warned me about the mosquitos in the summer. apparently, they’re the size of small birds.
i tried to find a decent music venue, but no luck. mostly just karaoke bars playing russian pop. not exactly my scene. i did manage to jam with a couple of local musicians in a park, though. they were surprisingly good. we mostly played blues, which felt strangely appropriate for the atmosphere. Yelp has a few listings but don't expect much.
a drunk guy at the bar told me that the best thing about murmansk is that it’s not moscow. which, honestly, is a pretty good summary.
i’m leaving tomorrow. honestly, i’m not sure what i’ll remember about murmansk. probably just the cold, the grey, and the slightly depressing coffee. but hey, it’s a story, right? and as a drummer, i’m all about the rhythm, even if the rhythm is just the relentless beat of the arctic wind. Here's a guide to Murmansk.
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