I went to the South of Russia
And it was controversial
Let me start of by saying that I am not a huge patriot. I personally feel that patriotism is part of the Russian propaganda engine, and you have to think twice about what the country did for you before doing something for the country. There is a really good quote in The Godfather about that (I will not include it so you watch the film and enjoy the quote in its full glory).
I also do not like beaches and when it is hotter than twenty- five Celsius outside. Because of these two factors, it was hard for me to review my trip, but i thought I will just share my thoughts with you guys.

Kabardinka
Scala Camping
Our trip started in Scala Camping, which prides itself on being the first “luxury camping” resort in Russia. This is partly true, because the canvas-made houses were sturdy and comfortable to live in, and the wifi was strong throughout the resort, not to mention the view. The beach was literally a one-minute walk down the mountain on which the camping is constructed, and the restaurant (or grill-bar, as they call it) was good, but nothing to write home about. So by now you are probably thinking- “why doesn’t this idiot rate that resort five stars”. And I will tell you why- the toilets and showers were really quite dirty and incredibly smelly, to the point of being uncomfortable and just plain unhygienic. Because of that, I am giving the resort two stars.
The Public
The public in Kabardinka is not the most pleasant crowd to be around- they are so emotional and their kids always scream and it is just not cute. I do not have anything against them, but I am just uncomfortable around people like that, and i am sure my readers can relate.
Gelendzhik

St. Michel
Here is my full review, because it made no sense to condense it:
St. Michel is the only fine dining restaurant in Gelendzhik, a resort town in the south of Russia. The demographic in Gelendzhik is ninety percent broke-ass factory workers and ten percent national security agency workers with more cash than you can imagine. Because of such a massive gap, there is only one expensive hotel (Kempinski), and one restaurant (St. Michel)
While on holiday to Gelendzhik, I was going to St. Michel every day, sometimes twice a day. We had a coffee with my family (best coffee in the town) for breakfast, I had an aperitif alone (best cocktails ever) and sometimes we came back for dinner.
All of the dishes were amazing, sometimes with an interesting twist. The food the best, and I am actually struggling to write this review but whatever, thank you for reading!

The Beach
Personally, I do not understand the hype about beaches. If you look at it, a beach is just thousands of people trying to swim in dirty, salty water that the kids pee in, while the water does all kinds of weird sh*t with the people’s bodies. Because of that, I just read books the whole time my family was on the beach and did not attempt to get in the water.

Life Situation
Gelendzhik is a great city. There, nobody rushes, everyone just lives their life. Perhaps, Gelendzhik is the only town in the whole of Russia where people live comfortably and do not get addicted to vodka. I would even move here. However, I have two aspects of my life that I need to fix before moving to this small town.
- Education- I need to finish school and university
- Income- I need to somehow amass an income to live comfortably (for example a remote job or business or multiple small, independent companies)
Novorossiysk
I recently read a great piece in the New Yorker about the Avocado Toast- the writer eats millennials’ favorite food everyday, even when on overseas trips, and because of the same lunch everyday feels at home everywhere. This happened to me with Surf Coffee, a coffeeshop I visit regularly while I am at home in Moscow. While I did not expect for Surf to open in Novorossiysk (a port town, and the only reasonably large city near Gelendzhik) it was certainly welcome, and the guys there were so nice as to prepare the best latte I’ve had in a long time and to gift me a bracelet, which I no carry as a reminder of the trip.

Conclusion
All in all, I liked the trip, however only one thing was on my mind the whole time- how much better it would be if we (as a family) went to the South in April, not July. There would be no tourists, no thirty-degrees-plus weather and no overpriced hotels.
