Eastern Europe

In a secluded bay on Lake Lovozero, Bear’s Corner camp is where we’ll be getting a taste of real arctic food à la russe.

From Bear’s Corner camp on Lake Lovozero, a snowmobile tour to see reindeer, do some ice fishing, and visit Lake Seydozero and the giant Kuiva.

Reviewing two of Murmansk’s top restaurants for Arctic and Nordic cuisine: Tsarskaya Okhota and Tundra, both members of the sprawling Restaurant Syndicate.

Discover the history of Murmansk and the Kola Peninsula. Plus a monument to codfish, reindeer races, and some colorful coats of arms.

Reading my post on Arkhangelsk a couple months back, you might’ve been wondering: “What the hell is he doing in that sh**hole?” Especially for someone who’s been all over Russia dozens of …

Limiting one’s trip to the Russian Far North to its major cities (Murmansk, Arkhangelsk, Petrozavodsk) would be a little bit like going to a beach or ski resort and never leaving your …

As I continue my series on the Great Russian North, it might be natural to wonder: in a country so vast and varied, how did people come to freeze their butts by …

Throughout Europe and perhaps even more so in Eastern Europe, various herbal liquors have long been invented and consumed for their medicinal properties. Chartreuse, whose recipe originates from a mysterious 17th century …

Aaaah, the pleasures of visiting a distillery! The idyllic setting in the rugged countryside, the yeasty aroma of fermenting grain, the majestic copper stills, the boozy smell in the warehouse, sampling tasty …

My Moscow restaurant series is over for the time being, but before summer arrives and we switch to cuisines more evocative of warmer climates, I’d like to give you a glimpse of …