I had just moved to a new place so I decided to visit Skamiejka – a little Russian restaurant on my street. I just entered and Tamara, the owner of the place, was giving free vodka to everybody in the bar. ‘To our new neighbour!’ – she shouted and smiled at me. Everybody started to introduce themselves. Tamara seated me next to a gramophone and started to put a lot of tasty Russian specialities on the table in front of me.

The menu is entirely in Cyrillic and you can find pelmeni (Russian type of dumplings), solyanka (Russian soup) or kvass (Russian drink, a fermented beverage made from rye bread). Apart from the great menu there are much more interesting things around this small and cosy restaurant. For example the whole collection of Russian music on vinyls and the gramophone to listen to it! Skamiejka organises a lot of events connected with Russian culture – concerts, movies or exhibitions. But definitely the biggest attraction here is Tamara, always warm and talkative, always introducing guests to each other.

Now, everytime when I leave my place I knock on the window of Skamiejka and I wave at them or – when I have more time – I enter to say “good morning”. Skamiejka is the best neighbour I could wish for.