Murmansk is today still a Soviet style city. A lot has changed since the Iron Curtain went down, but the look is much of the same, with uniformed concrete buildings. There are practically no smaller house. Now a project with so-called townhouse has been started outside of the centre area. But even if the outer appearance has not changed too much, a lot of new things are going one behind the facades.
Murmansk is in many ways a mirror of the powerful development which takes place in Russia at the moment. More and more modern shops have been opened, also well-know brands have their Murmansk outlets. There are a lot of restaurants, cafes, discos and nightclubs. The restaurant offer not only Russian food – you can get Sushi of a very high quality, eat German sausages in the pub “Guten Morgen” or have kind of Tex-Mex food (at least a Russian interpretation of it) in the cinema Atlantica.
The spectre of products and services is broader than in most of the small Scandinavian villages. It’s a city that never sleeps – a lot of places are open 24 hours, also some of the supermarkets. If you take a look at the cars on the streets you get an impression of what it means that Russia becomes richer and the BNP is rising significantly.
80 of 100 inhabitants have mobile phones and five companies are on this hot market.
Murmansk is also an interesting destination for tourist. It is not a beauty, but exciting, exotic and fascinating anyway. There are some museums which are worth a visit (Regional Museum, Art Museum and the nostalgic Museum of the Northern Fleet). Most visitors make a trip to the Alosha-monument (with a great view over the city and the fjord), go inside one of the (modern but beautiful churches) or enjoy the seal-show at the Oceanarium. There are a lot of hotels in different categories.
Murmansk has regular flight connections with Tromsø (Norway) and Helsinki (Finland; only during the summer). Domestic flights connect Murmansk with Moscow, Saint Petersburg and Archangel. Train connections to Petrozavodsk, Saint Petersburg and Moscow. Regular scheduled buses to Kirkenes (Norway) and Ivalo (Finland). The E 105 connects Murmansk with Kirkenes (250 kilometres, app. 4-5 hours including border-passing), there is also a road to Ivalo (5 to 6 hours). (Ulrich Kreuzenbeck; www.norge.russland.ru and www.murmansk.russland.ru)
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