Welcome to the Twin Cities, the best place to be in the summer and the place to avoid in the winter.

The Twin Cities are two large cities — Minneapolis and St. Paul — in Minnesota, that are 16 minutes from one another by car. St. Paul serves as the state and administrative capital; Minneapolis is the business capital and is more populous.

Arriving at the Minneapolis St. Paul Airport, you notice the beautiful skyline that makes downtown Minneapolis. The main highway serving as the feeder road to and from the airport makes it one of the busiest roads in the Twin Cities. However, even their rush hour traffic is nothing compared with Mombasa road in Nairobi! Talking about roads, Minnesota has one of the best road networks that I have ever seen.

Minnesota experiences really cold winters, which means the roads have to be in top condition to withstand the ice and snow.

They say one the worst driving experiences is getting stuck in snow, with subzero temperatures and no good Samaritans to push you out. While I’m here, the temperatures are at -22° Celsius. This is probably the worst time to visit America.

The Twin Cities have all kinds of cultures. There are shopping malls for Somalis, run by Somalis — just to create that feeling of home. There are a number of businesses run by Kenyans. One of the popular eateries is the Jambo Africa, serving East and West African cuisine.

The people are friendly. Somalis have a vibrant community. A large number of Kenyans from the Abagusii community have made it their second home.

For public transport, the Twin Cities are served by a light rail running between them. Most people however own private cars, even though it is more convenient to use the train and the buses to access downtown Minneapolis and St. Paul.

The buses have special lanes to ensure that they don’t get stuck in traffic.

Another amazing thing is a feature called “Park and Ride.” Motorists get free parking at a designated parking spot, then take the bus into the city. This saves on petrol and parking fees, reduces traffic on the road, and is environmentally friendly to boot.

Minnesota has about 10,000 lakes, including the largest of the Great Lakes of North America — Lake Superior. But now that it is winter, the lakes are useless to me. They only come alive over the summer with all kinds of activities going on like leisurely walks, skiing and motor boating.

One of the most famous parks is the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. The centrepiece of the 11-acre park is the Spoonbridge and Cherry fountain.

In addition to the lakes, you can walk around several parks in the neighbourhoods. The parks each have a basketball court, a baseball pitch, a tennis court and my favourite, the swings. There is also a track for running or walking dogs.

The Twin Cities are great place to visit in the summer. Over the winter, I advise that you stay home.