Traveling Tour Guide: Eastern Europe

Showing posts with label Eastern Europe. Show all posts

#848 Krasnaya Ploshchad, Red Square, Moscow, Russia

The most iconic place in Russia symbolizing all that was hated about the Tsars, all that was controlling about the Communists and all that is powerful about Putin and modern Russia: Red Square. With St. Basil's fairy-tale church at the bottom end by the Moskva River, the Kremlin palace and government halls to the right side, the Gum department store on the left side and the imposing gates leading in, it would be an impressive place, but all of that does not encompass its enormous size.

As you can probably tell from these photos, Red Square is large and imposing -- used in films about the USSR and Russia, paintings and art, and it is symbolic, iconic and memorable. I especially remember the line to see Lenin's embalmed body snakes down one whole side, although we didn't join it! The name Red comes neither from the red bricks nor from red communism, but from krasnaya, which can mean red or beautiful, an improvement from Pozhar 'burnt-out place' which is what it was until the 17th century.

Photos from 1997.

#914 Transfagarasan Road, Romania

Going up and down one of Romania's highest mountains, this road built by Ceaucescu is a most amazing drive. With glacial Lake Balea and year-round snow at the top, the hairpin turns just above the tree line form a wild journey into and out of wild nature. A small cabana and cable car at the top with tourist stalls offer a charming lunch stop that would be impossible in mid-winter. Returning via a 887m tunnel under Paltinu ridge that drops you back into the trees, it is an appropriately otherworldly journey.

Historically built by Ceaucescu after the Soviet's invasion of Czechoslovakia, it was intended to help form part of a national security zone offering an alternative north-south route, though fit his megalomania well. It was built in 4 years (and really only the summers in those years), and up to 40 workers are said to have died during it's maniacal construction.

Source: Lonely Planet Romania & Moldova 3rd Edition

#918 Bear's Cave, Romania

In the hills near Chiscau village in Romanian in the Apuseni Mountains lies a cave. This was a cave that is a truly amazing example of a story that can be told (and imagined) from evidence. There are many bones in this cave -- piles of them, in fact. We can tell that the bodies of the owners have been broken apart and that they must have had tragic, difficult, hard-fought deaths. How do we know? Well, the only intact skeleton is that of a bear, and he lies curled up deep within the cave, where his last slumber has been recorded for eternity. He consumed all the other animals in the cave (including other bears, I believe), before eventually succumbing to starvation and dying himself.

Something cataclysmic happened to trap the animals in the cave and I think its fascinating to imagine the last days of these animals. Terrified cattle or prey knowing that there was nowhere to go, no way of escaping their fate with a hungry bear in the same space. We can truly see the work of the food chain, but I like to imagine what a great scene it would have been while each animal was consumed, one by one!

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bear_Cave

#939 Zakopane, Poland

In the mountains up from Krakow, where you can stand on top of a mountain and look down into valleys of both Poland and Slovakia is beautiful Zakopane.

The pine covered mountains offer super walking trails and ski fields, and one of the popular pastimes is to take a sleigh up one mountain, to end up eating delicious Polish sausages and drinking mulled wine! A sleigh is romantic wonder -- imagining you hear the bells of Santa's reindeer, warming your hands under the thick pelt over your knees, snuggling up to your companions! In summer, they change to carriages and it's just as fun.

The wooden houses evoke a bygone era of isolated hill villages and changing emperors, and the market stalls offer up a delight of cheeses, woolies, and meat. In summer, the mountain resort is also popular -- I guess I'll have to go back again!

#940 Riga, Latvia

The center of the Baltic states, Latvia has passed under many flags in its long history, and the city's architecture and museums reflect it's varied heritage. Whether viewing the city from the top of the church tower, wandering along the Daugava River or meandering through the quaint cobbled old lanes, the colors and styles are charming.

Whether it is Germans, Holy Romans, Swedes, Poles, Lithuanians, Russians or the Soviet Union, various groups have controlled Riga, but from 1991 Latvians have proudly shown their nationalism and pride. A great place to wander around for a few days and discover cute corners, with a blessedly close, small, efficient airport and a great airline!

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riga

#943 Krakow, Poland

Beautiful cityscape from Wikipedia, as viewed from the Krakow Mound.

Beautiful Krakow: ancient, academic, artistic, cultural, catholic, charming!

From the main square, the Ryneck, the biggest square in Europe, a delight in summer when it's filled with restaurants and cafes, with it's unusual twin brother towers of the old St. Mary's basilica and St. Peter and Paul church to the Wawel Castle and the military-like Barbican, there are many things to see. The ancient university can be seen in the Collegium Magnus, and the old city is a UNESCO World Heritage site. World War II has left a fresh history in it's ghetto and graveyards across the river in formerly-Jewish Kazimierz.

Majestic poignant music, quaint little old streets, and a history of monarchies, duchys, small tribes, as well as Napoleon, Hitler and Stalin. Krakow is the cultural heart of Poland, with heritage as old as it's ancient city can have.

I feel sad that I have only visited Krakow in the middle of winter, when the Wistula River is frozen and the snow deep, but that means that I have a summer gem to return to, discovering a whole new city.