Archive for the 'East Europe' Category
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE !
On April 22 TotalAdventure departed Tbilisi by auto, with the driver from British Hotel. Before leaving Tbilisi, there were a few stops to pick up necessary documents for crossing the border.
From Tbilisi to Yerevan is about 300 km, taking around 5 hours, including time crossing the border.
Armenia – Country Number 97 For TotalAdventure.
Shortly after the border crossing we had a bit of a detour. The driver received a text warning that Azeri soldiers had made an incursion into Armenian territory. The war has been on and off for over 30 years – since the breakup of the Soviet Union. The next road we went on was closed for about 30 minutes due to a farmer’s demonstration. In all delays were about 90 minutes. It was later reported one Azeri soldier was killed. Above, the peaceful image of winter’s snow receding in the strong spring sunshine.
TotalAdventure’s hotel was right off Republic Square – a grand plaza of Government buildings, libraries and museums.
A delicious dinner at Kavkazia – beginning with Dolma.
Followed by Borsht and then Shashleek. Armenian cuisine is hearty – a crossroads of various Empires – Russian,Turkish, Persian,Greek.
Armenian Dram. As of this writing, the Dram is 387 to the US Dollar. Overall the country is lower priced than the US and Western Europe. A good meal for 2 in a top restaurant, with wine would be about US $ 60, about a tenth of that in a common locals canteen.
Mt.Ararat in Eastern Turkey. It is where Noah landed the Ark after the Great Flood. The mountain is sacred in Christianity,Islam and Judaism. Though only 53km ( 32mi) distant as the crow flies – to drive is 547 km since the Turkish border has been closed since 1991 -one must circumnavigate through Georgia to get there. At nearly 17,000 feet, 5800m the mountain is snowcapped for eternity.
The Cascade – 672 steps with the 40th Anniversary of Soviet Armenia Monument at the top. TotalAdventure climbed it effortlessly on a 29 C day.
Author of a a favorite childhood book “My Name is Aram.”
Artist and Director Sergei Paradjanov pictured at his home, now a museum.
Paradjanov Artwork.
Paradjanov Artwork.
In may places throughout the city – memorials to soldiers killed in the ongoing war with Azerbaijan.
Russian TV is prominent. TotalAdventure watched Rossiya 24 – like a Russian verion of Fox.
Rossiya 24 previewing things to come. TotalAdventure is self taught to read Cyrillic – very helpful in Russia ,the Balkans ,Mongolia and the post Soviet world in general.
TotalAdventure often hires a car with driver in many countries, in order to film and photograph the countryside. In Armenia that was prohibitively expensive, so I rented a Chevy SUV for $ 35 a day.
The main mission was to visit ancient churches and monasteries. Taking information from an online guide, I pasted the locations in Google Maps on my MacBook Pro and then sent the resulting map to my iPhone. This map – Bluetoothed on my dashboard screen- was my tour guide throughout the next two days of exploration. These features will soon be embedded in our new engine – adventuretravel.ai
All the monasteries are featured in THE VIDEO AT THE TOP.
Mother Stork Is Expecting ! Or perhaps feeding the little ones.
The Soviet bus seems to be a 1950s relic – but it’s from 1987.
Remains of Zvartnots Cathedral.
1300 hrs. Armenia is GMT + 4 – 2 hours ahead of Western Europe and 8 hours ahead of New York.
Poppies – a popular flower in nearby countries.
Interior Cathedral.
Hovhannavank – The Catholicos of Armenia.
A church on a forested mountaintop.
Overlooking Lake Sevan. SEE THE VIDEO AT THE TOP !
St,Gregory – who was imprisoned in complete darkness in a snake pit for 13 years !
Also overlooking Lake Sevan is the Writer’s Hotel. Built around 1960, it is a classic example of Soviet Brutalist architecture.
After years of abandonment, it is now reopening as a hotel – the views are beautiful, the rooms basic, for about $ 35 a night. And writers won’t have to write about the glories of Lenin and Marx.
Final stop to gas up the rental ! The next morning TotalAdventure flew around enemy lines to Baku.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE !
On April 16th, TotalAdventure boarded Turkish Airlines from Miami to Tbilisi Georgia on a one- way ticket. The reason for the one -way ticket will be discussed in the Armenia and Azerbaijan chapters to follow, but it had to do with visiting currently peaceful ,yet potentially volatile areas in the Eastern Mediterranean.
The highlight of my 6 hour layover in Istanbul Airport was Nusr-Et’s amazing $45 cheeseburger. It was quaffed with an icy cold Efes Beer.
After flying day and night and another half of a night, TotalAdventure arrivrd in Tbiisi at 3 AM. Immigration took seconds. Waiting for me was a driver from the excellent small inn British House. I dozed from about 5 AM till 11 and then hit the ground in my hiking boots.
The first graffiti I read on the street. The populace is pro-Europe ,and the nation was grated Candidate Status to join the EU this past December. However, the government, perhaps out of fear – leans pro Russia. Georgians are naturally wary of their large northern neighbor that has already captured nearly half their territory in earlier wars. As of this writing , Parlaimentt just passed a pro-Russian foreign agent law, threatening further integration with the EU.
Holy Trinity Cathedral is on top a high hill overlooking the city. For a view of city sights be sure to view VIDEO AT TOP OF PAGE !
Putin is not so popular in Tbilisi.
Lots of cool grafitti in the streets.
Many quiet squares thoughout the vibrant and fashionable city. The young crowds seem more Parisian than Muscovite.
Noisy Protests Almost Nightly. Some fear that another Trump Presidency would result in a carte blanche handover of Georgia to Putin.
Delicious Kinkhali as an appetizer.
Followed by a lamb stew.
A sparky stove !
Do not know the name but amazingly tasty !
Riverboat style architecture.
A modern bridge over the Kura River which flows from Eastern Turkey to the Caspian Sea.
Holy Trinity in the distance.
TotalAdventure’s Room At British House. 2 Rooms , actually, plus a small balcony. About 75 US.
Georgia Lari. 2.78 to 1 USD as of this writing.
The next stop was Gorki ,birthplace of Comrade Josef Stalin, Dictator of the Soviet Union from 1922 until his death in 1953. Dictators love to pose with children. Thanks to Stalin, millions of children were orphaned when both their parents were sent off to slave labor in the Siberian Gulags. The children themselves grew up in orphanages where they could be brainwashed to be obedient little Party cadres.
HIs death was secretly celebrated by many. Shortly afterwards some liberalization from an ablsolute police state began.
1930s Exection Squads.
See Stalin’s Train Car IN THE VIDEO AT TOP OF PAGE.
From the plans of central Georgia, we drove to 3000meters elevation into the Caucasus Mountains, highest in Europe,
The view of Mt.Xazhgebi by night. At over 5000 meters , it is half in Russia.
On the side of bi-national Mt.Xazhgebi,is Holy Trinity, dating from the 1300s.Winter snows are subsiding in late April.
Light From The. Heavens.
Gudauri Ski Resort is very high, over 3000m in most areas and goes on for many kilometers. In late April the season was ending, the higher peaks were off limits due to avalanche danger from the strong spring sunshine. Georgians, Russians ,Germans and Americans all ski together peacefully.
TotalAdventure returned to Istanbul for the first time in several years. It’s our staging point for points East.
Where East Meets West .
In Santa Sophia – Both Mosque and Church.
1000 Year Old Graffiti In St. Sophia
Europe On The Left, Asia On The Right.
A Patriotic Dog.
Tonight TotalAdventure Flies to Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, and the Real Adventure Begins !
On The Morning Of July 9,2017 We began our trip from the Baltics to Germany As you leave Riga, you see the tallest structure in the country – a Soviet TV tower.
From Riga, one can go anywhere in Europe, Moscow,Kiev ,Minsk and onwards to China.
Afternoon stop in Lithuania. As part of the EU – the only formal border crossing s are with neighboring Belarus and Russian Kaliningrad. The currency is the Euro.
Buses to all parts of the small country.
Finally that night, Bialystok, Poland.
The next day, we continue West, passing though Warsaw and Lodz.
We stop in our ancestral hometown of Stargard, , traditionally German, now occupied by Poland, Thanks to Josef Stalin. Here our Great, Great Great And Great Great Great Grandfathers were Baptized.
A Library Tower In Stargard.
A Middle Ages Warrior .
On Tuesday, July 11 , we finally arrive in East Germany. This house looks as if it might hold soldiers from World War 2 even now.
After settling into our Hotel in Riga, we were famished from our overnight journey across the Baltic. One of the reasons we visited Latvia was for dining on wild game, readily available from the primeval forests of the lightly populated Baltic Republics. A quick perusal on the web led us to Meža Garša – ” Taste Of The Forest “.
The first course was a wild soup – with venison ,rabbit and local forest mushrooms and totally organic vegetables.
Next was an assortment of moose, bear and deer.
An excellent dark, cold ale to accompany.
Venison Tartare.
And Finally The Main Course – Roast Bear. According to the owner – Ivo , the best bear comes from Estonia because they live on a diet of berries – creating a sweet flavor. In many areas bears live near rivers and eat a lot of fish – creating a fishy flavor. All of Meža Garša ‘s game is fresh hunted or farmed and locally sourced in the Baltic Republics.
A lunch at Taste of The Forest Was Truly One of The Meals of a Lifetime For TotalAdventure – And We Beat Anthony Bourdain To It. !
Riga is a beautiful city of the Hanseatic League.It is amazingly well preserved considering the last century of brutal war and occupation.
Victory Over The Invaders !
A Cool Summer Day In The Capital.
Video Highlights – Germany – Austria – CzechRepublic – Poland – Slovakia – Hungary- Romania and on to Montenegro.
Nightfall in Krakow Poland.
The Route Travelled by Train.
Red For Train. Pink For Plane. Blue For Road. Green For Boat.
Central Europe Panoramic – Austria, Czech Republic,Poland And Hungary.
After a 4 hour train ride from Vienna, TotalAdventure arrived in Prague – for the first time since 1990, just after Liberation. Although tourists congregate heavily in the Old City and the population is much wealthier – the medieval buildings have stayed much the same.
Over the Stari Grad – Old City.
Habsburgian Architecture.
Hradcany Castle
Hradcany by Night.
On The Metro, about 60 cents US.
A Musical City.
Baroque.
Evening Storks.
U Modre Kachnicky is one of the best game restaurants in the world outside of Iceland. Here is smoked duck.
Wild Boar at U Modre Kachnicky.
About 80 km East of Prague is the village of Kutna Hora. During the Black Death of the 1300s there were piles of bodies deposited at the Cemetery Church,with almost no one to bury them.
Archeologists uncovering skeletons outside the church.
Years later , with so many bones lying about, a local priest came up with a creative way to adorn the church.
Neatly stacked femur and shin bones, with smiling skulls in the middle.
Spirit of Christ.
Holy Insignia.
Death Not In Vain.
Rich and Poor, All Alike In The End.
Less Bleached.
Felled By The Plague 800 Years Ago.
After many hours and 4 trains changes from Kutna Hora, we finally arrived in Krakow about 10 PM , in time for an outdoor dinner behind the Cathedral, where Pope Joh Paul II was Cardinal before 1978.
In the Staro Grad. Word of warning – don’t change money at the tourist change houses – you will get 25% less than you do in a bank !
Hearty cuisine – a bit heavy in the summer weather.
The Pope as Priest – 1960s.
The sun rises at 5AM in June.
On To Budapest.