Simons Red Blog

RUSSIA'S GOLDEN RING

2009-09-15T19:46:00.006+01:00

(ЗОЛОТОЕ КОЛЬЦО РОССИ)

In the following texts there is a series of Blogs about a truly extraordinary tour of Russia's Golden Ring organised by a Latvian Tour Company.

These Blogs were written each day and emailed back to colleagues, family and friend. They are therefore spontaneous, written in the moment at the places and amongst the people where the experience took place. No sanitised or considered prose, just straight from the heart.

I have tried to express what I felt at the time I felt it. It is too easy to write accounts when you've returned home, and to do this is to lose the emotions and the context that they occurred within.

The accounts below are true, but I hope they are also readable and amusing – that was my intention. If you want to read more, then go to: Wikipedia

RIDING RUSSIAN

"How was your 24hours in the Bus?"

Well it wasn't quite 24hours, but it was quite a lot. We left the centre of Riga at 21:00hrs on a 17seater Mercedes Sprinter Bus (pictured), all but 2 seats being occupied; quite a tight fit. We were crewed by 2 drivers who changed over about every three hours, and by our courier. The whole coach, excepting myself and the guy from Portugal spoke Russian for the entire journey; probably for the entire holiday. Latvian could not be heard.

The coach sped out of Riga on Freedom Street vying with trams, potholes, atrocious cobbles and traffic that could be 5 wide in places. Oh and watch out for trams; their track is a dreadful cobbled band down the middle of this thoroughfare, and when they stop for passengers the other lines of traffic must also stop for the passengers.

As we continued on the road out, the street lamps finished and our Courier warned us that this journey was the worst of the week; 1200Kilometres (Lands End to John O'Groats). Every two to three hours the Sprinter stopped sprinting and we paused at a garage for toilets and coffees and for driver change over. We were warned that the road condition would deteriorate before the border, and particularly so afterwards (see pictures of the main road into Moscow).

For some reason we were navigated through part of Estonia to get through to Russia and we took the Estonian customs around midnight. Not a lot of bother here, except for the miles and miles of heavies parked up on this country lane. Russia is playing games with Estonia and any LGVs can be held for about a week before border formalities are completed.

We didn't have to wait a week, but the Russian Customs kept us stationery until 3am. The final act was to order us to evacuate the minibus and bring all our luggage inside for scanning. Everybody's passport was inspected at length and in detail with some feigned surprise about some aspect of each one just to put fear of rejection into each passenger.

Meanwhile the luggage stood in front of the non-operating scanner with no operator around. After about 15minutes of this game we were told to go as "the scanner operator cannot be found". We set off into the night and the road got more potholed and the joins between the concrete sections got more apparent. At 7am we paused at a Russian motel for breakfast, and I made the mistake of putting the toilet paper down the WC instead of into the tin bin; oh and I forgot to pay the attendant her 5roubles.

Onwards we rolled with still hundreds of kilometres to 'MOCKBA' on the signs. At about 100Kms to go the road became Motorway (more of a dual carriageway in reality) and there was only a little improvement in surface quality. Then we hit the outskirts of the Russian capital and ground to a halt in gridlock.

But our drivers were not afraid of a challenge and we found our way around Moscow and parked up at Sergiyev Posad (Се́ргиев Поса́д) at 16:30hrs. Unfortunately the kind weather that had accompanied most of our 19hour transit let go and the onions domes pierced a gloomy grey and caused it to weep. I got a few photos of the The Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius (Тро́ице-Се́ргиева Ла́вра) before the rain drowned everything.

We are now camped in a hotel at Alexandrov - 1hour past Sergiyev Posad, AND we have persuaded the Ostrov Hotel into giving us access to their Wifi.

Enjoy the photos, hopefully more tomorrow.

a russian dawn: ten hours on a minibus from Latvia into Russia, only ten more to go.

Bumpy Road: This is the main road in Russia from the Western border direct to Moscow

The Dormition Cathedral (Church of the Assumption) within the St. Sergius Lavra at Sergiyev Posad

Cathedral of the Trinity; Тро́ице-Се́ргиева Ла́вра (The Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius) at Sergiyev Posad

Church of the Holy Spirit. Built in 1476 within the St. Sergius Lavra at Sergiyev Posad (Се́ргиев Поса́д)

From Russia
[a PICASA album by RedSimon]

ONIONS WITH EVERYTHING

2009-09-15T19:07:00.006+01:00

Food was always going to be "interesting" for me on this trip. With my vegetarianism and general food fussiness and Juris' unwillingness to sit down for a meal, Russia was always going to be a culinary challenge.

The first Russian meal was taken at 7am in some motel on the road after only 10hours of our journey. Faced with a menu that appeared only to contain the names of Russian cars from the 1950s I asked Juris if there were any scrambled eggs. His request was returned with the reply "three fried eggs".

I grabbed that option and then attempted to get something to go with it, and ended up with fried potato chips. I don't mean long straight "French Fries" style chips, I mean literally small odd shaped chunks of potato fried. A slightly strange choice but tasty and welcome after a night spent on homemade cheese sandwiches that were becoming a little jaded. Juris opted for a soup which looked very much like a Moscow Minestrone.

I can't remember eating much else for the day, but did manage tea and chocolate on arrival at the hotel. Breakfast was at 07:30 and was pre-chosen to be fried eggs. I suppose we were a little late to the breakfast room, and that might explain that my fried eggs were cold, but extremely yellow and very tasty. There was cheese sandwiches, Yoghurts and teas and coffees to share for the table. I should correct my last blog on location; our hotel is in Alexandrov and not Vladimir.

After breakfast we headed off on a marathon that lasted 13hours (Vladimir and Suzdal) and I believe covered almost 300Km. Lunch was taken at a very large supermarket in Vladimir. I got baked Salmon, boiled potatoes with mushroom sauce, vegetables and an Angel Delight with a drink of Pineapple juice for less than £5.00.

And what about the ONIONS. Well those of course are the Onion domes (or cupolas) and we saw several dozen of those. Suzdal (Су́здаль) is quite extraordinary with countless walled monasteries each containing several onioned places of worship. It was explained to us that churches were generally built as pairs; a large grand one for summer use and a much smaller heated one for winter use.

Our guide took us around The Saviour Monastery of St. Euthymius and right on cue a small choir appeared to give us a song, and by sheer coincidence this was available on CD if we were interested. Mmmmm five young Russian men in Black Dresses; they've got to be haven't they! The sounds of these five were quite exquisite, ranging from the pretty one who had clearly had some kind of an accident around puberty, to the deepest bass who clearly had NOT had any kind of pubertical problem. It filled the vaults and rose up into the cupolas and was truly moving.

At the same location we were treated to a display of bell ringing for midday. 18 bells were rung and all by just one man using ropes and foot pedals.
Suzdal also has (The Museum of Wooden Architecture and Peasant Life which was quite remarkable and even the churches within it had onion domes fabricated from layers of moulded bark. Wooden structures only last about a century in Russia because of the humidity.

A steaming day ended in the steamer; the Russian Sauna or Banya. Only a few of us opted for this, but did include the courier and one driver and about 4 of us including Juris and I. No clothes were to be worn at all, and the driver appeared with a large carrier bag that contained much alcohol and some Russian Suchi (yuk!).

Anyway we sweated in an extremely hot sauna room within a large specially built complex in the hotel garden (Ostrov Hotel). This includes showers, cold tub, dining room, lounge, beds and a changing room. All very relaxing. Soaking in cold water were the birch twigs which you beat the skin to stimulate the blood. Most of the others beat themselves, but Juris and I chose to beat each other instead. I did use the cold shower but not the cold tub. The green tea was very refreshing, but after an hour I felt faint and left Juris probably to return far too late and far too Vodka'd.

We have a 7am breakfast tomorrow so I suspect the Mercedes will be Sprinting over hundred more of these horrid holey kilometres. But if today's collection of shots is to be believed then it will be worth it.

The Transfiguration Cathedral at the Saviour Monastery of St. Euthymius, Suzdal

Church of the Transfiguration from Kozlyatievo (1756) within the Museum of Wooden Architecture and Peasant Life, Suzdal

Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin, Suzdal

The Church of the Intercession on the Nerl in Bogolyubovo

Bogolyubovo convent, near Suzdal

From Russia [a PICASA album by RedSimon]

RUSSIAN BELLS

2009-09-15T18:30:00.005+01:00

I love Bells, any sort of Bells.

In many of the sites on our tour of the Golden Ring we found bell towers where a single person could ring up to 36bells via series of ropes, chains, pedals..

There are a few photos below which give a flavour of this.

The final photo is a short video showing a demonstration rig of bells and the technique used to ring them.

Zvonnitsa belltower, A 16th-17th century tower at the Spaso-Evfimiev Monastery

Ringing Bells Spaso-Evfimievsky Convent. One man can ring 36 bells with ropes and pedals

Bell Tower of the Rostov Citadel. The bells of the Rostov Ouspenie Cathedral number 15, were all cast in the 1680s, and the largest (Sysoy) weighs 32tonnes

Zvonnitsa belltower

From Russia [a PICASA album by RedSimon]

RED ALL OVER

2009-09-15T17:43:00.007+01:00

Q: What is Black and White and read all over.
A: A newspaper. But Russia is RED all over, even if no longer in the Soviet or Communist way.

Today I wanted to share with you a few thoughts on two days in Russia.

When I visited Saint Petersburg (Санкт-Петербу́рг) 3years ago I was aware that this was not really 'Russian' in the same way that Paris is not really French, Berlin is not really German ... All are cosmopolitan operating to a culture that is partly based on multinational forms and partly on a dynamic that grows from the compression of so much into that metropolis.

Our present location very much is REAL Russia in the same way that Barnsley is real Britain (well maybe NOT in this case!!!).

To me Russia seems stern and cheerless, at least as manifested by the people we have met so far. There is a common thread of petit bureaucracy, or is it just some personal games that Russian people like play.

The Russian border guards that held us for 3hours in the middle of the night and yet achieved less in the way of security than a security man who watches you go into your local supermarket. Piss off Putin (or at least the Prime Minister whose limbs are at the end of the strings that you pull. Every country NEEDS tourism, and Russia probably needs it more than most. WELCOME tourists with pleasant and gentle border procedures and let your guests feel that they should be in your country.

In Sergiyev Posad (Се́ргиев Поса́д) we entered an almost empty car park and were told that our mini coach could not be parked there, and yet there was no obvious alternative place from which to access the attraction. The way to deal with such barriers is on a sliding scale from "Please nice Mister Security, will you let me in", to the much more tempting "F..k Off you commie b....r, Lenin is dead and whatever nasty Mafia man you are working for, mine is even bigger and nastier!" You just need to judge which one will work for you at the time.

I got told off in Sergiyev Posad for photographing the Iconostasis (altar screen comprising dozens of gilded icon portraits). This was in spite of having paid 100rubbles for the privilege of taking photographs at this attraction. When a man in a black dress whispered in my ear I didn't know whether to get excited or afraid. When I spotted the long beard I judged that fear was more appropriate, and even the worst cross-dressers in Leeds don't do excessive facial hair AND wear a frock!

He achieved very little, because I had already got the shots I wanted and I share these with you here. The iconostasis is my shot, and the lovely candle lit icon is by Juris.

On our first night in Alexandrov (Алекса́ндров) Juris and I went into a mini supermarket. There was no bread left (come back Lenin, all is forgiven), but Juris assured me that there was a very good selection of Beers and Cigarettes and all at dirt cheap prices. The people in the shop all looked cheerless, but maybe this was only a pre-Vodka state!

They were all simply dressed in ill-fitting clothes, and their complexions were dull and colourless, their eyes dark and without any twinkle. I concluded there were as grey and as thin as the very concrete apartment blocks that the Soviets provided for the Comrades from Poland and Czechoslovakia right through to Vladivostok.

Q: What is Black and White and read all over.
A: Russia is grey (and therefore black and white all over).

I told Juris that when I talked to Russian people they always seemed hostile to me, and that what I had asked for was too much trouble. "You want Lemon with you're tea! Why should I give you Lemon? Lenin never gave me Lemon, Stalin never gave me Lemon, Kruschev never gave me, even Gorbachev never gave me Lemon, and it is certain that Putrid Putin will never give me Lemon. Here Englishman, take your tea and I hope the effing Lemon will poison you". Juris assured me that this was not the case.

However, I am left with an overriding impression that foreign visitors are 'difficult' for Russians to deal with. Perhaps it is the many years of the Cold War which meant hardly anyone visited. Maybe it is the years of Secret Police which made it good practice to suspect every unknown face in case anything said or done might get reported back and result in a spell in a Gulag. Russians I think have too many reasons not to be over friendly to any outsiders. But perhaps Russians (and maybe ALL Russia) and outsiders are the poorer if this mutual suspicion is true.

I've got a couple more photos here to put two fingers up to this Russian petit bureaucracy. The first is taken in Rostov inside one of the many delightful churches. It shows one of the 'impromptu' choirs which miraculously appear when tourists gather in groups and when there are CDs to sell. Don't tell me NOT to take your photographs, if you are into marketing yourselves in this way, then a consequence is that you get photographed, so there!

The second is a picture of a Police car. You DO NOT photograph Policemen or their cars; so I did. After this I stopped buying the 100Rubbles Photo ticket at each site; they were never checked and if you get income from admitting tourists you MUST expect them to use cameras.

I even cheated the Nuns at Tolga Monastery, Yaroslavl out of their 200Rubbles photo ticket. But if you've seen the indecent amount of brand new gold on their cupolas and all over their iconostasis then it would have been quite improper of me to have contributed for more. Very beautiful, however, and we heard the Nun's choir singing for themselves (not for CDs).

They also rang a full chime of their bells lasting several minutes to announce the start of a service. Quite fabulous, one of travellers was moved to rejoin the Catholic faith solely from his time spent here. I lit a candle here to my father; he died on August 31st 5years ago.

After Rostov, Yaroslavl. Our day, which started with departure from the hotel at 07:30 and it is now 19:55 hours and we are only just starting back with possibly 180Km till Alexandrov .

PS: We arrive at about 22:20hrs.
PPS: The weather so far has been very warm, often bright and sometimes sunny. My new H&M shower proof can be returned unworn.

Candle lit Icon in Church of the Holy Spirit, at Sergiyev Posad

Iconostasis in Church of the Holy Spirit, Sergiyev Posad

Rostov, a delightful Russian Choir gives a recital just before announcing their CD is available

Illegal Photo: Russian Police Car (Lada Samara) at Vladimir

Tolga Monastery on the Volga River at Yaroslavl was founded in the early 14th century

From Russia [a PICASA album by RedSimon]

RUSSIAN FOOD FACTS

2009-09-15T16:52:00.007+01:00

Our journey yesterday (Thursday) was again very long, and once again we had to eat on the road. In fact we called in at a large Supermarket at 18:30hrs and were given one hour to eat and shop.

Juris found a place in the Food Court which did meals by the weight. Take a small plate and pile it up with half a kilo of food for 90 Rubbles, or take a larger plate and fill this with a whole kilo of food for 140 Rubbles. I took the larger plate and helped myself to fish baked with vegetables and cheese on top, and then piled on sauted whole new potatoes, broccoli and a cheese/carrot salad. Juris saw that my plate was not full enough, so having filled his he piled on mine a chicken leg and others.

I wanted a piece of Apple Strudel and Juris told me this also had to be piled on the same plate - it all came under the same weight. In fact our plates were only weighed by eye, and if you kept your pile quite short you were spared the weighing scales. 260Rubbles for 2 meals and a soft drink, hardly a fiver!

Eating eventually leads you to the toilets. I've been spared any really horrible toilets, but I do think that putting your used toilet paper in a bucket is totally inhuman. Almost as bad is the quality of the toilet paper. It is a ghastly beige colour and very thin.

I feel sure that the paper from the bucket is 'recycled' by washing and joining back together! At one place, having paid the attendant to enter the toilets she then offered me about 4sheets of toilet paper rolled together; there was none in the cubicle!

Thursday had started by visiting Rostov (Ростов), a really ancient walled monistical community, and totally gorgeous. Several magnificent cathedrals are contained within this citadel and onion domes of every hue thrust into the sky. Such communities were always solidly constructed for defence, and needed to stand up against possible Mongol hordes as well as neighbouring 'Russian' kingdoms seeking expansion.

But it didn't always work, and in Vladimir (Влади́мир) it was explained that when the population sheltered in the Dormition Cathedral in Vladimir (see photo) against attack, the aggressors lit fires around the church and caused the death of many inside from the heat and smoke; the church survived and was redecorated later (in gaudy baroque).

This part of Russia benefitted from having rich fertile black soil, unlike much of Russia to the north and west which has the much less good sandy soil so typical of the Baltic. With such soil, a rich agricultural thrived and on its back the monasteries built good businesses and very comfortable gilded communities for themselves. Take a look at Fountains Abbey, it was the same there as well.

In Yaroslavl (Яросла́вль) about 50 churches were built in only some 70years. Even now the street plan of Yaroslavl is like a wheel with roads going from the hub to the 'tyre' and each road ends with a church. It was impossible to visit all of Yaroslavl, or to take in all of its features.

Yaroslavl (Яросла́вль) celebrates a 1000years of history in 2010 and many domes were being freshened, interiors cleaned, and resoration work was all around. UNESCO is granting Yaroslavl the status of World Heritage site, with a certain amount of controversy and disapproval of some works currently ongoing.

This town lies on the River Volga (and Rostov is connected by River/canal too), some millions were spent on new facilities to encourage the river steamers to bring new visitors into Yaroslavl, but it hadn't worked. Unfortunately, between the lovely churches and historic aspects of Yaroslavl is a modern reality of a large city with Chemical works and heavy industry, and the thoughtlessness of Lenin and Stalin of how to combine history and industry; it is quite nasty in parts.

Enjoy !!!

The Church of St. Gregory of Nazianzus. 1670–1680s, Rostov Veliky (Ростов Великий)

Rostov Kremlin. Church of Resurrection of Christ (1670), Rostov Veliky (Ростов Великий)

Golden Gates of Vladimir (Zolotye Vorota). Supposedly the earliest stone structure still standing in Russia, originally constructed in 1164. Originally it sat in the middle of an immense defensive city wall instead of a traffic island.

Dormition Cathedral in Vladimir (Успенского собора во Владимире). Built 1158-60 and 1185-89, the building survived being set alight by the Mongols in 1239 even though the people sheltering inside it did not.

Yaroslavl Churches: [Left] Church of Archangel Michael in Yaroslavl (Церковь Михаила Архангела. Западный фасад), [centre] Redemeer Church of the Transfiguration On-the-town, [right] New Cathedral on the site of the Dormition Cathedral

From Russia [a PICASA album by RedSimon]

TO KILL A MOCKBA

2009-09-15T16:02:00.006+01:00

Moscow

Something of a lightning tour of Russia's capital.

After an overlong lecture of how Russia created Quartz crystals for radio sets in the 1950s at the Museum of Stone (Музей рукотворного камня) in Alexandrov, we then had a 2hour visit to the Kremlin (Alexandrovskaya sloboda) in this town.

Now a rather tired Nunnery, the Assumption convent (Успенский монастырь) was rather a pleasant time ambling on a guided tour of the many buildings within this walled fortress. Tsar Ivan the Terrible (Ivan IV Grozny) thought it rather pleasant too, and after conquering the lands all around he decided to take over the place for his residence for 17years. We visited the very building that he used for himself.

And all the time we were treated to lovely musical bells - which I have recorded. There may have been a wedding in progress, or other function that caused the bells to be rung; delightful whatever the reason. Also at this place we were treated to "Tea with Carrot". This turned out to be a lovely light tea made from tea bag and water from a Samovar. A small iced cake was served with it, and this may have had some carrot in it, though it was quite like a Rock Cake. I managed to tip my cup into my lap and spent the next hour looking as though I was incontinent.

Moscow came next as was a dash around. We landed up at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour (Храм Христа Спасителя) and walked around it. We made to walk across a large open square and were halted by a young uniform who informed us that we could not go that way. We paused to consider this, and whilst we did this lots of individuals walked exactly the way we wanted to go and were not confronted. So we pressed on with our original route, and came to closed barrier with just enough room to squeeze through - which many people were doing. we started to go through until the arrival of the young uniform who told us again that something was happening and that we could not go this way.

We started to return, only then to be told by another young uniform that we could not go that way. Clearly in Russia the 'Lenin hand' does not know what the 'Stalin hand' is doing. We left these too toy soldiers (or toy police - I don't know which) to look extremely stupid all by themselves and just carried on as though we had never met them! What point is there in such regulation?

Anyway we then headed to the Metro and made for Red Square, but this was a very nervous underground trip for me and I really couldn't take in the special nature of Moscow’s Metro system. On arrival at Red Square Juris and I managed to lose the rest of the party which I found quite exasperating. But Juris did manage to phone our guide and as they were still by the Eternal Flame we regrouped quickly.

Red Square was something of a disappointment, particularly so because they had erected some giant metallic stadium within in for a public event and this ruined all views. Public spaces such as this should NEVER be filled with anything except tourists with cameras.

We beat a retreat to some square with a giant monument in Victory Park that commemorated the 1382days of the second World War, and took some refreshment. I also used a plastic portaloo at the extortionate price of 20Rubbles (about 40pence). There was no seat, and no way of washing hands, and I know EXACTLY what Russian poo looks like.

We have been stuck in one of Moscow's infamous gridlocks for about an hour whilst I typed this. The schedule for the rest of this day is make for the border and Novgorod and home. I am ready to leave Russia now, but I can definitely say that this has been quite an extraordinary journey in so many many different ways.

02:20hrs we are forced to park up on the gravel verge as a passenger side rear wheel is punctured and totally destroyed. Given the state of these roads it is surprising that tyres last more than a week or so. Some of us remain inside the vehicle, some meander around on the verge watching the relentless convoy of ill-disciplined trucks heading hard for St Petersburg in the black night. The road is a vile 3-lane section, sometimes giving the extra lane to our side and sometimes to the other side.

04:45 we pause at a Hypermarket on the edge of Novgorod. We will stay here until 07:00 and sleep until public transport awakens and can take us to visit Novgorod. No WiFi in this car park, so I cannot transmit from here.

07:00 we begin a tour of Novgorod Kremlin lately being spruced up for its 1150 Anniversary. Russia started in Novgorod.

At 13:30 we head home, a long drive on not very good roads, but we are promised a meal break just before the Russian border. But it doesn't happen (the meal I mean, not the border) and our starving souls are given a rebate instead of hot food.

Then the border, and only one hour to clear it this time, but once again we had to march off the bus with our luggage and it was so well inspected that when the guy checked our passports in his kiosk he could not know how many bags we carried or what colour it was. And the stupid fact is that we left as much stuff in the minibus as we carried into the building. Hundreds of carrier bags with shopping, clothes, gifts, food .... all completely unchecked.

22:30 reach Flat in Riga. Phew !

I am left with lots of positive feelings about this holiday, even though a lot of what I have written here may seem critical. The British LIKE to criticise, rather than to praise. This trip was very very arduous, but it never pretended to be otherwise. It was also full of interest and excitement. I am glad to have had the privilege.

I don't know whether I will stay under the Red Flag (actually it's now Red White and Blue) again, but I would encourage others to consider coming to this giant country, though consider it most carefully first.

Museum of Stone (Музей рукотворного камня) at Alexandrov (Александров). Attached to the institute of synthetic crystals, where Quartz, Diamonds and other precious stones were industrially created. The shabbiness of the buildings and potholed and puddled roads and paths is typical of Russia today.

Terrible Residence. Tsar Ivan the Terrible (Ivan IV Grozny) lived here from 1564-1581 within the walls of Assumption convent (Успенский монастырь) at Alexandrov (Александров)

Ivan Infanticide. Il'ya Repin's historical portrait (1885) Ivan IV killed his son. Photographed in Alexandrovskaya sloboda

Red Square, Moscow. The stepped square building in front with the black band is Lenin's Tomb, MacCartney's Tomb has not yet been built.

Red Square, Moscow

From Russia [a PICASA album by RedSimon]

FINAL RUSSIAN BLOG

2009-09-15T15:02:00.004+01:00

It may not have been clear in my last Blog about our last day, so I will itinerarise this extraordinary day (or daysssssssssss!)

[08:30] Breakfast in Ostrov Hotel in Alexandrosov.
[09:00] Walk to local 'Institute of Stones' (Музей рукотворного камня) for a long-winded account of creating Quartz.(see: Museum Website)
[11:00] Pack up coach and drive out to Alexandrosov Kremlin for 2hour visit.(See Wikipedia )
[13:30] Head for Moscow on bus.
[18:00] Depart from Moscow for Novgorod
[19:30] still driving in outskirts of Moscow.
[Night] We are driving on a very busy road for Novgorod but sharing this with trucks heading to St Petersburg. All very frantic, on a 2 or 3 lane highway (not dual carriageway) and road condition is diabolical
[02:20] puncture on road, stop to change rear wheel (nearside tyre change - for the Closing Code)
[02:40] restart on the road
[04:45] Park up at Supermarket for shopping and sleep
[07:00] Catch local bus into Novgorod and get out at Kremlin.
[09:00] Guided tour of Novgorod Kremlin for 3hours, Juris and I leave this after one hour.
[13:30] head for home.
[18:20] Brief stop just before Russian border for tea and biscuit.
[18:30] Stop at Russian Border
[19:30] Clear of Russian and Estonian Customs and now dashing for Riga.
[21:00] First stop in Riga - just in time for one couple to catch the last bus for their 3.5hour journey to their seacoast home.
[22:20] arrival at the flat of a friend of Juris.

More than 36hours on the move and about 1000kilometres travelled.

This holiday was always going to be an adventure, and that it certainly was. The holiday 'itinerary' was subject to constant change and uncertainty, but our two drivers and Courier kept it all together and ensured we didn't miss out. Restful it was not, but what was received in return will be remembered long.

We often fed ourselves by making sandwiches on the bus from cheese bread and sausage that we bought (everybody on the bus did this).
Page and Moy would have had a fit to see the state of our coach after one week of sleeping, picknicking and travelling.

The Mercedes Sprinter was quite an amazing vehicle, and though we were squeezed in, it was never badly uncomfortable. We covered huge distances at great speed on attrocious roads, and the surprising thing is just how the suspension coped with a well laden vehicle travelling it about 100kmph on potholed, cracked, and bumpy roads.

Our hotel in Alexandrosov Ostrov Hotel was very good - especially the all important plumbing. But we didn't see much of this hotel - just bed and breakfast.
I think praise should be given for our team from SIA RIgatur for this week.

However, I hope that I may be excused if next time I choose a holiday with shorter days, and more chance to eat hot sit-down meals.

Inside our Mercedes Sprinter Minibus; 3,000Kilometres like this !

Rear Wheel blow out at 02:20hours

Troitsky Cathedral. Cathedral of St. Trinity (Троицкий собор) within Alexandrovskaya sloboda

Pre-Soviet in Soviet in Veliky Novgorod (Вели́кий Но́вгород. Parts of Novgorod date back more than 1150years, and they knew a lot more then about elegance than Lenin or Stalin

Soviet in Veliky Novgorod (Вели́кий Но́вгород

From Russia [a PICASA album by RedSimon]

SERIOUS SOVIET SERIES

2009-09-15T14:14:00.004+01:00

When Russia took over its neighbours in the 1930 it created the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR); Союз Советских Социалистических Республик – CCCP in Russian.

SOVIET was the only way forwards after that and uniformity in ALL things was very much the order of the day. This can be seen most clearly in architecture and in town planning; it is the SAME wherever you go from the Baltic Sea to the Japan Sea. Everything is built in series, mass produced, monotonous, monolithic, mono.

I have photos from both Latvia and Russia, and you would find it hard to differentiate between them. In both places, decay and lack of repair is evident to the buildings, the roads, the paths. It is crumbling, dishevelled, stark, cheerless and depressed.

In Russia my fellow travellers remarked as to how the Government had forgotten its people and was investing in other things; living conditions deteriorated, roads ruined. In former Soviet Satellites such as Latvia the bankruptcy of the state means that there is no money for maintenance or improvement.

For me, one of the conspicuous aspects of Sovietness is the way that “utility” usurps all. If there is a requirement to build a factory, an industrial farm, or a housing district, then it is built without sensitivity for surroundings, history or culture. The delightful historic sites of Suzdal, Yaroslavl or Alexandrov lived cheek by jowl with Soviet Industry or Housing. Bland blocks next door to Millennium Monuments.

In Europe, the historic is often an entire district, not just a single building or site. The Castle, Cathedral or Museum are likely to be “gloved” by medieval streets of equal age to the thing that you went to see. Not so in the Soviet world, Stalinist abuts Ivanist and even Peterist. In the countryside, pristine landscapes can be shockingly attacked by concrete tower blocks standing out of place and without sympathy.

There are no planning laws here to stop such assaults on the landscape, no requirements to blend or to integrate, If there is a requirement to build something then that utility is fulfilled by the meanest means, and everything is demeaned by it.

There is beauty in The Bear, but there is a lot grizzly stuff surrounding it.

Wooden bungalows (and some houses) exist all over the old Soviet Union. Quite individual if rather basic and rotten now.

Alexandrov (Александров). A busy crossroads showing the potholes and puddles at the junction

Common and Community. Wooden homes for the common folk, and behind the more modern community towers for the Soviets at Alexandrov (Александров)

Soviet Storeys. Concrete tower blocks in Alexandrov (Александров)

Soviet Style. The Soviets built all tower blocks uniform and monotonous. These flats have been 'styled' by their owners who have infilled the previously open balconies with windows. The Yellow 'Transit' Van is actually a Russian GAZ Gazelle

From Russia [a PICASA album by RedSimon]

RIGA FESTIVAL

2009-09-15T13:50:00.002+01:00

On Saturday we woke up in a Farm workers' Hostel. It is a Lodging house for the workers who pick fruit and vegetables in the season. (email: m.soboleva@sabiedribamarupe.lv) This place is called Jaunmarupe and is 20Km from Riga in the countryside.

Facing our little lodge are three giant chimneys. These are for the Community Heating plant, which provides the heating for the flats in the nearby hamlet. It also powers the greenhouses of the large Sabiedribamarupe fruit and vegetable farm which our lodge belongs to.

Riga Residence, a lodge for workers at sabiedribamarupe farm.

Not as bad as it sounds, and even though we had bunk beds, we made creative use of these. The plumbing in our accommodation was private and was good. Three nights spent here, and it only cost 50pence by minibus to get into Riga Centre.

Saturday was the big day of the Riga Festival (RīgasSvētki2009 and there were many activities.

A Classic Car Rally was held, and we witnessed this being led into the city centre with full Police escort and blaring sirens. Quite dramatic. However once the cars got onto the November 11th Embankment it was impossible to take photographs are people crowded them in. A pity.

Henschel Heavy. One of about 100 historic vehicles which were lead in police convoy accompanied by blaring sirens through the streets of Riga to display on the November 11th embankment

We went to the Ship Museum where free concerts were given all day, and heard a very moving mixed choir in the regal splendor of the central salon. Later I returned and saw some medieval dancing but recognised that the boy at least had been ballet trained.

Singing Ships. Free concerts all day in the Riga Ship Museum.
This one is a choir.

We took a little trip up the cast iron tower of St Peters Church and shot the view across Riga from this high spot.

Tower of St Peters, Old Town, Riga

Juris went away to attend a Buddhist lecture on meditation, so I wandered the sites on my own and we joined up later. We met on the Stone Bridge to see some Jet Ski racing on the Daugava river, and then into the old city for something to eat. After that we went to the Dome Cathedral (which doesn't really have a Dome) and sat down to hear the premiere performance of a “Russian Requiem” by Lera Auerbach (Listen Here).

This was very powerful stuff, which clear contrasts between the Boy’s Choir of Estonian National Opera and State Choir “Latvija”. In between stood the woman’s choir and in front Annely Peebo (soprano, Estonia), Nikita Storojev (bass, Russia), Tonu Kaljuste (Estonia) conducted the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra. The solo boy sang exquisitely and far better than any sodding girl could (or should!!!). Charlotte Church and her ilk have a lot to answer for, debasing church choral music.

The Bass of the Russian men, sometimes underpinned by the deepest Organ pipes made the whole thing truly spectacular if rather long.

From the Aural to the visual and we regained the November 11th Embankment in time for the Fireworks competition. Nine companies competed for the honour to be selected for the next Riga Town Firework Event. The public voted for each display by SMS message to the local TV station which had a stage on the Embankment.

As the 9 sets of Fireworks went off the bangs echoed across the river and between all the buildings of the Old Town. The fiery sparks lit up the sky and twinkled off the ripples of the Daugava River. A wonderful end to this our first day.

Zeppelin and Mast. The Central Market (Rigas Centraltirgus) was opened in 1930 on the site of Zeppelin Hangars abandoned by the Kaiser in 1922. Behind stands the tripod Riga Radio and TV Tower (Rigas radio un televizijas tornis) which was built by Russia and opened in 1986

From Latvia 2009
[a PICASA album by RedSimon]

RIGA BEFORE RUSSIA

2009-09-15T13:22:00.012+01:00

On the day before we left Riga for Russia we explored some other aspects to Riga.

Sunday started damp; it had rained a little during the night and the grey clouds told of a gloomy day ahead with the possibility of precipitation.

Although late to bed because of the Fireworks, an early start was necessary because Juris had a lecture to attend. We walked to the end of our lane and took one of the Minibus coaches into Riga. These are privately run as an addition to the efficient council run bus services. Using Shagged out Charabancs probably imported from Germany or another neighbour ours was a 15-seater Renault but with no actual limitation to 15 passengers. It works and returned us to Riga centre in 25 minutes for just 0.45Lats (about 60pence).

We walked down slightly tired streets past jaded buildings that clearly had seen a much more prosperous time about 100years ago, and then many new economic dawns that had turned out to be very short grey days instead.

So some of the buildings are original and have a patina, whilst others have been yuppified or more recently become abandoned future projects. Latvia has been well and truly credit-crunched and is at least financially bankrupt.

We gained entry into an original building and took our places within a modest apartment converted to a Buddhist Mission. There a guest speaker from Germany gave a long exploration of the concept of "Voidness" and I won't attempt to explain it as I am sure Google will do a better job. He spoke in perfect English and every paragraph or so was then translated by another man into Latvian. For more than 2hours we explored Mantra, Tantra and the Heart Sutra and then we walked back into the real world.

Well not quite. The gloomy afternoon suggested an indoor pursuit so we headed to the central Multiplex and viewed Tarantino's latest film "Bedigi slavenie mergli".

Tarantino's oeuvre really isn't my cup of tea, and "Inglorious Basterds" (in English) is a fanciful and fictitious festival of gore really NOT to my taste at all. It was an interesting experience, however, because the film was screened in "English" with both Latvian and Russian subtitles. However, much of the dialogue is actually spoken in French or German and would have had English subtitles to interpret. Lacking these English clues I was failed by my French and absence of German. The violence translated.

This film is supposed to be on a theme of revenge, well in my opinion it is merely a self-indulgent revenge by Tarantino on the public for not liking his last two movies.

And so Riga centre where we opted to take a boat trip on the Daugava River. On a grey evening the boat cruised slowly up the river towards Lithuania until it reached the new Red Bridge before turning and heading back towards the Baltic Sea end of Riga. There were only about 6 passengers and no commentary, so it was quite a solemn little passage. As we were turned to regain our dock, the sun broke through the evening clouds and some photos were possible. People who boarded this cruiser after us enjoyed a much sunnier cruise.

We turned for our lodge at Jaunmarupe, managing to miss a couple of buses on the way, but flagging down the 2003 Taxi Bus for the bouncy return.

From the Daugava River showing the arched roofs of the Zeppelin Market and the Soviet-built tower Stalinist Academy of Sciences building.

View from the Daugava with the spire of the Dome Cathedral (left) and St Peter’s (right)

From the Tower of St Peter's Church looking towards the Dom Cathedral and the Daugava River beyond

Riga Skarnu Street, in the Old Town showing the stepped end wall of St Johns Church

Riga Brivibas iela. 'Freedom Street', this street runs straight through the city and hardly curves at all as it becomes the A2 and takes traffic away from Riga. The Freedom Monument is also visible and behind the Russian Orthodox Nativity of Christ Cathedral.

From Latvia 2009 [a PICASA album by RedSimon]

STUCK AT STOCKHOLM

2009-09-15T12:09:00.010+01:00

With 6 hours to pass between flights at Stockholm Airport, I chose to leave the airport and catch the Arlanda Express into Stockholm and walk around Gamla Stan - the Old Town.

Original message was sent from Stockholm Arlanda Airport.

See photos

Gamla Stan: A typical side street

Piazza Stan: A square in Gamla Stan near to the Royal Palace

Palace Stan: The environs of the Royal Palace, Stockholm

Soldier Stan: One of the many soldiers guarding the Royal Palace
From Stockholm [a PICASA album by RedSimon]

My photos - WAYN.COM

2009-06-12T20:14:00.001+01:00

My photos - WAYN.COM

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BARCELONA: BAD FOR WALLETS

2009-05-07T20:47:00.004+01:00

I cannot even begin to tell you the things that went wrong in the 24hours before we arrived in Barcelona, but these are as nothing compared to our arrival in Barcelona.

The flight by Jet2 from Leeds Bradford was perfect, as ever, and I managed to take a little sleep to try and make up for the two lost nights of sleep in UK (don't ask!). Bagagge was speedily collected, we made our way to the mainline station and caught the 19:38 for Estacio Sants. On arrival at Sants we took the long walk into the Metro system correctly arriving at the L3 platform in the direction of Drassanes our intended stop. All is well, but quickly to change!

The train arrives and is crowded, and there is great turmoil as people embark and disembark. A man close to me drops his mobile phone onto the floor and it is broken. He tells me (in Spanish, Catalan or some other lingo) that my foot is on part of his phone, but I dont see it and he tells me again. Then he leaves the train quickly just before the doors close and everybody in the train shouts something at me "your monnai". We don't understand, we think we must have the wrong train ticket. And then I feel in my pocket and there is no wallet.

My trousers have very deep pockets, much deeper than normal, so he must have got his hand into my pocket a long way to get out my wallet. But now it is gone. Many people on the train try to help us, but we cannot understand. Eventually a woman speaking English tells us we should go to Placa de Catalunya Polizia, so we do this.

We enter the Polizia and tell our story, but they cannot believe us; it NEVER EVER EVER happens in Barcelona. It must be a FIRST time that a pickpocket has happened in Barcelona. I try to joke here; the Polizia is soon filled with people of all nationalities telling similar stories, some of them in tears.

I have one urgent priority; to contact my card insurer and get my cards stopped. This is eventually done, only delayed by other people using the phone to make the same call - they should have a hotline from this place. The Polizia try to make us use a phone which will be charged to a credit card, but I insist that I have a UK phone number that is reverse charge.

I am fortunate that my passport was in my other pocket. I also keep a second set of credit cards in my luggage, and with these my emergency phone numbers and membership details.

We stayed at Polizia Catalunya for about two hours telling the story at length. I described the thief in much detail, and eventually they showed me 50 photos and I instantly picked this man out. He wasn NOT attractive! When they showed more photos of the same man, it was definitely this man. A long statement was taken all relayed by Translator. I explained how this happened, and then stood up and enacted the whole drama. All made more entertaining because the translator had to repeat everything. When I re-enacted the man jumping off the train there was applause from everyone in the room and I was asked to encore of this part for their amusement.

Eventually documents were signed and we were free to leave.

So we walked the full length of Las Ramblas with all our luggage, finding our hotel by using TomTom. Those of you who have been to Barcelona will know how many drunks and how many prostitutes (they do not understand it when I ask "Do you have a brother?") we pass on this supposedly elegant street.

The Aparthotel Gutenberg is fine, a good room with balcony, kitchenette, bath and shower and a very good breakfast.

I begin today thinking that things can only get better, but then I consider that I still have some credit cards, a passport, a camera, this computer, so perhaps today I will lose some of these. Bradford almost seems tame compared to Barcelona.

I forgot to mention that whilst we were at Polizia Catalunya the officers had to describe my appearance and there was some disagreement as to whether my trousers were grey, brown, or maroon with almost everyone in the room offering some opinion.

There was no doubt, however, that my lilac shirt matched my lilac socks, and there was some appreciation of this fact across the room. i offered that it wasn't only the socks and shirts that matched, and there was a steady realisation that I must be referring to a garment not yet visible. Yorkshire humour is so much better when it is repeated, as was necessary for the Spanish/Catalan officers in the room.

My description was important because they planned to look at the video tapes of the platform at L3 Sants to spot this pickpocket. It should be possible as we were able to give very precise timings and locations along the platform.

Today we decided to get some supermarket provisions for the next few days and discovered a CarreFour at the top of Las Ramblas. After checking that Tesco Visa was acceptable (of course we have no cash now) we loaded enough goods onto the belt to fill two large rucksacs. As the belt stopped whizzing our goods onto the paid area I offered my credit card and then was asked to produce my passport. Having been robbed only half a day earlier of course I had left my passport locked in my hotel safe. No sale!

Apparently in Spain you can only use a credit card with photo identity, but you dont need a PIN number. We had no choice but to leave our rucksacs and then walk the full length of Las Ramblas to collect our passports from the hotel and then walk back to CarreFour and finally walk back with our provisions. You can imagine the pain in my foot now as I sit here typing this message. I don't mention that my Doctor is already trying to give me two weeks off work so that my foot will recover; this holiday can only worsen my Plantar fasciitis.

Hey Ho. After a little rest and recovery Juris is planning an expedition, and I am checking my insurance policy to see whether I can return by air ambulance - at least this transport system should be free from pickpockets.

BEETLE CASES

2009-05-06T21:48:00.007+01:00

I am typing this during an interval at our hotel. We've just cooked fish from the Boqueria market, green beans, macaroni tricolor, served with a box of tomato sauce.

We are recovering from a Gaudi expedition. We set off to do La Sagrado Familia (sagrado is a kind of beetle) but got confused at Metro Estacio Diagonal when it seemed impossible to transfer lines. Hence we found ourselves facing Casa Mila and decided to tick that one off straight away.

Good idea, it is a delight and we had a leisurely stroll around its rooftop taking in its many features and vistas.

From there we could see the proximity of the Beetle Church and decided to walk there. We paused at a pavement cafe when offered a Coffee and Sandwich for 2.50 - the gave me tea and cake for the same money. Not only a bargain but very good too.

Sagrado Familia is often described as something of a tourist nightmare with massive queues etc. It wasn't. We entered without queing and enjoyed a leisurely stroll. Even the queue for the lift was only about 20minutes, but we did head for the one at the back of the church by the Rosary Cloister. Our tour of the turrets was calm and unhurried and we felt no pressures.

Many will know how I dislike modern architecture, but Gaudi is something else. What a pity his name is so alike the English word "Gaudy".

THE RAIN IN SPAIN FALLS MAINLY ON THE PLAIN

2009-05-06T21:35:00.003+01:00

Not strictly true, as the rain in Spain falls also on Montjuic. Our excursion to see the magic fountains only discovered water falling from above and without music or lights.

Having read definitely that during April the magic fountains perform on Thursday and Friday night, and having checked with young Mario on the Hotel Recepcio that Magic Fountains would perform tonight it was all a lie. Mario also told me that it would not rain in Barcelona this night, but even as we stepped outside of Aparthotel Gutenberg the first drops were darkening the pavement. I don't like nowty lads, whatever their nationality.

So we wandered around gloomy Montjuic with everything just closing, and getting damper and damper. Shaun had told me of a little Park in Spain, which sparing you all Shaun's graphic Barnsleyese, was a "Parc di Pooch Poo Poo". Well we came across one of those at Montjuic, the Parc Miro. Poor Miro could not feel satisfied that he would be immortalised by one of his works standing in a dog toilet. There was no grass at all in this parc, and although this could all be by design, I am convinced that there was supposed to be grass and it had all succumbed to dog wee and excrement.

But Parc Miro was not the only dog toilet in Barcelona, as we found the grass space facing Sagrada Famiale to be very pooey, and the same for Parc de la Ciutadella. But I suppose a Dog's gotta do what a Dog's gotta do!

We abandoned the fountain expedition and headed to Placa de Catalunya. I am now extremely suspicious of this Metro network, and quite ready to use extreme violence on anyone who tries to intefere with me! Anyway we made it to Placa de Catalunya intact, only ever threatened by umbrella salesmen and the massing hordes who were also seeking retail therapy. Much to the relief of my dwindling collection of credit cards, nothing could be found to meet Juris' fashion requirements, and even a tour of the seven floors of El Corte Inglese proved purchase free.

It was now approaching 22:00 so we adjourned to our hotel, taking fresh strawberries and cream whilst we watched "Little Britain in USA" on my 10inch Sammy. On waking this morning we find it has rained all night. It is not going to be a beach day.

LIFE'S A BEACH AND THEN YOU DINE

2009-05-06T21:18:00.005+01:00

Having declared that "it wouldn't be a beach day", that's exactly where we ended up!

With Juris in sole command of the guide book we set off through the rain walking past Port Vell and on to Barcelonata which is just as unattractive as the book proclaims. Not sure why we went there, but I don't question the choices of my partner.

Anyway, we soon found that our feet were treading sand and we'd reached the beach. Just as we sauntered sandward the sun also decided to push away the clouds and in a drying and brightening air the day looked up.

We ambled along taking in the many public sculptures and new architecture before we reached a new complex and Juris declared himself lost. I cranked up the TomTom and its satellites indicated we had reached Port Olimpic, and with that we were able to regain the guide book.

We headed for the Metro and disembarked at Placa de Catalunya to continue on foot.

Pausing to take in the public playing, philandering, provisioning, and probably pickpocketting. Our feet would be taking us up towards the Museum of Contemporary Art. On the way we grabbed a cheese baguette (probably called something else here) for E2.30 but it was enough for us both.

And then we happened on some back streets of Old Barcelona, and it was delightful to stroll scenically these side alleys, their frontages a chaos of shutters, balconies, laundry and other clutter (Look at Carrer de Lleo).

Glowing in purest white modern the simple smooth shape of MACBA contrasted colossally against the tall shadowed tenements of Old Barcelona. we Had reached the Museum of Modern Art.

Sometimes you just aren't lucky, and as luck would have it 2 of the 3 floors were closed for a change of exhibits, and the remaining exhibits would be closing at 15:00hrs. Perhaps 50minutes was enough of modern art anyway! Some of it was interesting, some of it looked like quick cheap daubs for a fast buck, but I can't remember any of it being particularly strange.

We headed onward to our next objective, and on the way enjoyed more Old Barcelona. On reaching the Catedral at Placa de la Seu we had entered the area known as Barri Gotic. This area of Barcelona still contains examples of Old Barcelona's Gothic heritage and it was quite a joy to explore the warren of tiny streets and places here.

There was street entertainment in many of the squares and there was no rush for us to be anywhere else.

With a painful foot I hobbled back to the harbour area for a quick re-visit to Rambla de Mar (the new bridge) where Juris and I managed to lose each other. But eventually we were re-united at Aparthotel Gutenberg where tea was cooked. Two kinds of fish, some tricolor pasta and a 'cheese sauce' made of natural yoghurt heated with sliced Edam cheese (don't try this at home folks) with the rest of yesterday's Strawberries.

MOUNTAIN FOUNTAIN

2009-05-06T21:06:00.002+01:00

Friday, May 1st had started out wet, and it ended wet as well but in a rather nice way.

A long day found us walking around most of Barcelona, but after rested and dinnered we headed up to Montjuic. Literally "Jewish Hill" it was a place where historically the Jewish people were allowed to live in days before Ghettos and before Barcelona spread onto reclaimed land that once had been sea. Nowadays Montjuic has been reclaimed for all Barcelona as something of an exhibition and entertainment zone.

There is still an old Baroque Palace on top of the hill, not sure what it is or why, but the only thing that really matters is the 'Magic Fountains'. Dazzling displays of arial acqua lit with vivid colours dances for 45 minutes to a spellbound audience, eventually concluding with Freddy Mercury singing "Barcelona". We was there, see the pictures, enjoy.

Before we reached Monjuic a Labour Day procession passed our hotel to the sound of drums beating, megaphoned chanting and much colour and banner/flag waving, shown here. Amusingly the procession was watched from above by Helicopter, and behind it followed a band of police motorcycles, roadsweepers and refuse carts, and an ambulance. It all looked a bit too controlled.

Today is Saturday, May 2nd and this is likely to be our last WiFi transmission from the lobby of Aparthotel Gutenberg

PARC HELL WITH A GEE

2009-05-06T19:30:00.009+01:00

Saturday May 2nd was our last day in Barcelona, but since our flight was not due to take off until 19:20hrs, we still had a day to fill and headed for Parc Guell. This was a mistake.

It was a mistake to head to Gaudi's Parc Guell on a sizzling Spanish summer saturday when at least half the population of Spain, and most of the tourists within 1000miles also had the same idea. Crowded; just a little.

The pity was that much of the Gaudi architecture now lay behind or beneath the sunning masses who stood in front of it, sat on it, or otherwise covered it. Yes, I suppose Gaudi intended them to do exactly that, but it didn't help me to view it or photograph it. I gave up trying to photograph IT and chose instead to photograph THEM.

When I had had enough of tripping over kids in or out of prams, I suggested to Juris that we should head off somewhere else and he wanted to go to CaixaForum near to Espanya Metro.

The structure of CaixaForum was an old textile factory that had been turned into an exhibition space, and what a joy of red brick, pinnacles, and glass it was. The undulating roof space provided excellent views over sun-drenched Barcelona.

Inside we visited 3 exhibitions. The Mersad Berber. Retrospectiva was a slightly strange experience of almost life-size semi nude men and Horses! I don't mean that to sound disapproving because the work had a certain quality and a definite character. In time it could grow on me.

By contrast, Richard Rogers + Arquitectes. De la casa a la ciutat reinforced my intolerance of modern architects. I remember the Lloyds Tower opening in London and the Pompidou Centre in Paris and we were all told that this was 'Post-Modernism'. At the time we all nodded our heads and pretended to understand what 'Modernism' had been and therefore we knew what 'Post Modernism' was. But it was all tosh really, deep down we all thought the buildings had been constructed inside out and weren't at all good looking.

Last autumn I revisted the Lloyds Tower, now 20-odd years old and looking so much the worse for it. Downright tatty in my view, not cleaned (it would be impossible), and now standing shabbily in the shadows of that great glass penis known as 'The Gherkin' (you can see the Barcelona version 'Torre Agbar' here). I was pleased to see that about 60per cent of the Rogers projects never reached construction stage, and I became even more cynical when reviewing his projects and uncovering his wilful abuse of each site for his own purposes.

Gaudi is a God by comparison. Organic, aesthetic, original, and using earth-borne materials and biological forms in place of the dead stuff and broken pieces of spacecraft that Rogers uses.

A dash back to Aparthotel Gutenberg to collect luggage, and then BCN Aeropuerto bound for LBA on Jet2.com and home to Bradford.

HOLOCAUST HONOUR

2008-01-27T16:43:00.000Z

"Work makes you Free"

The motto on the gates of Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp at Orienburg, near Berlin.
Sachsenhausen was a Work Camp for Political prisoners, and many of the deaths here were due to the harsh working conditions, brutality and starvation. Work set nobody free here.

HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL DAY (HMD)
The Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau was liberated on January 27th and this date has bneen chosen as Holocaust Memorial Day.

The idea of HMD is to commemorate and to educate people about the Nazi Holocaust, but this commemoration is inclusive of all the victims, not just the Jews. People of religions other than Israelites were persecuted by the Nazis, and also people seen as 'political' or anti social or just selected for punishment. Gypsies, Criminals, Priests, Homosexuals, Disabled, Prisoners of War were all victims of the Nazi Holocaust and HMD seeks to commemorate those lives as well.

Whilst the events of World War Two may be considered as 'The Holocaust', sadly it is now recognised that there have been many more holocausts since 1945 and even today people are being persecuted and 'ethnically cleansed' in a manner all too similar to the Nazi ways.

Recent holocausts include Cambodia, Bosnia, Rwanda and Darfur, and HMD seeks to ensure that such genocides are not forgotten and are not repeated. For Jewish victims of The Holocaust there is a rememberance day in April each year.

Almost everybody knows of the yellow star of David worn by Jewish prisoners, but in fact this was two yellow triangles put together. There were many other triangles, such as red for political prisoners (an apex up red triangle was used for Prisoner of War such as captured airman, seaman or soldiers). Pink Triangles for male homosexuals, green for criminals, brown or black for Gypsies, and lots of combinations.

A memorial to male homosexuals. Some 50,000 men died in camps having worn the pink triangle to indicate their sexual orientation.

"Behind this Gate the earth moans"
Another country, another camp. Latvia was occupied by the Nazis on their way to the Russian front, and very quickly the concentration camp ethic was installed. Salaspils near Riga had a Transit Camp/Work Camp whose brutal regime caused the death of about 50,000 people from the Baltic States and from eastern europe, mostly gentiles.

For more information on Latvian camps, click on Salaspils

Polish writer, victim of the Warsaw Ghetto, contributor to the Warsaw Uprising, and one time inmate of Sachsenhausen concentration camp, pens an epitaph to the Holocaust. Oh, if only things were that simple. Human differences will cause more holocausts as one group try for supremacy or eradication of a pereceived different group.
In Kenya on this very day The Holocaust will seem like a million miles away, but will seem very, very close to those who are being burned in their churches or hacked to death on the streets.

STOP IT.


Sachsenhausen, Berlin	Salaspils, Latvia

FROWEINACHTEN: CHRISTMAS IN BERLIN

2007-12-20T21:57:00.001Z

Here are a few images portraying Berlin at Christmas

Gendarmenmarkt for Christmas, Berlin, December 2007

Arkaden Shopping Centre, Potsdamer Platz, Berlin, Christmas 2007

Christmas Tree made of Lego in the Beisheim Centre, Potsdamer Platz, Berlin, Christmas 2007

Santa Claus and Reindeer made of Lego in the Beisheim Centre, Potsdamer Platz, Berlin, Christmas 2007

BERLIN: THE MAN, THE WALL, THE GATE, THE STAG, AND THE CAMP

2007-12-16T18:37:00.000Z

Before reunification, Germany was divided into West Germany and East Germany, the joins coming together in Berlin where the city was partly in the West and partly in the East. There were many differences, such as the Tram system being mainly in the East. Traffic was also different, East Berlin designed a 'friendly' little signal to protect its pedestrians from Ladas, Moskvitch, Skodas, Trabants, and Wartburgs, and these have been retained in parts of Berlin today, due to popular demand. West Germany had a generic Green Man to guide people across in front of its BMW, DKW, Fords, Glas, Merecedes-Benz, NSU, Opels, and VWs. The picture below shows East and West versions.

Ampelmännchen (on the left) was created in 1961 by an East German Traffic psychologist hopeful of getting obedience by appealing with a friendly little hatted mascot. On Re-unification Germany tried to impose its generic Green Man (right) on its eastern roads, but the citizens would not let go of their Ampelmännchen.

In 1961 Berliner Mauer went up to prevent the leakage of people from the Communist East to the Capitalist West. The picture shows a small section left standing after The Wall was broken down in 1989. Don't be deceived by this neat, smooth faced wall with its softly rounded top. This was only the wall that faced the West, on the inside there were lines of barbed wire, moats, ditches, mines, automatic guns, lights, sensors. And if you got through all that, the Stasi took vengeance on those you left behind. In other parts of Berlin, the route of the Berlin Wall is traced on the ground with lines of cobbles.

The Berlin Wall was erected in 1961 and pulled down in 1989 and formed the the most notorious part of the 'Iron Curtain'. Some 128 people are recorded as dying trying to escape from East to West Berlin. Apparently 5000 people escaped from East Germany to West Germany, some 2000 of those being Border Guards. (The wire netting is a modern attempt to stop the wall being chopped up for souvenirs or being plastered with graffiti - some hope!)

Here is the Brandenburger Tor, a triumphal gate erected by Freidrich as an entrance to Berlin on the road from Brandenburg. It has always been symbolic for Berliners, and therefore for others who seek to make a big entrance to Berlin. When the Berlin Wall went up, the Brandenburg Gate became a rallying point for opposition to Soviet Rule and for Peace events. Since 1990 it has become a rather tame tourist attraction and now has ghastly modern architecture Embassies, businesses and posh hotels alongside it.

Brandenburg Gate was commissioned by Friedrich Wilhelm II in 1788 to a classical design based on the gateway to the Acropolis in Athens. Topped by a fraulein (Viktoria) in a Quadriga (Chariot) because Mercedes-Benz were not yet made. She represents Victory, but has indeed been a victim of defeat, being stolen in 1806 by Napoleon when he defeated the Prussians, and then hauled back to Berlin in 1814 when the nasty little Corsican upstart got his come uppance. Viktoria got a bit bent and her chariot's wheels went flat during the struggles in 1945, but eventually she got dusted off and renovated to symbolise victory over communism when The Wall came down in 1989.

Modern Architecture knows no bounds, witness to this is the collision between a glass pudding bowl and the German Parliament building; the Reichstag. Opened in 1894, "Reichstag" was the parliament of Germany until 1933 and this was the Reichstag building. After the little Austrian Dictator came to power, the Reichstag building burned down amidst rumours of Communist plots but also of Brown Shirts vandalism; who knows. The result was that the building became a ruin and stood as a metaphor for the ruins of the German government. When democracy returned after WWII it returned to Bonn and the parliament then was called "Bundestag". The fall of the Berlin Wall determined the Bundestag to return to the Reichstag building and to get Sir Norman Foster to destroy it or renovate it. You decide.

Berlin's Reichstag houses the German Parliament ('Bundestag'). It was re-opened in 1999 having been almost derelict since the fire of 1933, although some bad reconstruction was made in the 1960s. Sir Norman Foster won the 1990s competition and added the immense glass Cupola onto a building he gutted to a bare shell. I am not a fan of modern architecture, and wonder about the purpose of this glass pudding bowl; it looks like a superfluous gesture of attention-seeking rather than anything with any true function

Sachsenhausen was opened on the outskirts of Berlin in 1936 for mainly political prisoners. It housed approximately 200,000 prisoners who were sent there principally for 'crimes' such as political, or anti-social. This prison housed Gypsies, Criminals, people with disabilities, foreign prisoners of war, Jehovahs Witnesses and other religious groups, including 2 entire huts of Priests. It was for men only, although there were also some youths who were used for medical experimentation. The picture shows a memorial to Homosexuals who were sent here and identified by Pink Triangles, I use the word 'Camp' in my title to give extra emphasis to the forgotten thousands who died in these camps. See Salaspils Seen for my Blog about a Latvian Nazi Work Camp. The history of the Holocaust is often very partial.
Memorial to Homosexual men who were victims of the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp. Homosexual men were regarded as criminals or ant-socials by the Nazi regime, and this was enough to get them sent to Work Camps such as Sachsenhausen. Forced to wear Pink Triangles on their striped uniforms, at least 50,000 Pink Triangles died of the harsh work.

(see Wikipedia for notes on the badges worn in these camps).

TOURING TRUTHS

2007-10-06T23:23:00.000+01:00

September has become the month that my sister and I meet up (we live 400 miles apart) and travel together on some touring holiday.

Miss (British) Italia [left] and Bridge of Si(mon) [right]

Neither of us can tolerate those London airports, and Archers gives a wide choice of regional airports for most of its tours. Usually we meet half way at an airport in the Midlands, but I was a little smug when my sister agreed that Leeds Bradford airport just over the next hill from me also suited her requirements.

Jet2 then launched us onto our holiday without fuss or bother, and with our homemade egg sandwiches in the overhead locker!. By lunchtime we had been bussed in the Venetian sunshine to our hotel for an overnight gathering of clans!

With Archers, people from all over Britain join tours and are collected together in an hotel on the first night of the holiday. You meet many different, and interesting people, but also as we have found you meet some people again; this year we joined two couples who had shared Archers holidays with us previously.

I chose to use up my first afternoon by making my own way into Venice rather than resting in my hotel, and I visited the Venice Gheto.

Continuing to explore on my own I came across other sights not usually seen by Venice's tourists.

The word “organised” may put people off joining an organised tour, but only the essential parts of the holiday are arranged. Outside of the essential you have the choice to wander alone like I did, or to join the arranged.

If you ride with the arranged itinerary then it is only a matter of getting breakfast and going down to the coach on time. On our holiday, the bus took us to Mantova where arrangements had been made for us to enjoy freshly cooked local food in an intimate family run restaurant, and afterwards a local guide collected us and walked us around the town giving expert explanations of what we looked at.

My photos show similar guided walks in Piazza del Signori (Verona) and inside the Baptistery in Parma.

Each afternoon we were brought back to a comfortable hotel and sat down to a good evening meal. In our view the right balance between relaxation and excitement.

Our tour started on the waters of eastern Italy and took us across to the waters on the western side. But we returned to La Serenissima for a memorable evening meal and a morning flight back to Yorkshire.


Venice	Verona	Liguria and Emilia Romagna

SMELLY SERENISSIMA

2007-09-17T22:03:00.000+01:00

DOES VENICE SMELL?

My first acquaintance with Venice was Boxing Day 1998 (with Page & Moy) when La Serenissima greeted me with ice covered boats. In such gloriously chilly conditions, no smell was evident from the watery Venice.

In 2000 I visited Venice in the heat of a warm September and in the chillier month of December for my birthday, and both times found no awkward aromas.

October 2002 found me again in Venice in a surprisingly hot week, and even after a high tide had flooded St Marks smells there were none.

September 2005 (with Cosmos), Christmas Eve 2006 (with Just You), September 2007 (with Archers Direct) I again took the vaporetto from the Tronchetto along the Giudecca into Venice and ambled around the many canals and along the Grand Canal without horrid humours.

No Venice does not smell !

Enjoy the watery reflections I have attached

LILAC LAND: ESTONIA AND LATVIA BLOOM

2007-06-17T09:10:00.001+01:00

I visited Latvia and Estonia at the end of May 2007.

Everywhere I went there were Lilac trees growing wild and in full bloom. The flowers were mainly a kind of paleish purpley colour (Lilac, maybe ?!?!?), but a few were in white.

The fragrance from all these blooming Lilacs was lovely.

Enjoy

Here is a small traditional dwelling on the island of Muhu off the coast of Estonia with Lilacs growing around.

This is the Muhu Museum where a hamlet of traditional Muhu dwellings is preserved as a Museum. (see Museum Website)

Pirita is the ruins of a Nuns Convent to the east of Tallinn on the sea coast, and here you see Lilacs embracing the historic site. (see Pirita Website)

You see above a contrast between the LIBERTY of free growing Lilacs and the shabby stern soviet-built tower blocks that represent an altogether different existence.

A 500year old tower, part of the old city wall, in the Old Town of Tallinn on the street called Viru, very close to where we stayed. (see Tallinn Website)

I have a growing collection of Baltic Albums on my Picasa site:


Saaremaa: Island Estonian	Muhu: An Estonian Egg	Baltic

VENI VIDI VICI VENICE

2007-01-01T16:22:00.000Z

I came, I saw, I conquered some bits of Venice ... or at least I got to see some more of the lovely La Serenissima on Christmas Eve 2006.

This post shows the high points (!);, well okay that's a pun because this post is actually about TOWERS but there are heaps more pictures on Picasa and Simon's Red Pages if you click on those links.

My first "tower" is not actually the gorgeous Campanile of La Madonna dell'Orto in the Cannaregio, but the even more impressive towering Dolomite Mountains above almost 100miles distant!

My second "tower" is the Campanile of Saint Apostoli, though you are probably looking at the Gondola on the Canale Grande below this turret.

My third "tower" is actually a leaning one, though still in Venice. When you push thousands of wooden piles into a muddy lagoon and then build a heavy stone tower on top of it it is inevitable that some of these towers "relax". This one is San Giorgio - there are others too. And if you want to be reminded of the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa then just click here.

My fourth "tower" is a Snail! Pietro Contarini's Palazzo with external circular staircase which caused it to be nicked named "Contarini del Bovolo" = Of the Snail.

My fifth "tower" is an Island. The Island of San Giorgio Maggiore in the Canale Di San Marco. Oh you might see lots of other bits of Venice in this view too, including in the foreground the Doges Palace.

But if you want to see the thing that I shot those pictures from - The Campanile di San Marco you will have to wait until I get back down to the ground and then click below:

Venice

PRESEPIO: PERFECTO NATALE ITALIANA

2006-12-30T18:59:00.000Z

This post celebrates a FANTASTIC Christmas spent on Lake Garda at Bardolino. Thanks to the boys and girls who joined the "Just You" tour to the Park Hotel Gritti in Bardolino for Christmas 2006.

PRESEPIO: A nativity scene, also called a crib or crèche (meaning "crib" or "manger" in French) generally refers to any depiction of the birth or birthplace of Jesus. In Italy is known as presepe; It has been introduced by Saint Francis of Assisi.

This first picture shows the Presepio for Bardolino which was mounted on a yacht in the little harbour, and here it is lit at night. The shot below shows some detail of this presepio as the sun sets behind the yacht.

The little lakeside town of Garda had a much bigger Presepio; about a dozen scenes on the lakeside using lifesize mannequins.

In Venice I came across this Presepio of the much more conventional kind displayed in Piazza San Marco next door to Basilica di San Marco in Venezia. For a whole album of Venice shots click here.

And finally, one of the grandest Presepios I came across was this star of Bethlehem bursting out of Verona's Arena; sheer Opera !

Click here >> For more pictures of Verona

PRESEPIO: Christian Nativity scenes, in two dimensions (drawings, paintings, icons, etc.) or three (sculpture or other three-dimensional crafts), usually show Jesus in a manger, Joseph and Mary in a barn (or cave) intended to accommodate farm animals. A donkey and an ox accompany them; besides the necessity of animals for a manger, this is an allusion to Isaiah: "the ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib; but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider" (Is. 1:3). The scene sometimes includes the Magi or Three Wise Men, shepherds, angels and the Star of Bethlehem. The traditional scenes that show the shepherds and Magi together are of course not true to the Bible story, since the Magi arrived much later (Matthew 2:1-12) than the shepherds(Luke 2:7-16).

Although St Francis of Assisi is credited with the invention of three-dimensional Nativity Scenes, drawings and paintings existed earlier. The tradition was brought into Spain from Naples during the reign of Charles III of Spain. (see Wikipedia )

For some more beautiful views of Venice and Verona, click below:


Venice	Verona

2006: AN ELL OF A YEAR

2006-12-20T21:21:00.000Z

Last Christmas I wrote of spending a lot of time with a newly found Latvian friend who then returned to study in Riga in autumn 2005. Well I didn't honestly know whether we would meet again, but 2006 has provided us with many chances to meet up. My family time has been limited during 2006 because I needed to make the best of another kind of relationship that hasn't been available to me before.

Easter, as you may already know from previous correspondence, was spent with Juris in Latvia, Lithuania, and St Petersburg.
(see http://simonsred.blogspot.com/2006_04_01_archive.html for Blog) This trip has had a major impact on me, and I really want to explore Eastern Europe more in the coming years.

St Petersburg was quite amazing, and we packed a lot of visits into our six days there. The highlights for me were not the Grand Palaces and Churches but much more down to earth things. Such architecture was mainly "non-Russian" and I am not a great fan of Baroque and prefer Neo-Classical to be ACTUAL classical such as I am familiar with in Italy.

Very impressive, nonetheless, but what was viewed was usually only about a decade old after having been restored or even rebuilt to right the ravages of Nazi occupation and post war austere Communism.

I enjoyed walking on my own into an internet Cafe where nobody spoke English and using equipment that didn't even have the same alphabet as mine, and which only had unlicensed pirated software on it. People of all nationalities were around me cruising porno and chat up sites whilst I innocently passed on the day's thoughts and pictures to family and friends back home. I say "innocently" with caution, because I actually got fined - and almost arrested - for photographing the nameplate on a Metro station; yet another highlight.

And finally SPB allowed us to celebrate the SECOND Easter of our holiday when we attended the Saturday Night service for Orthodox Easter Sunday, and joined in a midnight candlelit procession outside and around the Vladimiri church whilst traffic on a main thoroughfare was halted and thousands stood to watch.

We arrived in SPB on the night train from Riga and what a treat this was; Orient Express and all that but in a charmingly tired and rather run down version. We travelled First Class, but that didn't give us any more sleep than the second class travellers - just more privacy.

We chugged through the Baltic night at about 40mph sometimes adding - or shedding - engines and carriages and stopping for unknown reasons.
The border stop just before midnight meant we had to present our documentation to exit EU, and about half an hour later we had to get permission to enter the "USSR", but they don't call it that anymore. Russian formalities demanded four people check us out, most of them being retired Olympic female shot putters, 2 pieces of paper had to be signed, and the cabin had to be searched. Sleep was really rather pointless after that.

My view of Russia was a little shaped by the extraordinary sights I had already enjoyed in the Baltic states, so SPB had an uphill battle to compete.

Oh I didn’t see any Grand Palaces (Well actually, there was Pilsrundale near Bauska), but I did see very moving evidence of the turbulent history of these States. The open air museum at Brivdabas contained dismantled and reconstructed farmsteads from the 4 regions of Latvia that showed how human life was lived in the rural. Salaspils showed how human life was lived in the raw; man's inhumanity to fellow man.

Here a concentration camp where almost 100,000 died, but forget "Schindler's List" for Salaspils scarcely has a mention in the Jewish Holocaust record. This concentration camp killed gentiles from Riga and neighbouring states who showed opposition to the Nazi occupation; they worked themselves to death in the camp or died because they would not work.

And when the Nazis retreated from the Baltic States the advancing Russian army dealt brutally with anyone who had saved themselves from German attrition by collaborating. It seems that whichever side you were on in the Baltic States, you were bound to lose; quite a contrast to the British experience.

In Riga town there is evidence of the awful struggles that occupied this land during WW1 where Germans and Russians battled over the Daugava River, and then the Russians split into Bolsheviks and carried on pushing the Germans back. But since 1989 the Baltic countries have been pushing the Russians back; trying to reduce evidence of Russian occupation and recover evidence of their own nationality and national culture.

In Lithuania we went to our first Easter, attending the evening service at a grand 1930s Cathedral that had only been opened after years of restoration to get it back from being a Russian radio factory and warehouse and consecrate it.

In Kaunas too we saw replacement monuments to Lithuanian freedom fighters and other figures destroyed by Russian Rule.

In the Lithuanian countryside we came across the Hill of Crosses at Siauliai; a place where Lithuanians had marked their Christianity and kept alive their cultural identity for 800 years by erecting crucifixes on a little hill to create their own Calvary. We gave a lift to a hitch hiker who told how Russians had kept destroying the crosses but people simply returned and erected more; he told too how these state-sponsored vandals often died soon after their dastardly deeds.

Whilst driving towards Kaunas we entered a small country town and towering over all the wooden Baltic bungalows and the Russian-built 5storey apartment blocks was a blooming great Basilica. Church and Monastery of the Lord Revelation for St. Mary the Virgin (Dotnuvos Viešpaties apreiškimo Švè. Mergelei Marijai bažnyèios ir vienuolyno ansamblis). We found ourselves being 'collected' by an old lady washing the floor. We followed her nervously across the church yard and into a large building which turned out to be the Monastery.

A small boy was despatched and returned with a jolly rounded Priest who spoke good English and invited us to tour his humble place of worship. However, he had to attend a meeting and asked us whether we would let his father guide us, and this he did communicating to us - well to Juris at least - in Russian. We had an extraordinary tour of the church, the empty monastery and an attic room containing hundreds of church vestments which take religious dress back many centuries.

A unique experience and only made possible by my Russian-speaking companion. Oh I could go on for ever. Latvia and Lithuania changed me, and I really must return.

Here is Europe as I didn’t know it. Here is heritage and culture that we actually share - Latvian wood was used in Henry 8th's Britain - here is Christianity and common ideas that we have cast aside to embrace other cultures that are quite literally foreign to us.

Click these links below for Photo Albums:

The Baltic States
Latvia and Riga
Lithuania
Russian Cars

St Petersburg
Churches of St Petersburg
St Petersburg Palaces

Latvia, Lithuania, Lenigrad, Loves, Lives - one "L" of a year was 2006 for me. I am looking forward to "Heaven" in 2007 !!!

BRADFORD BRIGHT

2006-10-07T13:23:00.000+01:00

Bradford Town Hall has a distinctive clock tower based on the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence. This feature helps to link the wool towns of Bradford and Florence, and the counties of Yorkshire and Tuscany ("Chiantishire"). Incidentally, the Wool Market in Bradford (now Waterstones Book Store) is modelled on the Doges Palace in Venice.

The large Grade I listed building, designed by local architects Lockwood and Mawson, opened as Bradford Town Hall in 1873.

Join us in Bradford city centre for Light Night, the grand finale of ‘illuminate’ - Yorkshire’s year long celebration of culture.
Bradford will link to Hull, Leeds, Sheffield and York in a series of events that spotlight their rich cultural life.

A special programme of free events will run late into the night around Bradford city centre….

Bradford City Hall Illumination
A stunning light projection by acclaimed French artist Patrice Warrener is the centrepiece of the evening. Warrener, who lit up York Minster to spectacular effect last year, will transform City Hall with intense colour and incredible detail.

click here for more details

SIMON GETS A BIRD IN THE DALES

2006-09-03T22:17:00.000+01:00

The meaning of this title should steadily become clear, but it involves a Sunny September Sunday visit to Bedale in North Yorkshire.

The house you can see is called "Thorp Perrow" and has a fine garden and Arboretum within its extensive grounds. Very pleasant to walk around and to explore, and we enjoyed the Gazebo (below)
However, the "Bird" used in my title refers to a Bird of Prey and you will see below a partial answer. This is a 1938 Riley Kestrel which we saw at Thorp Perrow. This Kestrel was one of about 200 Classic Cars which Juris and I went to see - these will appear on my online photo albums soon (see below)

Ah now it becomes clear, or Cleo !!

This 'bird' is indeed a lady; named "Cleo" she is an Eagle Owl from the Afghanistan region and I got to hold her for a few miunutes. Juris also got to hold her later.

The whole visit, the gardens, house, trees, birds and cars made a very pleasant Sunday outing.


British Cars 1940-1980	Car Heads and Tails	British Cars - Sides

DUTCH DOUBLE: Doing Dam City

2006-08-14T15:53:00.000+01:00

On the Glorious Twelfth, Juris and Simon landed in Amsterdam for a quick weekend visit.

Saturday was almost rained out, but Sunday was a much better day. You see here some views to capture the Canal experience (and the rain on Saturday).

On Sunday the Sun returned and treated us to some glorious views.

We were also treated to glorious views in the Rijks Museum where Rembrandt's finest were on display, including of course the Night Watch.

Even more moving for me were the late Van Gogh works in the Van Gogh musuem. I was very moved by these extraordinary works, seeming to me to have been painted almost in a frenzy - as though his coming death was almost apparent to the artist.

At night the glorious views of Amsterdam are altogether different. This shop sign shows that 'Magic Mushrooms' may be purchased here. There are also countless "Coffee Shops" where Cannabis is dispensed for on or off premises use, and you can sit in the window with one of those cooled pipes to enjoy it.

And of course there is the Red Light District where consumption quite definitely ON the premises is available and the "smokin" depends on your own prowess. I tried NEITHER of these premises myself !

A much bigger Album is available online ... click below

Amsterdam

Aug 14, 2006 - 50 Photos

WE KAME TO KAUNAS

2006-05-04T19:54:00.000+01:00

Kaunas is the third of the Capitals of Lithuania (coming after Trakai and before Vilnius).

We visited both of the others, but our evening and morning in Kaunas impressed me more.

To start our explore of Kaunas we climbed to the top of the hill to the Upper Town. Not a very rewarding trek this except for the chance to view and to inspect the extraordinary white CHRIST'S RESURECTION CHURCH

I don't have pictures of this church (click the link to see some photos), but I will long remember the experience joining in the lighting of candles here at the Easter Saturday service. Click the link also to learn about the extraordinary on - off - on construction of this church and about how the 'Resurrection' is also the rebirth of Lithuania as a country.

On Easter Sunday morning, we wandered around the delightful old town of Kaunas, busy with Easter worshippers milling around the many churches and the stalls of the Easter market bathed in seasonal sunshine (see link).

The history of Lithuania is quite interesting, because it has often been controlled by foriegn invaders. Teutonic Knights, Russians and Polish interests (see link). Lithuanians have a tradition of resistance to such control, and this is shown in the three photographs below.

The picture above shows the Military Museum. This was built as a Museum, but during the years of Russian control (1944-1989) it was emptied of all its exhibits and used as a warehouse. It has only been restored in the last few years.

The monument above was erected in memory of those who died for the liberation of Lithuania in 1919 and before. It may not be a surprise to learn that the Russians destroyed this monument along with many other statues and commerative items. All has been rebuilt in the last few years and the eternal flame (just visible) burns again.

The final photo shows the Book Carrier. Under the long years of Russian control, Lithuanian culture and learning was suppressed - or at least forced underground. But Lithuanian texts continued to be published and they were famously carried around the countryside by figures such as depicted on this statue. This man distributed Lithuanian texts around his country and thus carried Lithuanian culture into the future.

LENT ENDS IN LATVIA, LITHUANIA AND LENINGRAD

2006-05-02T19:01:00.000+01:00

Easter week in Latvia.
Many such straw figures as this rabbit could be found in public places. This one is in a central park in Riga.

And here in the same Riga Park an Easter nest with two Cranes (or maybe Herons) standing in the distance.

This jolly rabbit was found in the Latvian town of Sigulda.

Here is a market in the square of the old town of Kaunas (Lithuania) on Easter Sunday morning.

Juris and I attended a delightful Easter Saturday service in the modern (1930s) chuch in the Upper town of Kaunas where the lighting of candles was made. One week later we attended a similar service for Orthodox Easter at the Vladimir Church in St Petersburg.

Numerous other Easter services were 'popped into' during our Double Easter visit.

RUSSIANS HAD A CROSS TO BEAR

2006-04-29T17:14:00.000+01:00

The town of Siauliai was founded about 1230, and in the following century was occupied by Teutonic knights. Lithuanians started showing their resistance to these occupiers by planting crucifixes on this hill at Kryži Kalnas just outside the town and a tradition was started.

Later invaded by Russia and then divided up under a Poland partition the Hill of Crosses became an enduring place for Lithuanians to show their faith and their resistance.

From 1944 to 1991 Lituania was officially part of the USSR and local objections to such 'management' manifested themselves in the placing of more and more crucifixes at this site.

For 40years the Soviets tried to stop this practice. They broke stone crosses, burnt wooden ones, and melted down metal ones. But they could not break, burn or melt the people.

I am told by a local resident that people who removed crucifixes often died within a few months - almost as though their actions cursed them.

Today the hill has become filled with crucifixes, and several places around have had to be colonised with crucifixes. Every visitor can buy a crucifix and afix it to another to add to the millions that already stand against religious oppression.

Lithuanians also have a distinctive design of crucifix which often has a little figure below the cross beams who stands on each of the four sides of the cross - he is looking out for and keeping the owner of the cross safe from bad times.

VILNIUS VIEWED

2006-04-28T12:38:00.000+01:00

I was a bit disappointed in Vilnius itself because it was undergoing a massive poshing-up programme with the aid of EU funding.

Around the outskirts of the Old City were several brand new 30storey glass towers of the kind you will see in Hong Kong, Bahrain, Shanghai etc - not very 'Baltic'

Parts of the Old City were quite pretty, but many of these were being 'renovated' which involved blowing up the middle of the buildings and just keeping the external walls on the outside of new structures. The original buildings had contained dwellings for ordinary people, or little family-run shops and businesses, the newly renovated contain offices for foreign companies, hotel space for foreign businessmen, or outlets for Gucci, Armani, Chanel. Nothing very Baltic here.

Juris wanted to visit a Russian period Power station on the banks of the river, and we found this but it was closed and being renovated.

Better, in my view, was the older capital of Lithuania, Kaunas. Lots of interest here, a lovely Old Town, a fabulous 1930s Cathedral and not much sign of EU poshing up. Also visited the even older capital of Trakai - a castle on a lake. We didnt have time to visit the Bronze Age capital.

Yes Lithuania is worth a visit - especially before the EU funds get spread too thickly.

OPEN HISTORY

2006-04-26T16:16:00.000+01:00

In a forest just to east of the city limits of Riga, exists the Latvian Ethnic Open Air Museum. Take the A2 (E77) road ot of town and if you get to the crossroads of the E67 and A4 then you have gone too far, but dont worry, turn south on the A4 and after a little while turn west to double back towards Riga and on that road you should find ETHOGRAFISKAIS BRIVDABAS MUZEJS.

Laid out amongst the trees are about 50 wooden buildings that have been disassembled and then rebuilt here as examples of the heritage of Latvia. There are four regions to Latvia (Latgale, Zemgale, Kurzeme, the Liv land and Selija) and each had its own traditions and buildings styles, these are all represented here.

Over the last 50 years or so, real structures have been found across Latvia and removed to Brivdabas. Many of these buildings are about 200years old and were still in use until about 50years ago before being taken apart and moved to this Museum.

It is very pleasant to amble about through the trees and discover the many wooden structures full of character, tradition and history.

There are dwelling houses, farm buildings, windmills, barns, and churches. Our visit was in the evening (the park is open until dusk) so we could not enter any of the buildings, but in the main opening hours you will be able to inside. Demonstrations of Latvian crafts and of milling etc are given to visitors during the main opening periods.

Some catering is provided on site, and we enjoyed a good beer in a bar located within a large farmstead building, whilst a birthday party merrily tucked into a medieval style feast at long tables in an adjacent room.

A FINE PICTURE

2006-04-25T22:24:00.000+01:00

Not a particularly stunning photo, I admit but it did get me into trouble.

Yes an official came across to me very upset about me taking this picture, and was threatening to confiscate the camera and all sorts.

In the end he fined me 100rubbles (about 2quid).

I am pleased to have contributed in such a major way to the security of the Russian state - how would you manage without such benefactors as me ???

KAMMER WITHOUT CAMERA

2006-04-24T04:46:00.000+01:00

Friday was grey and showery - not really a day for photography. We visited the KunstKammer (Arts Tower) where Peter the Great decided to collect a few things - such as thousands of examples of oriental culture from Eskimo aretefacts to tribal pieces from South America, Burma, the Indian sub-continent etc.

He also took a keen interest in the science of autopsy and collected many specimens of deformed foetuses such as cyclops babies, 2-headed foetus and other rather gruesome 'monsters'. These are pickled and on display in picling jars. A bit too queezy for me, but Juris is doing biology so he enjoyed it.

Afterwards we went to the Russia Museum which houses a fantastic exhibition of Russian Art from all periods (The Hermitage only holds non-Russian art). There was a temporary display of Icons of St Nicholas - quite fantastic.

The pictures are general views of SPB. The boat is the "Aurora", a shot fired on this ship started the 1917 Revolution and the first Communist state was established.

HEROES OF HERMITAGE

2006-04-24T04:40:00.000+01:00

Catherine the Great decided she needed a quiet little place to be alone, so she added the Hermitage onto the end of the Winter Palace, There she could be alone - with 50 guests and 1.5million works of art !!

You can have conducted tours of the complex, and in the "out season" these will last one hour, but my tour was on the first day of the "in season" so you only get a half hour sprint. But, of course, you are free to roam around the Winter Palace, Hermitage and 'Little Hermitage' for much longer after the tour finishes. And I discovered the cheapest price of admission is to buy an excursion ticket - it is actually cheaper than buying just an admission ticket.

A word of warning though. The appeal of the Hermitage and Winter Palace is the things that line the walls and stand on exhibition, and the building itself is secondary.

In my opinion the building itself is shabby. However, I had already visited a number of other Palaces, and the Baroque Rococco styles are really not my thing; I can endure them for a little time before their gaudy excesses grate. Neo-classical is also not high on my list of things to admire because I have seen actual Classical and Italy does this kind of thing much better.

If the building is tatty, be warned that the toilets are even worse ! If you want a sit down toilet then go before you enter this museum, and if you have an upset tummy you would be better to go on a day when your constitution is robust !

My interest was in the impressionists and post-impressionists because I have hardly ever seen such works in the "real" Enjoy

BALTIC BEARING

2006-04-24T04:19:00.000+01:00

Juris command of English is really very good.
But sometimes he gets things a little wrong.

I was trying to get him to remember that I was English and that all the Cyrillic notices in Russia were meaningless to me.

So I said to him "Juris, I cannot read any of these signs, please bear this in mind"

He must have misunderstood, because when I turned around this is what I saw !!!

Bad Joke.
Of course I do not condone such exploitation of young animals - and I have misgivings about what becomes of the Bear when it has outgrown its cute stage.
The Bear and handler were loitering at a well known photography point where newly wedded couples turn up with Champagne bottles for a quick photo in front of the Horseman statue.
Our 50rubbles (about 1GBP) was just one of many that the Bear "earned" in a few minutes.

TRAKAI TREK

2006-04-22T18:22:00.000+01:00

The photos show the castle on the lake at Trakai.
Trakai was an old capital of Lithuania. The next capital of Lithuania was to be Kaunas.

The red brick is modern reconstruction to show how it would have looked at the time (though it would have been made of stone). It seems common to reconstruct such old buildings in this way - can you imagine rebuilding Fountains Abbey and putting a roof on it using modern red brick and red tiles. It would never be allowed here, but it does have some merit perhaps.

Juris is having a practice with a crossbow

BALTIC BUNGALOW

2006-04-22T18:17:00.000+01:00

The pictures shows the typical Wooden chalet style houses that exist in both country and town.

There is also a picture of 5-storey russian housing blocks which are universal across the Eastern Bloc. Russians built these as cheap housing because 5 floors meant that a Lift did not have to be put into the building.

HIGHWAYS OR HELLWAYS

2006-04-22T18:01:00.000+01:00

We drove for 1100Km in Latvia and Lithuania.
The car was an Astra 1.6 (latest design) and I cannot fault this at all.
It was hired from Argus and booked through Car Trawler but the local Riga office were very helpful and met us in the centre of Riga with the vehicle and collected it the same way. Thanks.

I can, however, fault the roads.

In Riga centre most main roads are constructed of large stone cobbles. Usually the tram tracks are in the centre of the road where there is a pronounced crown. The road then slopes quite steeply to the kerbside and is often badly subsided. You overtake trams on the wrong side, but when they stop then you stop because passengers must cross from the pavement to the tram.

In the countryside, potholes predominate - even on main roads. Some roads are being reconstructed with EU funding, but whilst this happens you drive on the sub base !!!

Motorways only have 2lanes. There is a hard shoulder, but this doubles as entry and exit slip roads too and is used by people to undertake slower vehicles !!!. Oh and local vehicles can suddenly drive off the side of the motorway into their fields and presumably return the same way ! The central reservation is about 100feet wide and is not fitted with safety fencing at all - so nood good Shane applying for a job in the Baltic. I dont think that Jill or Derek would have much to do either !

The car is Russian (a Volga 3110) but is not typical of the country - it is CLEAN !!!

You cannot buy petrol in the Baltic, as all cars seem to run on some kind of liquid coal. But the fuel is 'Environmentally friendly' because it contains the same acrid noxious pollutants as already exsist in the atmosphere and is therefore friendly to those in the local environment. !!

DOSTOEVSKY DORMITORY

2006-04-22T17:54:00.000+01:00

Juris and I are staying at the Hotel Dostoevsky on Vladimir Prospekt just off Nevinsky Prospekt.

If you look at the pictures, the hotel seems to occupy just the final right hand 5th of the building, but in fact this is only the entrance. There are over 200 rooms on the 5th, 6th and 7th floors of this building, all looking onto an inner courtyard. In fact the floor of the courtyard is actually the roof of the 4th floor below.

The hotel opens onto the Atrium of a shopping centre containing 50 shops, several cafes and a large underground 24hour supermarket. The bar on the top floor has a glass roof giving superb views of the Vladimir church opposite.

Our hotel faces the Vladimir Metro station - so very handy.

It also faces the delightful Vladimir Church. We went to an amazing Easter (Orthodox) service at this church. In common with many churches in SPB there are no seats, there was also no music and yet a largely female managed exquisite and joyous singing to fill the vaults of this Russian-style church
Our service culminated in a candlelit procession out into the street and around the chuch - stopping traffic on this busy thoroughfare.

We booked our hotel through http://www.instantstpetersburg.com/index.xml and they also provided a full Visa service via their sister company http://www.asla.co.uk/index.shtml

I SEE ISAACS

2006-04-22T17:46:00.000+01:00

Almost as soon as the Russians won the war with Sweden thus recovering lands on the Baltic coast and started the building of Petrograd (later St Petersburg and then Leningrad and then back to St Petersburg), the Tsar asked for a Cathedral to be built.

The first two were a bit small and not fit for the purpose. The third one was rather rapidly built and therefore badly constructed. The present Cathedral exists as a major reconstruction of the 3rd Cathedral. It was named "St Isaacs" because Peter the Great was born on St Isaacs Feast Day.

Heavily Neo-classical, and therefore in my view not very Russian. But still amazing, and something of a fortress during the 900 day siege of SPB.

BLOODY LOVELY

2006-04-22T17:41:00.000+01:00

The Church on Spilled Blood was built from 1883 on the very spot where Tsar Alexander II was assinated in 1881. Its architect chose to go away from the dominant neo-classical style and went instead for Russian Revival style. A great decision in my view. Absolutely gorgeous inside and out.

CATHERINES COTTAGE

2006-04-20T19:03:00.000+01:00

In 1752 Rastrelli was asked by Tsarina Elizabeth to build a palace in the countryside outside SPB in honour of her mother Catherine, and it would be known as the 'Catherine Palace'.

It was subsequently taken on and considerably altered by her daughter the eventual Catherine the Great. Fabulous blue pile set in parklands - amazing.

In WWII this palace was largely wrecked - Leningrad was under seige by German forces for 900days.

The treasures of the Hermitage and the suburban palaces of Petrodvorets and Pushkin were hidden in the basements of the Hermitage and St Isaac's Cathedral.

At least 641 thousand people had died in Leningrad during the Siege (some estimates put this figure at 800 thousand). Most of them were buried in mass graves in different cemeteries. The Piskariovskoye Memorial Cemetery, where almost 500 thousand people are buried, became one of the most impressive national war memorials. (Source: http://www.saint-petersburg.com/history/siege.asp)

In postwar years - even under the infamous Stalin regime, it has been reconstructed using photographs as patterns.

It contains the Amber Room, which took almost 10years to rebuild, and was only opened within the last decade. No photos of the Amber Room, it is forbidden to shoot the fantastic yellow, red and orange patterned walls covered entirely with pieces of Amber of every hue - looks a bit like the walls are spread with varieties of marmalade - quite delicious in many ways.

Amongst the potraits lining the walls was this one of the Tsar completed just a few weeks before he was arrested and murdered.

PAULS PLACE

2006-04-20T18:56:00.000+01:00

The Pavlovsk Palace was built in the countryside outside St Petersburg by Catherine the Great for her son Paul ("Pavlovsk" is derived from the name of Paul). It was started in 1780.

You cannot see the exterior very well because it is covered in scaffolding. Lots of renovation work is happening around SPB because an International G8 summit of world leaders is taking place in summer 2006. SPB is being scrubbed clean (it needs it !!) and make safe for world leaders.

There are some interior shots - lots more when I get home.

RANCID TRANSIT

2006-04-20T18:48:00.000+01:00

There are many ways to get about St Petersburg, the Metro, Trams and Trolleybuses (unreliable - but cheap), Private buses or Taxis (expensive).

Or you can try the Minibuses. Take an ancient Transit type minibus (these are actually Russian GAZ make, but seem to have bought the old body presses from Ford Transits). Be sure to get one that cannot pass another MOT test and then licence it for fee-paying passengers.

Be sure NEVER to repair or service it, get as many dents in it as you can, and fill it with twice as many people as there are seats provided.

Oh, and it seems to be illegal to wash any vehicles in SPB - Ten minutes with a wet sponge will probably earn you 10years in a labour camp. Enjoy, we had a very hair-raising ride across town.

DOTNUVA DRESSES

2006-04-19T18:52:00.000+01:00

On the way to Kaunas we came across this tiny little country town with a massive great big Basilica (circa mid 18th century).

Church and Monastery of the Lord Revelation for St. Mary the Virgin (Dotnuvos Viešpaties apreiškimo Švè. Mergelei Marijai bažnyèios ir vienuolyno ansamblis)

Juris chatted to a jolly fat Catholic priest who then fetched his father and gave us an amazing tour around this one-time monastery and now lovely church in need of restoration.

For some reason it has a collection of HUNDREDS of church vestments - some going back centuries.

Truly amazing.

It was in a tiny town called Dotnuva on the way to Kaunas.

LENINGRAD LOOMS INTO VIEW

2006-04-19T18:45:00.000+01:00

Here are a few first views of St Petersburg after we got off the train rather weary from a night without sleep The Middle one is the entrance to the Hermitage - we visit on Saturday

PETERBURGA PUFFA

2006-04-19T18:40:00.000+01:00

Last night was spent on the night train to St Petersburg - very much "Murder on the Orient Express" really. But hell TGV is killing em off. 40 year old trains !!! No Sleep - of course, even tho 1st class,

Big trouble was that the slow moving train kept stopping in the night whilst they changed the engine from the front to the back and back again. They also added extra carriages at some time.

Just before midnight the train stopped for 30mins at the Latvian border. Everybody woken up for Customs clearance. Then slow progress for 30minutes till arriving at Russian border. An hour stop there for Visa clearance and the filling of 4 forms and a search of the cabin for Gold etc. Armed officers, fat women - the full works.

Not much point to sleeping then. Quite an experience really.

SALASPILS SEEN

2006-04-15T07:40:00.000+01:00

Today Juris and I visited Salaspils near to Riga in Latvia. In World War 2 this was a Concentration Camp to collect together workers for the Third Reich.

The photos show the long long concrete entrance '"gate" the inscription reads:

'Behind this gate the ground contains GROANS'

Concentration Camps were used by the Nazis during WW2 to exterminate 6,000,000 Jews. This is the view which is predominated and which ignores all the other people who died and ignores all their stories too.

Non Jewish people also died in WW2, and here at Salaspils is proof; a Concentration Camp for workers made up of Latvian political prisoners, as well as people from Hungary, Poland and Romania.

Jews from the Riga ghetto were employed to construct this camp during the winter of 1941, but within a year its 2000 inhabitants were non-Jewish and made up of people from Baltic states and from other neighbours.

KZ-Salaspils became a work and transit camp for prisoners from Belorussia in 1943 as they were transferred to work in Germany. 1944 its occupants were Latvian freedom fighters.

Between 53,000 and 100,000 prisoners died here, killed by cold, hunger, brutality, and by executions for disobedience. The exact number is uncertain because different counting methods are used.

The flowers hang over the edge of a monumental stone which stands to mark the spot where thousands of inmates were hung for misdeeds.


Sachsenhausen, Berlin	Salaspils, Latvia

RIGA REVEALED

2006-04-13T07:08:00.000+01:00

Here are a few views of the city of Riga, capital of Latvia