Category Soviet Union
Orthodox Easter Sunday
Today is Easter Sunday in the Orthodox calendar. A day of celebration for Greeks, Russians, Bulgarians, Romanians, Serbs, Georgians, Armenians, Latvians, Estonians, Ukrainians, Belorussians and a host of others. Here are a few Orthodox cathedrals & churches that I have visited over the years. Χριστός ἀνέστη!
Friday Photos – The Khan’s Palace, Bakhchysarai, Crimea
The palace was built in the 16th century and became home to a succession of Crimean Khans (as in Genghis Khan), leaders of a Turkic Islamic Khanate. Many of the islamic population was wiped out during the Crimean War, as the Russian Empire used it as an excuse to purge its lands of tartars and […]
A-Z April Challenge (Cities Visited) – O for Odessa
Hamish & I arrived in the Ukrainian city of Odessa in 2011 by train from Chisinau in Moldova. The intention was to take an overnight train onto Sevastopol, but we had stumbled across some sort of public holiday and all trains were full for the next three days. Train Arrival But Not Departure With heavy […]
A-Z April Challenge (Cities Visited) – K for Kaliningrad
I visited the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad in 2014 for 72-hours, having arrived by bus from Gdansk and then leaving by train for Minsk. It has actually been my only visit to Russia thus far, although I do have a Trans- Mongolian train trip (St Petersburg to Beijing) booked for later this year that now […]
Baltic Greats – Riga to Tallinn Part 3
Tallinn, Estonia Having arrived from Riga by train, we soon found our impressive Airbnb that was right on Town Hall Square in the Old Town. As well as a splendid view of the town hall & square from our window, we were also directly above a brightly decorated Christmas Tree. We had arrived on Russian […]
Baltic Greats – Riga to Tallinn, Part 2
Making Tracks Having seen much of Riga’s special charm, we decided on a little side trip to the Baltic Coast. The Jaumeri area has long been popular with the city’s inhabitants due to its proximity to the capital, the white sands of its blue flag beaches and the pine fresh air that invigorates visitors. Riga […]
Friday Photos – Art Nouveau Architecture, Riga
Riga is famous for its Art Nouveau (or Jugendstil) architecture, a form most popular from the 1890’s until around 1910. There are over 100 buildings of this style in Riga, with the best examples in Alberta Street. The excellent Art Nouveau Museum is also at the end of the same street.
Baltic Greats – Riga to Tallinn, Part 1
In 2019 we had a trip booked to two Baltic capitals but had to cancel at the last minute. We decided to rebook for 2020, following exactly the same itinerary that we had planned before flying Air Baltic, staying in central AirBNBs and taking a train between the two cities. All worked like clockwork, the […]
