Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Tour Nine - The European Blitzkrieg Tour


Dedicated to         -         Natasha Pushkin
  
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So, why has this trip got a name then? And why has it become a Tour and not a Trip? 

Ok, ok, you want answers. 

Well, the Tour thing I have to blame on Iron Maiden. Their upcoming gig in Madrid, two days before this "trip" started, got me in the swing of things especially when I received my ticket and it foolishly gave me the idea that I call my little trip a Tour because with 19 (nineteen) countries visited it felt as if I was a rock band going "On Tour" with two nights here, one night there and so on. Yes, I know quite stupid.
I first thought of calling it "The Twilight Tour" which was a result of my complete exhaustion before I left and me wondering how many more of these things I can manage. Students, planning holidays, walking the dog, its all too much especially in this heat. So Twilight Tour seemed an appropriate feeling. But then I thought that it wasn't very positive so I decided to call it "European Blitzkrieg" because with yes 19 countries that's really how it was.
And one last thing before we start. The first page of a book usually contains a dedication, and I see no reason why a blog can't have one as well. So I decided after a couple of weeks away that this Post should be dedicated to Natasha Pushkin. Who? Well, you work it out. In all the books I've read nobody ever explains who the dedicated person is or even why there is a dedication and I'm not going to either.

Ok, let's get started with:-
Destination(s) - Determined to lift my country stats closer to the magic 100 and while my legs were still working, I decided to "finish off" Europe and see all those countries and places that I have somehow missed in the past. However, Belarus was an early rejection because they don't like visitors and demand a Visa to get in and sadly Azerbaijan was a very late cancellation as I discovered 10 days before leaving that they also needed a Visa to get in there as well. Another time perhaps..
So we started up North in Finlandia, worked our way zigzagging down Europe and finished up 48 days later in the eternal favorite, Athens. Ok, the full itinerary then. 
Helsinki, Savonlinna, St. Petersburg, Tallin, Riga, Vilnius, Warsaw, Berlin, Prague, Bratislavia, Vienna, Ljubljana, Zagreb, Belgrade, Podgorica, Kotor, Istanbul, Chisinau, Odessa, Tbilisi, Kazbegi, Thessaloniki and Athens. And in addition cultural side-trips were made to Terezin, Konopiste and Gori, all places I'm sure you are acquainted with...    


 Tour Highlights

Ok, there's probably at least one of those places that you have never heard of and here it is - Kazbegi - deep in the Caucasus mountains in northern Georgia. Billed as "The Tour Highlight" it's a 3hr drive from Tbilisi, if you can find the way, through and over the Caucasus mountains.  And here I have to thank my new Hertz friend Rick, who despite not having any notification of my reservation on his computer (sadly, not an unusual occurrence with Hertz), found me a car in a couple of hours, and more importantly showed me a picture on the internet of the distinguished building I should look out for to find the turn-off to the road to the West, because signs there are not....
As you can see from the photo, Kazbegi village has crept in at the bottom of the picture while at the top is the famous Kazbegi church on top of the hill, one of the main sights of Georgia. Well, its not a great picture but this was the view from my hotel room, which proved to be just about the nearest that I got to it, and you can also see the huge 5047m Mt. Kazbek behind.

The Kazbegi valley is on the main road from Georgia into Russia and is called the Georgian Military Road and it gives a wonderful view of the beautiful Caucasus landscape. I was a bit chuffed with getting there in my little Kia (this time a "Rio" (!) unlike my Armenian Picanto) but the road up to the church is so steep and sh**y that you soon abandon the car and either walk the 6 km (!) or use a taxi. 
So a taxi and a driver, Maluka, were acquired but then we appeared to have a major problem as he stopped to chat to the local fuzz at the bottom of the ascent in the local lingo. I assumed at first that it was simply a friendly morning exchange but it turned out to be a bit more serious. Maluka didn't know many English words, but one he did know was  "Problem" which was later expanded at the hotel to: "the road to the church is closed till 5 for road repairs!" 
So we decided to have a different adventure and drive along another shitty road ( it seems a combination of rain, flood water and the cold destroys the road every year) and passing hundreds of parked Russian lorries on the main road to the Russian border, 15km away  to see the lonely, but lovely, Dariali monastery. Lonely, because the female monastery is that building on the far hillside, a steep climb as well as the problem of having to cross the valley floor full of rocks, water and Russian traffic.

A week earlier there were no such problems in seeing the Bay of Kotor in Montenegro from the top of one of the surrounding mountains. 
And this is the amazing view of the bay. That odd-looking white triangle thing in the middle is the quay where the big cruise ships tie up. But first, to reach these dizzy heights, you need to find the dinky little (unsigned) road called the "Ladder of Cattaro" hidden away on the least likely hill. God knows how high it is but it has a reputed 25 hairpins and used to be a mule track. Seems the Guide Books give a place a name but forget to tell the locals to paint a few signposts. 
Not views this time but a different form of enjoyment, if I may use the word. This little gem on the right is the almost completely ignored Belfry in Vilnius. The Rough Guide gives it 2 lines and alludes to it as a "Baroque Lighthouse". But I know more! The place is a tad expensive at 4.5 Euros and there's apparently nothing to see except a good viewing platform at the top so most people don't bother as there's no lift. 

 However, I was lucky enough to catch the place deserted and while chatting to the pleasant attendant about my desperate need for a spot of lunch she pointed out, while smiling as if she was telling me a state secret, that I should return at 5 when the bells ring ...... So at 10 minutes to 5 I duly returned and climbed the 125 wooden steps and waited. 
And dead on 5 while standing on the top floor a large bell beside me received 5 sharp strikes from a rather puny striking mechanism. 

 It was all over so quickly that at first I felt painfully disappointed but while I was wondering if there was more, there was a loud booming chime from the floor below where the six huge bells were housed. I quickly scrambled down the rickety wooden ladder and was surrounded by five huge swinging monsters at my feet all noisily chiming away for at least 10 minutes. The sound was deafening but the sight of these 5 great masses of metal swinging away at my feet was a really wonderful experience and luckily no tourists anywhere. Sadly the largest bell, a 2.5 monster, was having the day off and refused to budge. 


The first country to visit was Finland which supposedly has a thousand lakes but it also has a few castles and here is one that is world famous to music lovers.......it's the castle of Olavinlinna in Savonlinna about 335 km north of Helsinki. As you can see the castle has  a beautiful setting but its also famous for the yearly Opera Festival that is held there in August and it was rather pleasant to see the punters strolling castlewards looking forward to enjoying their experience.




More buildings and one of the most impressive was the Blackheads Hall in Riga. That's it on the right. Looks old doesn't it? But as you know looks can often be deceptive. It was build in the 14th century but sadly this is only a replica, although a very realistic one, because the previous one was a casualty of the last war and was completely destroyed by the Germans and Russians between them. The latest building was completed for Riga's 800 hundred birthday in 2001.


And this is.........Yes, an ordinary looking room in St.Petersburg. But it has a sad story. It is a room in the house of the poet and writer Alexander Pushkin who died in 1837 after being shot in a duel. He had previously received a note calling him a cuckold implying that his wife had a lover. He challenged the supposed lover, in fact her brother-in-law, and after being shot sadly died two days later in this house. And there were rumours that the whole business was political and was all arranged by the Tsar, no less, who himself had designs on the beautiful Mrs Pushkin.......

Moving on to cities and although Berlin is very nice, top city spot must go to the surprising Tbilisi, current capital of Georgia. Shockingly, moves are afoot to move the parliament 200 km west to Kuraisi for some strange reason.

Tbilisi is full of life during the day but becomes rather splendid after dark. It really is a beautiful sight with the castle, churches, bridges and hotels all floodlighted. And there's the Peace Bridge for pedestrians that has a continuous light show along its edges. Ok, it does have its squalid parts, just off the main street in fact, but don't let that put you off. Yes, they do use the rather bizarre Cyrillic alphabet but there's plenty of Latin signs to help you out. Visitors are well catered for here.
And there's loads to do and see - the Old Town with its lanes and shops, the castle, the cathedral, the waterfall, trips on the river, the park with the musical water fountain, the Theme Park on the hill, the Peace Bridge, the Mosque, a funicular and a cable car, the arab Sauna Baths, and cafes and restaurants galore including one in someones salon where they serve you with silver spoons!!



Ok, time for more belfries. This little beauty is the Lotrščak Tower in Zagreb. Yes, I know its looks quite ordinary, but it dates from the 13th century and 4 stories was high in those days. The name comes from "thieves' bell" because it used to have a bell to warn the people when the town gates were going to be closed. But the bell has gone and it now has a CANNON. 
Obviously timekeeeping is very important in the life of the city so to help the churches maintain their clocks ticking correctly, ever since the 1st January 1877, at noon every day, the cannon fires out of the 4th floor window........    

Annoyingly, the city of Zagreb had only booked me for one night. I arrived at 11 in the morning and left on the same train the next day so by the time I discovered the Belfry I had no chance to actually stand on the 4th floor and watch, yes you can watch, the cannon being fired.  I feel a return visit is needed........


So on to Greece and Thessaloniki - apparently named after the half-sister of Alexander the Great, princess Thessalonike of Macedon. It's the second biggest city in Greece, just don't tell them you've been to Macedonia, the country, because they think that this is Macedonia.
Anyway, its been a place I have wanted to see for a long time and it didn't disappoint. Well, the first night was a wash-out because  of our usual trick of using the Airport Bus. In some countries the airport bus is easy to use, because it goes from A to B. Greece however, much like its islands Crete and Rhodes, use the airport bus as a normal bus that just happens to start at the airport. Its stops are many and rather confusing, as to which one is the centre of town. Suffice to say we all ended up in a Taxi with a miserable young driver.

But the following day was completely different. Smiles from everyone, two lovely meals one of which had a freebie dessert and then finding the 78 Airport Bus-stop just 50m from the hotel.


Chisinau Bus Station
Moldova, well to be exact, the capital Chisinau, was probably the most amusing place I visited. It was a quaint little place and remarkably cheap and not used to having visitors....

The first adventure was trying to get a city map at the airport, normally a simple task. I tried in the airport information, but I was passed from person to person at various desks and ended up upstairs in front of a woman selling magazines. When I asked for a map for the now 4th time she smiled at me and asked in a loud voice "but what kind of map do you want" and then dug out a couple from deep under the counter as if she was selling me, yes selling, porn magazines. 

And then later I had an altercation with a non-english speaking waitress arguing about what food I had eaten and what I should pay. Of course, the waitress had changed by the time I came to pay the bill and while I insisted I had had bulgar, she insisted we didn't have any bulgar on the menu today. It was quite bizarre interpreted, very crudely, by an Arab at the next table.  

And then you get on the tram and have to pay the conductor. Well, you climb aboard but there's no sign at all of an official looking person in the crowded, sweaty tram so you grab a handle and cling on firmly because the roads are none too smooth even in the capital. That is until you hear a persistent complaining sound below and behind you. I turned round and there's a little old lady in a dirty old dress wearing a very faded red bib on top clutching a wad of notes in one hand and a pile of scuffy bits of paper in the other and saying something completely incomprehensible to me. I gave her 2 equally dirty notes (20p), she passed me a slip of paper and shuffled off down the tram.   


And this is the only reliable picture anywhere of the airport transport in Chisinau. A claimed Airport Bus, as in "coach" in english, failed to materilise after an hour spent waiting so it was either a taxi charging 100 things or one of these jobbies costing 6....(3 + luggage charge)
Its a mini-bus, a large Transit van to you, which has a number and specified routes and stops so at least you know where you are going to end up. When people get on they give the driver some money and while he drives he sorts out the charge and passes it down the bus. And of course you meet the locals and you even imagine that the driver is shouting out the stops, when he is in fact shouting to his wife on the phone.


Time for some more odd places. This, my friends, is a little but very famous house in Gori, Georgia. What, the one with 4 pillars in front? No, the pillars and corner structures plus, of course, a roof are surrounding the little house in question. Look carefully and you can see it in the gloom. So why would any normal person build a greek temple around an ordinary little house? Good question. 

 The house is the one that Stalins parents were renting and where he was born and supposedly lived in for his first 4 years and behind you can see a separate building, the current Stalin Museum. I say current because the Georgians and Russians don't get on too well these days and there's talk of renaming it but at least I didn't see any Putin Toilet rolls in Georgia as you do in parts of Ukraine. 

Of course, you will be wondering what happened to the buildings of his neighbours who presumably lived in the surrounding houses because it's unlikely to have been in isolation. Well, they have obviously been raised to the ground to give the house the space it needs while the neighbours themselves were obviously shipped off to Siberia, hopefully not using the road through the Kazbegi valley.....

Why? Well, this was the scene on the road through the Caucasus from Georgia into Russia. Hundreds and hundreds of lorries, and not just one stationary queue  but three. One about 10 km before the pass, another one just after and a third one past Kazbegi where the road simply deteriorates into rubble. It seems that frequent landslides mean that the road has to be constantly repaired. And so miles and miles of lorries are held up and the last section contained Russian and Ukrainian cars as well.  

Now this foto is none other than the famous Podgorica railway station. No, it doesn't look much does it. And it looks even more empty, if that's possible, at half past nine at night. 
Any sane person, after a tiring 11 hour train journey from Belgrade, (which incidentally involves humping your luggage off the train in mid-journey and getting onto a coach for an hour while passing customs before rejoining your train), and on a steamy, hot summer night would have got into a taxi (especially when they realise it costs 1 Euro to get into the centre of town) but I'm afraid I don't like taxis. 
It's my, at times unreasonable behaviour, or to my mind my determination, to find my own way that I had checked the map and knew the way blindfold. And if you really want to travel, walking the streets is how you see a place. I even had a wonderful cool beer in the centre of town (for 1 euro 30 cents) to get my bearings before finding my hotel.



Another of my strange habits is to take a breather when I first arrive somewhere and I usually have a coffee as soon as I arrive. Airport or railway station I search out the cafeteria to check out the place before moving on. It's also a good way of meeting the locals and to find out how good or bad is the coffee and also how expensive is this place.

And as I found out in Zagreb its also a way of finding out what currency they use before leaving a possible exchange place. She handed me the coffee with a pleasant smile and said 5 in perfect English. Now 5 Euros in a railway station is a bit steep especially if you ever been in the rather scruffy Zagreb railway station. "Euros???" I enquired, "No, Buna." she replied. So, a useful introduction to Croatia which I had been told used Euros.
 
No, this place is not Venice, it's Ljubljana, capital of Slovenia. Here's a shot of the river and its cruise boats before it had turned into a lurid Olympic Green during the summer months! 

The city is quite small with everything in walking distance and it has hundreds of bars and restaurants mostly along the riverbank. It also has a nicely restored castle at the top of a splendid funicular. The castle entrance is free but there are pay only sections and exhibitions that will cost you. 

And there are a few lanes in the old town with some trendy shops and the people are very helpful and friendly apart from the serving wench in my hotel for whom it was a sad, miserable summer for some reason. 


And this is the famous Konopiste Castle, in the Czech Republic, the old summer home of the assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Austrian/Hungarian Empire. In the old days it used to be in somewhere called Bohemia which was a part of the Austrian/Hungarian Empire which ceased to exist after the First World War, which ironically it had started by declaring war on Serbia. Which, of course, proved to be a disastrous decision as Germany then joined in and I'm sure you know the rest. On a lighter note, that in foreground is his pride and joy, his famous rose garden.


Konopiste Castle again. After travelling so far, a guided tour was a must, although I'd missed the English one. The castle was a reminder of what aristocratic life was like in 1914, because that is when it all came to a disastrous end. But the most astonishing and astounding thing about the place was his trophy collection. Thousands and thousands of heads, antlers and stuffed animals along numerous corridors (an estimated 100,000, animals not corridors). And all complete with a small metal plate giving meticulous details of the kill and when and where it was dispatched! In total, his fondness for hunting ended the life of a reputed 300,000 animals..... 


And how can we leave out Berlin! The problem is what to show? The Reichstag, the Brandenburg Gate, Checkpoint Charlie, the Tiergarten, the  Gedächtniskirche Church, Rosa Luxembough's memorial, the river Spree or maybe even Fredrichstasse Station. No, none of these, this is the new Hauphbahnhof Railway Station, 4 levels, covered in glass, shops and eateries everywhere and very efficient in pointing you towards your next train.
But, tell me, doesn't it remind you of Madrid's Principe Pio?   

From new infrastructure to very old. This is a typical section of Moldovian motorway. Yes, we have drifted to the wrong side of the road, but only in a hopeless attempt to find a smoother piece of tarmac.  But it's all in the cause of looking after the environment, as you rarely see any speeding in Moldava, as its truly impossible to go over 40 with all the bumps and broken surfaces.
But as you will notice there is a complete absense of any of those irritating white lines you see so much of in hapless Poland, a country that despite the white lines has really lost its way. 

Moving on but on the same theme, this is the driving style in Georgia, the worlds worst drivers. Turkish drivers are impatient to get where they are going, Rumanians are desperate to get in front of you no matter what and the Indians are plain mad but Georgians simply disregard everybody. Move over too far on the motorway and two will overtake you at the same time.....abreast that is.....And they are the worlds biggest users of car horns, bleep, bleep, Get Out of the way..


Ok, you want a hotel. Just to emphazise that I didn't spend my entire time in pooky little pensions, here is the extremely majestic Hotel Moskva, Belgrade. Billed as one of the architectural gems of Belgrade (after the NATO bombing in 1999, probably the only one) it was inaugurated by King Petar 1 in 1908. 
Yes, its old but has been renovated and although my cut-price room was a bit on the small size the walk downstairs from the third floor was a delight with massive landings on every floor, wide, onate stairs and banisters and even a enormous fountain on the first floor. Its a sin to use the lift and miss it all. And it has a lovely terrace outside and the staff are extremely pleasant and efficient.

Don't ask me why the font has changed, I can't figure it out. Its an american system thats all I know, how they managed to send men to the moon I just don't know, maybe they didn't. You can always spot a system built by the US of A, its always terrible.
Anyway, this is the beautiful Ciuflea Monastery in Chisinau, Moldava. They clearly look after their churches over there, despite or because of half the population being Russian. And their computer systems are very good too.


Ok, we really can't finish without including the Reichstag, in Berlin, or rather Norman Fosters Dome. I had forgotten to book an entry via the Internet so it meant joining the queue. I got there, as advised, at 8 in the morning but so had everyone else so had an hour and a half wait. The efficient entry process, with dozens of young helpers dispensing information and then the well organised lift to get you up there, is all rather spoiled by having just two people checking your passport, booking you a place and time to actually enter and giving you your ticket. But I managed to get a ticket for the same day, just 5 hours later at 2 o'clock and although the dome is empty of other amusements its quite a spectacular place as you can see from the photo. But while you wanted to linger a bit longer to enjoy the place, this is not really encouraged because of the large volumes of people I suppose, so the coffee stall is a bit minimalistic, although if you fancy a meal there is a restaurant.  
 
But Pete, you still haven't told us about all the problems you had........................

No, that's true I haven't. Because, in fact I didn't have any that I can remember. Plenty of planning when into the trip, sorry Tour, so I had hotels near bus or train station and I usually knew what bus to take from any airport. 

Ok, in Savonlinna I had a map from the train station but changed plans meant that I arrived by bus....  So there were a few worrying moments as I watched the car park empty of people on a quiet Saturday afternoon. Why I choose to walk to the right and not the left I cannot explain but I was soon in  the main street with any worries behind me. And of course, this is Europe there's always someone who speaks English and it's only a small town.

And a slight panic on the train from Belgrade to Podgorica. I had fully read all about the journey in "Seat61" and there was no mention of any "disruption" during the trip. So when the Guard asked everyone where they were going I thought it was just a routine check. No. Ten minutes later the train stopped and everyone jumped to their foot in a bit of a rush and began hurriedly to get their luggage down from the racks. Everone getting out at the same place seemed a bit unusual to me. And then someone asked their friend about me and the woman next to me, who hadn't said a word to me in 5 hours said in perfect english, "Quick follow that man there!" pointing to the man opposite me. 

What followed was a mad dash off the train with all our luggage and towards 2 or three buses parked in the station carpark. Where we were going I had no idea but we all piled in and I ended up squashed between the window and the fattest guy in Serbia from about an hour while we drove through the pleasant Serbia/Montenegian countryside and, of course, across the border before we rejoined a different train 2 hours later.  

But probably the biggest problem was Turkey and Istanbul Airport. It's a very busy place with people from all over the planet and the Customs area is always packed. Always. I used the airport three times, with 1hr waiting in line the worst, and  it was a constant irritation and then when you finally get through, of course your bag, sorry Eva, has been taken off the belt and replaced by the next plane-load. Twice I had to go searching for her and its always a stressful time, thinking she's taken advantage of the delay to show her annoyance by going off with someone else.

What? So who is this "Eva" person then?? Well, its a long story. I bought a new suitcase and all over the thing were labels and fittings proclaiming/advertising "Salvador". It was all a bit much dragging a thing around called "Salvador" so it was decided, in Hong Kong I think, to arrange a Sex Change. Nothing serious, no organs were disturbed or even removed, just a simple re-labelling exercise. I acquired some black adhesive tape from somewhere and once done it seemed only right to rename the thing. And being used to travelling with a female companion, my wife, it seemed only right that she be called Eva, its short and the tape wasn't very long.  

So Who Did You Meet? 

As always,  I met loads of pleasant, helpful people all over the place. My first pleasant encounter was in Helsinki Docks with a large group of young people from Alicante who were travelling to Krakow to meet with fellow Catholics and the Pope no less. Someone had told me that getting from Helsinki to Tallin was easy, loads of boats. No. In fact, it took me 8 long hours to  the accomplish the short 2 hr trip, as all the early boats were all booked up and then a power cut stopped all bookings for an hour. 
So I was in need of a bit of a diversion and just at the right time appeared dozens of friendly, young Spanish. One of them took a liking to me and sat next to me and I soon had a english class in the middle of the waiting area with her and her friends. She  was very nice, Isabel from Aspe, and I got a friendly smile as she was the last to leave. 

And I have to thank all the pleasant hotel receptionists that met on my travels. Notably the ones in Helsinki, St. Petersburg, Warsaw, Berlin, Bratislava, Belgrade, Podgorica, Crisinau, Thessalonika and Athens.

Especially the two girls in the Premier in St. Petersburg, the staff in the Moskva in Belgrade, the Hermera in Podgorica and the family run Augostos hotel in Thessalonika.


So after all that travelling, what did you learn?
That's a hard one when all you want to do is keep moving and see more things and places. Am I supposed to learn as well? Ok,I did learn that there are canals and rivers in Berlin and lots of strange empty places where buildings ought to be (or maybe used to be).  And that the Germans are clearly aware of their past collective mistakes and are trying very hard to atone for them. In Berlin I came across a new memorial just behind the Reichstag to the thousands of Roma killed during the war by the Nazis. 
It's a pity that other countries don't follow their example in trying to remedy their errors, ie Israel and Turkey to name but two in our part of the world.


So what was the strangest thing you saw?

 The oddest thing I saw was a park in Helsinki full of about 100 or more youngsters all standing up and staring, in complete silence, at their mobile phones. It was really quite bizarre. I walked past the park and not a sound could be heard, What are they all doing?
And then suddenly, there was an hysterical laugh for somewhere, at the absurbity of it all I guess, before complete silence reined again......  
 Hasn't it occurred to you that they are all appear hooked up to a Life Support machine. What are we doing to our young people? Pull the plug or, heaven forbid, turn it off, and the poor little things would all keel over and expire. What other horrors can the future hold?


What was the most amazing thing you  saw? 

The most amazing sight, apart from the wonderful Causasus mountains, was driving down to the Adriatic coast in Montenegro. I was very high up in the mountains and the coastal town of Budva was below me.  But all I could see of it was the harbour and a few boats the rest of the town, the slopes of the hills, and especially the sea were all covered in a single massive cloud that was a wonderful bubbly form with not a single blemish or hole. It was really a fantastic sight.  



And we are going to finish with this little baby. It's called the Prague City Elephant and it's the local train around Prague. I used it to go from Prague Centrum to Beresov, the nearest station to Konopiste. 
It's very modern and has three storeys and on the way to Beresov I had the top storey all to myself. The countries I visited this July and August were very busy with tourists and this train journey was really the only time I had to myself. And really that's why its here. Because I want to end on an extract from Samuel Pepys' diary.....

Being Alone. We all know Samuel Pepys and his famous diary even if we have never read it.
So here's what he thought the time he decided to take a boat out alone while inspecting the Navy's ships.
"I know nothing that can give a better notion of infinity and eternity than the being upon the sea in a little vessel without anything in sight but yourself within the whole hemisphere."  

// posted by daniel @ 6:20 pm
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