Travels in Eastern Europe- Moscow to Budapest

5 April 2010 En route to St. Petersburg
We have loved Moscow. It is far more beautiful and accessible than I imagined. I thought it would be full of tall grey intimidating buildings but instead the architecture is elegant and colorful. People are very relaxed although that could be due to it being Easter weekend.
We navigated our own way to our hotel via express from the airport and metro – no mean feat considering there are no English signs but Justin has been studying the Cyrillic alphabet which was lucky. After our first Russian lunch of pelmeni we headed for Red Square. It is unbelievable. It is now officially my favorite square, even more than the great Italian piazzas. Amazing colour of the buildings. And no photos of St. Basils do justice to it. It was crisp but not icy and very sunny so we enjoyed just wandering around.
On Saturday we headed for the Kremlin and spent the morning there. The walls and towers surrounding it are magnificent and it contains the well guarded government buildings as well as The Tsar’s Cannon and Bell and 5 stunning churches.
In the afternoon we went to the Tretyakov gallery of Russian art which was interesting for the historical perspective. Also full of Russian icons which some others of us were particularly interested in.
Gave us only time for the second bowl of soup for the day before heading off to the opera at the Bolshoi.
Yesterday we began with Easter treats of kulich and pashka provided by the hotel then headed off to the Novodevichy Convent which is in the suburbs. 17th century convent in spacious grounds containing the most striking bell tower in Moscow as well as other remarkable churches and buildings. Then back on the metro to the Kultury Park stop which bore no signs of the recent bombing. A long walk up to Tolstoy’s local church was followed by a visit to his Winter House. When we arrived there we discovered that it was closed for a special German Rotary fundraising occasion so we were sent away disappointed. But as we were standing outside gazing forlornly through the fence the guy in charge raced out and invited us back in to view the house which was officially closed because we had obviously come from a long way and should not be sent away.
I’m so glad he did because it was such a full and dedicated re-creation of how he lived. We saw where Rachmaninov played the piano, Chekhov played chess, and most importantly where Tolstoy wrote.
By this time was it was after 2 so were hungry but just stopped for yet another quick bowl of soup before racing off to the over the top and grandiose Church of Christ the Saviour (the largest in Moscow, Stalin had it destroyed in the 30s but it was recently rebuilt with no expense spared.) Being Easter Sunday it was very crowded with high security and TV cameras with dignitaries shortly due to arrive but we paid our respects and left before then to go down the road to the Pushkin Fine Arts Museum. We had to queue for an hour because there was a special Picasso exhibition on and no separate entrance. Gave us a chance to observe the street life. Russian women certainly have their own over the top fashion style. If you can wear all the colours of the rainbow eg bright blue boots, sparkly stockings, pink top, short skirt and shiny blue plastic coat as well as something trimmed with fur you do.
There were some masterpieces in the gallery – a room of Rembrandts was a standout as were many Greek and Roman items (including a full size statue of Augustus which Justin illegally photographed for Amelia). However the European wing across the road had a staggering collection of Impressionist art including the a wonderful Van Gogh I have never heard of before -The red vineyard at Arles..
By this time of course we were footsore and hungry and found a Russian (as opposed to the many other cuisines available) restaurant near our hotel cooking some classics which we thoroughly enjoyed.
Today was raining but we took a quick walk back to say goodbye to Red Square before intrepidly making our way to the Leningradsky Station (again no English anywhere) to find our train to St. Petersburg.

12 April 2010 Hello from train to Warsaw.
This is the second leg of our 9 hour trek from Vilnius. Lucky we made it on to the train at all considering that as when I was for paying our hotel this morning I realized that I must have left my atm card in the machine at the foreign exchange bureau at the station on Sat morning. Luckily it had been retrieved at the time and was handed over to me on presentation of my passport.
We had a relatively low key time in Vilnius after the rigours of intense tourism in Russia. We stayed in a monastery/guest house attached to a church. Our room had views of the graceful old gates of the city. Vilnius is very pretty – all cobbled streets, eighteenth century architecture, Baroque churches. We could walk everywhere. All the food was delicious (and cheap). We mostly ate traditional Lithuanian food – dumplings, fish etc. Justin of course had the game stew. On Sat we ran into no less than 5 weddings – the custom here seems to be for the bride and groom to greet the guests outside the church before the wedding. And the guests all bring flowers.
We saw as much of St. Petersburg as we could. At first sight in the late evening it seemed shabby after Moscow. Beautiful buildings but in need of sprucing up.
However our first morning was sunny , we left our very comfortable hotel and wandered down the road to the Winter Palace and could not fail to be stunned. It was a perfect day to see St.P and we took ourselves on 2 of the walks described in Lonely Planet. Too many places to describe fully here. Suffice to say the highlights were wandering along the river, and visiting the Yusopov Palace. We spent Wednesday at the Hermitage which was all that we expected although not as overwhelming as I thought. Hard to say what the standouts were – maybe the Greek pots, the Impressionists, 27 Rembrandts, and just the general décor of how the Romanovs lived. In the evening we went to a brilliant performance of Giselle at the gorgeous Mariinsky Theatre followed by a good dinner at The Idiot which Dostoevsky used to own.
On Thursday we went to the nearby town of Push kin (used to be called Tsarkoe Selo) where the royals had their summer palace. We were lucky enough to go with another couple we met at our hotel. He had actually been born in St. P but emigrated to Italy when he was 16 and then to Israel ending up in LA. He had spent summer holidays at Pushkin as a child so was able to show us around the town including Pushkin’s old school. And his Russian came in very handy when we were trying to catch the local buses there. The palace, known as Catherine’s Palace because it was her favourite was fascinating, not only for the interior decoration but for the historical detail. The rooms that had been the private apartments of Alexander (who died of typhoid) and the deposed Emperor Nicholas were particularly poignant. But the gardens were even more beautiful than the palace, despite the snow and ice.
On our last day we made some pilgrimages – saw Nabokov’s childhood home, where Dostoevsky lived, and visited the Rimsky-Korsakov museum. The latter was in the apartment the family lived for the last 20 of his life and had been kept exactly as it was then. We saw the living room where he entertained the great musicians of the day, the piano that Stravinsky had played etc.
We went to another very interesting museum known variously as the Musuem of Fine and Decorative Arts and the Stieglitz Museum. Not without difficulty. Russia does not advertise its museums. We had read about it in the guidebook and walked up and down the small side street a few times, finding only the Museum of the Siege Of Leningrad, also mentioned. We eventually saw a small sign outside an Art Gallery, walked into it and were told to walk through to the back. It looked promising but the door was locked. We had to use our initiative, put our hand through the wire and turn the key on the inside to enter. But it was worth it. It was Baron Stieglitz’s home (he was an avid collector of beautiful objects) which he left to the Art School so they could have a beautiful environment to study.
Anyway we are off to Poland now. A strange time to be coming in the light of the plane tragedy. They are in the middle of a week of mourning so the concerts we had booked have been cancelled.
14 April 2010 En route to Krakow
We arrived in Warsaw late on Monday evening. Walking out of the train station was a bit confronting after the quiet of Vilnius .It was frenetic and noisy and we were surrounded by what seemed like hundreds of skyscrapers. I quailed at attempting to negotiate the bus so we got a taxi to our hotel in the old Town opposite the Castle.
Next morning however we discovered how beautiful Warsaw was as we walked around the immaculately restored old town. But there were constant reminders of the sad history of the town. So much was destroyed in the war. Building after building had plaques bearing witness to the tragedies that had occurred there. And all this was overladen by the signs of mourning everywhere for the plane victims. There were also multiple memorial church services for the Katyn victims. Across the road from the Polish Army Church where the main service was being held is the very moving memorial to the Warsaw Uprising.
On a lighter note we found a café serving Polish cheesecake of unparalled quality . As we walked back toward our hotel down the main street we had to pass the Presidential Palace where the remains of the First Lady had arrived. The queue to walk past the coffins lying in state had just started to gain momentum. There were TV screens showing what was happening inside. People thronging the streets, everyone taking photos, posters of all the victims everywhere. The queue grew steadily – we could see it outside our window and it continued through the night,
On Wednesday morning we walked through the old Jewish quarter. Little remains other than one wall of the ghetto adorned with pictures of the previous inhabitants.
Greg and family arrived at lunchtime which gave us sometime to show them around the Old Town as well as vist the Castle..
We arrived in Radom at 8.30 pm after spending an unscheduled 2 hours at Wars aw railway station so we didn’t form any initial impressions except that our hotel was quite upmarket.
The morning was warm and sunny and Radom was far more attractive than I had thought.
We wandered down the main street – Zeromskiego which is pedestrianised, full of shops and cafes. Much of the architecture is original 19th century although Radom dates from the 14th. I can see where the Acland Street cake shops had their origins. The percentage of bakeries (known as cukiernias – sugar shops) is high. One of them had at least 20 types of cheesecake. We had to buy Wisnie chocolates (a sort of cherry liquer) of course.
We were in a sort of trance really, imagining our father walking along here. The intensity deepened the closer we came to the old Jewish quarter. We arrived at the Rynek (town square) and it was obviously virtually unchanged from prewar years. We knew from our Melbourne sources that all the streets around it had been Jewish streets but there is nothing in Radom, or on its website to reflect its considerable Jewish past. We knew that somewhere was a Monument to the Jews on the site of the old synagogue but did not know where or how to find it. Even a Google search didn’t help.
Because the area around there retained most of the original buildings, it was not difficult to imagine the Jewish life there but unfortunately also too easy to visualize the violence and death that would have taken place.
Not far from there was my father’s street but it has changed its name, been widened to include a roundabout and it was not clear if the existing number 11 was the original one. We think his house is actually now an empty site but have taken many photographs of the houses surrounding the site to see if a positive id can be made in Melbourne.
Back in the square I noticed the archives, so I went in to see if I could gather further information. The clerk didn’t speak English but after a few minutes found 2 people who could. They were able to tell me where the Jewish monument was which was lucky because it was in a fairly nondescript street that we would not otherwise have come across. In fact the buildings around it were ugly and run-down. At least the empty site where the synagogue once stood has not been built on, but the monument deserved more significance.
We eventually found our way to the library. It is located in quite an imposing 19th century street, obviously the smart end of town. I was looking for a pre-war map so I could go further in identifying the location of the house. The library was quite small and didn’t seem to use the Dewey system but we were able to locate the geography and history sections, as well as the dictionaries which came in useful. The librarian on duty didn’t speak English but she grasped that I wanted an older map but just found me an older street map. She realized that I was looking for more information and indicated that we should wait. A man came (who turned out to be the music librarian) but he spoke English and explained that I wanted a pre-war map (the only one available online dates from 1943 so had all the street names in German). They did have one and photocopied it for me. And we were able to see how my father’s street was before the traffic changes.
I told him that we were also looking for photographs of the pre-war period.
He took us up to their local history room and stayed to interpret for me. The librarian knew her collection backwards and searched for what we wanted. She apologized and explained that there were not many photos taken of what was the workers area. However she unearthed a few books with photographs, the most interesting of which was a book of postcards of old Radom.
It was heartwarming to see how everyone at the library tried so hard to help us. And when we went back to the hotel to retrieve our luggage before catching our train to Krakow they ended up giving us a copy of the current Radom map because I had asked to look at it so many times.
We are now on the train to Krakow. We don’t know quite what to expect . The funeral is now being held there on Sunday with many world leaders including Obama attending so after our experience of George Bush in Jerusalem we wonder if there will be some security restrictions on our movements. We have also heard that there are quite serious demonstrations there against the President being buried in Wawel Cathedral.

18 April 2010 From Zakopane
Our involvement in the Presidential funeral became a little too exciting in Krakow.
We arrived very late on Thursday (yet another Polish train delay - we are becoming intimate with station platforms) tired and hungry but were amazed to discover that we were staying in a former Renaissance palace. It's called Dom Polonii and is right on the main square. It is owned by a Polish Society dedicated to Polish cultural pursuits, run by a real gentleman. Only the top floor is a hotel and we took all 3 rooms. They were huge and furnished in style. Admittedly it was 85 grand steps up.
The downside began on Friday morning when the manager told me that the funeral was not in Wawel Cathedral - a safe km or so away but it in the church in the square prior to a procession to the cathedral for burial. For security purposes the whole square was to be cordoned off and we had to be in our room by 5pm on the Sat and not able to leave till 5 pm the next day. Somewhat problematic as we all had to leave the hotel for our various destinations on Sun morning.
He explained that he couldn't argue with the CIA, KGB and Mossad.
However by the time we returned in the evening it had changed to 8 pm curfew (with passport ID) but we had to leave by 8am on Sun morning. Things were also getting confused at this stage because of the uncertainty over Greg et al's flight home to London on Sunday. They were prospectively on the streets with their baggage with nowhere to go.
By this time the square was filling out with journalists, mourners, police, security, camerals, choir rehearsing etc. All chaos.
We did manage to return in time on Sat night but not long after were invaded by Reuters photograhers checking out the photo possibilites from our rooms. It was agreed that Greg and Tammie's was unsuitable so they were allowed to return their on Sun night because by now it had been confirmed that flight was cancelled.
They are now to return home by bus (24 hours to London) on Wednesday.
This morning (Sunday) the square was barricaded off. We were allowed out only under police escort to a safe distance.
Justin and I went to the bus station and came to Zakopane in the Tatra Mountains which has been a little disappointing so we are heading back to Krakow tomorrow morning to meet up with the others again.
Besides all this Krakow has been beautiful. It deserves all the architectural plaudits - I think it is at least as stunning as Prague.
We enjoyed visiting the Castle and Cathedral. We also spent a lot of time in the Jewish Quarter. Some of our party (Justin and Ellen) visited the Salt Mines and thought they were fantastic.

Library Thing and HIP

I'm very excited about the possibilities of Library Thing for Libraries and library catalogues.
We incorporated LTFL into our HIP catalogue several months ago and have received much positive feedback from members of the public about this.
I was asked to give a presentation about this at the SirsiDynix conference in Melbourne a couple of weeks ago - see Zoho slideshow on left.
And even better - we have just added the Reviews enhancement. You can read reviews by other Library Thing members or add your own. See this example
Or check out a video of how it works. Thanks to Colleen Medling from Salt Lake County Library for telling us about Jing - a free screen capture program
You can also check out the link that we have just added to further enrich the catalogue.

Photos, and more photos

We have started adding our photos to Flickr.
Take a look if you like. Many more to come.....

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Jordan to Jerusalem

We left Petra on Sat morning and drove to Wadi Rum (Lawrence of Arabia country). We deposited ourselves at a Bedouin camp and then headed off for a 2 hour jeep drive across amazing desert scenery. We saw the Seven Pillars of Wisdom and some spectacular rock formation and gorges.
Then headed back to the camp to while away the late afternoon before climbing up the nearby massif to see the sunset.
We were served a wonderful buffet dinner and entertained by gorgeous young arab males in traditional white dress doing some typical dancing.
Next morning we were dropped at the Jordan Israel border after a brief look at the Port of Aqaba and paddle in the Red Sea.
After all our fears we walked through the border in 15 mins without our baggage even being checked or subject to any security measures. So we arrived at Eilat airport 2 and half hours early for our flight to Tel Aviv which was lucky because it was a complete shambles and took us that long to check in. Bizarre and totally random security procedures.
Our friends collected us and drove us to Jerusalem to the YMCA building where we stayed. It is a beautiful Art Deco building from 1931 which was designed by the architect who did the Empire State Building. After a reviving drink they then took us up to a hill top view of the old city where a friend of theirs who is a professional tour guide pointed about all the sites and gave us an insightful potted history. This was the perfect introduction for us to the city. They then took us to a rooftop Kosher Italian restaurant for dinner where we could enjoy a view over the Old City.
On Monday we went up to Temple Mount first thing and saw the area of the Dome of the Rock (which we can't enter as non-Muslims). The exterior is very beautiful however and there was much else to see.
We then raced down to the Jaffa Gate to go on a 3 hour walking tour of all 4 quarters (Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Armenian) of the Old City. This included visiting the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Western Wall.
We then spent the rest of the day wandering around the Old City.
The next day we went up to the Mount of Olives where we had another great view of the Old City. Visited some of the churches there which are very significant to Christian pilgrims. Walked down to the city walls and had a delicious lunch of pita, falafel, hummmus and salad in the Muslim Quarter. The was followed by a walk through East Jerusalem to the iconic American Colony Hotel which though grandly colonial was quite welcoming.
For a complete change of scene we met our friend in Mea Sherim the ultra-orthodox suburb that resembles the shetls of Eastern Europe. This small group are intensely devout, eschew modern life, are almost anti-Zionist and have managed to arrange that they are exempted from taxes and army service.
Still on the go we visited the Israel Museum of which the highlight was the Dead Sea Scrolls.
On Wednesday we went to Yad Veshem the Holocaust museum. Obviously this was very moving but its purpose seems to be to inform, not to distress.
Next day was our last day and we just wandered around the Old City after visiting the Italian Synagogue and Art Museum. This has been recreated from the dismantled interior of some Baroque synagogues in Venice.
Here are some initial photos of our trip. Many more to come.

Travels in three countries

We had a lovely last day in Istanbul (including buying a new camera). Overwhelmed in the Grand Bazaar but escaped to the nearby Rustem Pasha Mosque which I had really liked the first time around. Then walked down to the water and over the Galatea Bridge up to the Galatea Tower and along to Istiklal street which was described in our guidebook as the most elegant in Istanbul. It was - full of Art Nouveau buildings and some very fashionable shops.
Finished up the day by meeting the rest of the group down by the bridge to say goodbye and then eating fish dinners off the boats on the water before heading off to the airport for our late night flight to Damascus.
Damascus exceeded expectations as the oldest continuously inhabited city. We stayed at the Beit al Mamlouka, a restored 17th century house of some wealthy family, built around an inner courtyard, all honey coloured limestone and dark basalt, fountain playing, orange trees, bougainvillea, curiously wrought copper lamps in niches, sprawling cushions on low divans, you know -- the kind of thing from Sindbad in the court of Harun al Raschid, on a slightly smaller scale, but just about as expensive. And elaborate breakfasts of fresh fruit, 3 kinds of olive, white and yellow cheese, cheese pastries, hard boiled egg, hot spicy eggplant, spiced yoghurt, bread and jam (choice of cherry, rose petal, apricot), slice of plum cake, petits fours, all washed down with good coffee.
Thus fortified, ventured into the entirely medieval streets, rather narrow, sometimes buildings meeting overhead, construction either in stone or pine posts in plaster, all of indeterminate age. Not too many cars, luckily, because you often need to press into doorways to let them pass. Suddenly noticed an archbishop in full golden regalia striding along leading a small procession of children. We followed them into the Maronite churchyard; it was a First Communion. and the children in robes were each carrying a lily, to the camera-snapping of proud parents. Thus our introduction to the Christian quarter of the city.
Continued south till we came to the Street Called Straight, or so it is described in the relevant epistle of St Paul, or is it Acts, where there is the account of him being struck down on the road to damascus, and taking refuge in a house of a friend in a side street here. Actually Straight Street was the Roman decumanus, or main east-west street. It was all being dug up, which meant dust and big machines, and rubble underfoot, but in the midst of the confusion there were a small group of Damascene archeologists scraping dirt off a pile of huge sections of ancient fluted columns which had been unearthed in the process or road building. The street was lined with the most fascinating little shops with silver jewellery, astrolabes, oil lamps predating Ali Baba, and so on. Thence by devious ways to the truly grand Ummayad Mosque, built from a former basilica in the early 700s by a sultan determined to put the new capital of the Caliphate on the world map.
The Souk was much better than that in Istanbul. David and Kathy joined us on the second day which was great. The food was even nicer than Turkey - interesting flavours and amazingly cheap.
We took a day trip to Palmyra on Tuesday -the ruins did not disappoint.
The next day wasn't been so good. A nice driver picked us up and we got over the Jordan border without too much hanging around. Our new driver is not so nice. But we had a good visit to Jerash (Roman ruins from 2nd century) and our guide there was excellent.We then went to Madaba which seems to be a bit of a hole - other than some Byzantine mosaics.
Thursday was much better. We went to Mt. Nebo where Moses espied the Promised Land which did not look to us to be to the land of milk and honey. But then we diverted to the Dead Sea which was very beautiful. Justin tested the waters and did indeed float. The landscape in this part of Jordan was much more interesting than we had seen the day before. We then came to Karak castle - a huge and solid Crusader Castle
built on top of a hill. We enjoyed exploring it.
Finally arrived in Wadi Musa which is the village near Petra.
Yesterday we spent the day at Petra. The weather was perfect - not hot with sunshine and a cool breeze which was lucky because we had to do so much walking.
Petra was magnificent. When we came upon the Treasury I almost wept. I realised that it was the best place I had ever seen in the world. It is impossible to do justice to it all by description. Hopefully the photos will tell the tale.
today we head off for a night in the desert at Wadi Rum.

Cappadocia

I spent the rest of Tuesday afternoon wandering around the lake whıch was idyllic with its mountain backdrop. Meanwhile Justin and most of the rest of the group went on a bike ride which was later described by someone as the most dangerous thing that they had ever done. They had to come back on steep potholed roads in the dark, no helmets wıth thunder and lightning all around them!
On Wednesday we headed off early to travel to Cappadocia which has to be the most amazing landscape that İ have ever seen. Peaks and caves made of soft volcanic ash that people have hollowed out to build houses out of. İt ıs weird and white and ghostly - like landing on another planet. We stopped on the way to look at an underground city. There are 200 of these over Cappadocia and were first settled by the Hittites more than 2000 years ago. We went down 55 metres I think to see complete houses - they lived underground to hide from theır enemies.
We arrıved ın Göreme late afternoon. Our hotel was high up in this amazing village with wonderful views from our bedroom and the terrace.
Yesterday we visited the Open Air Museum which contained churches from the earliest days of Christianity which had been hollowed out of the rock, several with beautifully preserved frescoes. In the afternoon Justin went with the others on ATVs - 4 wheeled motor scooters, tearing around the slopes. And this was after he had begun the morning with a hot air balloon trip.
We all went to a Turkish Nights dinner in an another village - set up for tourists wıth folk dances and belly dancing. But it was fun abd we finished off the evening smoking water pipes at the Flintsones late night dive (built into a cave of course).
Today we go to Ankara to catch the night train to Istanbul. We shall be very sad to leave the rest of our group.

Coast to lake

We have arrived in Eğırdır which ıs an unpretentious town by one of the largest lakes in Turkey, set in the mountains.

On Saturday we drove to Kaş, whıch a very very pretty town on the southern coast facing the Greek İslands. You can see our hotel and the vıew from our terrace. It is stıll early in the season so it was lovely to while away the afternoon there. As is usual for this part of the coast there are Lycian tombs scattered around the town and an ancient Hellenistic theatre backing on to the seafront.

The people are so friendly and unhassling. We had lunch at a cafe at the edge of the harbour and when I went back on my own for a cup of tea which he made for me in an un Turkish way - a proper sized cup and with a slice of lemon, he wouldn't charge me for it. And this morning we stopped at a petrol station on the way here. Everyone was buying snacks - it was a 5 hour journey and I bought a small loaf of bread. With my very limited Turkish I was looking for a packet of butter or cheese to go with it and the assistant there sliced it in half for me and buttered it but said it was a gift for me.

The waiters in the place we had dinner at on Sat night were also incredibly nice to us. There was an important soccer match on and the whole town seemed to be watching it noisily.

Yesterday we drove to an even smaller and more picturesque village further along the coast - Uçagız. We spent the day cruising around the Mediterranean, stopping at islands to explore more ancient ruins. Out boat hosts cooked a lovely lunch for us on the boat, followed by dinner at their home in the evening.

The day was somewhat marred however by our camera falling overboard. I was going to jump in to retrieve but the captain said it was 6 metres and Justin said the camera would have sunk to the bottom. We tried to fish for it but no luck. So we have lost all the wonderful pics that Justin had taken so far. Hopefully we can get some pics from others in the group later but they won't be the same. The other bad news of the day is that I have developed a severe allergic reactıon to a plant I brushed against on the hike. Luckily Angela is a skin specialıst so I am receivıng good medical care.

Nevertheless we are continuing to have a very good time.