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Cinque Terre – the five lands
Cinque Terre which can be seen in many photos or folders advertising tourism in Italy might seem to be just the one picturesque village. Meanwhile, the name Cinque Terre means “the five lands” and is used to describe five fairy-tale towns, situated on the high cliffs by the Mediterranean Sea. These include: Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza and Monterosso. Each of them has amazing views and pastel-coloured buildings. In fact, this place gained popularity only in the 70s of the 20th century. Before that, Cinque Terre had been a place difficult to access. Only the construction of the railway connecting all five towns contributed to the significant development of tourism in…
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Visit Chernobyl… before it fades
Chernobyl, the name of this city to this day gives a lot of people the creeps, although many years have passed since the catastrophe. It took place on the night of April 25-26 in 1986 as a result of the nuclear reactor accident of the power unit no. 4. It’s one of the biggest disasters in the history of nuclear energy. A huge area was contaminated in Belarus and Ukraine, many people were forcibly displaced, a large part of the area was closed, and the radioactive cloud spread throughout Europe. How does this place look like now, 35 years after the catastrophe? This question has been bothering me for a…
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Russian Woodpecker – Duga in Chernobyl Exlusion Zone, Girl off the Trail
Russian Woodpecker (Duga) was my first point during exploration in Chernobyl, although I must admit that I would prefer it to be the last – such a cherry on the cake of the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. I won’t hide that I went to Chernobyl, mainly to see the famous Moscow’s Eye not the site of the nuclear power plant disaster. Moscow’s Eye is the colloquial name given to the Soviet over-the-horizon radar system, which in the USSR was called Duga, or “bow”. The system consisted of three radars with a range of 3,000 km. Radars were transmitting and receiving devices that used the reflection of short radio waves from the…
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Nicosia – the divided capital, Girl off the Trail
I’m in the suburbs of Nicosia, it’s 8.00 in the middle of the week. I chose the perfect time for a trip to the capital of Cyprus. Three-lane highway, traffic jam to the horizon. I won’t hide, I’m irritated, I wanted to come at dawn, to have more time for sightseeing, definitely the day is too short and the plan is quite tight. I’m covering the next meters at a dizzying speed of 5 km/h, at least it’s time to look around. There’s one thing that attracts my attention on the horizon, so more or less in the place where the globe curves and the damn cork ends, I see…
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Cyprus – the most interesting attractions on the island
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Odessa, Ukraine – “Long Live the Bribe” and an elegant makeshift
Odessa – a popular resort at the Black Sea. It’s considered one of the most beautiful cities in Ukraine. In my opinion, of all the places I have visited in Ukraine, it’s certainly the most elegant city. However, my heart has long belonged to Lviv (which I wrote about here). In general, my thoughts about Odessa turned out to be in line with reality. Odessa aspires to be an exclusive seaside resort but on the other hand, makeshift and kitsch can be seen at every step. However, I must admit that this mix makes this city so interesting ? The most recognizable building in Odessa is the Opera House. Apparently,…
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Brooklyn Bridge-21 elephants and 17 camels…
The Brooklyn Bridge – an icon of New York and one of the most recognisable symbols of the Big Apple. I admit I didn’t expect that it would make such a big impression on me. By the way, just knowing that this is one of the oldest span bridges in the world it’s a sufficient reason to be under big impression. Actually, when it was built in 1883 was also the longest suspended bridge in the world. Less than a week after its opening ceremony, the bridge became a place of tragedy, 12 people died on it. During Memorial Day celebrations false alarm about the alleged risk of bridge collapse…
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Abu Simbel – Egypt, buried temples and mirage
Abu Simbel is one of the greatest tourist attractions of Egypt, right behind the Pyramids of Giza. It’s located on the far southern part of Egypt, just below the Sudan border, actually in the middle of nowhere, or more specifically, in the middle of the Sahara desert, far from any civilization. Reason enough to be here as life here is very different than in the rest of Egypt. Abu Simbel consists of two temples: Ramses’es II and his wife Nefertari’s. The Temple of Ramses is dedicated to the sun gods Amon-Re, Re-Horachte and to Ptah – the god of arts and crafts. The entrance to the temple makes an amazing…
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Ein Avdat – in the shadow of explosions and an artificial sun
Having driven almost 1242 miles around Israel, our trip was over. We’re going from Makhtesh Ramon to the north towards Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv from where we were supposed to fly off to Poland in the evening. The plan included a short trip to Avdat National Park, which was on the way. Sipping my morning coffee and planning the route I didn’t expect that I would remember this trip to this very day. It might seem that Makhtesh Ramon I wrote about earlier is the only attraction of the Negev Desert. Meanwhile, it’s worth seeing Ein Avdat National Park located nearby the road no 40. The name Ein…
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Armenian cuisine – lavash, apricots and the best breakfast ever!
Armenian cuisine due to Armenia’s location combines the influence of neighbouring countries. Turkish and Iranian flavours dominate the west side, while the cuisine in the east of the country combines Georgian and Russian influences. Armenia is not a popular tourist destination, so in most places ordering food can be quite challenging. Besides Yerevan, English is practically not used, and the only option to determine what will land on our plate is Russian, unless someone speaks Armenian ? In fact, to be honest, when I think about Armenian cuisine I get back to a certain morning in the village of Tatev, in the south of Armenia, near the ′′ border ′′…
