hidden europe 32

Competing with the guidebook

by Nicky Gardner

Picture above: photo © David Iushewitz / dreamstime.com

Summary

Two new series of books, one from Oxygen Books in the UK and the other from Duke University Press in the USA impel us to reflect on a growing public appetite for anthologies of good literature about places in Europe.

hidden europe 32 / Books / By Nicky Gardner

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Editorial hidden europe 32
Editorial

By hidden europe

The Europe of the imagination is an intriguing continent, one which we explore a little in this issue of hidden europe as we envisage a Switzerland without the Alps and try to unravel quite why it is that Berlin is well beyond the comfort zone of many who have been brought up and live in Germany's western Bundesländer. We also ponder the demise of the Thomas Cook Overseas Timetable and explore communities along some of Europe's great rivers: the Sava, the Danube and the Rhine.

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Where empires collide: Zemun, Serbia
Feature

By Laurence Mitchell

The Danube has always been a natural geographic barrier in the Balkans, a watery frontier between two cultural worlds: the Habsburg to the north and the Ottoman territories to the south. Laurence Mitchell escorts us on a riverfront walk from Belgrade to Zemun through an area where empires collide.

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Of obstacles and opportunities: the Rhine Falls at Schaffhausen
Feature

By Nicky Gardner

The Rhine Falls at Schaffhausen developed in the nineteenth century into one of the must-see sights of continental Europe, attracting such distinguished visitors as JMW Turner and John Ruskin. But the Falls are just a modest cascade, very pretty to be sure but by no means a Niagara. We explore how Schaffhausen life has been sustained by the nearby waterfalls.

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Storerooms of history: Devon's hidden churches
Feature

By Hilary Bradt

The words and symbols that the visitor encounters in the small country churches of south-west England are invites to explore the history of local communities. Hilary Bradt invites us to join her as she visits a dozen Devon churches (and one in Somerset too).

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Posavina: Croatia’s Lonjsko polje and Turopolje
Feature

By Rudolf Abraham

Rudolf Abraham is the perfect guide to the wetlands of north-east Croatia, as we join him on a tour of the Lonjsko polje region with its distinctive wooden architecture and storks’ nests.

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Eastern encounter: perspective on the German capital
Special spaces

By Nicky Gardner

Berlin is a city where the locals wear their hearts on their sleeves, a place where solyanka is as common as bratwurst. But what is it that makes the German capital special? The editors of hidden europe reflect on their home city.

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Switzerland beyond the Alps
Perspective

By Nicky Gardner

Switzerland is a country of extraordinary variety, complexity and uncertainty. Jung was probably spot-on when he asserted that Switzerland's total preoccupation with itself was the only thing that precluded the country's engagement in wider European conflicts. We take a look at the other Switzerland - the country beyond the cliché images of Alps and cuckoo clocks.

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The mystery of the mikveh
Faith

By Nicky Gardner

The mikveh (or ritual bathing pool) is a key part of Jewish culture, an intimate part of Orthodox Jewish life that is hidden from the public gaze. We take a look at mediaeval and modern mikveh'ot across Europe.

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Changing horizons: new hope for Kharkiv and Kazan
Timing

By Nicky Gardner

Look at the Thomas Cook European Rail Timetable and you might think there are hardly any trains in eastern Europe. Indeed, the monthly timetable, which runs to over 500 pages, typically devotes less than a dozen pages to the eastern half of the continent. We make a friendly plea for visibility on behalf of rail travellers to Kazan, Samara and Volgograd.

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So what really needs correcting here?
People

By Nigel Roberts

When Nigel Roberts returned this year to Vetka, the small town in Belarus upon which he reported for hidden europe in 2009, he encountered another side of Vetka life. Nigel takes us behind the scenes at the town's 'correction centre' for children.

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Competing with the guidebook
Books

By Nicky Gardner

Two new series of books, one from Oxygen Books in the UK and the other from Duke University Press in the USA impel us to reflect on a growing public appetite for anthologies of good literature about places in Europe.

Read on
Old submarines come home to die: Severodvinsk
Off limits

By Nicky Gardner

Severodvinsk's most famous export product is nuclear submarines. No other shipyard city in the world has as much experience as Severodvinsk in the design and construction of such vessels. This remote community on the White Sea, even further north than a place called Tundra, reveals a side of Russia not seen by many tourists.

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Superstitious minds
Snippet

By hidden europe

If you happen to know a good source of peewit's hearts, please let us know. We explore some of the zanier superstitions that we have run across on our travels across Europe.

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Sea and Sardinia
Snippet

By hidden europe

'There's nothing to see in Nuoro,' wrote DH Lawrence when he and his wife Frieda visited Sardinia in January 1921. 'Happy is the town that has nothing to show,' opined the English writer. We follow the Lawrences on their winter journey by sea to Sardinia.

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Polish connections
Snippet

By hidden europe

A quick review of recent and upcoming changes to Polish train services, as a new rural rail route linking Poland with the Czech Republic opens for business.

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Cruise ferry update
Snippet

By hidden europe

Catamarans compete for space with whales and dolphins in the crowded sea lanes off the south coast of Spain. Space is tight in some European waters as more travellers embrace ferry travel and an efficient and relaxing way of getting around.

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Preview hidden europe 33
Preview

By hidden europe

A look ahead at hidden europe 33 which will be published on 15 March 2011.

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hidden europe 59: Railscan

Marking Time: New Train Services for 2020

by Nicky Gardner

Railscan

The hidden europe award for ingenuity in creating new European rail travel opportunities is awarded to Austria's state rail operator, Österreichische Bundesbahnen (ÖBB). We look at what ÖBB will offer anew for 2020, and examine too what's new on the rails in Russia, Germany and elsewhere across Europe.

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hidden europe 1: Snippet