Riga, Latvia: the best place you’ve never been

by Tom Johansmeyer on

A lot has changed since the Cold War ended. If this is news to you, please stop reading immediately. You don’t want to drink water from a fire hose. But, if you are in fact aware that the Berlin Wall fell (and that David Hasselhoff provided the soundtrack, to the joy of Germans and the chagrin of Americans), then keep going. You’re about to find out why you need to get out to Riga, Latvia.

The days of bugged hotel room phones may be in the past, but you can still see the equipment used to defend the Eastern Bloc against the evils of capitalism at the Museum of the Occupation of Latvia – a name that makes clear how welcome the Russian’s were in this corner of the world. However, these devices are notably absent from the , now a primo site in what is sometimes called the Paris of the Baltics.

Cruise along Albert Street to enjoy the city’s architectural high-points, including facades adorned with serpents, birds, flowers and female faces. German, Austrian and Finnish influences converge on this small nation to create a unique blend that is hard to find anywhere else. With cobblestone under foot, you will soak in the history of this city, and this country, through the faces of its buildings.

Stop by the Central Market while you’re in Riga. It occupies five old Zeppelin hangars, with each representing a different food group: meat, fish, dairy, bread and produce. Also, stop by Laima, the country’s top local chocolate-maker, and make sure you leave room in your bags to bring some home.

When the Iron Curtain was pulled back, we celebrated, and we moved on. Many of the countries once obstructed from view were merely forgotten. Remember them, and add them to our itinerary. As time passes, relics of the communist era will be supplanted by the latest iteration of modernity. The clock is ticking.

Oh, and don’t speak Russian!

Stumble down to Budapest’s underground labyrinth

by Jeremy Kressmann on

Hungary’s capital city, Budapest, has always had a “split history.” Everything from the town’s name (which is actually a combination of two distinct cities along the Danube, Buda and Pest) to its incredibly diverse architectural styles, to a range of ruling powers from the Ottoman Turks to the Soviet Union after World War II speak to Budapest’s unique dichotomy of influences and history.

Considering this “split” history, it’s not surprising to learn that beneath Budapest’s beautiful World Heritage Site at Castle Hill is a series of spooky subterranean passages dating back to the Middle Ages. Simply called “the Labyrinth,” it’s a maze-like complex of dark corridors that has served at various points in history as torture chamber, wine cellar, bomb shelter and treasury.

Visitors can wander ancient passages on a self-styled quest, replete with a mission to find your way out by feeling your way blindly along pitch black walkways in search of the exit. Sound like a recipe for a lawsuit? There’s more – befitting its history as a wine cellar, the Labyrinth is also home to a red wine fountain hidden deep within its interior. Now you can stumble down pitch-black corridors AND be drunk!

For anyone looking for a quick thrill and an interesting view at Budapest’s many layers of history, the Labyrinth does sound like a lot of fun. How often do you get to wander your way through such an atmospheric place? Give it a try the next time you happen to be in town. Oh, and when they ask you to sign that liability waiver, see if you can’t skip the line…

Bowermaster’s Antarctica — Grytviken, South Georgia

by Jon Bowermaster on


In the whaling museum here the most fascinating thing to me – after the touch-me-feel-me penguin skin – are the trophies and sports uniforms worn by the different South Georgia whaling station teams which competed against each other in rugby, track and field, ski jumping and more during the heyday of whale killing here.

Grytviken was South Georgia’s first whaling station/factory, set up by Norwegian explorer C.A. Larsen in 1904. Initially only blubber was taken and the carcass discarded resulting in beaches of bones along the coastline which I can still see lying in the shallows off what remains of its main dock. By 1912, seven whaling stations had been established and South Georgia became known as the southern capital of whaling.

That heyday was during the early 1900s, when a variety of whales (blue, fin, sei, humpback and southern right whales) were abundant in South Georgia’s waters during the austral summers, feeding on the massive quantities of krill found on the edge of the island’s continental shelf.

By the late 1920s such shore-based whaling factories on the island declined due the scarcity of whales around the island, followed by a boom in whaling on the high seas. The stations on South Georgia then became home base for repair, maintenance and storage. It was the uncontrolled whaling on the high seas followed – up to two hundred miles off shore – and led to significant reductions in populations of exploited whale species.
Whales were harpooned with an explosive grenade, inflated with air and marked with a flag, radar reflectors, and latterly radios. A catcher would then tow them to a factory ship or shore station. The whale was hauled to the flensing plan. The blubber was removed and boiled under pressure to extract the oil. Meat and bone were separated and boiled. The results were dried and ground down for stock food and fertilizer. Baleen whale oil was the basis of edible, pharmaceutical, cosmetic and chemical products. It was also an important source of glycerol to manufacture explosives.

Between 1904 and 1965 some 175,250 whales were processed at South Georgia shore stations. In the whole of the Antarctica region a low estimate suggests one and a half million animals were taken between 1904 and 1978. Probably the largest whale ever recorded was processed here at Grytviken in 1912, more than one hundred feet long, weighing in at nearly two hundred tons. This intensive hunting reduced the Southern Ocean stock, once the largest in the world, to less than ten percent of their original numbers and some species to less than one percent.

It wasn’t until 1974 that the International Whaling Convention agreed to protect the few remaining species in the Southern Ocean, and whaling here was mostly stopped in 1978. Paul Watson and his Sea Shepard – now Animal Planet heroes apparently, though that has happened this season while I’ve been in Antarctica – are still attempting to dissuade the Japanese from their annual hunt. Today. On occasion, you can spy whales close to shore at South Georgia, as they make a slow recovery, in particular southern right whales and humpbacks.

THE BOSS IS BURIED HERE

On top of the sense of history left at this beach by its whaling history, Grytviken is famous in Southern Ocean lore too for being the burial site of Ernest Henry Shackleton.

In 1921 – six years after successfully rescuing his men off Elephant Island, thanks to the help of the Chilean naval vessel “Yelcho” – he sailed south for what was to be his third Antarctic expedition. Its vague intention was to survey the coastline and carry out somewhat ill-defined science. You get the sense he was just itching to get back down south.

This time out his sailing ship, “The Quest” barely made it to Grytviken and in the early hours of January 5, 1922, he suffered a fatal heart attack here. His body was on its way back to England when the ship carrying him home stopped off in Uruguay and learned that his widow wished her husband be buried on South Georgia. His grave is still the focus of the Whaler’s Cemetery at the end of the beach.

It is tradition to toast “the Boss” – no, not the bard of New Jersey! – with a shot of rum poured onto his grave, which I happily did. Unlike the rest of those buried in the small, white picket-lined cemetery, Shackelton is interned with his head pointing south, towards Antarctica.

China Exiles the Dalai Lama – Again!

by Kraig Becker on

A few weeks back we reported on China closing Tibet to travelers in preparation for potential unrest in the country as the 50th anniversary of the Dalai Lama fleeing into exile grew near. Today marks that anniversary, and and in a attempted display of nationalism, Chinese President Hu has called for a “Great Wall against separatism” that would protect the unity of the “motherland” and ensure that Tibet stayed part of China. He also banished the Dalai Lama to the other side of that wall, despite the fact that he’s been in exile for 50 years.

In the past few days, leading up to this anniversary, there have been rumors of unrest in Tibet, but with no information flowing in and out of the country, it is impossible to confirm the reports. Foreign journalists were expelled from the Himalayan country and all travel visas have been denied for at least the month of March. Yesterday, the mobile telephone system was shut down, under the guise of system maintenance that will last for three weeks, and a variety of websites were being filtered for content as well.

The latest shutdown of the borders of Tibet comes just a few weeks before what is considered it’s traditional tourist season. The spring usually brings backpackers and mountain climbers focused on Everest or other major Himalayan peaks, but for the second year in a row, Tibet is closed off from the outside, and is likely to remain so for the foreseeable future.

Amazing Race Season 14: Recap 4, Siberia looks like fun

by Jamie Rhein on

During episode 4 of this season’s Amazing Race, the teams headed off in the middle of the night from Bucharest to Krasnoyarsk, Siberia via Moscow. Unlike getting to Bucharest from Salzburg, Moscow from Bucharest is a piece of cake. Flights went through Munich, Frankfurt and Sofia, Bulgaria. Half the teams were on one flight and half on another once they reached Moscow. After the teams landed in Krasnoyarsk they were in for some fun and games with wood piles and bobsleds.

Here’s one travel tip: On the way to the airport, flight attendants Christie and Jodi stopped at an Internet cafe to find the best option and book tickets. Those flight attendants sure know how to zip through airplane schedules.

This episode was the best so far for giving each team air time, and again showing off the flavor of the country. In Siberia there were traces of snow and grey skies, but the people were friendly and seemed happy to be part of the reality TV experience. Plus, taxi drivers seemed to know where they were going and the traffic was minimal. Besides that, the teams seemed to be enjoying each other each time their paths crossed. Also, when a team experienced bad luck, the others close by doled out sympathy.

First stop, the Krasnoyarsk Hydroelectric Dam–no bungee jumping this time, just the clue for the next stop and a look at Lenin’s face. This is where this episode began to get dicey.

Once teams headed to the charming, small wooden Church of Innukenty, they could either stack wood or build traditional wooden shutters for a house in need of some TLC. Each task was to give a nod to Siberian winters and had to be done exactly.

The wood pile was daunting for half of the teams who tried. One wrong move and half the enormous pile came tumbling down–and in the worst case scenario, taking the already stacked pile partially with it. While teams were busy stacking, there were some Siberians hanging out drinking, eating sausage cooked that was cooked over an open fire, and playing music to add in some cultural backdrop.

Once some of the teams gave up on wood stacking, the shutter building business proved to be a doable task, but like any task done under pressure, finding the house to put the shutters on gave a couple of the teams pause.

Because the teams were spread out time wise, this episode provided a rollicking switch back and forth between tasks as some teams moved on to the second task while others were just starting the first one. Split screen TV comes in handy.

Once teams either stacked their wood, or made their shutters and fastened them to the house, they were off to the Museum of the Novel “The Last Bow” and the next clue. Here Margie and Luke did a “Blind U-Turn” to Amanda and Kris, who, earlier in the episode, were waxing poetic on how their youth and competitiveness made them a shoo-in to win the million. Yeah, right.

Next stop, Bobrovy Amusement Park and a speedy ride down the 3 miles of a bobsled course keeping track of the 7 letters in the name of a famous Russian playwright. One thing was clear, Russian literature isn’t general knowledge information. Victor was one of the few who knew the answer straight off and seemed to think Anton Chekhov isn’t exactly obscure.

As an interesting aside, this task offered a slight glimpse into what people who are deaf have to deal with when it comes to the interplay between American Sign Language, English and another language. Luke was operating through his second language, English to figure out an answer in another language. It took him several attempts, but by trying various combinations he eventually got it right.

Like last week, this week showed that this season is any team’s game. As Mike said after he and his dad hung their shutters after the wood pile task went bust, then finished the bobsled task and found out that other teams were behind them at the bobsled course, “Just when you think you’re out of this race, you’re back in.”

Once the bobsled task was done, off the teams galloped to the Krasnoyarsk State Musical Comedy Theater.

Who won?: Christie and Jodi made it to the Pit Stop first with Kesha and Jen a close second. For their win, they each received a 650 motorcycle.

Who lost? Amanda and Kris came in last due to their U-Turn, but took it well. They have their love and maybe will pep things up in Ko Samui, Thailand where the other losers are at the Elimination Station.