Red Corner: Moscow to Poland by Thumb

by Neil Woodburn on

Hitchhiking is usually the last travel resort available. I’ve had to travel in such manner in a number of countries and was not only fortunate enough to have never run into problems, but actually met some wonderful people along the way (of course, I’ve never hitchhiked in America and I strongly recommend you don’t either).

And so it was with a bit of enjoyment that I ran across the following story about a Russian who was invited to attend a student conference in Lodz, Poland. Unfortunately, he lived on Sakhalin Island-an island in the Pacific Ocean just north of Japan that is actually closer to Seattle, Washington than Moscow. The poor student had only enough money to fly to Moscow and then he hitched it from there.

Take a moment to read his story. It’s not the most well-written piece, but it’s full of misadventures, bribery and even human smuggling. He didn’t wake up in a tub full of ice missing a kidney, but he did experience an entirely different level of hitchhiking than I ever did in places like Ireland.

Red Corner: Cosmonaut Golfing

by Neil Woodburn on

Golf fanatics travel to all corners of this planet to wield their nine irons. Soon, one will travel beyond this planet to do the same.

Well, technically, Pavel Vinogradov isn’t a golf fanatic. In fact, the game is rarely played in his homeland of Russia. Instead, the western sport of choice these days is capitalism, and that’s the reason Vinogradov will become the first cosmonaut to whack a golf ball into outer space.

Element 21 Golf, a Canadian golf club manufacturer, has paid Russia’s space agency an undisclosed amount for Vinogradov to float outside the International Space Station and launch a gold-plated golf ball into a 17,500 mile-per-hour orbit.

NASA, who has expressed displeasure in the past over Russia selling out the International Space Station for marketing revenue, is currently conducting tests to ensure the safety of the stunt. Can you imagine the damage that a wayward golf ball traveling 17,500 mile-per-hour can cause in outer space? If my satellite TV goes out in August, I’ll know why.

Red Corner: Albania

by Neil Woodburn on

Well, I’m excited. I think I have narrowed down my next journey behind the former Iron Curtain. If everything works out, I’ll be going to Albania.

I was therefore particularly happy to discover the following article from The Observer (UK). Journalist Paul Mansfield journeyed to Tirana on a new British Airways service direct from London and discovered the type of screwed up post-communist city that I have come to love; swarthy money changers, pot-holed roads, no McDonalds, an emerging café society, cheap food, and extraordinarily friendly and hospitable people.

Albania will certainly be a challenging place and, based upon Mansfield’s article, a fascinatingly rewarding one as well. Take a moment to read it yourself. While Albania may not appeal to most, you have to admit, there is something alluring about it.

Incidentally, if any of you have already trail-blazed there, I’d love to hear your recommendations and suggestions.

Red Corner: Georgian Toastmasters

by Neil Woodburn on

Day three of Georgian Wine posts.

One can’t speak about Georgian wines without a brief word about the Tamada. If you are ever fortunate enough to travel to (former Soviet) Georgia, and are lucky enough to be invited into someone’s home for dinner and drinks (a surprisingly common affair) than you need to know a few things about the Tamada.

The Tamada, is basically the toastmaster. You see, Georgians take their drinking very seriously and their toasts even more so. Over the course of thousands of years of drinking, the Georgian toast has evolved into a very formal affair with strict rules and etiquette. To be ignorant of such etiquette is to insult your host.

For example, only the tamada is allowed to make toasts and no one else can do so until he gives permission. You can expect most tamadas to make seven or eight toasts to such as time-honored themes as women, family, love, peace, friends, departed relatives, parents and women. In some parts of Georgia, this list is extended to include the country’s most famous son, Joseph Stalin. If things are going really well, the tamada may even bring out a hollowed goat horn to drink out of for the most honored guest-you!

There are countless other rules and formalities to be aware of-all of which become blurry and easily forgotten towards the end of the evening. Indeed, there is enough going on here that an entire dissertation can be written about the rich culture of the Georgian toasts. Fortunately for you, someone has done so. I’m glad I had read the whole thing before drinking with the two old coots featured in the photo above. Otherwise I may have spat out my wine when the second toast of the night was to Stalin.

Red Corner: Indulging in Georgian Wine

by Neil Woodburn on

For those of you who read yesterday’s post about Russian wine pirates counterfeiting Georgian vino, a simple thought may have crossed your mind: why bother? Just how good could Georgian wine possibly be for an entire black market to evolve?

Well, consider this: not only is southern Georgia blessed with very fertile, winegrowing conditions, but Georgians have been taking advantage of this climate since approximately 5000 BC. Some archeologists claim that wine was actually invented in what is now present-day Georgia.

The problem, however, is that during the time Georgia was part of the Soviet Union, wine production suffered the same fate as every other industry communism managed to ruin. Even worse, when communism fell and the Georgian economy went belly-up, its wine industry nearly followed.

There are, however, a collection of fine wines still produced. The very best I tasted last summer, however, was served out of plastic Pepsi bottles. Nearly every bed-and-breakfast and most family homes in southern Georgia make their own wine, and it was all excellent (Pepsi bottle notwithstanding). Although the area is currently struggling, and investors are wary of the region’s instability, winemaking remains in the blood of the Georgian people. And boy, do they do good job of it.