Ghent: Go and Boil your Bottoms, Sons of a Silly Person

Ghent is Belgium’s third largest city, a major university town, and an excellent base to explore Flanders. It sits at a strategic location on the confluence of the Leie and Scheldt rivers, where fortifications against French, Viking and other invaders were constructed by the Counts of Flanders in the early 900s onwards. West Flanders is flat, by the sea and accessible to dueling empires (more on this later) and so is a place where you want to be able to button up your castle and tell people to sod off.

Ghent is a right-sized walkable city with the railway station 30 minutes south of the center. A larger city than it’s prettier but inbred neighbor, Bruges, a 30 minute train ride away, Ghent grew as a medieval trading and manufacturing center – especially wool and cloth – connected by canals to the North Sea and to what counted as global trade in those days. Ghent experienced more recent development as a regional center of modern Belgium (founded 1830 if you were wondering), and was a major industrial center from the 19th century onwards, retaining an atmospheric medieval/renaissance center.

The city’s main canal, developed as a medieval trading route, is a magnet for hanging out. You could start here, and there are plenty of things to see just a short walk away.

Saint Bavo’s Cathedral (St-Baafskathedraal), Ghent’s main cathedral, is a 13-14th century Gothic beauty and also holds one of Europe’s most important religious art treasures, Jan van Eyck’s Adoration of the Mystic Lamb (c. 1430), better known as the Ghent Altarpiece. If you don’t want to pay the admission into the side space to see it live, there are replicas in one of the east side chapels. It is worth reading up on before you go as it consists of a series of panels, ordinarily folded shut: at the top level God, flanked by the Virgin Mary and John the Baptist, angels and Adam and Eve post-Garden of Eden expulsion. On the lower level, the work shows the Lamb of God on an altar, surrounded by martyrs, prophets and saints, in an early imaginary and very spacy landscape that resembled the low countries of the time. Note the missing lower left panel, one of two stolen in 1934 that is still unfound. The altarpiece, largely intact after almost 600 years, has been lucky to survive the reformation, multiple changes of ruler (Protestant and Catholic) and wars, being most recently stored for safety in a German salt mine during WWII.

The cathedral interior has remarkable natural light and the past bishops look to be having a relaxing nap on their tombs.

Gravensteen Castle. After a general wander round, the imposing 11th-12th century Gravensteen Castle is worth a look. It is surprisingly compact for a major medieval military castle, sticking up amidst the city, and the funky, oversized turrets suggest a creative approach to architecture by the Counts of Flanders. The main square opposite was used for public punishments at the time but now has a couple of cafes and the tourist office.

Phillip of Alsace is perhaps one of the best known of the Counts of Flanders, and developed the castle substantially in the late 1100s, building the large central Donjon (or keep), as a means to cement the power of Flanders as he played off the English and the French. Phillip died of an infection while on his second crusade at Acco, Palestine, in 1189. Philip also sponsored popular culture and enjoyed the chivalric romance novels of the medieval era, commissioning the publication of The Story of the Holy Grail, about King Arthur and his Knights, a best seller of the day. Given that, the following is relevant: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9DCAFUerzs

General Strolling and then Beer. The main canal is empty of commercial traffic, apart from tourist boats, and is just darn pretty for a stroll. Many of the main medieval era buildings and spaces, including St Nikolaas’ church, the Korenmarkt and Groentenmarkt squares, the Stadthuis and the Graslei guildhouses, are all within a small distance of each other.

Ghent comes into its own when the sun goes down. Useful here is an excellent selection of beer pubs discussed in more detail later.

Ghent’s Design Museum is just west over the Graslei Bridge at Jan Breydelstraat 5, and if you want to understand the city’s history, the STAM – Ghent City Museum further south at Godshuizenlaan 2 is worth a visit.

Graslei Guildhouses and Sint-Niklaaskerk Spire

Day Bike Trip. I didn’t take advantage of this but day cycling trips work really well in flat, compact and historical Belgium – you could head east along the Scheldt River to the well-preserved medieval cities of Dendermonde or (more ambitiously) Mechelen. Do your own searches but if you plan to get thirsty along the way, you’ll see that the nationally ranked breweries of Duvel Moortgat, Het Anker (i.e. Gouden Carolus) and Karmeliet all lie between Dendermonde and Mechelen. If you decide to explore beyond Dendermonde (about 32 km from Ghent), you may well need to take the train back, which is a practical option given Belgium’s rail network.

More Art. The Fine Art Museum (the MSK), at Fernand Scribedreef 1, has a repository of Flemish renaissance art as well as being comprehensive on more recent painters including James Ensor and Rene Magritte. It is just north of the railway station, so if you are short of time you can go on the way out of town, and conveniently put your gear in their free basement luggage lockers. Belgium works. If you have the time, the Contemporary Art Museum (the SMAK) is just next door and has a comprehensive post-WWII selection. I have no idea what the airship is about but when it’s 1974 and you’re in the Belgian avant-garde, it just has to happen.

Logistics. Ghent is quite compact although the railway station is about a 30-minute walk from the south. I stayed at the Hotel de Flandre, just west of the main canal, which had spacious modern rooms and a decent breakfast for a reasonable rate. If you plan on box ticking the attractions and prefer to use public transit, consider the 72-hour Citycard Gent, https://visit.gent.be/en/tag/citycard-gent which you can buy from most of the itineraries or the tourist office at Sint Veerleplein south of Gravensteen Castle. In 2019, they also include a day’s free bike rental, which is a great way of making you stay an extra day.

Here is a limited but effective list of good beer locations:

Het Waterhuis aan de Bierkant, Groentenmarkt 9. Classic waterfront pub with great tap selection. Start here. Outdoor seating.

Trappistenhuis, Brabantdam 164. A slight walk out of the old town but worth it for the superb bottle beer menu. Food also served and a nice space. It is also just south of the local brothels, which are hard to walk by without noticing the Amsterdam-style glass-fronted display.

Trollekelder, Walter De Buckplein 4. Another winding wooden interior and an extensive beer list.

Bruges: How Can a ing Fairytale Town not be Someone’s ing Thing?

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Bruges is one of the largest preserved medieval-era cities in Western Europe, and was part of the Hanseatic League network of trading cities that stretched east to Tallinn. Bruges fell into economic neglect in the later medieval period, in part as it’s North Sea access via the River Zwin was lost in the early 1500s. The Southern Netherlands (which was mostly today’s Belgium) was ruled under the dead hand of the Spanish and then Austrian Habsburg Empire from the 1550s until seized by the French in 1794, and faced neglect and Napoleonic warfare until becoming part of the United Netherlands in 1815 and Belgium’s formation as an independent state in 1830. In contrast, the provinces of Holland to the northeast were able to gain independence in the late 1500s from the Spanish Habsburg Empire and started a period of independent prosperity. The Southern Netherlands also suffered from numerous wars, such as the Thirty Years War (1618-48), that devastated the region. Bruges avoided significant damage in the wars of the 20th century, although, less romantically in WWI, the canals that connect Bruges with the industrial seaport of Zeebrugge were used to refit German U-Boats that went out to wreak havoc on Allied shipping. History’s loss is today’s gain however, in terms of a preserved medieval city.

Bruges is also the setting for the 2006 Irish black comedy, In Bruges, which you should see before you go, if not to practice the varieties of Irish and Thames Valley swearing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wp50aAVNc-U The tourist office will provide an In Bruges itinerary where you can follow the heroes as they swear and sightsee their way around the city. Bruges gets A LOT of visitors into a fairly confined area, although if you work around weekends and the mid-morning to 4pm day tripper avalanche, and avoid the summer in general, that will help.

Bruges has a very well established itinerary that you can take as you wish – I did not go up the Belfort Tower (dating from around 1480), or spend much time at all in the busy main square, or get on a canal boat, but things that worked out well include the following.

Early Starts and Late Strolls. Bruges empties out and shows it’s earlier self. It’s not hard to get a quiet view of what is a fairly intact medieval city. Bruges had a population of over 200,000 in the 14th century, while the city center population today is about one tenth of that, so it has a somewhat deserted feel to it once the daytrippers have cleared off.

You can also stroll round the grounds of the Beguin House (Begijnhof), a still operating medieval womens’ community dating from 1245, which sits across the canal from the gathering site of Bruges’ famous swans, just north of the Minnewater, which was a city harbor in medieval times.

Groeninge Museum. As with most Flanders towns, you couldn’t swing a renaissance-era cat without hitting a Flemish painter. The Groeninge has a great collection of medieval religious and renaissance era Flemish art as well as more recent 18th-20th century Belgian art, and is a must for Hieronymous Bosch fans or those looking for Magritte.

Basilica of the Holy Blood. A very ornate chapel that claims to hold a phial of Jesus Christ’s blood, said to be brought back from Crusades in Palestine around 1150, or just obtained from the sacking of Constantinople in 1204. The phial is taken around town in a religious procession every mid-May. Faith is a beautiful thing, but from a reality check standpoint this ranks up there with the remains of St. James being located in Santiago de Compostela. You can walk in any time to see the upper chapel, whose original interior dates from the 15th century, with major renovation in the 19th. The lower chapel is less ornate and dates from the original 12th century construction.

Jerusalem Chapel. Off the beaten track, the 15th century Chapel, a copy of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, has an ornate macabre sculpted marble altarpiece and the tomb of it’s founders, Anselm and Margaretha Adornes, in the center. Also used in the movie to highlight themes of death and damnation.

Day Bike Trip. Renting a bike and heading out along the canals or even into Holland is a good way to enjoy some peace while the town fills up. The route Bruges – Damme (7km) – Sluis (Holland 11km) – Knokke-Heist (10km) – Oostkerke (9km) – and home (10km) is a flat but scenic ride along excellent bike trails (with some roadway bike paths) that you can break up with some interesting towns. Sluis is a good-sized town for a break; Knokke-Heist is on the ocean although pretty functional; and Oostkerke is a neat medieval village.

Heading northeast for Damme (your first stop), the bike path takes you along canals that originate from around the 1200s, when Bruges and the surrounding towns were important trading and industrial areas. The canal to Damme gave Bruges sea access in the 1300s, with Damme acting as Bruges’ seaport. Damme was the location of a combined naval and land battle in 1213, where the English sailed into the town and sacked the 300-strong French fleet that was at anchor. The French army was able to return from besieging Ghent to drive the English off, but the seizure of ships and general looting was a disaster for the French.

From Damme, you can cycle over the Dutch border to the commercial center of Sluis, which has plenty of lunch options, a windmill and fortifications. The nearby 14th century church of Sent Anna ter Maiden is very tall.

From Sluis, you could either head back to Ghent or alternatively go north to the seaside town of Knokke-Heist. Knokke-Heist is actually quite drab and modern but has a bracing seafront. After that, head south to the now rather isolated town of Oostkerke, which has a large medieval church (destroyed in WWII and reconstructed) and a scenic medieval manor house out in the middle of the fields. From there you can go south to regain the Damme-Bruges canal road and head back.

Subterranean Beer Bars. Bruges has an excellent selection of beer bars as well as the nationally recognized De Halve Maan brewery, whose blonde (Brugse Zot) and tripel (Straffe Hendrik) beers are worth trying. Pubs to consider include:

Le Trappiste, 33 Kuipersstraat. Widest draft selection, although it’s Belgium so bottles are still a good way to go to try the national selection.

‘t Brugs Beertje, Kemelstraat 5. A bit more local with a large bottle selection, and serves meals as well.

Huisbrouwerij De Halve Maan, Walplein 26. You can tour or just beer. Food served also.

‘t Poatersgat, Vlamingstraat 82. Another subterranean medieval beer joint.

Logistics

I stayed at the Hotel Lucca, Naaldenstraat 30, which had large, comfortable, traditional rooms and was close to the center.

Food-wise, the further away from the main square is as always a good idea. The Sint-Anna area in the northeast of town has a couple of good choices that are a bit more local, including Lion Belge (Langestraat 123) and ‘t Gezelleke (Carmersstraat 15). Belgian cooking is filling and flavorful, and best accompanied by a local beer.

The railway station is located about a 30-minute walk south of the main square, so be ready to drag your rollaboard across cobblestones and through the crowds, or just get a rucksack. While it is an idea to base in say Ghent and just day trip it the 30-minute rail journey into Bruges, since both Ghent and Bruges railway stations are both about 30 minutes south of their respective centers, it does add an hour to what is a short rail trip; frankly it’s better to just stay overnight in both places.

Bike rental. I rented from Bruges Bike Rental, Niklaas Desparsstraat 17, which had a decent range of bikes. The tourist office will provide recommendations. The standard bikes are more the urban upright seated configuration, although you can request road bikes. Always take a trip round the block to make sure the gears work etc as most of the renting is intended for short trips around town.

Teotihuacan: Pyramid Alley

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The abandoned city of Teotihuacan, just outside Mexico City, is one of the largest pre-Columbian (i.e. before the Spanish turned up) city sites in the Americas. Most of what you can see today was built between 100 and 250 CE, at the start of the classic era of Mesoamerican civilization (which more broadly was around 250-900 CE), and the city’s population is believed to have peaked around 450 CE at around 150,000-200,000. The city was in full use until it was burned and sacked around 550 CE, possibly as a result of civil war or invasion by another group. In this time, what is now Mexico and Guatemala was organized around various city-states; the Teotihuacan city-state dominated the Valley of Mexico, in the vicinity of Mexico City.

Southwest View from Temple of the Sun

Teotihuacan is organized along a roughly north-south axis along a central roadway, the Avenue of the Dead, with three principal temples, which from south to north (your usual visit route) are the Temple of Quetzalcoatl, the Pyramid of the Sun and the Pyramid of the Moon. Also notable is the Cuidadela, a large sunken square facing the Temple of Quetzalcoatl, and the Palace of Quetzalpapalotl located next to the Pyramid of the Moon. Along the way is a range of smaller temples, dwellings, stores and other buildings, as well as a water collection and distribution system that fed off a diverted river. The Avenue of the Dead is engineered at a slight downward slope from north to south to provide water flow. Site orientation is based on cardinal compass points that also related to the sacred calendar and provided guidance as to the timing of religious events. The photo view below is from the (north end) Pyramid of the Moon looking south.

The city originated as a religious center around 100 CE and grew to be the largest in the Americas. An issue with Mesoamerican naming is that the original language and meaning of hieroglyphics is mostly lost and so the name used by later arrivals is used. Amongst many names, Birthplace of the Gods is a main candidate, from the Aztec Nahuatl language, which is often used for Mesoamerican terminology. Another name is Plain of Reeds, derived from hieroglyphic texts, which fits with a geography that once included swamps and lakes. An idea of the regional geography in the Valley of Mexico is provided in this recent painting of Aztec-era Mexico City held at the National Anthropology Museum there:

Source: National Museum of Anthropology, Mexico City

The Mesoamericans used ceremonial religious centers to anchor their cities and much of the religious symbolism here is believed to relate to their creation myths. The first structure you come to at the south end is the Temple of the Feathered Serpent, Quetzalcoatl, which is a highly decorated pyramid, constructed around 200 CE and set in its own ceremonial complex, the Cuidadela. The temple staircases and edges of each level are decorated with feathered serpent heads, with the serpents in the ledges also alternating with those of a snake-like creature. The structure would originally have been painted, with polished obsidian placed into the eyeholes of the snakes and serpents.

Temple of the Feathered Serpent, Quetzalcoatl

Beneath each of the ledges there is a side view of a serpent. In 2009, following discovery of a sinkhole in the Cuidadela, archaeologists excavated and entered an underground passageway that runs over 300 feet between the Cuidadela and the temple platform. They unearthed artifacts that included spiral shells, beetle wings in a box, hundreds of metallic spheres and greenstone statues. In the underground complex they also discovered a miniature mountainous landscape, with liquid mercury pools representing lakes and golden powdered pyrite in the roof representing stars, that is believed to represent the underworld.

The Cuidadela complex, a sunken rectangular area which sits in front of this temple, served as a main gathering place for the city population, with a large surface that could be flooded to provide a reflecting pool against the then colorfully painted temple pyramid.

Temple of Quetzalcoatl complex looking north to Pyramid of the Sun

The second main structure, further north along the Avenue of the Dead, is the 71-meter high Pyramid of the Sun, constructed around 200 CE, which stands as the third largest pyramid in the world after the pyramids in Giza, Egypt and Cholula, Mexico.

Pyramid of the Sun

While the structures are now bare stone, archaeologists identified many of them as being covered in plaster and then painted over, likely in dark red and with murals.

There are almost no remaining painted surfaces except for the jaguar mural off the Avenue of the Dead, which survives on a partly enclosed wall. There are also other murals inside the Palace of Quetzalpapálotl.

Jaguar Mural

The stone posts standing out of the Pyramid of the Sun once held a painted plaster surface in place. The pyramid is built over a 4-chambered cave and aligns with the Cerro Gordo mountain to the north and perpendicularly to sunrises and sunsets at significant dates of the year. For example, the pyramid aligns with sunsets 260 days apart, which was the number of days in the Mesoamerican sacred calendar.

Pyramid of the Sun

The entire complex is a massive engineering feat constructed over hundreds of years, considering that the wheel and domesticated pack animals were unavailable to the Mesoamericans; everything had to be carried or dragged by people. There are theories regarding the similarity of the 3-pyramid layout here to those of the Giza pyramid complex in Egypt, which start to take you down the road of ancient civilizations, aliens and UFOs, or at a minimum, trans-oceanic contact between Mesoamerica and Ancient Egypt.

Northeast View from the Temple of the Sun

Mesoamerica roughly extended from modern Mexico through to northern Costa Rica. The city-state group that dominated the Valley of Mexico centered their activity around Teotihuacan, until their collapse around 600CE and replacement by other groups – if this is confusing, a trip to Mexico City’s outstanding anthropological museum is a good way to understand the dynamics. The final pre-Columbian group were the Aztecs, who dominated much of Mesoamerica at the time of the Spanish arrival in 1519.

The final structure to see is the Pyramid of the Moon, constructed between 100-450 CE as a ceremonial platform for the Goddess of Teotihuacan, the goddess of water, fertility and the earth.

Pyramid of the Moon

It is also close to the Palace of Quetzalpapalotl, which has a restored courtyard and a set of murals from around 200 CE.

Palace of Quetzalpapalotl

Logistics. Teotihuacan is about 45 km northeast of downtown Mexico City and generally hiring a vehicle is the simplest way to go. Haven’t considered Mexico City as a destination yet? Start now and here are some ideas –

General visit tips – https://wp.me/p7Jh3P-vp

Trotsky museum – https://wp.me/p7Jh3P-wT

When you go to Teotihuacan, take a hat, sunblock and water; it’s a good 2-3 hours of walking and pyramid climbing with almost no cover from the sun – and the pyramid steps are large ones.

A complementary destination to Teotihuacan is Mexico City’s stunning National Anthropology Museum https://www.mna.inah.gob.mx. It may be better to go there first to get the context and then go and see the real thing after; although probably not on the same day.

Vilnius, Wilno, Vilna, Vilne

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Lithuania – today the most westerly of the Baltic trio that includes Estonia and Latvia, but in the past the capital of the medieval Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which united with Poland in 1569, until it was incorporated into Russia in the late 18th century. Medieval Lithuania was for a time one of the largest states of Central Europe, extending southeast from today’s Lithuania, controlling what are now parts of Poland, Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, and played a decisive part in defeating Mongol invaders in the 15th Century.

Gedimas Castle Tower, 15th Century.

Independent in 1918 after the collapse of the Russian empire, occupied by the Soviet Union in 1940, then by Germany until the Soviets returned and stayed between 1944 and 1991, Lithuania is independent again. Vilnius missed out on independence in 1918 however, as it was claimed by the also newly re-independent Poland. After back and forth between Lithuanian, Polish and Soviet forces it was annexed by Poland in 1922, remaining under Polish control until the Soviets occupied Poland in 1939. The Lithuanian government was able to regain control of the city for a brief time until 1940 in exchange for Soviet military basing in the country.

Apart from some medieval remnants, Vilnius has a mix of Polish renaissance and baroque architecture, a lot of functional 19th century Russian buildings that give a typical Eastern European feel, balanced out by Baltic German buildings and of course postwar Communist brutalist concrete.

There is a cathedral center next to the remnants of the original fortified city, highlighted by the 15th-century hilltop Gediminas Castle Tower. The Kalnu park just east of the tower is good for a stroll overlooking the Neris River.

Grand Duke Gedimas Statue

Like many former Soviet Bloc countries, Lithuania experienced the heavy hand of Soviet totalitarian oppression, and have converted the former KGB building into the Genocide Museum, at Auku 2A (immediately south of the City Courthouse at Gedimino 40). It’s a grim experience, but then so was being stuck behind the Iron Curtain.

Rather like the House of Terror in Budapest and the KGB Building in Riga, personnel record photos of the KGB staff – both Russian and local hires – were located post-independence and are displayed. I would not want to be interrogated by some of the characters who worked here. Lithuania had a partisan resistance movement based in its extensive forests, that ran from 1944 to about 1953 and which was eventually crushed, and so there was armed rebellion for some time. The museum also explains the role of Lithuanians in supporting the Nazi occupation and genocide between 1940 and 1944.

Of course, any fascist police state needs its finance department. You can just imagine the budget discussions and complaints from the Interrogation Division about how the bean counters are always getting in the way.

And because, whether it is GE, McKinsey or the KGB, people always come first, so your supportive HR team is here to help. These guys look like the more cooperative type.

What surprised me was that inmates at the much feared Vorkuta prison camp – part of the Gulag Archipelago described by Solzhenitsyn where many Lithuanians were deported to – got to send Christmas cards back home. The Northern Lights and the reindeer are a nice touch and the camps by 1955 might have been relatively liberal compared to the 1930s, but still quite rough and likely to wreck your health assuming you were ever able to leave. Lithuania experienced two major waves of deportations to the Soviet Union, in 1940 and then post-World War Two.

If this isn’t enough to absorb, you are reminded that Vilnius was one of the largest Eastern European Jewish communities (around 55,000) before WW2, with Lithuania having a significant Jewish population. Reminders of the Vilnius ghetto are placed at some of it’s entrances.

The Holocaust Exposition on Pamėnkalnio 12 is worth visiting, which records much of the Jewish community’s pre-war life as well as documentation of the genocide carried out once the area was occupied in 1941.

After that, a walk in the snow is a good idea. Some other places worth a look include:

Lithuanian Art Museum, Didžioji 4 – mainly regional art and a neat 19th century photographic exhibition.

National Museum, Arsenalo 1.

Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania, Katedros 4.

Logistics. I stayed at the Shakespeare B&B on Bernadinu Street, close to the city center which was a comfortable and low-key place. The main culinary range is traditional Lithuanian through to more modern Baltic/Scandinavian-style places, along with traditional Eastern bloc favorites such as Georgian. A few recommendations are:

Etno Dvaras, Pilies 16 – a local chain that hits all the high points for Lithuanian cooking. Not elaborate but a good menu and reasonable prices.

Busi Trecias, Totoriu 18 – traditional pub restaurant that brews its own beer.

Lokys, Stikliu 10 – higher end new Lithuanian.

Aline Leiciai, Stikliu 4, – another casual local place.

A few places that are good for trying Lithuanian microbrews:

Alaus Biblioteka, Traku 4 – good range of taps and bottles and a lighter space. Staff are very helpful on the local recommendations. As ever in the Baltics, there is interesting craft beer with neat labels.

Bambalyne, Stikliu 7 – basement retreat with a good bottle selection.

The airport is a 10-minute cab or uber ride; and the railway station is about a 15-minute walk, located on the south side of the old town. You can buy your tickets on the train, so don’t need to mess around at ticket offices; just get on board.

Kaunas on the River

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Kaunas is Lithuania’s second city, sitting at the confluence of the Neris and Nemen rivers, which are overlooked by the mid-14th century Kaunas Castle. Lithuania was an independent medieval kingdom that merged with Poland during the renaissance, before being absorbed by Tsarist Russia in the late 18th century. Control of rivers as an efficient way to get around in the medieval era was important, hence Kaunas.

Briefly independent between the world wars, Lithuania dealt with both varieties of Nazi and Soviet totalitarianism before regaining independence in 1990. As such, people are happy to get visitors who appreciate the place but aren’t wearing uniforms and don’t insist on staying in large numbers.

Kaunas has a more laid back feel than Vilnius and is the right size for a couple of days’ stay. The old town has benefitted from relative isolation from major industrialization and so you see quite a few intact buildings from the renaissance.

It’s a good winter break city with some serious and life-size illuminated decorations.

Kaunas was Lithuania’s first modern capital upon independence in 1918, owing to Vilnius still being in territory claimed by Poland. The former Presidential Palace, on Vilniaus 33, is worth a visit to see how a small country gathers itself together to do it’s own thing – armies, post offices, etc. Lithuania’s first president, Antanas Smetona, gets some attention. He also ran the country as dictator after a military coup in 1926, and was one of relatively few Lithuanian leaders to escape Soviet Russian concentration camps by escaping to Germany after the Soviet occupation in 1939. Moving via Switzerland and Portugal to the US in 1941, like many Lithuanian emigres, he settled in the midwest, dying in Cleveland in 1944.

Kaunas’ old city still has many renaissance elements in the form of large Hanseatic merchants’ houses, as well as quite a few derelict houses.

Despite the brisk weather at the time of visit, people in Kaunas get out and about at all hours. Once you’ve strolled out the old town and done a circuit of the riverfront – there is a nice open park at the western tip of town between the rivers – a few other places worth seeing include:

Vytautas the Great War Museum, K. Donelaičio 64 – Lithuania’s turbulent and busy political and military history under one roof. The building is an interesting interwar memorial; one of a few built in a flush of post-independence development.

M.K. Čiurlionis Museum of Art, V. Putvinskio 55 – contemporay Lithuanian art.

KGB Atomic Bunker, Raudondvario pl. 164A – underground Soviet bunker now fitted out as a museum. It is opened upon request, so go to atominisbunkeris.lt to make a booking. About 5km out of town and on bus routes.

Logistics. While the old city has your usual dollops of character, there are plenty of hotels in the modern city center further east. I stayed at the HOF Hotel at Maironio 21A, which was a comfortable and modern place. Good restaurants and places to spend a relaxing evening at include:

Etno Dvaras, Rotušės 4 – Well-executed and good value Lithuanian sit-down restaurant chain.

Hunters’ Inn, Rotušės 10 – plenty of game and not really for vegetarians.

Mtevani, Laisvės 56 – excellent Georgian restaurant when you are ready for a change from Lithuanian cooking.

Hop Doc Gastropub, M. Daukšos 23. Good beer pub plus restaurant.

NIShA bar’o perspektyva, M. Daukšos 29. Best craft beer pub in town with plenty of focus on Lithuanian microbrews.

Access. The railway station is about 3km from the modern city center (and about a 70-90-minute train ride to Vilnius) so walkable if your luggage is portable. You can buy tickets on the train so just get on. Kaunas airport is about 15km northeast of town and a 20 euro taxi ride. It’s a nice little airport with pretty good connectivity – LOT has frequent flights to Warsaw and it is easy to go on from there. As someone who works in the airport industry, I love that they literally built a box for the terminal, which as we know maximizes layout flexibility as requirements change over time. The ground-level loading bridges are a nice touch as well; allowing you a walk to the aircraft if it’s close enough.

Kaunas Airport’s Awesome Passenger Terminal Building

Fishing: Why Change What Works

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Harbors. They’re a useful invention, likely originating atavistically as fisherman piled large rocks and dead tree trunks along the predominantly windward side of some bay to form a basic breakwater. Otherwise, per biblical movie classics that featured “Christ: the Early Years”, you were stuck hauling your fishing boat up and down the beach.

It’s a simple solution, and avoids harbor fees and sometimes tricky approaches in tiny fishing ports. Just point at the beach and get dragged up it. If you go to Hastings, located on East Sussex southeast coast of Britain, you’ll see that this approach continues. Hastings has a fairly standard pedestrianized new downtown, which is where the railway station is, but walk east along the coast road past Hastings Castle to the former medieval core, which is along Old London Road and nestled just west of the high ground at East Hill. The fishing operation is spread along the pebble beach to the south.

Hastings Beach with East Hill Beyond

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Hastings. Source: Google Maps.

Apart from the old town and the beach, you can get a view over the channel on East Hill, which you can access from the old town, either up a staircase or a funicular tram.

Historical Detour. Hastings is famous for its association with the rout of the Anglo-Saxon kings of England by Norman invaders in October 1066, specifically King Harold, who received an arrow in the eye at the Battle of Hastings, ending his reign and everything else. England’s conquest by William the Conqueror followed.

Tapisserie de Bayeux - Scène 57 : La mort d'Harold

Source: Bayeux Tapestry.

This is still a sore point in England, even though the Anglo-Saxons were themselves Germanic invaders, who spent much of their time fighting Nordic invaders and had to contend with a major Danish presence based mostly in East Anglia and the Midlands in the 9th and 10th centuries, and ongoing warfare. Indeed, Harold had won a victory over Norwegian invaders (who had allied with his brother Tostig) at the Battle of Stamford Bridge three weeks previously. Harold, having secured his kingdom for the time being, then had to move almost 200 miles from East Yorkshire to face the Normans. The Normans, who were Norse invaders who had settled in Normandy, weren’t even French, thus failing the most basic requirement to be an historical enemy. Indeed, the French kings hated and distrusted the Normans, regarding them as interlopers, and were glad to seem them fighting someone else. For the Anglo-Saxon rulers of Britain, it was a disaster, with most of the native aristocracy being gone by the time of William the Conqueror’s death in 1087.

Non-native speakers wonder why modern English is so hard to learn and is full of inconsistencies. In part, because sea travel was far more efficient than land travel in earlier eras, the island was relatively open to invasion by Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Danes and Normans, which caused the language to evolve haphazardly.

This has little to do with fishing. Nor does Hastings have much to do with the Battle of Hastings, which in fact happened about 6 miles inland, at a place called (surprise) Battle, where there is a national park on the likely battlefield and an abbey (established by William) to commemorate his victory. Hastings is thus a bad place to understand the battle of 1066, apart from it being a possible landing ground for the Norman longboats (per their Nordic heritage) that would have juddered up the pebble beach to take on the Anglo-Saxons. So back to fishing.

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Source: Bayeux Tapestry.

Modern technology in the form of tracked earthmovers and winches now assist in the recovery of the fishing boats. Some boats have a three-pointed metal ski arrangement to avoid hull and propeller damage during the drag and to maintain stability once on dry land; it also provides some ballast I suppose. There is also a local fishing museum, not least to remind you what a dangerous profession it is. A diesel engine and a powered winch will only get you so far.

Logistics. Hastings is an easy drive or train ride from the London area. The railway station is located in the new town. If you want to get lunch, there are decent fish & chip places like The Mermaid, and The Dolphin Inn keeps good fresh local beer taps going. Both are located along Rock-a-Nore Road just south of East Hill.

Hastings Beach looking towards Hastings Castle

Santiago to Vigo: Part Dos

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Vigo sits in a fine natural harbor at the south of the the Rias Baixas, a group of three estuaries opening out into the north Atlantic. The Rias Baixas have great beaches for the summer and are anchored by the cities of Vigo, Pontevedra and (further inland) Santiago de Compostela. Vigo was a major emigrant port for generations of northern Spanish immigrants – Argentina still has strong traces of it’s Gallego migrant community. Vigo is not as grand as Santiago, however it is a neat port town that misses the tourist masses. There are regular rail and bus connections between the two cities. Before you leave Santiago, take a last look from the Parque de Galeras.

Vigo is a base from where you can travel out to the beaches on the Illas Cies, located at the head of the Ria, from ferries in Vigo harbor.

The waterfront has de-industrialized and has a good promenade featuring an octopod Jules Verne statue and the ferry terminal for the islands.

As ever in Spain, Vigo’s old town is a mass meeting point and you should be ready to have a mobile evening trying out the various places.

Vigo exhibits the quirkier side of Spain, which you can experience visiting the multi-level. Mais Palá bar on Rúa de Manuel Núñez, is loaded with a distracting interior and side rooms. If you don’t spill your drink climbing up the narrow stairs you are good to stay. You are in the Celtic part of Spain so keep an eye out for informal music sessions- the Cervexería Nós had a band with bagpipes, guitar and fiddle going on the Friday evening I visited.

Mais Palá

Tapas are good in Vigo with fresh seafood at the bar or table.

A Mordiscos

A walk to the top of the Castro gives great views of the Ria and a walk around the renaissance-era castle, built over previous structures that were the original fortified settlement.

Franco-era Nationalist Civil War Memorial

Logistics

Hotel América Vigo, good mid-range hotel near the waterfront.

A Mordiscos, Rúa Real 22, old town tapas, my favorite.

Cervexería Nós, Rúa de Venezuela 13, craft beer and folk music.

Craft Vigo, Rúa Fisterra 3, best focused craft beer place.

Detapaencepa, Rúa do Ecuador 18, good tapas.

El Mapuche Asador Argentino, Rúa do Canceleiro 9, great Argentine steakhouse.

Taberna A Mina, Rúa San Vicente 8, another good tapas place.

Mais Palá, Rúa de Manuel Núñez 18, funky type multi-level bar.

Mount Olympus: I Can’t Go On, I’ll Go On

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Mount Olympus is Greece’s highest mountain and the home of multiple ancient Gods, notably Zeus, who is claimed to be responsible for the periodic thunderclouds that form over it. You will meet people up there who still cover their bets as to who to follow. The main trailhead, east of the high ground, is at Enipeas Waterfall https://goo.gl/maps/Sc8AWCYejop. From there, you can hike to Skala, a subsidiary peak at 2,866m, and if you don’t mind some exposure (i.e. stunning downward views and a bit of a drop at some points), you can scramble to the highest point, Mytikas (2,918m). There are two refuges that offer bunk accommodation, meals and beverages, so you can travel fairly light. Most hikers will aim to do this in the summer, so be ready to deal with high sun exposure and carry plenty of water.

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Source: Google Maps, annotated.

The usual base town is Litochoro, which is a pleasant town with a busy main street that is at the base of a large gorge. You can start at the gorge entrance just west of town https://goo.gl/maps/fHRkvg1hggH2 and hike the 11 km to the trailhead at Enipeas Waterfall, although most people just get transport there.

Looking East to Skala and Mytikas

This handy mapboard graphic (with the mountain ridge oriented roughly northeasterly) shows the trail from Enipeas Waterfall to Spilios Agapitos Refuge (A – lower center), then up to Skala/Mytikas (top center), and then back to Kakkalos Refuge (C – upper right).

A typical itinerary is:

Day 1: Enipeas Waterfall – Spilios Agapitos Refuge

This breaks you in gently with a mostly shaded 5 km steady uphill trail. Spilios Agapitos is a large refuge with bunkhouse accommodation, showers and a restaurant: https://goo.gl/maps/RWatCa1j2yn You just need a sleeping bag liner for the bunkhouse. Book ahead http://mountolympus.gr/en/index.php#.W9ODnS-ZNsY – they also have smaller bunkrooms if you are in a group. Be prepared to stand aside for the pack mules on their supply runs to and from the refuge.

Day 1 Trail to Spilios Agapitos Refuge

: Spilios Agapitos Refuge

You get great early evening views east down the valley from the refuge as the clouds congregate over Mt. Olympus – it is not always visible at a distance, which is why it’s important to get in close.

View East Towards Aegean, Spilios Agapitos Refuge

Day 2: Spilios Agapitos – Mytikas Summit – Christos Kakkalos Refuge

This is a long day, as you’ll head up to the summit(s) and then turn back around and trek down to Christos Kakkalos Refuge, which involves returning part of the way you came until a turnoff that takes you north to Kakkalos. There isn’t any water on trail so take enough for the day. Note that walkers have a shorter deal just going to Skala https://goo.gl/maps/Wb5RqNohSSS2, while those willing to scramble to Mytikas will have an easily two hour round trip depending on levels of confidence and speed. It is reportedly quite safe to drop any heavy items in the stone rotunda at Skala. The terrain is treeless and rocky so sunblock, sunglasses and cover up.

Exposed Uphill Towards Skala

Looking Back from Skala

Taking a break on Skala (2,866m), you get to ponder the highest peak, Mytikas (2,918m), which is a quite exposed scramble consisting of a series of mini-descents and ascents, where you will keep your left shoulder to the hillside most of the way out.

Mytikas Peak from Skala with Muses Plateau and Aegean Sea in the Background

This is how the scramble to Mytikas starts, with a downhill descent. While the footholds are mostly secure, the downward view is extensive and not for people who hate the idea of exposure, even though they may able to deal with the reality, one step at a time.

You will have to deal with a series of down and up scrambles, and finally up as Mytikas is ultimately higher than Skala. Then the same trail on the way back.

For the most part while you have a good view down, there is a well marked path (red and yellow paint) to keep you on track. At a couple of points you have to work your way round large rock outcrops and take your time.

The view from Mytikas, not surprisingly, is quite worth it, with the Aegean not far off as the crow flies.

Muses Plateau and Aegean from Mytikas Peak

Having summited Mytikas and returned to Skala, it’s now time to go back down the way you came, cutting left part way along the trail to head north up to Kakkalos Refuge and Muses Plateau. You will keep the Skala-Mytikas Ridgeline to your left.

Day 3: Kakkalos Refuge and back to the Start

The Kakkalos Refuge https://goo.gl/maps/Pj85FH5be7F2 is a lot cosier than the larger Spilios Agapitos Refuge, and is located on the Muses Plateau, which is also accessible to the Prophet Ilias (Elijah) peak, where there is a small chapel. The Refuge serves home cooked meals and a range of beverages, and has a single common bunk area and a separate washroom. As with the other refuge, take a sleeping bag liner and book ahead http://www.olympus-climbing.gr/index.php?page=refuges&id=4.

You’ll probably arrive late afternoon after the peak so it’s a great place to have a quiet evening and take a stroll up to the Prophet Elias chapel the following morning.

Muses Plateau and Kakkalos Refuge

Kakkalos Refuge and local Hikers

Muses Plateau and Prophet Elias

It’s an easy hike back down to Spilios Agapitos Refuge, or just through to the start point at Enipeas Waterfall.

Logistics

If you stay in Litochoro, the following are recommended:

To Palio B&B http://www.paliolitohoro.gr Traditional northern Greek guesthouse at the top of town, great breakfast.

Meze Meze https://goo.gl/maps/KYaNFuapd5B2 As the name implies, very good.

Erato Wine Restaurant https://goo.gl/maps/wxWum6afzet

A Trip up the Minho River

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The Minho River runs between Spain and Portugal down to the Atlantic. While you can now easily drive either side of it, historically it was a hard border with ferry crossings and fortifications. Those have been replaced by a number of bridges and it now makes for a scenic drive or rail journey through what is world class white wine country growing Albariño and other grapes. The 70-kilometer stretch between Tui in the west to Ribadavia in the east is mostly along the border (which cuts into Spain partway) and is enough for a diversion or a day trip. Tui is accessible off the main north-south A3 (Portugal)/ A55 (Spain) highway and Ribadavia via the city of Ourense.

Salveterra de Minho and the Castelo de Salveterra

The Minho region is unspoiled and off the larger tourism routes that lead to Santiago de Compostela and Porto – both of which are only a few hour’s drive away. Large winery tracts descend into the river valley. A map search provides multiple winery locations and each country’s respective Minho tourism board provide pointers as to where to go.

The riverfront town of Ribadavia is easily overlooked and is a very well-preserved medieval fort town that deserves a stop. As the unofficial capital of the Ribeiro wine region, regional wines get good coverage and there are frequent wine festivals (including an annual fair each April) to check ahead for. Ribadavia once had a significant Jewish quarter with a community that survived the expulsions of 1492, echoed in Sephardic recipes still made in the local bakery, Tahona da Herminia.

Rúa da Xudería is at the center of the quarter and there is a Jewish information center is above the tourist office. You can take the regional train along the Minho to Ribadavia if the car doesn’t appeal but check your starting city – Ourense and Vigo are n the line but you can connect from other cities: http://www.renfe.com/EN/viajeros/mediadistancia/mapas_y_trayectos/Galicia.html

Ribadavia – Buxan Square

Castelo de Ribadavia

There are plenty of wineries either side of the river, focusing on white and rose, including the various Portuguese Vinho Verde dry whites. Albarino/Alvarino is also popular and tends to be fuller-bodied. For example, the Quinta Edmun do Val winery located in São Julião, about 12 km south of Valença in Portugal, produces an aged Alvarino which has some great dry sherry notes and is worth a visit.

Most of the cities along the river are pleasant enough for stopovers – including Valenca and Moncao in Portugal. If you want to include a beach stop, Guarda in Spain and Viano do Castelo in Portugal are where to head for.

Trotsky Time in Mexico City

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Leon Trotsky (born Lev Davidovich Bronstein), part founder of the Soviet state, was born in the Ukraine in 1879 and died in exile from Soviet Communism in Mexico City in 1940, by lurid ordered by Stalin. You can visit the compound that he lived in between April 1939 and August 1940, which offers an insight into how a well-known revolutionary who is being chased by Soviet intelligence spends his days. His house is inside a high-walled compound which included guard accommodation and multiple bunkers that not only saw over the wall but provided an overview of the entire compound area. In theory, it was quite defendable from a significant attack, and the bunkers were built in response to an unsuccessful attack by 20 gunmen in May 1940, led by a Soviet agent and David Siqueiros, a Mexican Stalinist and Spanish Civil War veteran, who in finest Mexican tradition was also a notable muralist whose works can be seen throughout the country. More about other muralists later.

Bunker and Guard Accommodation

The house itself, in darker yellow, accommodated Trotsky’s wife and one of his grandsons, and his offices.

For context, anyone who has seen a photo or video of Trotsky might imagine him as an intellectual with his head in the clouds, bewailing the direction that Communism took since the 1920s, after Stalin took control and exiled him to Almaty in 1928. He was a killer and ruthless organizer, key to the success of the new Communist state, who created the Red Army from scratch and enforced the 1917 revolution, defeating the Tsarist forces and establishing single-party dictatorship. In Mexico, he continued to foment alternatives to Stalinism, as well as being a sought-after author and commentator, and worked on a biography of his nemesis, Stalin.

The other office held his assistants and secretaries, who also documented his dictation using a Dictaphone machine and cylinders, which are still there.

Trotsky’s desk is arranged as it was on his last day of work. He was attacked with an ice axe by Ramon Mercader, a Spanish Soviet agent, and died in hospital the following day. Despite a head injury, Trotsky still managed to fight Mercader off until his guards arrived to detain him. Mercader was jailed by the Mexican authorities for 20 years and then moved to the Soviet Union. The grey-green book in the rack at front center is entitled “Finance Accounts of the United Kingdom.”

Trotsky was deported from Soviet Kazakhstan in 1929 and subsequently lived in Turkey, France and Norway before arriving in Veracruz, Mexico in early 1937. He lived for over a two years with the muralist, Diego Rivera (who had sponsored his visa) and the painter Frida Kahlo, who both lived nearby at the Blue House (now the Museo Frida Kahlo), which is a more popular attraction for which you should get tickets in advance. Trotsky’s house is fairly basic but typical of the houses of the time, although he enjoyed the large garden area and kept chickens and rabbits.

Trotsky was buried in the compound in 1940 and was later joined by his wife, Natalia Sedova, who died in Paris in 1962. She continued to support his views and oppose what she called a “Stalinist bureaucracy” that “led to the worsening of the economic, political and social positions of the working class, and the triumph of a tyrannical and privileged aristocracy”.

Location: Museo Casa de Leon Trotsky, Rio Churubusco 410, Mexico City. http://www.museotrotsky.com

Aero Trekka

The World Has Many Corners, Let's Go See Them

Ghent: Go and Boil your Bottoms, Sons of a Silly Person

Bruges: How Can a ing Fairytale Town not be Someone’s ing Thing?

Logistics

Teotihuacan: Pyramid Alley

Vilnius, Wilno, Vilna, Vilne

Kaunas on the River

Fishing: Why Change What Works

Santiago to Vigo: Part Dos

Mount Olympus: I Can’t Go On, I’ll Go On

Day 1: Enipeas Waterfall – Spilios Agapitos Refuge

Day 2: Spilios Agapitos – Mytikas Summit – Christos Kakkalos Refuge

Day 3: Kakkalos Refuge and back to the Start

Logistics

A Trip up the Minho River

Trotsky Time in Mexico City