photo reports

Krakow is for the restless. Day five. Old Town

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Once again, I wake up bright and early. And the reason for this is not even the change of time zones (in Poland the time is an hour behind the Ukrainian time). At home I can sleep until 11. No, for some reason it’s always like that when traveling. You’re exhausted, fall asleep “without back legs”, and then you just wake up and go about your business.

Went out to the living room with my laptop, decided to get a little work done, checked the comments on the blog at the same time. A lot of new ones, modeled them, but it’s hard to answer – the keyboard on the laptop works every once in a while. I booked a hostel for the night for 30 zloty.

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Mostar. The City of a Thousand and One Bridges

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Mostar is a city in Bosnia and Herzegovina. A city of amazing destiny. It is not for nothing that they say: “As you name the boat, so shall it sail”. This name was first mentioned back in 1468 in the documents of the Ottoman Empire. And hundreds of years later it continues to bear this name. And it became famous thanks to one of its bridges. Probably everyone who has seen pictures of the Balkan conflict has seen its photo.

Here, in this small and cozy town, I spent most of my time out of all the time I lived in Bosnia in 2013. Looking through these photos makes me want more than ever to be back on these narrow, ancient cobblestone streets. To enjoy the rushing streams of rivers that cross the city (here they were not put underground like in many other countries). Let me share some memories with you too. It was a hot March. Despite a slight cold, we went for a walk around Mostar…..

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Zaporizhzhya Botanical Garden

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The city of Zaporozhye, which is known throughout Ukraine for its polluted air, and beyond its borders for its Cossacks and the island of Khortitsa, conceals various attractions. One of them is the Children’s Botanical Garden, in the very center of the city, in the industrial district, on the dry Moskovska River.

The river itself is known to many locals for the deep red and orange colors it takes on downstream. Despite the fact that there should be mutant fish there, some people manage to fish there. And in fact, the dry Moskovska is dry… You can jump over it. But not everyone knows that a little upstream there is a botanical garden. I have fond childhood memories of it, and that’s why I visit it once or twice a year, sadly watching it fall into disrepair. Today I want to show it to you as well.

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Boryslav. This is where oil is born.

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A city that sits right on top of oil fields? Where oil was extracted when the rest of the world didn’t even know about it yet? Oil pumps right in a city park? A church that preserves one of the largest collections of holy relics? All this is a city that not even many people who live nearby know about. Meet Borislav.

The town, which is located near Drohobych, was founded in 1387, and already in the middle of the XIX century the town became a world-famous center of oil, gas and ozokerite production.

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Upper Khortytsya. The Mennonites lived here

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In Zaporozhye, where I was born and grew up, there is a lot of interesting things to see. And so one day, giving in to a marvelous desire, I went on a highly organized excursion from a local activist Roman Akbash on Upper Khortytsya, about which I will tell you now. The report will talk about the Zaporizhian Oak, places where Mennonites lived, Partisan Squirrel and other interesting things.

We met with other participants at the terminus of route 67 and went first to the Zaporozhye Oak. The road goes past the Church of the Protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The temple was built in October 2004. For it were written unique icons using intarsia technique. Images of images consist of 200 kinds of wood. With the cross the height of the temple is 33 meters, which makes it the highest in Zaporozhye. At the top is a bell tower of 9 bells, the heaviest of which weighs 300 kilograms and is controlled by an electronic system.

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Tiraspol. Transnistria through my eyes. Moldova

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I love countries and territories with uncertain geopolitical status, dwarf countries, unrecognized states, and virtual ones. This is one of my weaknesses. My interest in the Transnistrian Moldovan Republic, an unrecognized state recognized only by the same unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh and South Ossetia, arose after reading articles about this republic in the blog of puerrtto (in the world – Alexander Lapshin).

I was very interested in the fact that I could be arrested for taking a photo of a trolleybus 😂. So, being in Odessa at the end of August 2012, I woke up one fine morning in my hotel and decided to visit Transnistria. Having quickly found information on the Internet about how to get to Tiraspol from Odessa cheaply, I ran in for breakfast at Puzata Hata, after which I left my big bags for storage at the hotel, took my backpack, and went in search of adventure.

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Soledar: The Salt Mines of Ukraine

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Ukraine is the largest country in Europe by area. Its rich history and diverse geography, including mountains, lakes, rivers, seas, and steppes, make it a fascinating subject of study. Unfortunately, this is often overlooked. I believe it is important to promote Ukraine’s unique features and increase awareness of its cultural and natural heritage. During a recent trip to the salt mines in Soledar, Donetsk region, I was reminded of this fact.

Soledar is a small mining town located in the Donetsk region. As of 2011, its population was only 11.8 thousand people, and it occupies an area of 14 km². It was granted city status in 1965.

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