Before speaking of my beloved Europe, and this stating point, a diversity that made me wishing to go further, we are stopping in Russia, well first stopping on one site in Latvia.
Riga, its cold weather and wonderful architecture. Climbing up to the roof, extent of this trip is starting to grab my guts. We walk through these beautiful streets, with a personality that gave architecture of last century and before.
Reaching a train station, Cyrillic is trying to make its way through my mind. Boarding the train, we were prepared, the visa, necessary piece that cannot be negotiated on the place, and here we were, on the road to St Petersburg, the great, if I might borrow the nickname of its founder.
Looking around, ulitza after ulitza, we are lost, and we are pleased, walking along the fontanka, reaching the Ermitage, and staying within a family down there. It gave insights to my lack of Russian, and the work I have to carry out, and it gave insights to this point of view only locals can bring.
Continuing with the train, we don’t go to Vladivostok, meeting the landscapes that are amazing any traveler’s mind, we arrived to Moscow.
And well compared to a city which was built to open to Europe, the Nevski prospekt putting yourself in prospect, the soul of Moscow had more from the scars history left than a place to stay. Unease was a feeling that kept following us.
Of course, it is unsettling to reach the red square, to witness the reconstruction of this cathedral destroyed last century, to see sign of Lenin around, Still, Moscow personally brings back one memory, a walk near the Loubianka place, a place that was feared in the past, a place that still holds its threat from history.
So down, we went peacefully to Ukraine and Kiev. Where you need a visa as well. Of course, it s rather nice memories to be awakened at 2 o’clock in the morning by military at the frontier asking you your visa. Fortunately, the luck didn’t leave us and we filled the paper literally on the go.
As the sleep escaped us, we could rightly take notice of this landscape around, and especially on the bridge the train took, where we could see what we will discover later, a monastery from a far sight.
It was at a time where Ukraine was gathering its diplomacy through different colors, the yellow party, the pink one, the orange one, and the blue one gathering in a main square next to a wonderful jazz club we were entertained in, a sound of jazz, a glass of red wine, my vision of felicity.
We went down to the museum of Chernobyl to go along the history path started in St Petersburg and Moscow, and well, it sounds kind of nowadays giving recent events and the sight of the destruction, material and of lives, back in the 80’s.
Why am I writing all that and all these travels? I have the personnal feelings all these place, in Cambodia, in Peru, in Mexico, in Europe, will inexorably change with what we consider progress and standardization the future holds. So memories in black and white, it does take a photo in my memories at a point in time. And well I didn t speak about the U.S. only because I’ve been only there once while my skills in the language over there was up to socks level, in deep Texas, Houston a business town, and well I was as well under 21. surely i wiss cross again these landscapes, like any of the previous travels.
