Exploring cultures and communities – the slow way

hidden europe 27

Here is an extended table of contents for hidden europe 27 with brief summaries and excerpts of every article published in this issue of the magazine. Of course you can read the full version of all articles in the print edition of hidden europe 27, which is still available for sale. It was published in July 2009. So much of what features in hidden europe is timeless - as relevant and thought provoking today as it was on the day it was published.

Buy this issue

The Hanbury Gardens have especially strong collections of succulents such as agave and aloë (photo © hidden europe).

Welcome to issue no. 27 which contains articles on Liguria's Hanbury Gardens, the Georgian town of Akhaltsikhe, subterranean Vienna, the Sami of the Kola Peninsula, a quest for the elixir of youth and ...
From the terrace of the Palazzo Orengo (within the Hanbury Gardens) looking east. The coastal town in the distance is Bordighera (photo © hidden europe).

The Quaker businessman and philanthropist Thomas Hanbury was a latter-day Marco Polo. His legacy includes a remarkable garden on the Riviera coast of the Mediterranean. We visit the Hanbury Gardens at La ...
Statue of St Peter in front of St Peter's Basilica, Vatican City (photo © Gards / istockphoto.com).

Church bureaucrats divide the world into dioceses. The process throws into prominence places that figure little in the secular world. Bishops preside over territories like Gor, Ombi and Sodor. hidden europe takes a look at some unusual geographical ...
The Logos Hope, docked in Dublin in May 2009. Once a car ferry, the ship is now the world's largest floating bookshop (image courtesy of GBA Ships. Photographer: Thomas Brouwer).

The 'Logos Hope' was once a car ferry that connected the Faroe Islands with the wider world. Now it is the largest floating bookshop on the planet. See how old ferries are redeployed to new ...

There is a Sámi proverb that says: "Don't try to predict today that which we shall know for sure tomorrow." So the local Sámi in Russia's Kola Peninsula will not venture any opinion on whether Sámi life has any credible future in their home ...
photo © Hugo de Wolf / dreamstime.com

The European Union's Eastern Partnerships initiative is designed to smooth relations with six of the EU's ex-Soviet neighbours. Moscow perceives the initiative as the EU meddling in Russia's sphere of interest. hidden europe reports from Poland's ...
A Lightload towel on the Ligurian beach (photo © hidden europe).

We check out a lightweight towel that claims to be an indispensable aid to travellers. An ingeneous piece of packing, to be sure, but not quite the soft and fluffy experience that we might expect of a decent beach ...
Stockalper Castle in Brig is named after the man who pioneered trade over the Simplon Pass (photo © Ron Sumners / dreamstime.com).

For those without a hint of romance in their souls, it is possible to speed through the Simplon Tunnel from Switzerland to Italy. The train takes just fifteen minutes. But the old Simplon Pass route is still there for the taking. Brig is the ...

A small Norwegian airline called Widerøe operates flights into some of Europe's remotest communities. The company's Explore Norway Ticket allows travellers to hop from one small airport to ...

We take a look at one of Europe's remotest outposts. The island of Gavdos is south of Crete in the Libyan Sea. The fact that George Bush and Colin Powell have both visited is a measure of the strategic importance of ...