Exploring cultures and communities – the slow way

hidden europe 33

Here is an extended table of contents for hidden europe 33 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 33, which is available for sale. It is published on 15 March 2011.

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Borders always make us think about who we are and what might lie on the other side of the frontier. To paraphrase Fernand Braudel, when we slip over the border, we change. We are suddenly foreigners. And that's a theme we play with in several ...
Assertive modernism in Birmingham city centre. But the suburbs reveal another side of England’s second city (photo © hidden europe).

Birmingham's Outer Circle bus route is a veteran among urban bus routes, dating back to the nineteen-twenties. How many Brummies who ride the Outer Circle realise that this is Europe's longest urban bus route? Probably very few. But this ...
The fortress at Medzhybizh in Ukraine was a classic bordermarker, presiding over the river that delimited the boundary between Polish and Turkish spheres of influence in central Europe (photo © Alexander Solentsov / dreamstime.com).

Borders have become something of a rarity in modern Europe. We can now travel by car from northern Norway to the Mediterranean without ever once having to show a passport. Political frontiers have faded, yet cultural frontiers remain. We reflect on ...
The entombment of Jesus represented on the calvary at the église Saint-Germain at Pleyben in Brittany (photo © Patricia Stoughton).

The church enclosures of Finistère are spectacular pieces of architecture, marking progress from the material world (the village beyond the church) to a more spiritual realm. Patricia Stoughton has been exploring the far end of Brittany to unravel ...
Mosque and minaret in Baščaršija, the Old Town of Sarajevo (photo © Xseon / istockphoto.com).

hidden europe editors Nicky Gardner and Susanne Kries showcase a new book which they have edited. Europe by Rail: The Definitive Guide for Independent Travellers was published in March 2011. This well-established title from Thomas Cook Publishing ...

Kintyre Express, the shipping offshoot of Scottish bus company West Coast Motors, has an ambitious plan to create a new fast ferry link between the Mull of Kintyre and the Antrim coast of Northern Ireland. We take a closer ...
Rodin’s statue ‘The Burghers of Calais’ (photo © Tpungato / dreamstime.com).

So why does a statue of Rocky Balboa stand in a small town in northern Serbia? And why did citizens of Mostar (in Herzegovina) decide that a statue of Bruce Lee could unite their troubled town? We take a look at statues that seem improbably out of ...
photo © Sandra van der Steen / dreamstime.com

You probably would have no very clear idea what currency is used in Nagorno Karabakh, no indeed whether you need to tip the barber next time you stop off for a short back and sides in deepest Chechnya. We ponder the knotty business of currencies ...

The Stettiner Haff or Szczecin Lagoon is one of Europe's unsung water bodies, a vast area of shallow saline water that is home to many birds. Seasonal ferry services cross the lagoon in the summer months, allowing travellers to explore this remote ...

A line of red and green Russian border-posts skirt the Norwegian Parliament building in Oslo. Politicians turn and look, as do casual passers-by. It is a quiet reminder that Norway really does share a common land border with ...
Visa-free visits to St Petersburg are now a reality: the cathedral of St Isaac in the Russian city (photo © Renewer / dreamstime.com).

There is one very good reason for travelling by ferry to the Russian city of St Petersburg. For a short stay, ferry travellers are generally exempt from Russia's otherwise strict visa rules. So no surprise perhaps that St Peter Line, which already ...