tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5259082628352435132.post3765521029795377889..comments2023-11-05T01:33:49.683-07:00Comments on from Russia with love: Russia in photos (The White sea)lastochkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03693705381682951810noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5259082628352435132.post-75979651866534117462009-02-09T19:08:00.000-08:002009-02-09T19:08:00.000-08:00I grew up in a very large city, the largest one in...I grew up in a very large city, the largest one in the world at the time, and though we occasionally went to the ocean or to lake areas in our state, I never saw a mountain, or really isolated areas until I was in my early 20's and I sort of fell in love with them. Any opportunity to travel in areas like this I have taken. The first time I saw a mountain it was the Alps, between France and Slovenia. This was of a long time ago when Yugoslavia was an eastern bloc nation. I had no problem with the idea of getting out of the train and just stopping, but back then this was not possible. You at least needed to get a visa before you went, so the simple idea of getting off of the train in some small village that was not close to any big city wasnt possible. Europe is rather densely populated, but there are some areas where there are still small villages that are only close to other places because of trains and such. But I would have greatly enjoyed walking from one town to another. <BR/><BR/>I would have liked to walk from my grandmothers village which is in the western part of Slovakia,in the Little Carpathians to my grandfathers which is just a few kilometers from the Ukrainian border, now in Poland in the eastern Carpathians But back then this was a very restricted area, so it would have been almost impossible to do. It was always a dream of mine to do this, but now I am a bit too old to do something this strenuous. I have always had a sort of liking for the Karelian area. I studied the history and folklore of Karelia. I do not know why, because I have no real family connection with this area, but the stories and the myths always fascinated me.<BR/><BR/><BR/>The furthest extreme of that only trip I made to Europe was to Vienna, and I sort of sat by the edge of the Danube, knowing that my grandmothers village was about 70 kilometers away, and while I was prepared to try to visit, no one I was with wanted to go, so I put it off. Then things like jobs got in the way of taking the sort of time it would take to do something like this, so its one of those dreams that never get to be reality.<BR/><BR/>I envy you your childhoodChernevoghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10164753602062259638noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5259082628352435132.post-75767246151642899582009-02-09T14:51:00.000-08:002009-02-09T14:51:00.000-08:00Russian north is such a beatiful and amazing place...Russian north is such a beatiful and amazing place.May be I like it so much because my grandmother from my mother side was born in a very small village near Lake Peipus.))<BR/>I was there when I was a little girl but I could remember it so clear like it was only yesterday ...huge stones in the depth, clear water of the lake, primeval forests...lastochkahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03693705381682951810noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5259082628352435132.post-56558201632718090542009-02-09T09:36:00.000-08:002009-02-09T09:36:00.000-08:00I have always had a fondness for places like this....I have always had a fondness for places like this. Distant and relatively isolated.Chernevoghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10164753602062259638noreply@blogger.com