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Europe February 2024
  • Ella Balagula
  • Ella Balagula

Europe February 2024

A 21-day adventure by Ella Read more
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  • Trip start
    January 30, 2024
    Ella BalagulaEurope February 2024Traveler
    1Statue of Liberty look alikeTbe Madonna on top of the Duomo2All of tbe decorations are himan bones and sculls

    Milan

    January 31, 2024 in Italy ⋅ 🌙 2 °C

    We flew to Milan, very lucky to have the whole empty rows to ourselves, one for each and we slept pretty well, arriving well rested. We started the day with a VoiceMap highlights tour of Milan and walked around the old center. First, we admired the famous Duomo. Each of us saw it before, but it still doesn’t take away the awe inspired by the grandiose of this majestic marble structure. We had lunch and in the afternoon I went on another VoiceMap tour. It took me a bit further away from the center, and also told me some interesting facts - for example, pointing a sculpture on the Duomo facade that looks exactly like the Statue of Liberty! Or sharing that until now, the Madonna on top of Duomo had to be the tallest point in the city. But when they build modern buildings, they got around this rule by placing the copy of this Madonna on top of every structure taller than the Duomo! Finally, I saw the small chapel in a small church that was all decorated with the human sculls and bones - from the 15th century, when a huge part of the population was wiped out by the Black Death plague. The church was a reminder to the impermanence of life, while also taking care of the extra remains that the city didn’t have any place to bury!Read more

  • Ella BalagulaEurope February 2024Traveler
    Neptune fountain
    This is what Bologna become famous for2

    Bologna encuentro and tour

    February 3, 2024 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    For the next 2 days, we participated in a tango encuentro near Bologna, dancing 10 hours a day. It was a nice atmosphere, great level of dancers, but the event was really big, with almost 400 dancers and not a great leader/follower balance. So it ended up being a bit of an up and down for me, and lots of sitting. On Saturday morning we went to Bologna and did a highlights VoiceMap tour. We walked around the city center, admiring beautiful cathedral, towers and also the famous group of terracota sculptures depicting mourning of the Christ. It is also called The Petrified Scream, and is truly a masterpiece, especially considering that it is from the 15th century. Overall, Bologna is a beautiful and rich cultural center.Read more

  • Ella BalagulaEurope February 2024Traveler

    Arriving to Ravenna

    February 4, 2024 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    Today, we decided to leave the encuentro early, but before we did that, we went to check out one last “brunch” milonga, and it turned out the best milonga for me, as I danced with all of my favorite good leaders and had highly enjoyable couple of hours. We then drove to nearby Ravenna, a medieval Italian city famous for its stunning colorful mosaics covering walls and ceilings of the churches. We arrived in the dark but one of the highlight churches was open late and we had it all to ourselves, admiring the dazzling mosaics, with amazing details and bright colors. We then went to our hotel and walked by the interesting small tower, which was visibly leaning, from which we concluded that leaning towers is pretty much a mundane occurrence in Italy. We went for dinner in a nice trattoria recommended by our hotel and had a delicious rabbit (not pictured due to the immediate consumption).Read more

  • Ella BalagulaEurope February 2024Traveler
    11122Anatomical theater where the dissections happenedOne of the few surviving canals2This canal can only be seen through a hidden window in the wall

    Ravenna tour and some more Bologna

    February 5, 2024 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C

    In the morning, we did a VoiceMap tour of Ravenna, looking at the amazing mosaics in several churches and mausoleums. It’s very interesting, how in this particular place and time, the town became famous for its unique mosaics. Most mosaics are from the 5th and 6th century, so quite old and incredibly well preserved. They used semi precious stones for the mosaics, like turquoise, jade and corals, and it definitely shows in how dazzling the colors are. We then drove to Bologna where I went on another VoiceMap tour and visited old Bologna university with its anatomical theater form the 15th century. I then walked around and learned that Bologna, despite being located inside the Italian peninsula, far from the water, used to have many canals. Interestingly, most Italian cities had many canals, before being covered with earth, to prevent mosquitos and make the city cleaner.Read more

  • Ella BalagulaEurope February 2024Traveler
    Perseus with the Medusa11

    Florence Rick Steve tour

    February 6, 2024 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    This morning we drove from Bologna to Florence, checked into our hotel and went on a Rick Steve audio tour of the highlights of the center.

    We admired a famous Florence cathedral with its huge magical marble facade and an enormous dome. We didn’t go inside the cathedral, but we went inside the church Orsanmichele and admired its outside statues, then walked to the Vecchio Palace and saw a a copy of famous Michelangelo David and other amazing sculptures inside a loggia especially built for displaying these statues. We then walked across the river on the famous Vecchio bridge, which is lined with the jewelry shops. Interestingly, in one of the window displays I noticed famous Russian anti-sglazit dulya and learned that these were popular good luck charms called figa (another name in Russian as well!) in Italy in the 1950s.Read more

  • Ella BalagulaEurope February 2024Traveler
    The symbol of the Medici family
    The marble sarcophaguses are actually emptyAround the walls, intricate symbols of various medieval cities1Florence synagogueThe inside of the synagogueThe symbol of the orphans is a swaddled babyMadonna who protects the orphansThe ceiling of the great hall in the city hallMeeting in progressCopy of DavidHall of the maps

    Bargello museum and Medici mausoleum

    February 7, 2024 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    Today was a super long day of excursions! First, we went to the Bargello museum, and admired Renaissance sculptures, understanding the influences and the breakthrough of different artists, culminating in a genius of Michelangelo. Rick Steves tour of this museum was very engaging in helping us see the progression that led to Renaissance. Unfortunately, we were so engrossed in the tour of the masterpieces that we forgot to take any photos. We then went to the Medici Galleries which was shockingly over the top magnificent extravaganza of dazzling colorful marbles and semi precious stones. It was built as a mausoleum for the famous Medici family that financed the artists who brought in the Renaissance. We then had delicious lunch of beef carpaccio and pasta. After lunch, I went to visit the Florence synagogue, which was a beautiful example of Spanish influenced architecture. Then I went to the museum of the innocents, which was the building that became the orphanage where single mothers would drop in their unwanted children and they would be raised. It had a small but quite interesting exhibit. I also had a coffee at the rooftop terrace of this museum, admiring a beautiful view of the sunset over the Florence skyline, dominated by the Duomo. Finally, I went to visit the inside of the Vecchio Palace which is now a functioning townhall and interestingly, had some sort of the meeting with speeches in progress.Read more

  • Ella BalagulaEurope February 2024Traveler
    Amazing stained glassStunning frescoes depicting Biblical scenesThe old church apothecary now turned inti a parfume shop

    San Marco monastery and Uffizi museum

    February 8, 2024 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    Another long and wonderful day in Florence. We started our day with joining Rick Steves on a guided tour of the San Marco monastery, where we learned about a famous 14th century painter Fra Angelico who was a Dominican monk. His paintings were dazzling in colors and realistic details portraying human emotions. Sadly, we forgot to take any pictures. After the San Marco, we went to Uffizi gallery and were helped there by Rick Steve again, diving into the masterpieces of Renaissance. Afterwards, we went to the Academia to see Michelangelo’s David, and spent a long time there (again with Rick!) trying to comprehend how something so human could be liberated from a block of marble. Afterwards, I went to the Basilica di Santa Maria Novella and admired amazing frescoes. Frankly, at that point I started becoming a bit jaded by the abundance of masterpieces. So, satiated, it was a good time for us to leave Florence, until the next time.Read more

  • Ella BalagulaEurope February 2024Traveler
    221

    Offenburg

    February 11, 2024 in Germany ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C

    The last two days we attended an encuentro in Germany, nearby Frankfurt. It was however not that great of an encuentro. The place was quite small and hot, seating was not conducive to getting invitations, so we didn’t really love it. We left on Saturday afternoon and drove to Offenburg. There, we went to the nearby town Gengenbach to watch a local parade celebrating a Day of Fools of sorts. It was happening in every town in Germany, as a way to usher in spring. We absolutely loved ll the forest creatures of this parade, especially what reminded us of Baba Yaga! The parade procession also threw lots of candies into the crowd. It was so fun! Afterwards, we went for dinner in a former prison in Offenburg and had a delicious meal with the family!Read more

  • Ella BalagulaEurope February 2024Traveler

    Freiburg

    February 12, 2024 in Germany ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C

    Today we went to Freiburg with the twins and did a VoiceMap tour. It was very interesting, and a nice overview of a town center. Some beautiful buildings and also unexpected canals which reminded us of Amsterdam. In the evening, Tanyuha Sofie and I went to the thermal saunas center and enjoyed a few magical hours of relaxation.Read more

  • Ella BalagulaEurope February 2024Traveler

    Munich VoiceMap tour

    February 13, 2024 in Germany ⋅ ☁️ 9 °C

    In the morning we did a four hour long drive from Offenburg to Munich and in the afternoon I did a VoiceMap highlights tour. Munich clearly seems a world capital of beer🍺 and there are Beergartens everywhere. There is even a VoiceMap tour just about the beer culture of Munich (but I didn’t do it). There was the same type of parade today happening in Munich as we saw near Offenburg, with similar but much bigger crowds, and with a distinction that they all seemed to have a beer in their hands! The center was very crowded but I still managed to walk and listen to the audio tour. In the evening we went to a local milonga where people were dressed up in costumes on the same occasion and it seemed very Halloween like. It wasn’t a very friendly milonga but the music and the space was good and we had fun dancing with each other.Read more

  • Ella BalagulaEurope February 2024Traveler
    Wonderful breakfast in an Italian cafe
    Headquarters of Nazi partySmall Holocaust memorialDali exhibifPart of Dali exhibit - set for the Hitchkok movie

    Munich Birth of Nazi tour and Dali

    February 14, 2024 in Germany ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    Today we went on a small group 3 hour guided tour of “Birth of Nazi”. It was captivating and chilling. I always had a strong desire to understand how exactly could Nazi come to power, how did ordinary people go along and supported the atrocities. And the tour gave very clear view into how exactly Hitler came into power and the role that Munich played as a center for Nazi rise to power. It was crazy to learn about a a failed Hitler assassination attempt and how closely the world came to avoiding the tragedy of WWII. German carpenter Georg Elser placed a time-bomb at the Beergarten in Munich, where Hitler was due to give his annual speech in commemoration of the Beer Hall Putsch. Hitler left earlier than expected and the bomb detonated, killing eight and injuring sixty-two others. Following the attempt, Elser was held as a prisoner for over five years until he was executed at the Dachau concentration camp less than a month before the surrender of Nazi Germany. Fascinating yet virtually unknown story. Later in the day I went to the Dali exhibit about his collaboration with Hitchcock in creating film sets depicting the dream world of the film’s protagonist. It had a fantastic VR experience that was unbelievably realistic.Read more

  • Ella BalagulaEurope February 2024Traveler
    211

    Encuentro in Slovenia

    February 15, 2024 in Slovenia ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    We took a flight from Munich to Slovenia to attend the encuentro there. We had a lovely time in Slovenia again. The place certainly has a magical energy. The music, floor, stunning ballroom and some very good dancers, plus delicious sanatorium like food were all wonderful. I also enjoyed Rogaska Slatina again, this time its crisp winter air. It was great to indulge in facials, massages, thermal bath procedures and drinking super magnesium rich Donat. Until we come back again!Read more

    Trip end
    February 19, 2024
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