Reset search
Europe Summer 2023
  • Ella Balagula
  • Ella Balagula

Europe Summer 2023

A 110-day adventure by Ella Read more
+10
FollowInsightsInsightsCalendarCalendarPhotosPhotosShareShareBucket list
Newest first
  • Trip start
    May 27, 2023
    Ella BalagulaEurope Summer 2023Traveler
    Delicious breakfast at the hotel
    Stork nest1Kiyev cake at the restaurant Odessa

    Estonia - Lahemaa National Park

    May 27, 2023 in Estonia ⋅ ☀️ 11 °C

    We just arrived to Tallinn late last night, and in the morning, highly jet lagged, we went on an all day tour at the National Park an hour outside of Tallinn. We walked across beautiful wetlands and stopped by some fishing villages along the coast, admiring giant boulders left from the last ice age. We then returned to town and had delicious dinner at restaurant Odessa!Read more

  • Ella BalagulaEurope Summer 2023Traveler

    Tallinn old city

    May 28, 2023 in Estonia ⋅ 🌬 17 °C

    Today we took a 3 hour walking tour around the Tallinn old city. There are so many layers of history there, as the place changed hands so many times! From German to Dutch, to Russians, to Soviet, and finally to the Independence. We really enjoyed walking and hearing the stories of thais beautiful magical fairytale land. We then went to Kumu modern art museum and saw some fascinating Ukrainian futurist exhibit, and then went to Catherine the Great palace/art museum for an intimate classical music concert! We capped the night with dinner at restaurant Odessa (again), where we also stopped by for lunch! If anything, we are very loyal customers for the things we like :)Read more

  • Ella BalagulaEurope Summer 2023Traveler
    Bremen musicians!
    Amazing crumb cake shop1One of the many faces of Art NoveauBlack cats from this building became a symbol of Riga"Three brothers" buildings are the remnants of fhe Dutch period in RigaGorgeous Art Noveau building

    Riga Old City

    May 29, 2023 in Latvia ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    In the morning, we took a 4.5 hrs bus from Tallinn to Riga and checked in to our hotel. The city was full of street parties, because Latvian hockey team won a third place, which is apparently a very rare occasion. We then took a VoiceMap audio tour of the old town and walked the maze of medieval streets and enjoyed beautiful buildings. And in the evening we went to our first European milonga!Read more

  • Ella BalagulaEurope Summer 2023Traveler
    The fish stand has a lot of smoked fish
    There are a lot of flower pots sold at the marketThe Stalinist building which now hosts Academy of Science.Beautiful Russian Orthodox church

    Riga Alternative Walking Tour

    May 30, 2023 in Latvia ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    Today we joined a free walking tour that explored what is called the Moscow district of Riga. We visited a huge covered farmers market, and walked around the former warehouses neighborhood. It recently went through gentrification and now is quite beautiful and green. Then in the evening I went to a local milonga and had a wonderful time meeting and dancing with locals.Read more

  • Ella BalagulaEurope Summer 2023Traveler
    Interrogation room where the beatings and torture happened.
    The prison corridorExecution roomInsanely normal outside of the KGB buildingArt Noveau facadeBeautifil Alberta street all of Art Noveau buildingSome of them remind me of Gaudi styleBeautiful apartment inside one of the buildingsSnail design just for Ilona

    Riga - KGB museum and Art Noveau

    May 31, 2023 in Latvia ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    In the morning, we went on a gruesome tour of the KGB prison, which is where thousands of people were tortured and executed by the Stalin regime. Of course, we were very familiar with all the stories, but seeing the terrible conditions and cells first hand has been very difficult. Perhaps, the most heavy was the realization of the sheer scale of millions of people who perished in this terror - Riga was not unique and such terror machines were in every major city in the Soviet Union. Shockingly, the outside of the building has a completely normal beautiful facade, giving no hints at the atrocities happening behind the unassuming doors. In need of something lighter, we went on an audio tour of the Art Noveau buildings. It’s a stunning mishmash of baroque, neoclassicism and other styles that happened for a brief 20 years at the beginning of the 20th century. There are some 750 art nouveau buildings in Riga and they are all stunning!Read more

  • Ella BalagulaEurope Summer 2023Traveler
    A house from the ghetto
    Beautiful synagogue interiorSynagogue buildingTango concert program

    Jewish Ghetto and Synagogue

    June 1, 2023 in Latvia ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    Today was a somber day, as we went to the Jewish Ghetto and Holocaust museum. We saw an original small house from the ghetto where 30 people lived. Perhaps, the house in a ghetto near Odessa where my father was born, looked like that. There was also an original train car in which the Jews were transported into concentration camps. We then went for something more uplifting - visiting the only surviving synagogue in Riga. A manifestation of our survival. In the evening, I was treated to a wonderful surprise - an unexpected tango quarter concert in the Riga St Peter’s church near our Airbnb. The music was exquisite, and fantastic acoustics helped too!Read more

  • Ella BalagulaEurope Summer 2023Traveler

    Riga Glamour Tango marathon

    June 2, 2023 in Latvia ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C

    For 3 days we did nothing but danced, slept and ate, in this order :) 30 hours of dancing and approximately 60 tandas done! The location, the vibe, atmosphere, dance floor and music were all incredible, and we thoroughly enjoyed it! I just wish we took more pictures, but that in itself is the evidence that we were so deeply in the moment!Read more

  • Ella BalagulaEurope Summer 2023Traveler

    Jurmala

    June 5, 2023 in Latvia ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    On Monday after the marathon, we took a 30 min train to the nearby seaside resort, Jurmala. The weather was perfect and it was so intensely beautiful, the air, the light, the sea and the slow flow of time. We walked around and ate delicious lunch. And in the evening I went for the marathon after party for the last few tandas!Read more

  • Ella BalagulaEurope Summer 2023Traveler

    Berlin - Museum Island

    June 6, 2023 in Germany ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C

    On Tuesday morning, we took an early flight to Berlin! In the afternoon, I went to explore the museum island with beautiful cathedral and 5 major art museums. I walked around and listened to the VoiceMap audio tour. I also went to the Neues Museum and saw the famous sculpture of the Egyptian princess Nefertiti and the golden hat from the Bronze Age. We then went to the milonga in the Red Room Salon, which was incredibly atmospheric, looking like Berlin circa 1930s. Again, we had such a blast that forgot to take any pictures!Read more

  • Ella BalagulaEurope Summer 2023Traveler
    Frank Gehry designed office buildingHolocaust memorialLittle known stained glass depicting life of Lenin, in the university library

    Berlin walking tour

    June 7, 2023 in Germany ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C

    Today we went on a Rick Steve’s city walk tour, walking from the Reighstag towards the famous Brandenburg gate and learned about the many layers of Berlin history, including the sombering Holocaust memorial. In the evening I went to check out the open air milonga by the river, and it was quite an interesting sight, with very electric crowd. The we went to the milonga at Mala Junta dance studio, and it was just ok, younger and cliquish crowd - interesting to see the different vibes of different milongas.Read more

  • Ella BalagulaEurope Summer 2023Traveler
    Marx and Engels statue
    One of many beautiful courtyardsMemorial stones in tbe ground in front of the houses where the victims lived.New synagogue

    Jewish history walking tour

    June 8, 2023 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    Today I went on VoiceMap Jewish history audio tour. It was a fascinating and sobering journey, through many beautiful hidden courtyards, learning about incredible and sad stories of murders, but also of courage and survival. I saw many poignant memorials and the magnificent new synagogue in the Alhambra style. In the evening, we went to the milonga at Villa Kreuzberg- again, gorgeous and highly atmospheric space. Good music, terrible floor and older less experienced crowd. We enjoyed soaking the vibe and dancing.Read more

  • Ella BalagulaEurope Summer 2023Traveler

    Kreuzberg audio tour

    June 9, 2023 in Germany ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    We had delicious breakfast In Kreuzberg, which is a nice and hip neighborhood and went on an audio tour of that area. It very much reminded us of NY UWS , but was also steeped in WWII history. In the evening we went for a beautiful symphony concert at the Berlin Philharmonic. And then, of course, another milongaRead more

  • Ella BalagulaEurope Summer 2023Traveler
    A smaller, more modest palace which served as the private apartments for the KingFrederick grave with potatoes, next to his many dogsMuch bigger Grand PalaceAll the walls are covered in shellsShells and fossils everywhereEvening Nuevo milonga in the famous Tangoloft

    Potsdam - Sanssouci palace

    June 10, 2023 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    In the morning, we had breakfast and went to nearby city Potsdam, where a beautiful summer palace of King of Prussia, Frederick the Great is located. The famous Sanssouci palace. It had a unique exuberant Rococo style. Especially memorable was the Grotto hall, which was all covered in stunning shells and fossils. King Frederick was an interesting character, a lover of art and books, he also loved dogs. So he was buried next to his many dogs, and people bring potatoes to his graves, because he was the one who brought potatoes from South America to Europe! And in the evening we went to Tangoloft - a beautiful tango Nuevo place!Read more

  • Ella BalagulaEurope Summer 2023Traveler
    Checkpoint Charlie
    Terrace of the apartment where Monday milongas are heldThis is actually someone's apartment!

    East Side Gallery

    June 12, 2023 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    Today, after a wonderful breakfast in one of Berlin’s charming courtyards, we went to see the East Berlin sites - the Checkpoint Charlie, which was the place through which West Berliners had to travel to the rest of West Germany. And then, the East Gallery, which was a unique street art project - weeks after the wall fell, 180 artists from many countries came and painted on the 1 mile stretch of the wall. It has such iconic pieces, as Brezhnev’s Kiss. And in the evening we went to a Monday milonga, at someone’s gorgeous rooftop apartment.Read more

  • Ella BalagulaEurope Summer 2023Traveler
    Children of Kindertransport
    This bunker now hosts a private art collectionA very poised dog in bar Oblomov where one of the milongas happens

    Friedrischstrasse audio tour

    June 13, 2023 in Germany ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    Today we went on a couple of hours audio tour of one of the main streets in Berlin. We went to many smaller streets, and learned a lot about the city’s artists, actors and theaters. At the beginning of the tour was a very powerful monument to the children of Kindertransport - over 10,000 children in the beginning of the war were allowed to immigrate to Britain, to be placed in foster families. Most of them never saw their families again, as they were likely all killed. The signs of war are still everywhere in this city - like a huge bunker turned into a storage for a private art collection. In the evening we went to three(!) milongas, a bit of a bar crawl of sorts, as we were searching for the one we would like most.Read more

  • Ella BalagulaEurope Summer 2023Traveler
    A bunker that was incorporated in fhe nearby apartment complex
    Berlin's walking sign man is very unique and he even has a name - AppelmannThe Tower of Holocaust. Empty soaring space, with a tiny slit of a window aboveThe Axis of Continuity- symbolizing the survival of Jewish lives.The monument is called 10,000 livesThe museum building

    Jewish Museum

    June 14, 2023 in Germany ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    Today I went to the Jewish Museum, a stunning architectural and cultural monument to Jewish history globally and in Germany. The building is made from zinc, with small line slits of windows, which project the lines connecting main Berlin’s Jewish neighborhoods. The main concept of the place is voids - empty spaces, symbolizing what is lost forever, and the magnitude of that loss. It was a very powerful experience. I especially liked that the curators of the exhibit texts and the audio guide would not shy away from the role that general German population played in the Holocaust - all the atrocities were made in broad daylight, and largely assisted by the local population. The exhibits were explaining the origins of antisemitism most openly that I have ever seen in a museum.Read more

  • Ella BalagulaEurope Summer 2023Traveler
    Karl Marx
    I had some delicious tapasThe cathedral hosted some Holy Robe of Christ, which is stored behind this gateBeautiful organThe church inside tne Roman gateThe gate with the concert stage

    Trier - Roman gate

    June 15, 2023 in Germany ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    We left Berlin and took a long train ride to Saarbruken where our next tango event would be happening. But on the way, we stopped by and spent the night at Trier - a small town with ancient Roman gate, that was later rebuilt into a church. There are also two beautiful medieval cathedrals in Trier, and curiously, it is also a birthplace of Karl Marx. There was some open air band concert that was happening right in front of the gate, with the stage, sadly, obscuring the Roman gate!Read more

  • Ella BalagulaEurope Summer 2023Traveler

    Saarbruken encuentro and Warzburg

    June 19, 2023 in Germany ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    The next 3 days we spent in Saarbruken at the tango encuentro. It was nice, although very very crowded on a small floor and at times extremely hot. But it was nice to dance for 3 days nevertheless. Then, we took a train to Warzburg and saw Klarulya and Borya and met little Lili. We then took a train to Offenburg and I spent a day there, before departing to Spain.Read more

  • Ella BalagulaEurope Summer 2023Traveler

    Arriving to Cardona

    June 21, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    Today, I arrived to Cardona, Spain for 4 days Tango Nuevo Experience. It was held in a crumbling castle/palace from the 14th century. The place has apartments built into it, and only a few years ago the apartments were demolished, revealing medieval columns and arches. It can be best described as “controlled ruins”, but with magical charm and mysterious vibe. On the top floor was semi open air kitchen, where everyone gathered, danced and ate. The terrace had amazing view of Cardona castle. On the second floor was tango dance floor. We had delicious dinner and first milonga.Read more

  • Ella BalagulaEurope Summer 2023Traveler
    Cardona has some large salt mines

    Cardona Tango Experience

    June 23, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    For the next 3 days, I enjoyed beautiful Cardona, ate delicious food, took tango classes and danced to some beautiful neotango music. One evening, we walked to Cardona Castello during the sunset, and had some open air dancing. The whole experience was very unique and worthwhile. Although, I would not necessarily do it again ;)Read more

  • Ella BalagulaEurope Summer 2023Traveler
    Interesting upside down horse sculpture in a shopping passageczech is famous for the marionettesFamous astronomical clock at the old town squareFamous Czech beerOld house signs

    Prague Day 1

    June 26, 2023 in Czech Republic ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    We started the day by taking Rick Steve’s guided city walk, which took us around the old town, as well as the portions of the new city. We also travelled through the layers of history - from medieval to its painful history of Nazi and Soviet occupations. We saw the enormous square (more like a long rectangular than a square) where Soviet tanks rolled in 1968 and where the famous Velvet Revolution took place to usher in Independence. In the afternoon, I took VoiceMap tour about old house signs, which in medieval times usually depicted something unique about the house owners. And in the evening I listened to a classical music concert in a beautiful church, and strolled across the Karlov Bridge at sunset.Read more

  • Ella BalagulaEurope Summer 2023Traveler

    Prague Day 2 - Jewish tour

    June 27, 2023 in Czech Republic ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    Today we took a VoiceMap Jewish tour of Prague. There are 6 large surviving synagogues in the old Jewish quarter and we visited them all. In one, there is now a Holocaust memorial with all the names of killed Czech Jews written on the walls. It also had a heart wrenching exhibit of the original children’s drawings that were found in the concentration camps. Near another synagogue there is old Jewish cemetery that dates 600 years back, with 10 thousand gravestones and many layers of graves, estimating over 100,000 graves. We also visited beautiful Spanish synagogue with moorish decorations. Now, there are a few thousand Jews and the population is growing.Read more

  • Ella BalagulaEurope Summer 2023Traveler
    1Gate into the VyšehradView from tbe top of defence wallsVyšehrad cathedralDvorak graveSmetana graveUnderground casematsBeautiful buildings in the old town square have scary ghost storiesOld Town SquareMonument to Jan Goose a famous figure in Czech

    Prague Day 2 - Vysegrad

    June 27, 2023 in Czech Republic ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    We had delicious lunch and then In the afternoon, I took another VoiceMap tour - of the medieval defense city called Vyšehrad, or high city. There was a beautiful cathedral, defense walls and a cemetery where famous Czech composers Dvorak and Smetana are buried. I also took a guided tour of casemats, which are the underground spaces between the defense walls. I then took another VoiceMap tour (lol), this time of Prague ghosts and scary stories. I also spent some more time at the Old Town Square, where there is a monument to Jan Goose, who was fighting for religious equality and against corruption - for example, he insisted that poor people were also allowed to drink wine (symbolizing Christ blood) at the Mass, which was previously the privilege reserved only for the rich.Read more

  • Ella BalagulaEurope Summer 2023Traveler
    Kafka memorialOne of the many houses where Kafka family livedPrague CastleCathedral in the Prague CastleCeremonial Hallgold StreetThe house on the Gold Street where Kafka lived at some pointCity view from the castleCastle courtyard

    Prague Day 3 - Kafka and Prague Castle

    June 28, 2023 in Czech Republic ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    In the morning we took - you guessed right, a VoiceMap tour about Kafka. Franz Kafka was a famous Czech writer, known for his abstract short stories and novels. Kafka family moved a lot around Prague and this tour took us around the houses his family lived in. We saw some sculptures dedicated to Kafka, like a sculpture of a man on top of empty suit, related to one of Kafka stories. A memorable monument was Kafka head, made of steel layers, which rotate for 15 min every hour, influenced by Kafka story Metamorphoses. In the afternoon, I went to Prague Castle. Sadly, there was no VoiceMap tour and it was too late to get an official audio guide, so I just walked around the castle, stopping at the cathedral, Royal ceremonial Hall, and walked the famous Gold Street which is a street of tiny houses.Read more

  • Ella BalagulaEurope Summer 2023Traveler
    Dr AybolitVilnius synagogue which had a moorish interiorDance me to the end of love...

    Vilnus Jewish tour

    June 30, 2023 in Lithuania ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    On Thursday we arrived to Vilnius for our next tango event, and in the morning we took a guided tour of the Jewish Vilnius. We walked around the former thriving Jewish quarter that was turned into Jewish ghetto during the Holocaust. We saw the wall murals that were part of the “Walls that remember” project and the street signs in Yiddish. We saw the statues of some famous Jewish figures: Gaonu, or Genius who was a religious and philosophical thought leader in medieval times, a famous Jewish doctor who became a prototype to Dr Aybolit, and even Leonard Cohen who wrote the song “Dance me to the end of love”.Read more

  • 2025© FindPenguins
  • Home
  • About us
  • Group Tracking
  • Press
  • Terms
  • Privacy Policy & Cookies
  • Help Center
  • Legal notice