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Europe Summer 2023
  • Ella Balagula

Europe Summer 2023

A 110-day adventure by Ella Read more
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  • Ella BalagulaEurope Summer 2023Traveler

    Samarkand - Bibi Hanum and Shah-i-Zinda

    August 31, 2023 in Uzbekistan ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    Today we went on a tour of Samarkand. Interestingly, unlike Bukhara old city, which is concentrated in a small walkable area, Samarkand sites are spread out, so our guide took us around in a car. Samarkand is an overwhelming feast for eyes and soul. The sparkling beauty of the tile work on soaring Medresses and mausoleums is just incomparable. You can imagine how the tired caravan leaders who arrived to this crossroads oasis on the Silk Road, felt, after traveling for weeks across the mountains and deserts. We first went to the mosque named after Bibi Hanum - she was the favorite and most powerful wife of Timur (Tamerlane). He married her because she was the great granddaughter of Gingis Khan and he wanted to connect with the Mongol empire. We then went to the mausoleums of Shah-i-Zinda - many smaller mausoleums cramped together on the hill, in a stunning alleyway. Every square inch covered by the title work of intricate patterns and Arabic calligraphy is incredible, and so are the translations of the poetry on the buildings. Every corner and every building demanded to be photographed!Read more

  • Ella BalagulaEurope Summer 2023Traveler
    Huge anount of gold leaves covers every swuare inchSynagogue outsideBeautiful door with the mezuzaMany old prayer books

    Samarkand Tour - Part 2

    August 31, 2023 in Uzbekistan ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    After Shah_i-Zinda, we drove to the mausoleum of Amir Timur (Tamerlane). If a stunning building, with several tombs inside - the back granite tomb of Timur and the rest of some of his family members, including his grandson Ulugbek, the famous astronomer and scientist. And interesting story - in June 1941, Russian anthropologist Gerasimov, opened all the graves in order to study the bodies. The public was against it, saying that it would bring a curse. Indeed, 2 days later, Nazi Germany invaded Soviet Union - you can decide for yourself whether this was a coincidence! Afterwards, we went to the Plov Center (yes, it’s exactly what it sounds like!) and had a huge bowl of delicious plov! We then stopped by at the only remaining synagogue in Samarkand. Sadly, it does not have services anymore, because there are only about 100 Jews left, mostly old, and there is no minyan. We then went back to Registan as the sun was setting, and visited the gold covered mosque inside one of the three Medresses. Later, we had dinner of one of the best shashliks I ever had at a local place,cafe Bobur.Read more

  • Ella BalagulaEurope Summer 2023Traveler
    Tbe border
    The roadstand of the popular Tajik treat - salty and crumbly cheese like substanceThe horizon became covered in the fog caused by the sand storm from AfganistanIncredible watermelons and melons are part of my every meal here

    Drive to Dushanbe

    September 1, 2023 in Uzbekistan ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    Today we had a long transfer from Samarkand to Dushanbe. We first took a taxi to the Uzbekistan-Tajikistan border, which took about an hour. From there, we walked and crossed the border on foot, which involved many customs and passport control checks. We then took a 20-min taxi to Penjakent, and from there took a car for 4-hour ride to Dushanbe. The ride was through stunning and rugged mountain scenery, including 5-km ride through the scariest tunnel I’ve ever been in - no lights, just a narrow dark dugout long tunnel.Read more

  • Ella BalagulaEurope Summer 2023Traveler
    Cottage cheese paradiseMounds of thinly sliced carrots used for plovFamous tajik tandor breadKids playing in an "arik" or water channel nearby the general area where i livedNearby school - kids still wear uniform, with tajik flag as their neckties, instead of soviet redOpera and Ballet theater where I perfomed once with the children ballet groupThe dining room in the sanatorium that i rememberedThe walkway near the sanatorium- exactly as on the picture that i haveThe house where we lived in KaltuchCurrent residents of our old apartment who have been living there since 1981

    Dushanbe and Kaltuch

    September 2, 2023 in Tajikistan ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    Today we started the day by visiting the main Dushanbe market. The old outdoor Green Market has been closed about 7 years ago, and instead, a clean big indoor market has been built - in my view, taking away the magic authenticity of the central Asian bazar. We then spent a couple of hours asking old people in the market and the streets about the “communal apartment building of the shoe factory”, which is the only “address” that I remember from when we lived in Dushanbe in early 1980s. We didn’t find the exact building, but got somewhat close to the general area, before giving up the search. We then hired a car with the driver that took us to Kaltuch - the nearby village with the sanatorium where we lived for a year in 1979. It was a very fruitful trip - we saw the sanatorium, which is still functional, albeit extremely rundown, and I remembered many spots both from my memory and from the old photos I had. A very powerful and meaningful experience!Read more

  • Ella BalagulaEurope Summer 2023Traveler
    Bust of the Tajik ballerina popular in the Soviet times - I remember worshipping her!10th century Muhrab from a mosque in BukharaOne of the numerous portraits of the President - his eyes follow you everywhere!Once, the tallest flagpole in the world (until 2010)11The President is literally everywhere1Outside of the building that used to be a Palace of the Young Pioneers where i took ballet classesInside the Palace of the Young PioneersView into the modern history museumThe seat of the President look exactly like the White House (and it is called the same!)Beautiful Tajik dance

    Dushanbe - exploring the city

    September 3, 2023 in Tajikistan ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    Today, we had a free day in Dushanbe and walked around. First, we visited the history museum, which had a nice small collection starting with the Stone Age artifacts from the region. There was a huge reconstructed statue of a reclining Buddha made from clay, uncovered near Pamir mountains. Fascinating how there are layers of history and religions here, with Buddhism at some point spreading into this part of the Silk Road. We then went to a huge and beautiful museum that covered tajik history but also had an interesting view into the recent and modern times, including large exhibitions dedicated to the current president who has been in power for 30 years! We then had a nice lunch in a local eatery and walked around some modern grandiose boulevards, parks and monuments. In the evening we went to a restaurant with live singer and a folk dancing show - both the food and performance were great!Read more

  • Ella BalagulaEurope Summer 2023Traveler
    Korean pickles and kimchi, but most popular is Korean pickled carrotsBeautuful bone marrowsEvery possible nut representedKorean BBQ master chef

    Tashkent - Chorsu Bazar

    September 4, 2023 in Uzbekistan ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    Early in the morning, we flew from Dushanbe back to Tashkent and had two days there, waiting for our return flight to Zagreb. We went to the famous Chorsu indoor market and walked around. It was massive, much bigger than Dushanbe market, with all possible fruits, vegetables, nuts, spices and endless rows of meat. We then went to see the oldest Quran in the world. The large book was from the 7th century and was brought to Uzbekistan by Timur in the 14th century as part of his conquests. No pictures were allowed as it was in the mosque and is one of the most sacred places for Muslims. In the evening, we went for dinner at one of many Tashkent Korean eateries, properly named K Town, and enjoyed Korean BBQ. There is a large Korean population in Tashkent, remnants from the Russian and Soviet times.Read more

  • Ella BalagulaEurope Summer 2023Traveler

    Tashkent Amir Timur museum

    September 5, 2023 in Uzbekistan ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C

    We started our morning of a lazy day in Tashkent with delicious breakfast at City Cafe - we had eggs Benedict with homemade lightly salted salmon and the best sirniki we ever had! The super nice and chatty waiter recommended that we go to the museum dedicated to Amir Timur and it was a great suggestion. We had a great guide who told us many details and stories that really brought Timur and his times to life. This magnificent museum was built a few years ago and it really was a very well curated piece of art. We then went on an exposition to find the building where Boris and his family used to live - it was in a very nice neighborhood near Ministry of Defense on one side of the road and many academic building on the other.Read more

  • Ella BalagulaEurope Summer 2023Traveler
    Grand Hotel Rogaska where we stayed and danced
    There is a huge modrn medical center with the mineral water fountainsThis water has the highest level of magnesium in the worldStunning Crystal HallThere were vinyls playing in the restaurant cafe all day

    Rogaska Slatina

    September 11, 2023 in Slovenia ⋅ 🌙 14 °C

    We arrived to Zagreb and took a taxi to Rogaska Slatina, the home for the next 4 days Tango Embrace encuentro. It was in a 400 years old spa town which was then part of Austro Hungarian empire and was magnificently built by the emperor Franz Josef in the 19th century. His beloved wife Sisi often rested and partied here. Our encuentro was in the historic stunning Crystal Hall, last rebuilt over a 100 years ago. We had the most amazing time, drinking thermal mineral water and dancing some amazing tango.Read more

  • Ella BalagulaEurope Summer 2023Traveler
    Beautiful cathedral
    Entrance to the super long tunnel that was built as a bomb shelterThe inside of the seamingly endless tunnelDelicous dinner of baked ocropus with vegetables in a paper pocket

    Zagreb

    September 12, 2023 in Croatia ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    We spent an afternoon in Zagreb. We did a VoiceMap tour of the old city, which was very interesting. Not pictured, we then went to a very unique museum - Museum of Broken Relationships. It started as a traveling exhibit of the mementos that various people donated that illustrated their stories of breakups, divorces or losses of loved ones. It then grew and settled as the permanent museum in Zagreb. It was at times funny, but most of the times, very poignant. It was nice to settle into the familiar rhythm of exploring new cities on the last day of our trip.Read more

    Trip end
    September 13, 2023
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