Welcome to hidden europe 40, in which we sweep from Georgia to Sweden, from Istria to the French capital and explore Norway's Arctic ports, Britain's rarest bus and the pleasures of Berlin's Gleisdreieck station.
hidden europe 40
In hidden europe 40, we discover a forgotten synagogue in Georgia's Racha province, explore hidden Istria, visit a nature reserve in Sweden and take the pulse of Paris' 15th arrondissement.
We also hop on a ferry that takes us around the Balearic Islands, relax in a ruin in Budapest, capture the spirit of Berlin's Gleisdreieck railway station and recall Thomas Cook's first tour to Switzerland through the diaries of one of Cook's clients - a young woman called Jemima.
Picture above:
U-Bahn train leaving Gleisdreieck, Berlin (photo © hidden europe).
Summary
In hidden europe 40, we discover a forgotten synagogue in Georgia's Racha province, explore hidden Istria, visit a nature reserve in Sweden and take the pulse of Paris' 15th arrondissement.
We also hop on a ferry that takes us around the Balearic Islands, relax in a ruin in Budapest, capture the spirit of Berlin's Gleisdreieck railway station and recall Thomas Cook's first tour to Switzerland through the diaries of one of Cook's clients - a young woman called Jemima.
The province of Racha in Georgia nudges up against the Caucasus Mountains, and boasts some fabulous scenery. Oni is tucked away in the mountains and doesn't get a lot of visitors. Those that do come are often from Israel. Guest contributor Laurence Mitchell escorts us to a lost synagogue in the hills.
Paul Scraton, a first-time writer for hidden europe, invites us on a journey to the Kindla Nature Reserve in central Sweden. It is a chance to see how a landscape rejuvenates after centuries of mining activity.
Istria may be defined by its coastline, but the hinterland warrants a visit too. Rudolf Abraham, co-author of the new Bradt Guide to Istria, invites us to join him in a search for mediaeval frescoes, truffles and an enigmatic pillar of shame. Along the way we discover the many languages of Istria.
We explore Russia and Georgia in exile in Paris' fifteenth arrondissement - and more besides in this unsung corner of the French capital, as we trace the history of the bohemian artists who helped shape the avant-garde movement.
A 1924 essay by Joseph Roth on an unsung railway station in Berlin fired our imagination and inspired us to take the train to Gleisdreieck - an elevated station that in Roth's day looked down on a tangled maze of railway lines and sidings. Nowadays, nature is reclaiming the industrial landscapes of yesteryear.
In 1863, Jemima Morrell participated in the first ever escorted tour of the Alps organised by Cook. Her diary of that journey is a remarkable piece of writing - one that slices through Victorian formality. The story of what happened to that diary is as intriguing as the journey described within its pages.
To understand Menorca and its history, you have to arrive at Maó by ship. There is no better way to do this than by taking the weekly sailing from Palma di Mallorca to Menorca, along the way passing the island where Hannibal was born and another island where prisoners of war were held captive.
Duncan JD Smith, author of 'Only in Budapest', takes to the back streets of the Hungarian capital to visit the latest Budapest fad: a pub in a building that comes close to being a ruin. It's cheap, cheerful and lots of fun.
The harbour front at Kirkenes could be transformed if the Norwegian port became a major transit point for freight to and from Russia. The key to this happening is getting Russian-gauge railway tracks to Kirkenes. But other ports in northern Norway are also developing similar plans. We look at the politics of laying tracks across frontiers.
Join us as we explore maps old and new of a remote island archipelago, one that was first settled by displaced French Acadians. We unravel the politics of place names in the Îles Malouines. Along the way we detour to discover Thatcher Peninsula.
Britain's rarest scheduled bus service runs on just three occasions in 2013. The 113 from Tavistock to Dawlish is a timetable rarity. If you miss the bus on 31 August 2013, you'll have to wait seven months for the next one.
Georgians have high hopes for the Lithuanian Presidency of the European Union - a six-month term that started this month. Georgia, like Lithuania, slipped out of the Soviet Union in 1991. The hopes in Tbilisi are that Lithania will open European doors for other ex-Soviet states.
Does the European Rail Timetable, published by Thomas Cook since 1873, have a future with a new publisher? Plans are afoot for the relaunch of a book that has defined horizons for generations of travellers.
Virtu Ferries have until recently enjoyed a monopoly in the market from Malta to Italy, but a new ferry route launched this summer brings some competition.
A look ahead at hidden europe 41 which will be published on 8 November 2013.