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Around The World In 80 Days

Pole To Pole

Full Circle

Hemingway Adventure

Sahara

Himalaya

New Europe

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New Europe

New Europe was very much a people-focussed journey. Fascinating to hear the tales, good and bad, of those so recently freed from Communism. So many countries in such a small area and all different and distinctive. Cappadocia in Turkey wins the prize for the best landscape, but there are some dark undertones of the old Europe, like Auschwitz, and Hitler’s holiday camp on Rugen Island. Thanks to Russian lady in Estonia, I now know what it’s like to have leech treatment. Oww!

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Day 1, Triglav National Park, Julian Alps, Slovinia

Starting out: on the top of the Julian Alps, with Italy behind me and Slovenia ahead.

Day 1, Triglav National Park, Julian Alps, Slovinia

Day 2, Lake Bled, Bled, Slovinia

Lake Bled and the 1,000 year-old town around it. The church in the middle looks as if it's a ferry crossing the water.

Day 2, Lake Bled, Bled, Slovinia

Day 5, Rijeka Central Market, Rijeka, Croatia

The market at Rijeka. A cathedral of fish.

Day 5, Rijeka Central Market, Rijeka, Croatia

Day 7, Diocletian's Palace, Split, Croatia

Diocletian's Palace, Split. The peristyle is the heart of these massive Roman remains. The black granite sphinx is pre-Christian and the white bell-tower, begun in the thirteenth century, wasn't finished until 1908.

Day 7, Diocletian's Palace, Split, Croatia

Day 13, Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Kamel Ratkusic shows me how Mostar, once the cosmopolitan heart of Herzegovina, is recovering from the destructive war of the 1990s.

Day 13, Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Day 15, The Kolar tunnel, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Inside a restored section of the tunnel. An average of 4,000 people used it each day for over two years.

Day 15, The Kolar tunnel, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Day 19, Stradun, Dubrovnik, Croatia

The fine limestone paved main street that runs the length of the old city. Always busy when the cruise ships are in.

Day 19, Stradun, Dubrovnik, Croatia

Day 23, Durrës, Albania

Looking like giant jellyfish washed ashore, a few of the 400,000 concrete bunkers put up to guard Albania during the Hoxha regime dot the beach at Durrës.

Day 23, Durrës, Albania

Day 24, Tirana, Albania

Politics with colours. How to brighten a drab city without spending too much money.

Day 24, Tirana, Albania

Day 24, Tirana, Albania

Edi Rama, artist-mayor of Tirana, shows me his 'therapeutic diary'.

Day 24, Tirana, Albania

Day 29, The Monastery of Treskavec, Prilep, North macedonia

In the Treskavec monastery above Prilep, with Brother Kalist. Behind us is the fourteenth-century Church of St Bogorodica. People walk miles to worship here.

Day 29, The Monastery of Treskavec, Prilep, North macedonia

Day 31, The White Brotherhood, Rila Mountains, Bulgaria

Mass paneurythmic dancing, the highlight of the year for the White Brotherhood.

Day 31, The White Brotherhood, Rila Mountains, Bulgaria

Day 33, Orthodox Icons, Sofia, Bulgaria

This is Orthodox country and icons abound in the streets near the Alexander Nevski Church in Sofia.

Day 33, Orthodox Icons, Sofia, Bulgaria

Day 37, The Selimiye Mosque, Edirne, Turkey

Dazzled in Edirne. With Selen in the Selimiye Cami mosque, masterpiece of the great Ottoman architect Sinan, who's buried in the grounds.

Day 37, The Selimiye Mosque, Edirne, Turkey

Day 38, Olive oil wrestling, Edirne, Turkey

Wrestlers in action. Buttocks can be used for leverage.

Day 38, Olive oil wrestling, Edirne, Turkey

Day 39, The Galata Bridge, Istanbul, Turkey

On the Galata Bridge, which crosses the Golden Horn. The poster, sponsored by Istanbul City Council, bears the words of Kemal Atatürk, founder of modern Turkey: 'Our most sacred duty is to keep the Republic alive'.

Day 39, The Galata Bridge, Istanbul, Turkey

Day 41, 25th Selçuk-Ephesus Camel-Wrestling Festival, Selçuk, Turkey

A simit-seller tempts the crowd with his bread rings coated in sesame seed.

Day 41, 25th Selçuk-Ephesus Camel-Wrestling Festival, Selçuk, Turkey

Day 43, The Valley of Love, Kayseri, Turkey

Among the extraordinarily eroded pillars of volcanic rock in what they call The Valley of Love. I can't think why.

Day 43, The Valley of Love, Kayseri, Turkey

Day 45, Ballooning over Cappadocia, Göreme, Turkey

A cold clear morning in Cappadocia. Perfect conditions for ballooning and a perfect way to see this uniquely weird landscape, highlighted by a blanket of freshly fallen snow.

Day 45, Ballooning over Cappadocia, Göreme, Turkey

Day 46, Supper with Olga and Helena, Gradişte, Moldova

Tucking into supper, Moldovan country style. Helena grows all her own vegetables, bakes her own bread and makes her own wine.

Day 46, Supper with Olga and Helena, Gradişte, Moldova

Day 50, Chişinău, Moldova

One of Moldova's favourite sons, Glebus Sainciuc (in the middle) with his son Lika in the studio where he makes faces.

Day 50, Chişinău, Moldova

Day 57, The Lumberjacks' Train, Maramureş, Romania

The lumberjacks' train climbs up one of the most isolated valleys of the north Romanian province of Maramures.

Day 57, The Lumberjacks' Train, Maramureş, Romania

Day 58, The 'Merry Cemetery', Săpânţa, Romania

Some of Stan Ion Patras' work in the 'Merry Cemetery' at Sapanta. Apart from anything else, a vibrant tapestry of local life.

Day 58, The 'Merry Cemetery', Săpânţa, Romania

Day 61, Bran Castle, Braşov, Romania

The soaring walls of Bran Castle, around which Bram Stoker built the Dracula myth.

Day 61, Bran Castle, Braşov, Romania

Day 61, Bran Castle, Braşov, Romania

Dracula schlock, on sale in the car park.

Day 61, Bran Castle, Braşov, Romania

Day 66, The Danube, Belgrade, Serbia

Motoring down the Danube. Braca Petrovic shows me that his amphibious Porsche can still cut the mustard.

Day 66, The Danube, Belgrade, Serbia

Day 71, The Gellért Spa, Budapest, Hungry

Epic entrance to the famous Gellért Spa. The therapeutic waters that emerge here have been an attraction since Roman times.

Day 71, The Gellért Spa, Budapest, Hungry

Day 74, The House of Terror, Budapest, Hungry

The House of Terror is full of striking theatrical effects, like this Soviet tank trapped beside a wall of victims' photos.

Day 74, The House of Terror, Budapest, Hungry

Day 78, Statue of Lenin, Yalta, Ukraine

Lenin still stands tall in the Crimea. Yalta's visitors take a break on the steps.

Day 78, Statue of Lenin, Yalta, Ukraine

Day 81, The Great Patriotic War Museum, Kiev, Ukraine

The Great Patriotic War Museum is full of heroic, and unexpectedly moving, Soviet statuary. Independent though Ukraine is now, no-one would ever suggest relocating them.

Day 81, The Great Patriotic War Museum, Kiev, Ukraine

Day 85, Concrete suitcases of Viinistu, Viinistu, Estonia

The concrete suitcases of Viinistu remind us of those who had to flee Estonia in the Second World War, including the man whose money created this arts complex.

Day 85, Concrete suitcases of Viinistu, Viinistu, Estonia

Day 85, The Hirudotherapy Clinic, Viinistu, Estonia

With three close friends, giving blood at the hirudotherapy clinic.

Day 85, The Hirudotherapy Clinic, Viinistu, Estonia

Day 88, Celebrating Jani in Latvia, Riga, Latvia

Celebrating Jani (the summer solstice) in the Latvian countryside. Spectacular effects of the hair tonic.

Day 88, Celebrating Jani in Latvia, Riga, Latvia

Day 90, The Ventspils Radio Telescope, Ventspils, Latvia

The Ventspils radio telescope, through which Soviet Russia listened to the world, was saved from destruction by a dedicated group of local scientists and engineers.

Day 90, The Ventspils Radio Telescope, Ventspils, Latvia

Day 90, The Ventspils Radio Telescope, Ventspils, Latvia

Remains of the revolution. Soviet murals at an abandoned community centre near the Ventspils telescope.

Day 90, The Ventspils Radio Telescope, Ventspils, Latvia

Day 91, Brezhnev's Villa, Palanga, Lithuania

The Baltic shore from the back of Communist leader Brezhnev's villa at Palanga, Lithuania.

Day 91, Brezhnev's Villa, Palanga, Lithuania

Day 91, The Hill of Crosses, Palanga, Lithuania

The Hill of Crosses, symbol of Lithuanian freedom.

Day 91, The Hill of Crosses, Palanga, Lithuania

Day 95, National Day, Kaliningrad, Russia

Knights in shining armour at the jousting contest, the fiery finale of National Day.

Day 95, National Day, Kaliningrad, Russia

Day 97, The Gdańsk Shipyards, Gdańsk, Poland

The Gdańsk Shipyards, where Lech Walesa worked, are still in business, but only just. Behind me and Andrej, the general manager, their last big contract takes shape.

Day 97, The Gdańsk Shipyards, Gdańsk, Poland

Day 102, Jasna Góra Monastery, Częstochowa, Poland

A sumptuous Baroque chapel at Jasna Góra monastery, under whose roof is the Black Madonna, symbol of Polish independence.

Day 102, Jasna Góra Monastery, Częstochowa, Poland

Day 104, Auschwitz II-Birkenau, Oświęcim, Poland

At Auschwitz II-Birkenau the railway became a murder weapon. Flowers on the line with the gatehouse in the background.

Day 104, Auschwitz II-Birkenau, Oświęcim, Poland

Day 108, High Tatra Mountains, Tatra Mountains, Slovakia

Arriving in Slovakia in style. The compact, but breathtaking, High Tatra Mountains. The snow-filled valley leads down to the Slovakian plain.

Day 108, High Tatra Mountains, Tatra Mountains, Slovakia

Day 111, The Old Town Square, Prague, Czech Republic

The magnificence of Prague. The Old Town Square, dominated by the 260-foot twin towers of the Church of Our Lady before Týn. Once associated with the reform movement of Jan Hus, it was taken over by the Jesuits in the seventeenth century.

Day 111, The Old Town Square, Prague, Czech Republic

Day 117, Meissen's Duravit Factory, Meissen, Germany

Looking into it. State of the art lavatory production line at Meissen.

Day 117, Meissen's Duravit Factory, Meissen, Germany

Day 122, Douglas DC-3 Airliner, Prora, Germany

A DC-3, used in the Berlin airlift of 1948, flies me over Rügen Island. Running along the shore below me is Prora, Hitler's dream of a holiday camp for the Third Reich. It's just too big for anyone to know what to do with it.

Day 122, Douglas DC-3 Airliner, Prora, Germany

Day 123, The Baltic Sea, Stralsund, Germany

Journey's end, by the Baltic Sea, full of hope. Could this be the time when a new Europe of co-operation replaces an old Europe of conflict?

Day 123, The Baltic Sea, Stralsund, Germany

While every effort has been made to trace copyright holders of content included within this gallery, if any have inadvertently been overlooked, themichaelpalin.com will be pleased to acknowledge them.

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