Zephyr's Guestbook

Edinburgh Castle
What a magic view. I will post some of your pics in TB's "Palaces & Castles" thread in the Photography Forum. Check 'em out. DD

Excellent article
Last year I was also lucky enough to visit this interesting place. Pripyat generally carries such a powerful atmosphere and energy that you will not feel anywhere else in the world. But the information I took, alas, not from you, but on a specialized resource https://chernobyl.org.uk/. The presentation of information there, as for me, is a little more interesting, but I also read your article with pleasure.

From 1914
If I get the Roman numbers tight the building was erected in 1914. I was hoping that it is a historical pub but it seems it isn't. I guess I still want to see it next time I go to London. /Ake

Hongcun
When I saw the pics and proximity to Huangshan I checked my Faces of Ahhui blog to see if it was the small village of Cheng Kan we visited but there were sufficient differences so I conclude it was not. However your blog reminded me of the myriad of intimate experiences and windows on life that can open up when visiting small rural villages in China. Hongcun appears to be one of them.

the Bridge of Knowing the Fish
This blog brings back such fabulous memories...walking across Lake Kunming and sliding through powder snow on my first visit, with the ice cracking under our feet with sounds like stockwhips cracking on my second...and entering by a back gate with a friend on my third who used to visit it at night with his mates when he was a child...avoiding guard dogs that often caused them to flee. So many sights...different each time...just like your latest visit you describe so well. And thanks for the details of the sites, bridges, temples & hall names...each conjuring ethereal images of the Emperors at business and leisure. Great blog.

Fragrant Hills
This was also on my list of places to visit in Beijing but unlike your colours of autumn visit ours was in heavy snow somewhat limiting walking or trekking. Yet it is one of our special memories that I have included in my CHINA...Travels with a Rickshaw Driver blog. We planned to visit many of the temples as you seemed to have but we ended up spending the whole day at Biyun Si (Biyuan Temple) and a peasant restaurant nearby. I love the way we may visit the same places as others but have different experiences. It seems from your description that you shared the Fragrant Hills with hordes while we with just a handful. Loved your pics. Autumn looks like a beautiful time to visit there. Maybe that's why the Emperors liked it so.

Yuanmingyuan...evidence of a Chinese tragedy
This is one of the sites in China that moved Denise & I the most. As I recall in the Opium Wars the European & American armies gave the Chinese a choice that resulted in the Forbidden City being saved and Yuanmingyuan being destroyed. When we were there, just before the Beijing Olympics, there were signs that the Chinese had left the smashed pieces and debris of the marble Grecian and Euro style palaces in their destroyed state as a reminder to the Chinese people of this national tragedy. That is our lasting memory. Was that made evident to you on your visit?

Confucian Temple
Your blog brings back great memories of Qufu that was a must visit on my self-planned second China trip in 2006. The highlight of the Confucian Temple were the Han Dynasty Stone Tablets found in a couple of locked pavilions in the out of the way ancient kitchen areas off to the right side of the complex. They were pictorials of medical issues, ball games, village life, chariots & ors that were stacked like dominoes and not on display. A defective lock let us slip in. An Emperor made the Confucian Temple a Repository for Han Stone Tablets from all over China centuries ago and they were then forgotten. They were highlights of our China trip. I asked a professor why they were not on display and his reply has stuck with me ever since: "Were they inlaid with gold?" "No." "China has so many treasures...it is hard to choose which to put on display".

Transnistria
I've been curious about Transnistria for a little while now. We considered doing this a from Bucharest to Odessa via Transnistria, but ran out of time on that trip. Which company are you travelling with? By the way I'll have to look up Abkhazia, South Ossetia, and Nagorno-Karabakh! It's kinda cute how all the 'rebel' countries are sticking together :) Cheers, Ren

It was interesting to read about your visit to Veliko Tarnovo. I had thought it was a relatively small village, but from your photos I can see it was much larger than I thought. I liked the one wall mural from the Ulitsa General Gurko, but otherwise the town seems a little monochromatic but it looks like winter or early spring while you were there. I guess I might have been expecting to see something more akin to Koprivshtitsa's bright house colors. Thanks for posting these great photos!

Beautiful
This church looks so serene and beautiful despite the weather... or maybe because of the weather :) I liked the sound of the Chernobyl museum too.