|
|
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Irish writer travels solo through former Soviet republic., 9 Jan 1999
By A Customer
Mary Russell is a travel writer. In 1989, she put her bike on the train at the Hook of Holland, in the Nederlands, and spent two days travelling across Europe to Moscow. There, she transferred to the train going down to Tbilisi, the capital of what was then the Soviet Republic of Georgia, and spent another two days chugging southwards, skirting the Caucasus and the Black Sea. Getting a visa had taken nearly and year and it was granted on condition she stayed with a named family. This she did - more or less - but also spent as much tme as she could travelling through Georgia and meeting local people. Her arrival coincided with the first anniversary of the night on which Russian tanks had trundled into Tbilisi to break up a peaceful, prodemocracy vigil. The city streets were strewn with red carnations, in memory of the people who had died the previous year. On the anniversary, another vigil was held, the city was thronged with people and at 4am, the time when the Russians tanks had fired on the crowd, the city lights dimmed and a thousand candles lit up the square.... Georgians love wine, women and song - in any order and their polyphonic singing is unique. So is their wine. To celebrate Easter, the author travelled with a out into the country to spend the weekend with farming people. There was dancing on the tables - daggers held between clenched teeth - wine was pulled up from earthenware bottles sunk into the ground, champagne was drunk, followed by home-brewed brandy. There were visits to the local cemetery to remember the dead. But Georgia was not all drinking and dancing. This is the home of Stalin and the author visited his strange birthplace - a humble two-roomed cottage now encircled by a large, opulent mausoleum. Stalin was the poor boy who made it to the big city though in Moscow he was mocked for his "uncouth" Georgian accent. The climate in Georgia is both subtropical and Mediterranean and cycling through it was a joy. It was also difficult. The Soviet system did not allow for individuals to indulge their interests and certainly frowned on lone females travelling round the countyside on their own. " Who will be responsible for you" asked an uncomprehending official. " Me?" replied the author. Georgia is the land where Jason found the Golden Fleece and Mary Russell travelled there originally in order to investigate the legend of Medea - the woman who helped Jason and whom he then married. Once there, she found a country full of history, of fascinating architecture, of beautiful women, of gallant men. She also found a people who hated the Russians, a volatile people who - when civil war broke out, did more damage to themselves than their own enemy had ever managed to.
|
With an Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificate, you can get them what they want (even if you don't know what that is). 
Amazon Home
