hidden europe 30

In this issue of hidden europe magazine we visit the painted monasteries of southern Bukovina, explore Iceland's eastern fjords, delve into subterranean Budapest, think about rail privatisation and report about a Kurdish TV station in Belgium.

Picture above: Bratislava, Slovakia (photo © Jozef Sedmak / dreamstime.com)

Summary

In this issue of hidden europe magazine we visit the painted monasteries of southern Bukovina, explore Iceland's eastern fjords, delve into subterranean Budapest, think about rail privatisation and report about a Kurdish TV station in Belgium.

Editorial hidden europe 30

Welcome to hidden europe 30! In this issue of hidden europe magazine we visit the painted monasteries of Rumania, explore Iceland's eastern fjords, delve into subterranean Budapest, think about rail privatisation and discover York's Quaker community.

Flanders: good evening Denderleeuw

The homeland of the Kurdish people is bisected by many international frontiers. But Kurds in Syria, Iraq, Turkey and beyond are united by their affection for a TV station that broadcasts news and entertainment to the Kurdish people. Karlos Zurutuza, a regular contributor to hidden europe, visits the small town in Flanders (Belgium) where Roj TV is based.

On a wing and a prayer

Are we too tolerant of the aggressive new generation of low-cost airlines that are too footloose to show any real commitment to a particular airport? We look at some examples of community support for local airports that has not always reaped handsome dividends.

Slovakia: a foray into modernism

Slovakia boasts some of the finest modernist architecture anywhere in Europe, though you would hardly know it from the guidebooks. There is something distinctly Slovakian about these buildings which, during the years that Slovakia was linked to the Czech Republic, became a quiet assertion of national identity.

Disquiet in Kaliningrad

Is it no wonder that citizens of Russia's Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad are feeling a little jittery these days? Kaliningrad's inhabitants feel that they are a long way from Moscow, and also increasingly distant from the European Union countries that border onto the Russian exclave.

Painted churches

The UNESCO World Heritage List features many ornately decorated churches across Europe. The List includes the painted monasteries of southern Bukovina (described elsewhere in this issue), as well as murals on churches in Switzerland, Bulgaria and Germany - not to mention the fabulous painted churches of the Troodos Mountains in Cyprus.

A Russian diversion

The Imperial Russian Standard, with the double-headed eagle so intimately associated with the Romanovs, still hangs in the living room of a wooden lodge on the bank of a river in southern Finland. We visit the former holiday home of the Russian tsars.

An immortal mortar

It is a little known fact that the entire course of European history has been shaped by mortars and pestles. We unravel a little tale from Venice that highlights why the mortar deserves pride of place in any good culinary armamentarium.