Innovation vs. imitation

Summary

We are great fans of quirky museums. The Museum of Plagiarism in the German town of Solingen is definitely worth a visit.

hidden europe 21 / Snippet / By hidden europe

We must admit to not being very assiduous at visiting museums and taking in the traditional ‘sights' mentioned in guidebooks. But every now and again some truly oddball museum catches our attention. You may feel that a visit to the Louvre is not a necessary part of a stay in Paris, but if you are travelling through the Rhine-Ruhr area of Germany don't miss the Museum of Plagiarism in Solingen.

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Editorial hidden europe 21
Editorial

By hidden europe

Welcome to hidden europe 21. This issue of the travel magazine features Russia's Kaliningrad exclave, Atarazanas market in Málaga, camps of migrants from Africa in Malta, Moldova, the River Thames and more.

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From Prussia to Russia: Kaliningrad
Feature

By Nicky Gardner

With the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the Baltic port of Kaliningrad found itself strangely isolated from the rest of Russia. Hemmed in by the European Union, the city of Kaliningrad is rethinking its role in the modern world. It is a remarkable city in a remarkable region.

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Atarazanas Market, Málaga
Feature

By Theresa O'Shea

"Tear it down," shouted the reformers who wanted to modernise Málaga in the mid-nineteenth century. But fortunately the old Atarazanas, once a shipyard, survived and in 1879 it opened as a public market - a focal point for Málaga life.

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Maltese arrivals
Feature

By Nicky Gardner

Away from the glitz of the tourist resorts, tucked away on the south coast of Malta, are the refugee camps that house migrants from Africa. The men and women who live in the camps are constantly reminded that there is no space for them on the island.

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Both sides of the Dniester: Moldova
Feature

By Laurence Mitchell

Moldova is a small, landlocked territory that is more than just beetroot and babushki. We explore the capital, Chisinau, and take a look at Tiraspol, the city that heads up the secessionist Transnistria area.

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Rediscovering our rivers: The Thames experience
Capital moments

By Nicky Gardner

London has rediscovered its river as the Thames develops into a low-carbon highway through the very heart of the city. The 'sweet Thames', which TS Eliot mourned as being the preserve of rats and rattling bones, is regaining its former vitality. Even commuters travel to work by boat these days.

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Rotor heaven: Europe's helicopter links
Flightscan

By Nicky Gardner

We take a look at commercial helicopter routes around Europe, both past and present. There are areas in Europe where helicopter services are still very much a part of the regular transport network. Examples include the Faroe Islands, the Scilly Isles, Isole Tremiti in the Adriatic and the Gulf of Finland.

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Travellers' tales
People

By Nicky Gardner

The tale of three men, each of whom took a very unconventional approach to travelling around Europe.

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The Via Sacra
Routes

By Nicky Gardner

The Via Sacra is an inspired initiative that foregrounds the religious heritage of a particularly beautiful part of central Europe - the area where Bohemia (Czech Republic), Polish Silesia and the German State of Saxony converge.

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National tipples
Consuming matters

By Nicky Gardner

When did you last see a bottle of Unicum for sale outside Hungary? We try out a few drinks that are inexorably associated with a particular region: from Kvint to kvass, from Irn-Bru to Almdudler.

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A town united: Valga / Valka
Borderpost

By Neil Taylor

The Estonian half of the town is called Valga and the Latvian side Valka. During the days of the Soviet Union, Moscow imposed a civic unity on the dual community. Now, with the extension of the Schengen area to include the Baltic States, that unity has returned.

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In praise of limestone
Words

By Nicky Gardner

A new edition of Helen Martin's book on the Lot region of southwest France is much to be welcomed. Textured prose that nicely evokes a sense of the region's limestone landscapes. Get a flavour of this new edition.

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Border traffic
Snippet

By hidden europe

A note from the remote border region on the Barents Sea coast where Russia and Norway share a common frontier.

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Restaurante Los Pueblos
Snippet

By Theresa O'Shea

We look inside one of the traditional Andalucian restaurants that does a roaring lunchtime trade in Málaga.

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Hidden europe 21: threads
Threads

A chance to pick up the threads of earlier issues of hidden europe. From chess boxing to the knotty question of what folk from the Greek island of Lesbos should call themselves. Lesbians, perhaps?

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Innovation vs. imitation
Snippet

By hidden europe

We are great fans of quirky museums. The Museum of Plagiarism in the German town of Solingen is definitely worth a visit.

Read on
Harefares or hare-brained
Snippet

By hidden europe

Route indexing services seem to be all the rage with many new websites offering advice on who flies where, and each claiming to be better than its rivals. Harefares invited us to cast an eye over their website, which they claim is the most complete for the continent. It turned out to be sorely wanting.

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The exotic Baltic
Snippet

By hidden europe

The best chicken soup this side of the Volga? Look to a Kazakh restaurant in Vilnius! The Baltic States are not just meat and potato country. You'll find exotic restaurants aplenty from Uzbek to Armenian, Georgian to Azeri.

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Preview hidden europe 22
Preview

By hidden europe

A look ahead at hidden europe 22

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hidden europe 21

Innovation vs. imitation

Summary

Editorial

Feature

Feature

Feature

Feature

Capital moments

Flightscan

People

Routes

Consuming matters

Borderpost

Words

Snippet

Snippet

Threads

Snippet

Snippet

Snippet

Preview

Rivers of memory: Wrocław

Wrong turn at Koblenz: the Moselle valley

The City by the Elbe: Torgau and the Reformation