Pleasure or pain

Summary

The notion of privation as conductive to more virtuous travel seems alien to the modern mind. Today's travellers search for five-star luxury and often look for a higher level of food, lodging and service that they experience at home. Travel has become a way of exerting economic power and negotiating privilege. But it was not always thus.

hidden europe 47 / Snippet / By hidden europe

The tale of Britain’s bothies recalls a wider debate about pain versus pleasure in travel. The idea that eschewing comfort makes for a better experience is deeply ingrained in the literature of travel. The mediaeval xenodochium, a wayside hostel for pilgrims, was hardly a comfy place. Many writers saw journeys as metaphors for spiritual progress. If the Desert Fathers could survive with few creature comforts why should devout pilgrims expect more?

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Editorial hidden europe 47
Editorial

By hidden europe

Welcome to the 47th issue of hidden europe magazine. In this issue we visit Geneva, explore villages in Transylvania, take the train from Zagreb to Sarajevo and take a look at the Berlin suburb of Marienfelde. All that and much more besides.

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The Saxon villages of Transylvania
Feature

By Rudolf Abraham

In just a few years at the end of the last century, the majority of the Saxons of Transylvania moved away from the village where their families had lived for over 500 years. Rudolf Abraham visited Romania to learn what has become of the Saxon villages of the Carpathian region.

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More than just Calvin: the Geneva story
Feature

By Nicky Gardner

We take a look at a European city which has often styled itself as a place of refuge. Geneva has long taken a stand on human rights. So join us as we explore the many sides of Geneva, the Swiss city that turns out to have impeccable radical credentials.

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Portrait of a Berlin suburb: Marienfelde
Feature

By Nicky Gardner

Refugees are the issue of the season in Germany. A suburb in the south of Berlin, very close to where hidden europe is published, has an illustrious history in welcoming refugees. We take a walk around Marienfelde, where none of the streets are paved with gold, but for over half a century new arrivals have been treated with dignity and respect.

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Eastern connections: rail links through Ukraine
Feature

By Nicky Gardner

At a very practical level, the difficult relations between Russia and Ukraine - and in particular their competing interests in Crimea - is playing itself out in train timetables. No trains have run from Ukraine's Kherson Oblast into Crimea for almost a year now. But the effects of the conflict have been felt much further afield, with rail services from Moscow to the Balkans being disrupted.

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Slow train to Sarajevo
Routes

By Nicky Gardner

Twenty years ago this autumn, the Dayton Peace Accord brought a measure of peace to Bosnia and Herzegovina. Join us as we take the train from Zagreb to Sarajevo, travelling through a region which still bears the scars of war.

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In from the cold: Britain’s mountain bothies
Bookmark

A new book by Phoebe Smith celebrates the simple British bothy. It appears as the Mountain Bothies Association marks 50 years of work looking after the bothy network which is so valued by hikers in the mountains of northern England, Scotland and Wales.

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The makings of a city
Cityscapes

By Nicky Gardner

'Skylines' is a book to make you think. This new title by travel writers Yolanda Zappaterra and Jan Fuscoe is a celebration of the iconic buildings which shape the skylines of some of the world's most interesting cities. We take a look at the European skylines which fearture in this new book published by Aurum Press.

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The walnut forests of Arslanbob
Europe beyond Europe

By Laurence Mitchell

We mark ten years of contributions to hidden europe by Laurence Mitchell with an article which comes from well beyond the borders of Europe. Join Laurence as he explores the walnut forests of Arslanbob in Kyrgyzstan.

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No space for Marx
Special spaces

By Nicky Gardner

A mock Greek temple on a bluff above the River Danube turns out to be a good spot to reflect on what it means to be German. Walhalla is a national hall of fame - a sort of Bavarian version of the Panthéon in Paris.

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The spine of Russia
Connections

By Nicky Gardner

Mikhail Mordasov is a very talented Russian photographer. Paul Richardson is a translator and writer who knows Russia well. When Mikhail and Paul decided to create a book from a long road trip across Russia, we knew something good was in the offing. Discover the Spine of Russia project.

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All change at Westbahnhof
Hidden histories

By Duncan JD Smith

Big changes are afoot at the Westbahnhof in Vienna, a station which these past months has seen crowds of refugees from Syria and elsewhere. Vienna-based writer Duncan JD Smith takes a look at how the station has changed over the years.

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Pleasure or pain
Snippet

By hidden europe

The notion of privation as conductive to more virtuous travel seems alien to the modern mind. Today's travellers search for five-star luxury and often look for a higher level of food, lodging and service that they experience at home. Travel has become a way of exerting economic power and negotiating privilege. But it was not always thus.

Read on
Mennonite migrants
Snippet

By hidden europe

Over 100,000 migrants left Kyrgyzstan in the 1990s, a good number moving to Germany. Many of them were descended from Mennonites who over a century earlier had walked from the steppes of southern Russia to Kyrgyzstan.

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Keeping track
Snippet

By hidden europe

It is that time of year when Europe prepares to introduce new train timetables. The 2016 schedules come into effect on Sunday 13 December 2015. As usual, there are winners and losers. We look at some new services.

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Ukrainian-Russian links
Snippet

By hidden europe

The tit-for-tat posturing between Ukraine and Russia benefits no-one trying to travel to and from Crimea - or for that matter anywhere in the border regions between the two countries. In late October 2015, air links between Russia and Ukraine were severed.

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Preview hidden europe 48
Preview

By hidden europe

A look ahead at hidden europe 48 which will be published on 15 March 2016.

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hidden europe 47

Pleasure or pain

Summary

Editorial

Feature

Feature

Feature

Feature

Routes

Bookmark

Cityscapes

Europe beyond Europe

Special spaces

Connections

Hidden histories

Snippet

Snippet

Snippet

Snippet

Preview

On Butterflies and Literature: Following Nabokov into the Swiss hills

Pure theatre: homage to Lake Lucerne

Wrong turn at Koblenz: the Moselle valley