Iron addled my brains, in a good way....

The “Iron Curtain” was a figure of speech used by Winston Churchill (well, actually Joseph Goebbels, but let us not indulge in nitpicking), to describe the parting of ways between the communist bloc of eastern European nations from their western counterparts. Apart from the political and military differentiation, something else happened, something which has resulted in something good for all of us visiting Europe post the communist meltdown. These newly capitalist nations have developed slightly differently from their western buddies. They retain their mysticism, unlike the crass commercialization in France and Italy. Also, there is an aura attached to these nations, one of adventure, mainly because they were largely inaccessible to tourists only a decade and a half back. I, happened to visit a few of these countries and I was fascinated. The people are friendlier than the rest of Europe, and not nearly as anal.
The countries I toured were Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia and Poland… And of course, Berlin, from East Germany, formerly the GDR. Prague is by far the most beautiful city in the whole of Europe, Budapest the grimiest and liveliest, Bratislava the cheapest and quirkiest, Ljubljana the cutest, and Krakow and Zakopane with the most history and adventure in them, respectively. And of course, Berlin has its wickedness to cash for. The point is, each of these cities has a lot of character, and somehow are stuck between the principles of socialism, and the good life that the newly found capitalist way of life offers. Amazing experiences each one of them, including the road trip to Poland in an Opel Zafira, they have certainly modified my “30 things to do before 30”.

There is a voice ringing in my head right now…. “Must visit Russia, must visit Ukraine, must visit Belarus, must visit all the other SSR countries….”… should I? Or rather can I?