Finally, after I have been earning
whole the summer for this trip, I am leaving today, Friday 29th of August, on
my trip to Northeastern Europe.
These days, the Ukrainian crisis is
aggravating hour by hour and the relations between Europe and Russia are at
the 25 years low, which is exactly why I chose to go to this region where the
West borders the East.
Given their historical, geographic,
demographic and economic characteristics, I assume that the Polish, Baltic and
Finnish people feel much more anxious than we Central Europeans do about the current
development.
I also expect that the Russians in Saint Petersburg will give an entirely different perspective of what is going on. I admit that their country’s behavior now seems to be quite difficult for me to justify, but that's why I am very curious about what they are going to say for themselves.
I also expect that the Russians in Saint Petersburg will give an entirely different perspective of what is going on. I admit that their country’s behavior now seems to be quite difficult for me to justify, but that's why I am very curious about what they are going to say for themselves.
My mantra for this trip is not to
judge, but rather to find understanding, which is something the West and Russia
are unfortunately very reluctant to try nowadays.
The itinerary of my journey is
(approximately):
30th of August to
1st of September: Warsaw
2nd to 4th of
September: Vilnius
4th to 6th of
September: Riga
6th to 8th of
September: Tallinn
9th to 14th: Saint
Petersburg
14th to 17th: Finland
17th of September is the end of my
trip and I am flying back home to Prague.
I hope that I will get the
opportunity to write an interesting story from each country I visit. And also
that when I come back, I will be a little more educated about what is going on
today in Europe.
