PATTERNS OF EAST EUROPEAN SETTLEMENT...

YOU HAVE PROBABALY NOTICED THAT MANY EASTERN EUROPEAN CITIES HAVE SIMILAR LAYOUTS...AND EVEN SIMILAR HISTORIES...

LET'S GENERALIZE...A BIT...

YOUR CITY IS LOCATE ON A MAJOR RIVER...PREFERABLY AT SOME IMPORTANT SPOT...PERHAPS JUST DOWN STREAM FROM THE JUNCTION OF TWO LARGE BRANCHES...(GREAT FOR TAXING PEOPLE PASSING BY...!)

YOU BUILD ON THE WEST SIDE OF THE RIVER...SINCE MOST OF YOUR "ENEMIES" ARE COMING OUT OF ASIA...AND MAKING THEM CROSS THE RIVER TO GET AT YOU... PROVIDES A NICE "FIRST DEFENSE"....SORT OF A "NATURAL MOOT."

YOU LOOK FOR THE HIGHEST GROUND....THEN BUILD A CASTLE OR FORTRESS THERE...A SIMPLE WOOD STOCKADE WILL DO TO START.

YOU ALSO PUT YOUR MAJOR CHURCHES AND GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS IN THIS HIGH GROUND FORT...AND PERHAPS HAVE AN "OLD" MARKET SQUARE AS WELL...

THEN...YOU WALL IT ALL IN....

THERE IS A SMALL SUPPORT SETTLEMENT ...JUST OUTSIDE OF THE WALLS ...WHICH EVENTUALLY BECOMES "OLD TOWN"... SOMETIMES A BRIDGE IS NEEDED TO GET TO THIS OLD TOWN...SOMETIMES NOT.

EVENTUALLY, THERE IS ANOTHER NEWER SECTION ...THAT BECOMES "NEW TOWN..."

THERE ARE DISTRICTS IN THE NEW TOWN FOR DIFFERENT "TRADES"...AND OF COURSE ONE OR MORE "NEW MARKET SQUARES" FOR COMMERCE AND FAIRS....OFTEN THESE "MARKETS" ARE LOCATED NEXT TO THE CATHEDRAL OR A LARGE CHURCH OR OTHER PUBLIC BUILDING...EITHER INSIDE THE WALLED PART OF THE CITY...OR PERHAPS IN THE NEW TOWN "TRADES" AREA...

YOU HAVE A NEARBY GHETTO FOR JEWISH RESIDENTS...

GOOD EXAMPLES OF THIS TYPE OF MEDEIVEL "CITY PLANNING"...ARE MOSCOW...SMOLENSK...KIEV...KRAKOW...PRAGUE...
WARSAW...AND BUDAPEST... ET AL...

ALL HAVE SOME VARIATION OF THIS MEDEIVEL "CITY PLANNING" ....

.....

OK...NOW FAST FORWARD...TO MODERN TIMES...

AFTER THE CITY WALL IS TORN DOWN...YOU HAVE

1. A RING ROAD...! VERY MODERN DEVICE FOR TODAY'S URBAN TRAFFIC...BUDAPEST, MOSCOW ARE EXAMPLES...

2. A PARK THAT RINGS THE OLD SECTION...AS IN KRAKOW

3. A COMBO OF PARK AND BOULEVARD...SEE MOSCOW...

THE OLD TOWN BECOMES A TOURIST ATTRACTION... AND THE NEW TOWN BECOMES COMMERICAL...HOTELS, BARS, DISCOS...RESTAURANTS...MUSEUMS AND THEATERS...

THE NEWER SUBURBS FILL UP WITH MASSIVE APARTMENT BLOCKS...MOSTLY "STALINIST" ...OR OTHERWISE DEPRESSING...

AND FINALLY... IT'S ALL CONNECTED UP BY THE METRO SYSTEM...

NOTE THAT SAINT PETERSBURG IS AN EXCEPTION TO THIS PATTERN ...AS PETER THE GREAT STARTED THE "NEW TOWN" FROM SCRATCH...WHICH BY THE WAY ...SOMETHING SIMILAR WAS WAS DONE IN POLAND BY A FAMOUS POLISH NOBLEMAN A BIT BEFORE PETER'S REIGN...

SO WAS PETER MORE INFLUENCED BY THE SITUATION IN POLAND...? OR BY HIS FAMOUS "GRAND TOUR" OF WESTERN EUROPE....? OR WAS HE JUST TRYING TO AGGRAVATE THE KING OF SWEDEN...AS MANY PEOPLE THINK TODAY?

I THINK THAT RUSSIANS AT THAT TIME SAW THE WESTERN WORLD THROUGH THE "PRISM" OF POLAND...EVEN THOUGH POLAND WAS "THE ENEMY" MOST OF TIME...

RUSSIAN HISTORY SIMPLY MUST BE UNDERSTOOD AS CONNECTED TO THE HISTORY OF WESTERN EUROPEAN "CATHOLIC" SLAVS...LIKE THE POLES , SLOVAKS, CROATS, CZHEKS AND OTHERS IN THE NON-ORTHODOX PART OF EUROPE...

BOOKING HOSTELS IN EASTERN EUROPE...

THERE ARE MANY HOSTELS AVAILABLE IN EASTERN EUROPE...

IT WOULD PROBABLY BE A GOOD IDEA TO "JOIN" THE "HOSTELS INTERNATIONAL" AND GET THEIR CARD...JUST IN CASE YOU ARE ASKED FOR IT BY THE HOSTEL TO SHOW SOME KIND PROOF OF MEMBERSHIP... ALTHOUGH MEMBERSHIP IS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE NEEDED...?

BESIDES...THE CARD IS CHEAP...ABOUT $28 PER YEAR IN THE US...

YOU CAN BUY THE "PACKET" FROM MANY TRAVEL AGENTS...WHO SELL THESE MEMBERSHIPS...

THEN YOU SIMPLY REGISTER YOUR CARD ON-LINE... SO YOU'RE "LEGAL"....

NOTE THAT YOU ARE OFFERED SOME "FREE" INSURANCE WITH MEMBERSHIP...SO A NAME AND ADDRESS AND PHONE OF YOUR "BENEFICIARY" WILL BE NEEDED...WHEN FINALIZING YOUR MEMBERSHIP.

HOSTELS ARE A GOOD FALL BACK POSITION WHEN TRAVELING...

MANY OFFER SINGLE ROOMS AT A FAIRLY CHEAP PRICE...IF YOU WANT TO AVOID THE "DORM" SLEEPING ARRANGEMENTS...

WHICH CAN BE PROBLEMATIC IN SOME CASES...BUT ARE USUALLY OK...

KRACOW LIFE...

CHECK OUT THE APARTMENT AND HOTEL SECTION...

BOOKING HOTELS AND HOSTELS AT LONELY PLANET.

ANOTHER POSSIBILITY...

GOING BY TRAIN FROM GERMANY TO EASTERN EUROPE?

THE TICKET OUT OF GERMANY CAN BE EXPENSIVE UNLESS YOU SHOP AROUND...

SEAT 61 IS A HUGE SITE ABOUT EUROPEAN TRAINS

THIS IS A LARGE AND CONFUSING SITE...BUT IT SEEMS TO COVER MOST ASPECTS OF EUROPEAN TRAIN TRAVEL... WITH SOME INTERESTING SUGGESTIONS AND ITINERARIES....

BUDAPEST TIMES ON LINE EDITION

NEWS AND REVIEWS IN ENGLISH FOR THE EXPAT COMMUNITY.