Exploring cultures and communities – the slow way

Hidden europe reflects on the suitability of the term Baltic states for describing Latvia, Lituania and Estonia

article summary —

In the last issue of hidden europe, we parenthetically commented on the common misconceptions held by visitors to Georgia in the Caucasus. They often expect to find all things Russian. A mistake of course, yet many western European visitors to eastern Europe consistently fail to discriminate the mix of cultures, peoples and landscapes that make up the eastern portion of our continent. Fully two thirds or more of Europe's land area lies to the east of the old Iron Curtain, and yet our collective perception of Europe is strangely distorted by a travel industry that seems not to have heard of most of the continent. Western visitors may have discovered Kraków in their millions, but they still fail to appreciate that Kyjiv and Kazan are as different from each other as Birmingham and Bilbao.


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About the authors

hidden europe

and manage hidden europe, a Berlin-based editorial bureau that supplies text and images to media across Europe. Together they edit hidden europe magazine. Nicky and Susanne are dedicated slow travellers. They delight in discovering the exotic in the everyday.

This article was published in hidden europe 4.