Shared High Points

Summary

Germany makes much of its highest mountain, the mighty Zugspitze. The frontier between Austria and Germany bisects the mountain. But in Austria, the Zugspitze hardly counts as a significant peak. We look at the phenomenon of shared summits.

hidden europe 58 / Snippet / By hidden europe

We note on page 21 of this issue that many European high points are in fact shared summits, ie. the mountain straddles an international frontier. So in Georgia, Shkhara (5,193 metres) is the highest summit. But the mountain is not wholly Georgian. The north face is in the Kabardino- Balkar Republic, part of the Russian Federation. For the latter, however, it breaks no records since Mount Elbrus (5,642 metres) is significantly higher.

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Editorial hidden europe 58
Editorial

By hidden europe

If good writing makes the reader think, even if she or he might wholly disagree with the authorial view, then a fine purpose is well served. So see what you make of our words in this new issue of hidden europe where the dominant theme is place and identity.

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The Art of Drystone Walling
Feature

By Rudolf Abraham

With the art of drystone walling recognised by UNESCO as part of Europe's cultural heritage, communities across the continent are now seeing these traditional walled boundaries in a new light. Rudolf Abraham has gone in search of drystone wall specialists from France to Slovenia and beyond.

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A Walk in Grumsin: The Forest and the German Imagination
Feature

By Paul Scraton

In Germany, the forest has inspired literature and art. Great stretches of woodland have fired the German imagination - no, surprise, perhaps in a country where forests figure prominently in the national narrative. Berlin-based author Paul Scraton heads off into the German woods.

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Romania: The Return of Oină
Feature

By Emma Levine

Romania's national sport is called oină - and it's enjoying a happy revival as teams across the country are rediscovering a sport which is peculiar to Romania and Moldova. Emma Levine heads off in search of a sport that some suggest could well have served as a model for baseball in the United States.

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Baltic Connections: Creating a New Railway for the Baltic States
Feature

By Nicky Gardner

"A new railway for a new era" - that's the claim for the new Rail Baltica route from Warsaw to Tallinn and in course even to Helsinki. But is the train tainted in the Baltic imagination? In a region where most travellers have taken to the roads, will it be possible to tempt passengers back on the train?

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Tides of Fortune: The Fate of Seaside Resorts
Places

By Nicky Gardner

The Baltic resorts of Rügen have star appeal as does the German island of Sylt. In Sweden and France too, seaside resorts are enduringly popular. But whatever happened in England? We look at the rise and fall of the seaside.

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The Highs and Lows of Travel: Summit Bagging Reconsidered
Perspective

By Nicky Gardner

The highest points of Luxembourg, Moldova and Belarus don't feature on any lists of Europe's greatest mountains. Nicky Gardner reflects on the enduring appeal of the summit, and asks whether the lowest points in different countries might also warrant a detour. In Norway, it's possible to drive to 287 metres below sea level.

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The Taste of Yellow: Wines of the Jura
Consuming matters

By Nicky Gardner

Could you imagine paying more than €100,000 for a bottle of wine? Not any bottle of wine, but a bottle of vin jaune (yellow wine) from the French Jura. And a wine that was made before the French Revolution. We discover a French rarity that takes decades to reach maturity.

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The Tribes of Galway
Special spaces

By Nicky Gardner

We take the pulse of early evening ceol and craic on the streets of the Irish city of Galway - where a dozen families dominated the mercantile and social life of the city for centuries. These families are often known as the tribes of Galway.

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The Guidebook Revolution: Transforming Dreams into Reality since 1969
Off limits

By Nicky Gardner

Guidebooks gather your dreams and help turn them into reality. And that's just what the English publisher Cicerone has been doing for half a century. From modest beginnings, providing guides to walks, scrambles and climbs in the hill country of northern Britain, Cicerone has expanded to become an icon in the modern guidebook market.

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Mind the Gap: Georges Perec and the Art of Constrained Writing
Words

By Nicky Gardner

From 1960, an unusual clutch of Parisian writers - known as the Oulipo group - played ingenious games with language. We take a look at the work of Georges Perec who once wrote an entire novel without using the fifth letter of the alphabet. Later he published a novella where the letter 'e' was the only vowel used in the entire book.

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Sketches in Teviotdale
Snippet

By hidden europe

Southern Scotland has had more than its fair share of poets, along them Rabbie Burns, Robert Davidson and James Hogg. But one Borders poet, Thomas Pringle, is far better known in South Africa than he is in his native Scotland. Born just south of Kelso in 1789, Pringle is sometimes acclaimed as 'the father of South African poetry'.

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Shared High Points
Snippet

By hidden europe

Germany makes much of its highest mountain, the mighty Zugspitze. The frontier between Austria and Germany bisects the mountain. But in Austria, the Zugspitze hardly counts as a significant peak. We look at the phenomenon of shared summits.

Read on
Butter Trips
Snippet

By hidden europe

There once was a time when passengers would smuggle butter on trains running from the Republic of Ireland into Northern Ireland. And more recently in Germany, budget-conscious shoppers would go one a boat trip to buy cheap butter. We take a look at the duty-free trade on ferries in European waters.

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New Interrail Passes
Snippet

By hidden europe

Train fares are getting cheaper. As retailer Loco2 launches split tickets in the British market, travellers on longer journeys across the continent are discovering that judicious use of an Interrail pass can undercut the cost of a regular return ticket. Interrail may make sense even for just one round trip.

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To the Urals and the Russian Riviera
Snippet

By hidden europe

Direct trains from the Lithuanian capital Vilnius to such far flung destinations as Sochi and Adler (both on the Russia's Back Sea Riviera) and to Anapa and Chelyabinsk recall the days of Soviet travel. We scan the departure boards for a few exotica.

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Preview hidden europe 59
Preview

By hidden europe

A look ahead at hidden europe 59 which will be published on 11 November 2019.

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hidden europe 58

Shared High Points

Summary

Editorial

Feature

Feature

Feature

Feature

Places

Perspective

Consuming matters

Special spaces

Off limits

Words

Snippet

Snippet

Snippet

Snippet

Snippet

Preview

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