are certainly due to the communist inheritance. and On the other hand there haven't been destruction/reconstruction programs as in western Europe so nearly all the original Art Nouveau buildings are up. Kind of don't go together.... What else did commies do ? Eat babies ?

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- Независимость - это когда в 20-й раз наступаешь на одни и те же грабли, а русские уже ни при чем....

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Originally posted by KGBMan: are certainly due to the communist inheritance. and On the other hand there haven't been destruction/reconstruction programs as in western Europe so nearly all the original Art Nouveau buildings are up. Kind of don't go together.... What else did commies do ? Eat babies ?

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Actually, I thought it made sense. Think about it. A state owned building is not likely to receive the attention to detail in repair, etc. that a company or individually owned one does. When you worked on your basement, didn't you put hours of thought into the details to make it right? Most people do with a home or building that is personal to them. However, if you were choosing fixtures for just another building in which you had no personal attachment, wouldn't you just make a quick and cost effective decision? Individual owners of this magnificent hotel would want to make the door knobs appropriate to the building, state owners would just want the doors to open. As for the second part, it also makes sense. Had it been private property instead of state property, somewhere in history the owners might have agreed to sell to a developer because the money was too good to turn down...even if the buyer was planning to tear it down. If not that, someone in the 1960's might have decided that the bathrooms needed to be renovated. If that person thought as the average person, they might easily have decided that modern conveniences at a good price was more important than historical design integrity or perhaps that person just had a preference for 1960's modern...thus a remodeling where the character of the building is ruined. The two are not mutually exclusive at all...kind of a "first this happened, but at least the other did not" scenario. Though it may have prevented the second, it probably did cause the first. Though I sheepishly admit to sometimes considering the deterioration of wonderful buildings to indeed be as evil as eating babies, I am surprised to hear that you do also. ;)

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Originally posted by Leah: Though I sheepishly admit to sometimes considering the deterioration of wonderful buildings to indeed be as evil as eating babies, I am surprised to hear that you do also. ;)

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Girl, you RULE!!

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Piter, first week of June, air tickets will be a bit pricy thou.

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Leah, In most what westeners call "communist" countries governments had special programs for preserving cultural and architectural treasures. Those programs were far more superiour to Western ones. Most of the damage and deterioration you see today comes after commies were trown out and "freedom" was restored....

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- Независимость - это когда в 20-й раз наступаешь на одни и те же грабли, а русские уже ни при чем....

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Originally posted by KGBMan: Leah, In most what westeners call "communist" countries governments had special programs for preserving cultural and architectural treasures. Those programs were far more superiour to Western ones. Most of the damage and deterioration you see today comes after commies were trown out and "freedom" was restored....

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Actually, from what I heard, many of those programs were under-financed and choice of materials available for restoration and preservation, as well as methods were …… let me put it gently – worse than barbaric.

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Well it worked in USSR pretty well, until middle of 80-ties when everything started to fall apart. even most of the real nice chirches were saved.....

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- Независимость - это когда в 20-й раз наступаешь на одни и те же грабли, а русские уже ни при чем....

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Originally posted by KGBMan: Leah, In most what westeners call "communist" countries governments had special programs for preserving cultural and architectural treasures. Those programs were far more superiour to Western ones. Most of the damage and deterioration you see today comes after commies were trown out and "freedom" was restored....

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Originally posted by KGBMan: Well it worked in USSR pretty well, until middle of 80-ties when everything started to fall apart. even most of the real nice chirches were saved.....

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KGB, I'm not trying to heap a bunch of blame on communists for everything. It was something I cut and pasted. My point is really that I am devastated that the devastation is there and from what I read when I posted similar moanings about art nouveau structures in St. Petersburg, people just don't have the money to spend on extensive renovations. That makes me very sad. This particular style is important to me. When I see it, the euphoria is similar to that of being in love. In fact, that may be part of the problem...the particular style. It may be that those buildings were a low priority since they were not important palaces, churches, etc. and didn't receive many of those designated funds. And I don't doubt that since the end of the Soviet Union, the buildings have suffered even more without any funds to preserve them. Though we don't have as many wonderful examples of art nouveau in US as there are in Europe, we do have some because of the time period. They are not always valued here and many have been horribly ruined or destroyed. Frankly, I don't care as much about the cause as I do about a solution. Unfortunately, I don't have a solution. Hence the sadness...and the need to see them while they still exist.

Hey, Guys! Have you ever visited Virgin Islands?? Someone told me that they are considered to be a US territory and do not require any visas. http://www.usvitourism.vi/ Also, it seems that there exist a direct flight to these islands from Atlanta: http://www.usvitourism.vi/en/welcome/pressreleases.asp?id=410

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Originally posted by Leah:

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Originally posted by KGBMan: Leah, In most what westeners call "communist" countries governments had special programs for preserving cultural and architectural treasures. Those programs were far more superiour to Western ones. Most of the damage and deterioration you see today comes after commies were trown out and "freedom" was restored....

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Originally posted by KGBMan: Well it worked in USSR pretty well, until middle of 80-ties when everything started to fall apart. even most of the real nice chirches were saved.....

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KGB, I'm not trying to heap a bunch of blame on communists for everything. It was something I cut and pasted. My point is really that I am devastated that the devastation is there and from what I read when I posted similar moanings about art nouveau structures in St. Petersburg, people just don't have the money to spend on extensive renovations. That makes me very sad. This particular style is important to me. When I see it, the euphoria is similar to that of being in love. In fact, that may be part of the problem...the particular style. It may be that those buildings were a low priority since they were not important palaces, churches, etc. and didn't receive many of those designated funds. And I don't doubt that since the end of the Soviet Union, the buildings have suffered even more without any funds to preserve them. Though we don't have as many wonderful examples of art nouveau in US as there are in Europe, we do have some because of the time period. They are not always valued here and many have been horribly ruined or destroyed. Frankly, I don't care as much about the cause as I do about a solution. Unfortunately, I don't have a solution. Hence the sadness...and the need to see them while they still exist.

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I know you weren't. I'm just tired of current trend on blaming commies for everything. I'm surprised tsunami wasn't blamed on soviet occupation or other commi activity somewhere I'm sad too about deterioration, but every year more and more buildings become old and needed restoration and there is just not enough funds to fix all. Another problem - there is not enough people who can restore old things....

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- Независимость - это когда в 20-й раз наступаешь на одни и те же грабли, а русские уже ни при чем....

Well, I'd like to put in my 2 cents. If you are going in March/April, I would go south to Italy and Spain or maybe the French Riviera. All you have to do is fly into one city and out the other, what you do in between you don't really have to put in writing. I studied in Valencia, and its absolutely gorgeous. Seville, Cardoba...all that is amazing. Also Toledo and Madrid, and of course Barcelona. You can fly into Madrid, spend a couple of days there, go to Toledo (thats a day), on a train down to Seville, etc, then go to Valencia (a day) take a ferry to Mallorca or Ibiza, take a ferry back to Barcelona, spend a few days there, and you can then take a train down to Mersaille and Nice. We stayed in Nice and then took the trains daily to other riviera cities. And from that you can take the train over to Italy... May time, Prague is beautiful. I was there in May and the weather was great. You can just take a train to Germany and see things there. Tickets are still cheap before June 12, so take advantage of it.

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my relative did similar routing... from Barcelona to Seville, Valencia, ibiza, Toledo.. ferry to Mallorca, train to Rome, train to Florence. Something like that. They loved it.

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Originally posted by Alla: my relative did similar routing... from Barcelona to Seville, Valencia, ibiza, Toledo.. ferry to Mallorca, train to Rome, train to Florence. Something like that. They loved it.

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Wow!! Was he chased by police or something? :)

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nah.. just exploring

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Originally posted by Innochka: Well, I'd like to put in my 2 cents. If you are going in March/April, I would go south to Italy and Spain or maybe the French Riviera. All you have to do is fly into one city and out the other, what you do in between you don't really have to put in writing. I studied in Valencia, and its absolutely gorgeous. Seville, Cardoba...all that is amazing. Also Toledo and Madrid, and of course Barcelona. You can fly into Madrid, spend a couple of days there, go to Toledo (thats a day), on a train down to Seville, etc, then go to Valencia (a day) take a ferry to Mallorca or Ibiza, take a ferry back to Barcelona, spend a few days there, and you can then take a train down to Mersaille and Nice. We stayed in Nice and then took the trains daily to other riviera cities. And from that you can take the train over to Italy... May time, Prague is beautiful. I was there in May and the weather was great. You can just take a train to Germany and see things there. Tickets are still cheap before June 12, so take advantage of it.

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All of the suggestions sound wonderful! :) It looks like Prague will most likely be in May after all. I wanted to go somewhere earlier but I have nearly convinced my friend to go with me and if he does, he can't go before May. I will tell him that what you have said about the weather there in May. "Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea." -Robert A. Heinlein