Sparta, Greece

Gorod............Sparta
Provinciya......Lakoniya
Poluostrov......Peloppones
Strana...........Greciya
Koninent........Evropa

Ne gozhe nam, spartancam, zhalovat'sya i khnykat'. Ne khotel by ya i prichinyat' volneniya svoim korrespondentam. No moya pravdivost' ne poizvolyaet skryt' ot vas nebol'shoe priklyuchenie.

Obychno, kogda menya moi obozhatel'nicy sprashivayut -- Lyovochka, razve tebe ne trudno? -- ya otvechayu po evrejskoj tradicii voprosom na vopros -- a chto legko v 'etoj zhizni?

No v etot raz ya otvechu po-nashemu, po-prostomu, po-russkomu -- Ojc! A zokhn vej! Mine taki-da trudno!

Ya davno zametil, chto ot muzeev ya ustayu znachitel'no bol'she, chem ot khozhdeniya po ulicam. Konechno, esli muzej ne predostavlyaet posetitelyam invalidnuyu kreslo-kachalku, ka chasto byvaet v civilizovannykh stranakh.

V centre Tirany -- stolicy Albanii -- raspolozhen bol'shoj Nacional'nyj muzej istorii, pomeshchennyj na vershinu shirokikh impozantnykh stupenej. 7 noyabrya ya provyol ves' den' v muzee, ochen' ustal -- i pri vykhode upal na lestnice tak, chto moya yagodica ugodila na rebro stupeni. Ya vstal i poshkandybal dal'she. No cherez chas ya pochuvstvoval, chto mne trudno sognut'sya i pod"yom i spusk po stupenyam prichinyaet sil'nuyu bol'. Cherez neskol'ko dnej v osnashchyonnom zerkalami otele ya obnaruzhil, chto moya zadnica pochernela, kak u negra. Ili, esli sravnivat' moyu yagodicu s yagodoj, ona vyglyadela kak chernika.

V Afinakh ya otpravilsya v tu zhe samuyu bol'nicu, gde 26 let nazad podvergsya amputacii. Tam menya zaverili, chto vse ostavshiesya kosti vsyo eshchyo na meste i ne povrezhdeny.

Teper' uzhe samoe trudnoe pozadi. Zadnica moya uzhe poblednela, ona uzhe sinego cveta, kak u tuarega, ili, govorya obrazno, moya yagodichka teper' golubichka, a vskore budet klubnichka. I khodit' i sgibat'sya mne uzhe legko. Segodnya bez truda zavyazal shnurki.

Kak vy ponimaete, ya vsyo eto vremya ne sidel sidnem.

Tut v Grecii mnogo gor i kholmov -- i na vershine mnogikh stoit starinnaya krepost'. Pri takoj dlitel'noj i krovavoj istorii ukrepleniya sooruzhali vse. Tak chto est' chto posmotret' ot vsekh `epokh: krito-mikenskoj, grecheskoj klassicheskoj, `ellinisticheskoj, rimskoj, vizantijskoj, ispanskoj, venezianskoj, ottomanskoj, britanskoj. Tak chto prishlos' vzbirat'sya na mnogie vershiny pochti na chetveren'kakh. K osobenno krupnym dostizheniyam ya otnoshu voskhozhdeniya na Akropol' v Afinakh i staruyu krepost' na ostrove Korfu.
A pozavchera ya taki-da preodolel 999 stupenek, vedushchikh k nemyslimo vysokoj i obshirnoj venecianskoj tverdyne na otvesnoj skale v ocharovatel'nom gorode Nafplion. `Eto dokazyvaet, chto ya prakticheski prishyol v normu.

`Eto eshchyo raz postverdilo moj princip: preodolevat' trudnosti nesmotrya ni na chto.
K sozhaleniyu, ves'ma pechal'noe sobytie kosvenno takzhe podtverdilo moj princip. Veroyatno, vy znaete, chto ya podderzhivayu svyaz' so svoimi odnoklassnikami. Nam sejchas, v osnovnom, po 71 godu. Uvy, moj shkol'nyj drug Musya Fishtejn skonchalsya sovsem nedavno v vozraste 70 let. Prichyom on ne byl iz ochen' bolevshikh. Odnako, on vyol ochen' nepodvizhnyj obraz zhizni -- i posle infakta ego ne stalo.

Tak chto ya prodolzhayu svoyo puteshestvie i svoy spartanskij obraz zhizni, chto osobenno kstati zdes', v Sparte.
Vash spartanec Lev

Город...........Спарта  Провинция.......Лакония  Полуостров......Пелоппонес  Страна..........Греция  Конинент........Европа

Не гоже нам, спартанцам, жаловаться и хныкать. Не хотел бы я и причинять волнения своим корреспондентам. Но моя правдивость не поизволяет скрыть от вас небольшое приключение.

Обычно, когда меня мои обожательницы спрашивают -- Лёвочка, разве тебе не трудно? -- я отвечаю по еврейской традиции вопросом на вопрос -- а что легко в этой жизни?
Но в этот раз я отвечу по-нашему, по-простому, по-русскому -- Ойц! А зохн вей! Мине таки-да трудно!
Я давно заметил, что от музеев я устаю значительно больше, чем от хождения по улицам. Конечно, если музей не предоставляет посетителям инвалидную кресло-качалку, как часто бывает в цивилизованных странах.

В центре Тираны -- столицы Албании -- расположен большой Национальный музей истории, помещенный на вершину широких импозантных ступеней. 7 ноября я провёл весь день в музее, очень устал -- и при выходе упал на лестнице так, что моя ягодица угодила на ребро ступени. Я встал и пошкандыбал дальше. Но через час я почувствовал, что мне трудно согнуться и под"ём и спуск по ступеням причиняет сильную боль. Через несколько дней в оснащённом зеркалами отеле я обнаружил, что моя задница почернела, как у негра. Или, если сравнивать мою ягодицу с ягодой, она выглядела как черника.

В Афинах я отправился в ту же самую больницу, где 26 лет назад подвергся ампутации. Там меня заверили, что все оставшиеся кости всё ещё на месте и не повреждены.

Теперь уже самое трудное позади. Задница моя уже побледнела, она уже синего цвета, как у туарега, или, говоря образно, моя ягодичка теперь голубичка, а вскоре будет клубничка. И ходить и сгибаться мне уже легко. Сегодня без труда завязал шнурки. Как вы понимаете, я всё это время не сидел сиднем.

Тут в Греции много гор и холмов -- и на вершине многих стоит старинная крепость. При такой длительной и кровавой истории укрепления сооружали все. Так что есть что посмотреть от всех эпох: крито-микенской, греческой классической, эллинистической, римской, византийской, испанской, венецианской, оттоманской, британской. Так что пришлось взбираться на многие вершины почти на четвереньках. К особенно крупным достижениям я отношу восхождения на Акрополь в Афинах и старую крепость на острове Корфу. А позавчера я таки-да преодолел 999 ступенек, ведущих к немыслимо высокой и обширной венецианской твердыне на отвесной скале в очаровательном городе Нафплион. Это доказывает, что я практически пришёл в норму.

Это ещё раз поствердило мой принцип: преодолевать трудности несмотря ни на что.
К сожалению, весьма печальное событие косвенно также подтвердило мой принцип. Вероятно, вы знаете, что я поддерживаю связь со своими одноклассниками. Нам сейчас, в основном, по 71 году. Увы, мой школьный друг Муся Фиштейн скончался совсем недавно в возрасте 70 лет. Причём он не был из очень болевших. Однако, он вёл очень неподвижный образ жизни -- и после инфакта его не стало.
Когда старуха с косой придёт за мной, она вряд ли застанет меня дома.

Так что я продолжаю своё путешествие и свой спартанский образ жизни, что особенно кстати здесь, в Спарте.
Ваш спартанец Лев

Gjirocaster, Albania

My Lonely Planet guidebook states that November is the
wettest month in Albaniawith heavy rains every day.
So I was considering moving my Albanian adventures to
January after many unpleasant days in the neighboring
countries. But I was so close that I decided to jump
into it anyway.
Well, never during this trip I experienced such
consistently nice sunny days in a row like now in
Albania.
And I had to visit Apollonia -- ruins of a Greco-Roman
city dedicated to me. Surely you have noiced tha he
famous sculpture Apollo of Belvedere looks exacly like
me. That is because I was posing for it when I was
young, before the amputation. Since then many
sculptors made Apollo statues in my image. So now you
understand why so many staues are missing the limbs.
he artiss just wanted to faithfully show my
amputations. Well, my good friend Julius Caesar has awarded
Apollonia with a "free city" title because we suppored
him in the sruggle with Pompey. And Julius sent his
nephewOctaviushere, asking me o take care of his
education. So now you know why the emperor Octavius
Augustus was so successful.
And oday I arrived at the picturesque town of
Gjirocaster. Unfortunately my luck wih weaher has
dried out--it is raining while I am writing this
message.
Tomorrow morning I go to the port Saranda == and
perhaps will cross to Korfu, Greece.
Your Apollo -- aging, but still striking his Lyra.

Ohrid, Macedonia

RUSSIAN
I pod zvyozdami balkanskimi
Vspominaesh nesprosta
Yaroslavskie, ryazanskie
I smolenskie mesta.
Da, tut obnaruzhivaetsya, chto Rossia ne obladaet monopoliey na otsutstvie nadyozhnoy informatsii ili pryamuyu dezinformatsiyu. Dostatochnuyu dolyu etogo ya ispytal v Bolgarii. No, konechno, v etom, kak i vo vsyom, "horosha strana Bolgaria, a Rossia luchshe vseh!"
Odnako, povidimomu ya nespravedliv -- pogoda byla ko mne laskova i ya posetil mnogo interesnyh mest po marshrutu Varna-Nesebr-Veliko Tyrnovo-Plovdiv-Koprivshchitsa

-Sofia-Rylski Monastyr-Blagoevgrad. V eto vremya osennie kraski byli v polnom razgare, osobenno na sklonah ushchelya vozle Rylskogo Monastyrya s byglyadyvayushchimi vershinami gor, priporoshennymi snegom. Konechno, krasivo. No tut a ponyal, pochemu samaya zhivopisnaya osen v mire v Novoy Anglii. Zheltye i zelyonye tone tut horoshi, no nehvataet bagryantsa klyonov.
Posle Bolgarii ya okazalsya v Makedonii -- vy ved znaete, chto ya lyublyu sledovat po sledam svoego druzhka Cashi Makedonskogo. Mezhdu prochim, na Vostoke ego nazyvayut Iskander Makdonya -- chast zvuchit ka Makdonald. No vse velikie pokoriteli mira (Alexandr Makedonskiy, Chingiz-khan, Napoleon Bonapart i Leo Falk) ne mogut sravnitsya s Ronaldom McDonaldom -- kuda ya ne priedu --- on uzhe tam.
Iz stolitsy makedonii Skopye ya smotalsya na paru dney v Kosovo -- Proshtina i Prizren. Posledniy byl stolitsey srednevekovoy Serbii, no nyne vyglyadit kak zhivopisnyy turetskiy gorod s mnogochislennymi mechetyami i minaretami.
A seychas ya v ocharovatelnom Ohride: na holme staryy gorod s krepostyu i vizantiyskimi tserkvyami. i vsyo eto na beregu iskluchitelno zhivopisnogo Ohridskogo ozera.
Na drugoy storone ozera Albania, gde ya budu zavtra.


ENGLISH
In Bulgaria i followed the most interesting places: Varna-Nesebar-Veliko Tarnovo-Plovdiv-Koprivshchitsa-Sofia-Rila Monastery-Blagoevgrad. The weather was fair and the autumn foliage was at its peak. But now I understan why they say that the best foliage in the world is in New England. Though the yeloows and greens are bright , especially with the snow covered mountain tops near Rila Monastery, The reds and carmines are missing here. Couple of irritating moments spoiling some impressions I did enjoy that country.
After Bulgaria I found myself in Macedonia. You know that I like following the steps of Alexander the Great. Perhaps we are related -- it is not by chance that we both have the same last name: Alexander the Great and Leo the Great.
By the way in the East he is called Iskander Makdonya, often sounds
Makdonald. And I have to admit that all the world conquerers (Alexander the Great, Ghengis Khan, Napoleon Bonapart, and leo Falk) -- we all cannot compete with Ronald McDonald. Wherever I come -- he is already there!
From Macedonian capital Skopje I visited Kosovo -- Prishtina and Prizren. The latter was the capital of medieval Serbia, but now with numerous mosques it looks like a picturesque Turkish town.
Today I am in the charming Ohrid. The old city with the steep cobbled streets and Byzantine churches is crowned by a fortress. And all this on the shore of the picturesque Ohrid Lake.
On the other side of the lake lies Albania, where I will be tomorrow.

Varna, Bulgaria

Bucharest is called sometimes a little Paris.. Yes, there are sometimes some remains of faded glory. And Ciausescu left for the posterity his monument -- the enormous House of the People -- second largest building in the world after Pentagon.

Then i went to the Danube Delta, which was declared by UNESCO a World Natural Heritage Site. Below the town of Tulcea the river splits into 3 channels. The boat trips on the middle arm from Tulcea to Sulina(another faded glory) and back was nice. I also enjoyed the bus trip Tulcea-Constanta through the vinyards of Dobrugia.

And it turned out that before me another great poet has visited Constanta. It was Ovid exiled there by the Roman emperor. But I am sure you are eager to hear the masterpiece composed by Leo Falk on that occasion. Here it is:

Ovid exiled was to Constantsa,
Complained a lot about his fate --
But Leo Falk composed this stanza
And sends to you a little bit late.
As he is now in Bulgaria
Observimng local viticulture--
And in composing this scenario
He failed to use his wit and culture.

Now i am already in Varna. In antiquity it was called Odessos. (After acquiring Crimea and the adjoining lands Catherine the Great has founded several towns naming them after Greek cities known form the literature. Later on it became obvious the Kherson, Sevastopol, and Odessa should have been in other locations). The archeological Museum here is magnificent -- and about the beaches everybody has heard. But in 2 days I am moving further in Bulgaria.

Бухарест иногда називают маленъким Парижем. Да, конечно кое-где заметни остатки билой роскоши. А Чаушеску оставил для потомства гигантский Народний дом -- второе по величине здание в мире после Пентагона.
Оттуда я отправился в делъту Дуная, которая объявлена ЮНЕСКО объектом биологического наследия мирового значения. Ниже города Тулъча делъта образуется тремя рукавами. Приятно било проплитъ на корабле туда и назад между Тулъчей и Сулиной, которая знавала лучшее время, судя по остаткам билого. И оченъ хорошо било прокатитъся по Добрудже мимо многочисленних виноградников до Констанци.
Но оказалосъ, что до меня другой великий поет побивал в Констанце. Ето бил Овидий Назон. Напомню вам об Онегине:

...что занимало целий денъ его тоскующую ленъ,
Била наука страсти нежной, которую воспел Назон,
За что страдалъцем кончил он
Свой век печалъний и мятежний
В Молдавии, в глуши степей,
Вдали Италии своей.

Но вам, конечно, нетерпится услишатъ шедевр Лео Фалъка, написанний по етому поводу. Так вот он:

В Констанце дни влачил Овидий
И жаловался о судъбе,
Но Лео Фалък там бсе увидел
Всего за денъ. И о боръбе
С судъбой совсем не помишляя,
По городу он побродил --
И с вами вести разделяя,
К болгарам бистро укатил.

Сейчас я уже в Варне, котиорая в древности називаласъ Одессос. (После покорения Крима и Новороссии Екатерина Вторая основала несколъко городов, присвоив им древнегреческие имена, известние по литературе. Но впоследствии оказалосъ. что Херсон, Севастполъ и Одесса оказалисъ не на своем месте). Тут великолепний Археологический музей и знаменитие пляжи. Но завтра отправляюсъ далъше по Болгарии.

Чао! Напечатано на болгарском компъютере -- алфавит чутъ отличается от русского.

Brasov, Romania

So, I spent nine days in my native city Kiev. Perhaps not enough, but I wanted to speed up my moving to the next destinations. Visited many old familiar places and the graves. Met few relatives and friends -- few because not many left. Kiev did change, perhaps for the better. The city is clean, many old buildings have been and are being renovated. And the construction boom is in full swing -- not less, maybe more than in Moscow. At the same time I noticed the new distinctly Kievan architectural style. I would call it neoeclecticism or pseudo antique. In the old city areas the new buildings are built in a style similar to the surrounding edifices -- mainly of the turn of the 19/20 centuries time. And they are enhanced by the metal details (balcony railings, hoods, etc.) obviously from one or more workshops which are especially fond of art deco style.

But in spite of those positive developments (and I do not mention the negative ones) I did not have a strong "nostalgic click". I.e. I would not like to return to live here even with a good income.

From Kiev I went by train to Suceava, Romania. After exploring the painted churches of Southern Bukovina (15-16 centuries with remarkably well preserved frescos both inside and outside) I moved to Transylvania: Sighisoara, Sibiu, Brasov. This is the country of the infamous Vlad Tepes better known as Count Dracula. This poor guy maybe just wanted to make donations to the neighborhood's depleted blood bank. But he did not hire a proper PR company -- so they gave him a bad publicity. So now I am visiting some medieval castles which claim to be Dracula's own -- though there is doubt he has ever been there.

Anyway in couple of days I am going to Bucharest and later to Bulgaria.

So with the best wishes after visiting Dracula's castle
your Leo


Itak, ya provyol v svoyom rodnom Kieve 9 dney. Veroyatno nedostatochno, no ya hotel uskorit svoyo peredvizhenie k sleduyushchemu naznacheniyu. Posetil mnogie znakomye mesta i mogily. Bstretil nemnogih rodstvennikov i druzey -- nemnogih potomu chto malo ostalos.
Kiev izmenilsya, veroyatno k luchshemu. Gorod chist, mhogie zdaniya obnovleny ili obnovlyayutsya. I stroitelnyy bum v polnom razgare, he menshe, a veroyatno bolshe, chem v Moskve. V to zhe vremya ya otmetil novyy kievskiy arhitecturnyy stil. Ya by nazval ego neoeklektikoy ili psevdoctarinoy. V staroy chasti goroda novye zdaniya ctroyatsya v stile sosednih domov -- glavnym obrazom rubezha vekov 19/20. I oni ukrashayutsya metallicheskimi detalyami (balkonnye reshotki, kozyrki i t.p.) raboty odnoy ili bolee masterskich, kotorye ochen uvlekayutsya stilem modern.

No nesmotrya no polozhitelnye cherty (a ya ne upominayu otritsatelnyh) nichgo ne yoknulo vo mne. T.e. ya by ne hotel bernyttsa tuda zhit dazhe esli by u menya bylo mnogo deneg.

Iz Kieva poezdom ya pribyl b Suchavu (Cevernaya Rumynia). Posle obsledovania paspisannyh tserkvey Yuzhnoy Bukoviny -- 15-16 vekov s zamechatelno sohranivshimisya freskami vnutri i snaruzhi -- ya otpravilsya v Transilvaniyu: Sigishoara, Sibiu, Brashov. Eto zemli Vlada Tepesha bolee izvestnogo pod imenem grafa Drakuly. Vozmozhno bednyaga prosto hotel popolnit oskudevshie zapasy v mestnom institute perelivaniya krovi. No on ne nanyal cootvetstvuyushchey reklamnoy kompanii -- i oni emu sozdali plohuyu reputaziyu.

Tak chto nyne ya poseshchayu zamki, kotorye utverzhdayut, chto tut byl Drakula, hotya eto vesma somnitelno.

Zavtra edu v Buharest, a potom v Bolgariyu.

S nailuchshimi pozhelaniyami iz zamkov Drakuly

vash Lev

Cardiff

After visiting Salisbury and Stonehenge I proceeded to Weymouth and Sidmouth. In that area I saw quite a lot: Dartmoor National Park, some lovely towns, and especially the magnificent perspective of the central nave Gothis vaulting of Exeter Cathedral. Later spent couple of days around Land's End -- the tip of Cornwall Peninsula and contunued to the elegant Bath and busy Bristol. The weather was cooperating all the way. However here, in the capital of Wales, it is not so nice -- the whole day is cloudy and raining though slightly. The collection of impressionists at the Welsh National Museum is the largest in the world outside of Paris. However it is closed now -- and perhaps for quite a long time -- leaks in the roof.

In an hour I am going by bus to Caernarfon. Its castle built around 1300 was since that time the place of ceremonial investiture of the Prince of Wales title on the heir to the BRITISH CROWN. It was first done in 13th century by Edward I -- just to show that Wales is dependent on England. And Welsh nationalist feelings are still run high. When the ceremony for Prince Charles took part in 1969 there was an attempt to blow his train. But I hope they will spare me, as I have no desire to be a British king.

Ciao,
Leo

From Britain with love

So, I am in Britain now. Spent 9 days in London. Though the weather there was mainly unpleasant -- rainy and very cold -- I did enjoy this city of great museums where I spent most of my time. However it was not enough. Will try to visit more museums on the way
back. But now I have started my grand tour of the British Isles. The weather substantially improved and I enjoy tremendously the charming medieval city of Salisbury. Its huge beautifully preserved cathedral was built in 1258 and has not been changed since then. On the outskirts of town lies Old Sarum -- an old very impressive hill-fort occupied since Iron Age. After the Normans invasion in 1066 William the Conqueror built there his palace and surrounding town. Now everything is in ruins, but very impressive ramparts and moats just breathe with power. And the primeval power of the nearby prehistoric Stonehenge does not need my introduction. It is world famous. The archaeologists still cannot agree whether it was a giant astronomical calender or a place of sun worship and ritual sacrifices. So much has been written about it that you do not need to listen about its mysterious influences on my mystical soul.