The Long Journey Home: Exploring Architecture

‘The mother art is architecture. Without an architecture of our own we have no soul of our own civilisation.’ – Frank Lloyd Wright.

A Love of Architecture

I blame P for the fact that, when I flick through my photo albums from our Long Journey Home, the majority of my photos are of buildings and architecture. His strong interest and enthusiasm for the subject has obviously rubbed off on me. Not that I mind in the slightest. Apart from food, something that I don’t always experience to the full as a vegetarian, I think architecture is one of the easiest ways to experience a new culture as a visitor to a foreign country. And if I’m honest, I was growing a little tired of constantly photographing landscapes anyway*.

In honour of P’s passion for the subject and for the fact it has clearly had an impact on my photography, I thought I’d share some of my more architectural photos taken on our trip. They help to showcase the different cultures in each country** that we passed through, and gives me an excellent opportunity to share a new love of mine: wooden shutters! Yes, you read that right. Wooden shutters. And to my joy, Russia was full of them…

*I do still love taking landscape photos. I just felt like they were getting a little stale and after taking so many in New Zealand, it felt good to be taking photos of something other than mountains, lakes and rivers. Not that there’s anything wrong with those…
**I have included photos from countries where we stayed for at least one night. That means that there are no photos from Belarus (we only spent one day there) or France (we spent six hours in Paris). I also don’t include shots from Munich, where our attention turned to reconnecting with an old friend and I took fewer photos altogether.

China

China. A beautiful mix of old and new, tantalisingly jumbled together. Ancient palaces, brand new, inexplicable towers, temples… Walking around Beijing was a fascinating insight into history and a peek into the future too.

Ceramic Tiles and Figurines

I loved the colours and artistry of the Forbidden City in Beijing, not least these beautiful ceramic tiles and the figurines that dotted the rooftops. They were one of the highlights during our visit and I tried to imagine the stories that were being told by the figurines and their placing. However, aside from that, I was actually a little underwhelmed by the Forbidden City.

Old Meets New

I love how this timeless old pagoda is just there, right in front of the much newer and very futuristic, almost space age type building in the background. That building drew us from miles away and made us walk further than we had planned to try and see it better. It was incredible and weirdly enough, there was nothing about it on Google when we checked later… A mystery!

Mongolia

The main architecture I experienced in Mongolia revolved around ancient monastries, largely built from wood. However, I also witnessed the awesome portability of the Mongolian ‘ger’ and how beautiful they are once built. Yes, a ‘ger’ might not be a permanent structure, but it’s architecture none the less and a hugely important part of the Mongolian culture.

A Riot of Colour

The colours and paintings on the Buddhist monasteries that we visited blew me away. They were so vibrant, bold and in your face. Many of the pictures told a story and all of the symbols hold meaning and importance. Nothing is there by accident. That ‘swastika’ you see there is an ancient Buddhist symbol that actually means auspiciousness and good fortune.

Portable Architecture

Mongol architecture is portable! Mongolian culture is nomadic. Their ‘gers’ are designed to be put up in three hours or so. Whilst I stayed at Steppe Riders, they put up several of these ‘gers’, and I can confirm they are extremely quick to erect! Not only that, but they are beautiful inside and so cosy and comfortable once you hunker down with the fire!

A ‘Ger’ In Action

We stayed with a Mongolian family one night during our time in the country. It was a fascinating insight into their culture and a wonderful experience we were privileged to have. The family were extremely welcoming and generous, offering us food, beer and a roof over our heads for the night. We drank with then, shared stories as best we could with the language barrier and witnessed a beautiful sunset.

Russia

Russia has a real mix of opulent architecture and more basic, but no less beautiful, buildings. Their churches and cathedrals are grand and imposing, while on the other end of the spectrum you can experience wonderfully delicate hand-carved wooden houses and buildings, occasionally subsiding into the ground where the permafrost is melting and causing collapse.

Cathedral of Christ the Saviour

I loved this beautiful cathedral in Moscow. That golden roof! The interior was also really beautiful. Unfortunately we weren’t allowed to take photos inside! Some of my favourite architecture on our journey were the Russian cathedrals and churches with their domes and spires and bright colours.

Architecture in Irkutsk

In Irkutsk, we experienced another side of Russian architecture. The wooden houses were usually complete with an array of colourful wooden shutters. I loved these buildings so much, especially the shutters…

A Famous Russian Cathedral

One of Russia’s most famous cathedrals. This is the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour on Spilled Blood in St Petersburg. Absolutely beautiful, so intricately designed and executed, a collection of jewel-like colours and ornamental adornments. While we didn’t head inside, the outside provided more than enough photographic opportunities to once again prove how wonderful Russian architecture can be!

Beautiful Light on a Beautiful Street

We were lucky to experience this absolutely beautiful light one evening during our time in St Petersburg. I love how it picks out the yellow of the buildings and the gold on the dome of the cathedral. This picture really does make St Petersburg seem to be the ‘Venice of the North’ with its wide canal and absolutely gorgeous buildings lining the street.

Poland

We visited Warsaw and Krakow while in Poland and enjoyed our first taste of European architecture in months. The Old Towns in both cities were beautiful. We also experienced some more modern architecture in Krakow.

Old Town, Warsaw

The Old Town in Warsaw was quite charming and the contrasting colours made each building stand out vividly against the others. These ones surrounded the main square, where we enjoyed a great coffee each but got completely ripped off! They ended up costing us about the same as a cheap meal!

Street Art in Krakow

We left the Old Town and found the river. As we wandered along, we found a new kind of architecture to photograph in Krakow – the grittier, more modern buildings that are more challenging to the eye. I loved this huge piece of street art we found.

Mirrored Ceiling

We spent a happy hour at the CRICOTEKA building in Krakow, mainly due to the mirrored ceiling. It led to a number of interesting images and distorted reflections. As we wandered around, I particularly enjoyed how the newer building was incorporated into the old, and the nice interplay between both.

Hungary

We spent two nights in Budapest, and we both wished we could have stayed longer. Budapest is a beautiful city, one that I’d love to go back to and explore in more depth in the future. The architecture is neo-Gothic, grand, colourful and makes an impact.

Zsolnay Porcelain

Matthias Church in the Castle District of Buda is a homage to Zsolnay porcelain. The roof is gorgeously coloured and really stood out against this darkening sky. As we were strolling around this area, the clouds rolled in and thunder began to rumble. The storm grew closer and closer until finally, it was right overhead. As it rained, fat, heavy drops, we sheltered under a tree and watched bolts of lightening flash across the city. People scurried for shelter, and for a short while, the busiest part of the city was almost deserted.

Before the Storm

Just before the storm hit, the air was soupy. It was so close and moist that my clothes stuck to me. We walked along quiet streets and took photos of the houses. I enjoyed the clash of colours as we wandered. Surreptitiously, I took a photo as this woman as she crossed the street, her pink t-shirt adding yet another splash to this pretty scene.

Crossing the Danube

Budapest’s beautiful Gothic style Parliament buildings as seen from Buda’s Castle District. We tried to visit but unfortunately chose the wrong day when no tours were running! Budapest has a fascinating history and culture and I hope to explore it further in the future.

Czech Republic

Prague is a pretty-as-a-picture city, with candyfloss coloured buildings and fairytale cobbled streets meandering down to the river. It is grand, dreamy, vibrant and ornamental. If you ever want a quick dose of culture and awesome architecture, go to Prague. You won’t be disappointed.

A Fairytale Castle

The gorgeous, Gothic Prague Castle. P and I spent some time apart and I wandered through sun-drenched parks, getting my bearings in Prague. This castle dominated the skyline above the city. It was great to walk the circumference of it and enjoy it from every angle.

Prague’s central square has plenty of beautiful buildings around the circumference. The architecture is more whimsical and less practical, the colours pastel rather than red and ochre. All of it added to the atmosphere on the square, where tourists milled around eating expensive food, waiting for the famous astronomical clock to chime on the hour and taking countless photos.

Some Photos of Russian Shutters

A few gratuitous shots of one of my favourite architectural discoveries in Russia – the simply gorgeous wooden shutters we saw all over the cities we visited.