Category: Travel

Conversations

On an Election Observation Mission there are opportunities to chat, not always about election methodology. A UK observer told me that he had been Master and huntsman of the Pimpernel beagles and jolly smart he must have looked in his uniform: green coat, old gold collar, green stockings and black cap.

Observations

There was a distinct end of term feeling yesterday morning as we loaded our trunks on the coach taking us to the airport. I was looking forward to getting home but I will be back soon for Round Two of the Presidential Election.

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The Birthday Paradox

“In a room of just 23 people there’s a 50-50 chance of at least two people having the same birthday. In a room of 75 there’s a 99.9% chance of at least two people matching.“ This is the Birthday Paradox.

A Tourist in Ternopil

The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary was built 1749 – 1779 and, as you will see, exemplifies Ukrainean baroque.

Train to Ternopil

Time for an update from the field. Wednesday and Thursday were all day briefings in a conference centre in Kiev. The content was similar to the briefings in Moldova last month, but there was some material specific to Ukraine and, of course, some observers were on their first mission.

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A Brief History of Ukraine

Russian colonisation of Ukraine intensified throughout the 19th century with a ban on the use of the Ukrainian language in schools and publications. Yet, a cultural revival spread in the late 1800s from Galicia, with secret educational groups ( hromadas) infiltrating Russian Ukraine and increasing calls for Ukrainian independence.

A Brief History of Ukraine

Present-day Ukraine was initially inhabited by Scythian tribes from Central Asia who were displaced by Sarmatians and nomadic invaders, namely Goths, Huns and Avars that overran the Ukrainian steppe nearly two millennia ago.

And Quiet Flows the Dnieper

The Dnieper is the fourth longest river in Europe, rising in Russia near Smolensk and flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea; a journey of 1,400 miles.

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St Patrick’s Day

The Today programme has a habit of sending its presenters off on location. Recently Martha Kearney has been in a refugee camp in Lebanon and on the edge of the Arctic Circle. This morning Blog Bellew has dipped into its meagre travel budget.

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Walkers

Gladwyn Jebb was a distinguished civil servant, diplomat and politician. References to him abound in Kenneth Rose’s Journals and, to a lesser extent, in Harold Nicolson’s Diaries. Curiously Chips Channon only mentions Gladwyn once in his Diaries.