During Enver Hoxha's rule in Albania social realism in arts was practiced just like in Soviet Union. Perhaps even more enthusiastically. For instance, the mosaic in the top image is not created of coloured glass pieces as usually you would expect, but of small stones of natural colour.
St.Petersburg has dozens of Soviet Union staff, from statuesques to manhole caps, which sometimes can make you feel as if the difference between Leningrad and St.Petersburg is only the name.
While walking down the Pioneer street (ulica Pionerov) in St.Petersburg you can observe a few pioneer stars on the houses.
It is hard to guess if this glass-cutter workshop still exists. The ad found in Teika, Riga suggests that the workshop resides in another district in Purvciems, Riga. 6-digit number makes it at least 15 years old (nowadays Latvia has 8 digit numbers).
Ventspils is a coast town in West Latvia, considered wealthy, tidy and boring place. These are a few photos of the city centre that slightly compromise this image - old signs of fishermen's club and hospital, street water pump, weird old house and closed glass bottle recycling point.
Kronstadt island was founded in 1704 as a fortress to guard sea access to St.Petersburg and is located in the bay some 30 km from it. The Kronstadt Sea Fortress used to be considered the most fortified port in the world. In Soviet times it was a closed city (with restricted access to visitors) due to its military port and ship-building industry. Today the city seems quiet apart from many cadets in the streets.
This old plate found in Liepāja, West Latvia says "in case of emergency after 6pm call...". It seems that in Latvian version someone has changed the time to "after 7pm".
Rīgas Radio Rūpnīca aka Radiotehnika RRR or just RRR for short, which means Riga Radio factory, was producing radios, turntables and cassette players in Soviet Latvia but went bust in 1990s. Located in Imanta district of Riga the waste territory is now occupied by various small companies, strorages and empty buildings. One of the companies is RRR VEF, a merge of names of RRR and another famous company VEF, however besides the grand name there is a small firm that produces sound speakers.
In St.Petersburg that used to carry Lenin's name (Leningrad) one can find dozens of monuments for the Soviet leader. These are just a few of them. The last photo with a wooden box has a special story. The ass of one of the main Lenin's monuments on Lenin's square was blown up by some explosives on the 1 April earlier this year. Lenin's ass is now under repair.
There is not much difference between Narva and Ivangorod, except for the fact that Narva is the third biggest city in Estonia, which is part of European Union, while Ivangorod is just a rural area in Leningradskaya oblast in Russia. In Soviet times they operated as a single town (even thought Ivangorod was oficially also a seperate town then) but today Ivangorod sinks into recession and survives only thanks to transit and contrabanda of alcohol and cigarettes. The first photos are from Narva, while the last six photos are from Ivangorod.
Yesteday there was a "white night" in Riga where various cultural events took place. One of them was a blue monument made by the artist Aigars Bikše. The statue that resembles Lenin occupied the same spot as Lenin's monument in the past. It was made of plastic and in a 2 minute sequence was inflating and deflating, thus referring to how political leaders rise and fall to power. The statue should remain there until 20 September.
VEF kultūras pils in Riga is a culture house that bares the name of the famous State's electro-technical factory (Valsts Elektrotehniskā fabrika) even though the factory doesn't exist anymore - it bankrupted soon after the collapse of Soviet Union. The factory was producing telephones, radios and also is considered the birthplace for the world's smallest Minox camera. Built in typical 1950s monumental style the building today hosts various low-key events and youth hobby clubs.
In the Russian populated Narva, the city in Estonia near the border with Russia, Lenin has not been destroyed or vandalized like in many other Baltic cities, but only displaced. In the early 1990s from the central city square it moved to the nearby touristic Narva fortress, which makes it perhaps the best placed monument of Lenin in the Baltics.
1 September is the day when the school starts in Latvia and most East European countries. Pupils gather in the class but no lectures are held, instead they just meet the teacher as well as attend an official ceremony, such as director's speech in the main hall. In Soviet times pupils also had to visit the monument of Lenin and place red flowers. Today all flowers go to teachers only.
I found this strange abandoned motel in Bosnia and Herzegovina, near the border town Foča.
Stalin and Lenin can be found even in Tirana, Albania. But not in the best spot - the large monuments are hidden behind the National art gallery and most likely date back to early 1950s when Albania were friends with Soviet Union until Stalin's death. Besides - Lenin is missing a hand.
In Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro, it is hard to find something that reminds of its former name - Titograd, unless you look at utility holes.
Bus stations in rural areas usually have a vintage look. The first photo depicts the station in Preiļi, while the map is from the station Dagda, both East Latvia.
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