HERO WORSHIP: Actors impersonate some of the former Soviet leaders including Lenin
UNITED KINGDOM SUMMER PEARLS: London's architectural gems along the banks of the Thames
MUSIC: Europe's best pop and rock gatherings
BAGPIPES: The plaintive sounds of Scotland
SUBMARIUM: Journey to the bottom of the sea FESTIVALS: Fun in the sun in West Belfast
MORE ..
FRANCE and SWITZERLAND VULCANIA: Blow your top at France's volcano park
ART: Berthe Morisot, the unknown Impressionist
FESTIVALS: Aix-en-Provence has it all
ART: The Barbizon School painters come to life
ART: Take a stroll through medieval gardens of delight
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SPAIN, PORTUGAL, ITALY and GREECE SALAMANCA: The city splashes out on culture
MUSIC: God's rock stars: the singing Greek monks
FOOD: Italy's unusual culinary delights
FILM: Great outdoor viewing in Rome
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GERMANY and BENELUX HORTICULTURE: The world blossoms at Floriade
BRUGGE: Belgium's second city shines
ART: Berlin's homage to multiculturalism ART: The best of the world's artists on show at Documenta 11
DANCE: Czech twin ballerinos steal the show in Hamburg MORE ..
CENTRAL and EASTERN EUROPE ART: Yugoslavia's modern art museum is back
ART: A retrospective of Samizdat art and writing from the Communist bloc
GRAZ: Austria's little-known city of culture
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THE NORDIC REGION DESIGN: Denmark celebrates Arne Jacobsen
MUSEUM: Get a blast from the past at Stalin World
STOCKHOLM: Welcome to the Venice of the North
MUSIC: Pianist Leif Ove Andsnes on tour MORE ..
PLUS LISTINGS: Other things to see and do in each region
Feeling nostalgic for the Soviet era? Try Stalin World
Just outside Grutas, a picturesque village in southern Lithuania, is a grim-looking security fence that cordons off 20 hectares of forest. Behind the barbed wire are imitation Stalin-era labor-camp barracks and watch towers. Pass through the gates — not forgetting to pay the €1.45 fee — and you'll find yourself in what is dubbed Stalin World, where loudspeakers blast cheerful Soviet-era music, images of Stalin, Lenin and lesser Bolsheviks line the walkways and a steam engine tugs cattle cars that were once used to deport Lithuanians to Siberia.
As the Soviet Union collapsed back in 1991, Lithuanians smashed the hated idols of Lenin and Stalin. Some statues survived and are gathered here. On sunny days, actors impersonating the former Soviet leaders mingle with visitors. "I wanted a place that combines the charms of Disneyland with the worst of the Soviet gulag," says Viliumas Malinauskas, 59, a Lithuanian businessman who created Stalin World in April 2001. Malinauskas frets that people forget the past too quickly. One way to keep memories of repression alive and bearable is to treat it with a dash of irreverence, Malinauskas believes. "Humor helps overcome the fears of the past," he says.
The wit of Stalin World has been garnering attention outside
the former Soviet bloc. Since 1991, Harvard University and the
science humor magazine Annals of Improbable Research have been
giving away the Ig Nobel awards, what they call "alternative
Nobel Prizes" for deeds that "cannot or should not be reproduced."
Past winners include the British Royal Navy for having its sailors
yell "Bang!" instead of firing live ammunition, and the creators
of the Tamagotchi computer game for reducing productivity by
diverting millions of person-hours into virtual-pet husbandry.
Last October, the Ig Nobel Peace Prize went to Malinauskas for
Stalin World.
Stalin World, Grutas Park, near Druskininkai, Lithuania •
Open:9 a.m.-7 p.m. daily • Tickets:
adults €1.45, children €0.60; (local currency only)
• Phone:+370 33 55 484
• Website:www.travel-lithuania.com/grutas/
