Insectophobes, beware! Today's images - of a praying mantis in Georgia's old capital, Mtskheta - won't please you. But it's a harmless creature at this size, its sharp forelegs little able to pierce my fingers as they do the other insects on which it preys.
Today: Remember, to avoid repeating, if possible in this world. Fascism was defeated those decades ago, but communism had taken solid hold.
Hard to believe it's been 17 years since I was all over Eastern Europe - Poland, Hungary, Romania, Czechoslovakia, Ukraine - before settling in St. Petersburg, Russia in September 1992. The bottom 2 shots are from Czestochowa, famed for its Black Madonna icon. Just above them, the 2nd frame is the main square of beautiful Krakow.
