tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5120401471738916620.post753482031234695633..comments2023-05-29T05:58:32.869-07:00Comments on Archaeospeak: Titanoraknophobia 3Miles Russellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07581296676233050831noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5120401471738916620.post-62180394857642135952013-04-12T08:02:59.496-07:002013-04-12T08:02:59.496-07:00No need to go to Latvia - This already sounds like...No need to go to Latvia - This already sounds like the university department I work in!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5120401471738916620.post-80727894047329528712013-04-06T00:56:06.066-07:002013-04-06T00:56:06.066-07:00Thank you - I thought, for one (joyous) moment tha...Thank you - I thought, for one (joyous) moment that you were joking (after all, who on earth would create such a thing?), but a quick Google (other search engines are available) of the phrase “Gulag theme park” brought me to “Grūtas Park” (Grūto parkas), unofficially also known as “Stalin's World”, a recreation of a Soviet-era work camp near Druskininkai, to the SW of Vilnius in Lithuania. <br /><br />Founded in 2001 by ‘entrepreneur’ Viliumas Malinauskas, a key feature of the visit is entitled “Survival Drama In A Soviet Bunker” where, for the equivalent of just £25, tourists can get authentically bundled into the back of a truck, strip-searched, pushed around, forced to stand for a long period of time in the cold, interrogated and generally shouted at by actors in authentic Soviet costumes. Apparently the experience, which is designed to show visitors “how, under a totalitarian regime, they are nothing” is popular with stag parties and corporations keen to generate ‘bonding exercises’ within their workforce. <br /><br />The online version of the Lonely Planet guide notes that the park was “built to resemble a Siberian concentration camp” and that “once through the turnstile, Russian tunes blast from watchtowers, and in the restaurant, visitors eat vodka-doused sprats and onions with Soviet-made cutlery. Tacky souvenir stalls are rife; there is a playground with old Soviet swings and a mini children's zoo - all of which lends itself to critics branding the park a diabolical version of Disney”.<br /><br />I think I need to lie down. Miles Russellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07581296676233050831noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5120401471738916620.post-3467610713700440762013-04-05T08:52:42.873-07:002013-04-05T08:52:42.873-07:00I may be wrong, I sometimes am, but wasn't the...I may be wrong, I sometimes am, but wasn't there a gulag themed fun park somewhere in East Europe where you could relive all the fun of Stalin's purges?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com