Only the most intrepid urban explorers cross the tattered ruins of the old Iron Curtain to endure the excessive bureaucracy, military paranoia and freezing winds of the East to hunt for the ghosts of an empire. Rebecca Litchfield is one who couldn’t resist the haunting allure of the ruins of the Soviet Union.

Girls accompany grooms as they sit separate from the brides during a mass wedding for 150 couples in Beit Lahiya town in the northern Gaza Strip July 20, 2015. The wedding was funded by al-Basheer Society for Relief and Development. (Photo by Suhaib Salem/Reuters)

Prince William exchanges rings with his bride Catherine Middleton in front of the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams inside Westminster Abbey on April 29, 2011 in London, England. The marriage of Prince William, the second in line to the British throne, to Catherine Middleton is being held in London today. The marriage of the second in line to the British throne is to be led by the Archbishop of Canterbury and will be attended by 1900 guests, including foreign Royal family members and heads of state. Thousands of well-wishers from around the world have also flocked to London to witness the spectacle and pageantry of the Royal Wedding. (Photo by Dominic Lipinski - WPA Pool/Getty Images)

The Disney Fantasy cruise ship is docked for its christening on March 1, 2012 in New York City. (Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)

People watch police destroy confiscated illegal firecrackers in Shenyang, Liaoning province, China, January 29, 2016. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

Police officers stand near a fishing boat, the Carolina Queen III, as it rests in shallow water just off Rockaway Beach, Thursday, February 25, 2016, in the Queens borough of New York. Authorities say a Coast Guard vessel overturned while assisting the fishing boat that ran aground in an inlet off New York City. (Photo by Frank Franklin II/AP Photo)

A child plays with a plastic badminton racket in the old quarters of Delhi, India, March 3, 2016. (Photo by Anindito Mukherjee/Reuters)

An Indian underprivileged bride gets her jewellery adjusted by a relative during a mass marriage ceremony in New Delhi, India, March 10, 2016. Fourteen underprivileged couples tied up the nuptial knot in the mass marriage ceremony organised by various social organisations. (Photo by Rajat Gupta/EPA)