Festival goers blow soap-bubbles at the 28th Sziget (Island) Festival on Shipyard Island, Northern Budapest, Hungary, 15 August 2022. The festival is one of the biggest cultural events of Europe offering art exhibitions, theatrical and circus performances and above all music concerts. (Photo by Marton Monus/EPA/EFE)

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.

Cork twins Sibéal and Éimhin Walsh celebrate with their friends, Samuel Palliser Kehoe and Charlotte Herlihy, during the Feis Ceoil Festival in Ireland on March 20, 2023. (Photo by Clare Keogh/The Irish Times)

Participants compete in the High-Heels Race as part of the Pride celebrations, in the Chueca neighbourhood in Madrid on July 4 29, 2024. MADO (Madrid Pride) is a series of street celebrations that take place during the city´s LGBTIQ (lesbian, gay, bisеxual, transgender, intersеx and queer) Pride week. (Photo by Óscar del Pozo/AFP Photo)

In this picture taken on January 11, 2021, young gymnasts train at the Li Xiaoshuang Gymnastics School in Xiantao, Hubei province. This summer's delayed Tokyo Olympics, which are now due to start on July 23, 2021, will be the defining moment for Chinese gymnasts who have trained relentlessly since as young as age four in the pursuit of gold. (Photo by Nicolas Asfouri/AFP Photo)

A student of the Orchestra of Recycled Instruments of Cateura holds an instrument made from recycled material by craftsman Nicolas Gomez, in Cateura, near Asuncion, May 9, 2013. The orchestra is the brainchild of its conductor Favio Chavez, who wanted to help the children of garbage pickers at the local landfill, and the instruments are made from salvaged materials by craftsman Gomez. The orchestra now involves 30 schoolchildren who have toured countries in Latin America, North America and Europe to play music ranging from Beethoven and Mozart to the Beatles and Paraguayan folk songs. (Photo by Jorge Adorno/Reuters)

A fan runs on the field during the fourth quarter of Super Bowl LV between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Kansas City Chiefs at Raymond James Stadium on February 07, 2021 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un pose for photographers during their meeting in Vladivostok, Russia, Thursday, April 25, 2019. Putin and Kim are set to have one-on-one meeting at the Far Eastern State University on the Russky Island across a bridge from Vladivostok. The meeting will be followed by broader talks involving officials from both sides. (Photo by Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP Photo/Pool)