And now it's August...

I'm back in Arcata, and a couple people (no names) have been bugging me to post more about my trip...so I will, but not now.

I don't have the internet at home, and the only place on campus with internet happens to be the same place where I work, and since we're only open limited hours before school starts I haven't had a lot of time to post.

I'm going to start writing at home on my word processor and I'll post an account of my trip around the U.K. sometime next week.

Since returning I don't think I've had to deal with too much culture shock. Just a couple little things have caught me off guard. I think shopping for food is probably the strangest experience of all. The quantities of food at the supermarket are so much larger than in Europe, and the expiration dates seem so much longer. In Finland, the milk only seemed to last for a week, but here milk seems to stay fresh for a month. It's a little scary actually. And American supermarkets are so much bigger, and there are so many varieties of everything that it's a little overwhelming.

The cashiers in the U.S. do so much more work too. In Europe they get to sit down, and they don't have to bag your groceries. In Germany and France they even get mad at you if you don't have exact change. Sometimes the friendly American banter is a little too much for me, but it always has been. I guess I just get a little too focused when I'm running errands.

Arcata has left me a little culture shocked as well. This city and its inhabitants are pretty weird, but that's part of the reason why it's so fabulous.

2-minute update

I'm in Scotland, the weather is lovely (for Scotland), and I'm flying back on the 21st. Everything is going fine, and I can't wait to fill in the gaps for all the days I missed.

Some photos, finally

Here are some photographic highlights of my trip so far. When I get back to California I'll put more up, and include some of the stories behind them. It was so hard to decide which ones to put up. I don't want to sound conceited, but I have so many great pictures that I can't believe it! Of course, I'm not the reason that these pictures are so good, it's the subject matter. When you photograph a place like Berlin or Paris, you can't really take a bad picture. Also, sorry in advance, but the pictures aren't in chronological order simply because it would take too much work.

Newly reunited, Hannah and I are working it at the top of the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin.

The TV tower and the Berlin Wall.

The Berlin Wall again

Florescent rocks in Electric Lady Land in Amsterdam

Kilkenny, Ireland

The Cliffs of Moher, County Claire, Ireland

The Eiffel Tower

Arch de'Triumph

Seeing the Mona Lisa isn't as exciting as seeing other people see the Mona Lisa.

Desanzano del Garda, Italy

The Roman Arena, Verona, Italy

Kids Camp! outside Munich

Nuremberg

"Saxon Swiss" outside Dresden

East Berlin

Hannah in Venice

The Blarney Stone

Since I last updated I have been to Kilkenny, which is a great city, Waterford (just for the day. I went to the crystal factory. It was pretty fabulous), and now Cork. I'm now checked out of my hostel, so I've been left to roam the streets/use cheap internet, until I go to the airport and fly to London.

Yesterday I made my pilgrimage to Blarney, where I kissed the famous stone. It's a lot harder than in sounds. First of all, it was raining quite a bit, so before I even got to Blarney I was soaking wet. Secondly, the castle is really scary. It's not really in the greatest condition, and where the Blarney stone is located is even worse. "Pilgrims" must lie on the ground, and then grab on to bars while a man, who I assume works for the castle, pushes the "pilgrims" over the ledge and toward the stone. I'm slightly afraid of heights, so it was particularly terrifying for me, but who really likes leaning backwards over the edge of an 800-year-old castle?


Here is yours truly demonstrating how it is done.


And here is the castle. If you look straight up, the open part with the bars is exactly what I was leaning over. I guess it's safe, but it was still scary.

Regardless, it's over now, and I can officially say that I have kissed the Blarney stone. Whether or not I'll be able to say that with a new found eloquence, we'll have to wait and see.

Another 10 Minute Blog Post

I'm retracing my footsteps back to Dublin, but only for an evening. I'm leaving in the morning for Kilkenny, and Hannah is leaving for San Francisco. I'm sorry I still don't have any pictures up, but the hostel has that part of the computer blocked off. If any one is still looking at this thing a month from now, I'll have some time before school starts, and I should be able to get some of the 1,500 photos I've taken on here. Probably not all of them though.

Galway was amazing by the way. Really beautiful country side, and a cute city. We went on a tour of the Burren and the Cliffs of Moher which was nice. The driver was a little nuts though. He did a low chuckle after every other word that reminded us of the Zodiac or someone similar.

"There's a yellow car ahead. He he he. A lemon car. A vivid lemon, he he he."

Tonight is the final game of Euro 2008, Germany vs. Spain. Obviously, I'm supporting Germany since I've been supporting them since the beginning...but if I don't get to the pub soon I won't be able to get a seat, so it's time to go. Wish Hannah a safe trip home...I'm going to miss her, even if we fight everytime we get lost (which is all the time).

Paris...

Getting to Paris was an adventure on its own.

Our flight from "Milan" aka Bergamo to "Paris" aka Beauvais, was at 6:30 in the morning. If your not familiar with Ryanair, this is pretty much standard for them. Since Bergamo is not the same place as Milan, it's not as easy to reach, meaning we had to take the 7:40 bus the night before and hang out at the airport until 4:30 AM when the check in counter opened. Red Bull is an amazing thing. Not surprisingly, there were a lot of people in the airport doing the same thing for different Ryanair destinations. But don't get me wrong, Ryanair is cheap (45$) if you're willing to put up with this kind of stuff.

When we arrived in "Paris," Hannah and I bought our bus tickets to real Paris and went outside. Suddenly, we realized that we forgot our checked luggage, and we had left the security area so we couldn't get back in. Luckily, the security area isn't very secure and we just walked back in, grabbed our bags, and left.

At 10:30am (yes, it was a 2 hour bus ride from "Paris" to Paris), when we reached real Paris, I was completely overwhelmed. Getting a ticket for the Metro was an ordeal, but soon enough we were on our way to the hostel.

After we left our stuff there, we went on the "free" tour of Paris, which wasn't as good as the "free" tour of Berlin, but still better than sleeping through one of our two days in Paris. Later, we went to the Pere Lachise (??? I don't have time to look up the name) Cemetery, where all of the famous people are burried, but we didn't have time to find any of them, since it closes at 6PM. We went back today and visited Edith Piaf and Jim Morrison. Even the graves of the non-famous are interesting though.

So, what else did we do today...well, we spent the morning in the Louvre, and yes, I saw the Mona Lisa and the Venus de (di?) Milo, along with hundreds of other paintings and sculptures. The hype surrounding the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo isn't really justified. Yes, they're beautiful, but the whole museum is filled with beautiful paintings and scupltures that hardly any of the visitors go to because they're not as famous. Kind of like Venice. Everyone walks down the same streets, and if you go one street over you feel like you're the only person in the entire city, which is nice when you have to hide from the Venice police and eat a sandwhich like Hannah and I did.


We had a (legal) sandwhich at the Louve, and then walked down the Champs Elysee to see the Arch de Triumph (yet again, I'm not going to look up the spelling). Next was the Eifel Tower, and then back to the cemetery. We tried walking from the cemetery to the hostel, but it was so far that we ended up having to take a more indirect route on the subway. Oops.

About the Parisians being rude, I don't know. I haven't really interacted with them. This city is really stressful though, and certianly full of crazy people.

I'd love to write more, but my internet time is nearly up, and Germany is playing Turkey in Euro2008 right now, so obviously, that is my priority at the moment.

Tomorrow I'm off to the west coast of Ireland, and I can't wait.

btw: the spell check is broken, sorry

Italia!

Yesterday evening we arrived in Italy by train from Munich. I don't think that I've written about Munich yet, and well, there isn't too much to say. The weather was pretty cold and rainy, so we just spent a lot of time indoors with Hannah's family, who we stayed with.

Luckily, the weather in Italy has been amazing. Today we went with my friend Barbara to Verona, where she goes to school, and we walked around the city while she took an exam. We met up with her later and had lunch, saw the arena, and also the Juliet House. Although, Verona is where Romeo and Juliet is set, everyone is pretty sure that this was NOT Juliet's house. It's just a really old house that has been turned into a tourist trap. There is some cool graffiti on the walls nearby though. In the afternoon we took the train back to Desenzano del Garda, which is a town close to Barbara's house. She lives in one of the small towns on Lake Garda, and the view from the second floor is absolutely amazing. From the front yard we can see a medieval castle. It's incredible.

What else? Well, I've had gelato three times since I've been here, and tomorrow we're going to Venice for the day. Love it!

Nürnberg

So, now we're in Nürnberg, or in English, Nuremberg.

We arrived here yesterday, and it's been nice so far. We're staying with my former flatmate, Lisa, and we've met lots of her friends so far.

Last night we went to her university to watch a public showing of Euro 2008: Germany vs. Crotia. Afterwards, when Germany lost, we went to mourn at the beer garden next to the castle. Today we walked around more of the historic city center, and then we went to the Documentation Center, which is a museum about the rise of the Nazi party, housed at the location of the Nazi rallies. They also had some information on the Nuremberg trials as well, which I guess is what Nuremberg is most famous for in the US, but there is a lot more to the city than that, and in Germany Nuremberg is really famous for it's Christmas market and a special kind of sausage.

This evening we had a barbeque, and Hannah and I got to make the hamburgers since we're the Americans. I think they turned out pretty well. Everyone ate too much though, and I still feel really full.

I don't know what we're doing tomorrow, except that I want to try a Berliner doughnut at some point, and in the evening we're taking the train to Munich.

Dresden!

Dresden is my location at the moment, and I'm having a great time here. The first night I was tired, so I just went to a park near the hostel and relaxed. The second day, Hannah and I borrowed bikes from the hostel and rode up the Elbe River to the Blue Wonder Bridge and back. I guess the whole trip was around 10 kilometers. It was a really nice way to spend the morning. We got to sit by the river a little bit, and see some really nice houses along the way. Of course, we saw some not so nice East German apartment blocks as well. Later, we met with my friend Andreas who lives outside of Dresden, but studied in Finland during the past year. He showed us around the old part of the city, which isn't really that old since it was all rebuilt after German reunification. We then went to the new part of the city, which is actually older since it wasn't completely destroyed during the war.

Today we went to Saxon Switzerland, which is a nearby national park with lots of beautiful rock formations, and trees. Another traveler we met at the hostel went with us, and luckily, he actually knows some German, which was really helpful. Otherwise, we would have been completely lost trying to find the hiking trail.

After we walked around the park we rode on the train to a little town and had some food. The woman at the snack counter was so nice! I think she was really impressed with Mario's German, and the fact that we aren't from Europe. At the end of our meal she offered us free cake, but we were too full, so she gave us little bottles of a local liqueur instead. She said that we're not allowed to drink it though, so I guess I'll just hang on to it for luck. It was a really good time, and I got some beautiful photos of cute little German towns, and the beautiful Elbe valley.

Well, I'm nearly out of internet time so I have to write fast. Hopefully my writing isn't too hard to follow. Tomorrow we're off to Nuremberg, and I hope we have just as good of a time there.

Edit: I was just looking at my last post, and remembered that I wrote about running into someone from Davis High in Berlin. In a totally crazy coincidence, I actually saw more people that I know from California in Berlin. In the fall I took a German lit. class, and while I was waiting for the subway I saw my professor, along with a bunch of HSU students touring Germany. Crazy... this world is so small!

Day 3 in Berlin

I'm feeling better, so it seems like my cold was pretty short. The beds at the last hostel were unbelievably comfortable, which was just what I needed. I was able to get lots of sleep, and that helped a lot. Today we had to move to another hostel, and I don't like this one as much. It's not as pretty, and they charge for nearly everything. The actual charge per night is pretty low though, so I guess we'll break even in the end.

Today, Hannah and I went on an amazing free walking tour of Berlin (of course, we tipped at the end, so it wasn't really free, but it was still worth it). The guide was hilarious, and we saw lots of interesting things. At first, Berlin doesn't seem very impressive, but once you hear the stories behind the buildings, and look a little closer at things which could easily be over looked it's really an incredible place. Among some of the things we saw were the Berlin Wall, Checkpoint Charlie, and the parking lot where Hitler's Bunker once was.

Before we went on the tour we walked around the Holocaust Memorial a little bit, and we ran into a guy I went to high school with. How weird is that?!? Apparently, he was studying in Sweden during the past semester and had decided to travel during the summer as well. It was bizarre and cool at the same time. He told me that while he was in London he also ran into someone else from Davis High. So who knows, maybe this isn't the last person from California that I'll run into.

Hmmm...what else? Yesterday, we spent nearly an entire afternoon in the Jewish Museum, which was wonderful. There was just so much to do there, and the building itself was fascinating. We also went to the largest stretch of the Berlin Wall, which isn't too far from our last hostel. I got some amazing pictures there, but they'll have to wait, since this computer doesn't have a place for USB cables, and the internet here is too expensive any way.

Tomorrow, we're going on the Alternative Berlin tour, which should be a blast. The guy who organizes it was hanging around our old hostel, and he is quite the character. There is supposed to be a lot of abandoned building and flea market exploring. Good times.

Something more substantial

I didn't nap today, so I don't have much energy to go out this evening. The hostel computers are free, luckily, so I have writing to occupy my time. I think I'll just do a stream of conciousness style description of my past couple days. I already wrote about the Anne Frank Museum, and after that all Hannah and I did was just wander around the canals some more, and take a quick peak into the red light district. It's a bizarre place, but not as scandalous as one would think. The locals seem so comfortable with the whole thing that it really takes away the taboo edge of the district. I think the red light district in San Francisco is a lot worse, because everything is made to look more illicit and underground. Of course, in San Francisco there aren't half naked women in the windows, but that's what makes Amsterdam what it is, I guess... I don't know, I'm still processing it.

The next day, so I guess that would be yesterday, the 4th, Hannah and I got a later start. We checked out of the hostel around 10:30AM, and we took the tram to the central station and stored our bags. We then took the free ferry to North Amsterdam. It wasn't really that exciting, but it was something to do. I don't know if I mentioned this already, but Amsterdam was really quite humid, but since it wasn't so hot, it was actually nice. My hair was extra curly.

After our North Amsterdam adventure, we headed back to the Jordaan for Electric Lady Land, which is a gallery of florescant art on top of the world's first ever museum of florescent art. It was absolutely amazing. The owner/creator/artist gave us a guided tour through the museum, and explaned the scientific process behind florescence, gave us a huge pamphlet on it, and showed us various types of flourescent art. If your ever in Amsterdam, I highly recommend it!

Also, you can check out the website here. I got some great photos, but I can't put them up at the moment.

Hannah and I then killed more time walking around the city, looking in shops, buying fries off the street, eating ice cream cones, and sitting by the canals. Eventually it was time to go to the bus station though. As we were waiting for the train this guy came up to us and started telling us that the international trains were in some other part of the station. Since we were just taking a local train to the bus station I just kind of ignored him, but he got more persistent, like we didn't understand him. Eventually, I just had to tell him "we're not taking an international train, we're going to Amstel station," but he didn't let up, he had to tell us, "oh, that train is here."

"Yeah, that's why we're waiting here."

When I actually need help in a city, no one is there, but all of a sudden when I have stuff figured out, someone has to come up and ruin mz moment for me. Sure we have big backpacks on, but that doesn't mean we're taking the international train! So annoying.

Speaking of the international train, so yeah, we took the bus. The driver only made the announcements in Polish, and by the end of the ride someone had managed to piss over every single sq. inch of the bathroom, but it was still good. I got some sleep, and it only cost 24 euro. Amazing.

We had an epic time checking in to the hostel this morning, and Hannah nearly fell asleep on the train, but some how everything worked out.

Tomorrow, I'm going to get up a decent hour and check out a walking tour.

Word.

Berlin no. 1

Around 6:30AM, Hannah and I arrived in Berlin by bus. Quite an adventure, but we made it in one piece. Unfortunately, both of us have picked up colds on the way. Hannah's is a lot worse than mine, and she didn't get any sleep last night, so she's been napping on and off all day. I don't know how much we'll be able to do today, but that's alright since we have a while in Berlin. The German language is a little intimidating though. Dutch was so fun because I felt like I could almost understand it. After the little bits of Swedish that I picked up in Finland, along with English, Dutch seemed to make some sense, but German is a lot harder. Again, I wish I could go on and on in detail, but internet is a luxury, and German keyboards are impossible. The z is where the y should be, and when I want ' I get # or ä or ö. So, just know that I'm doing alright, despite the slight cold, and I'm looking forward to exploring Berlin.

Amsterdam, again...

Hi again. I found another chance to write, so I thought I would take advantage of it. It's almost 11PM, and I'm getting ready to go to bed. Hannah and I decided not to go to the Rijk's Museum today because it's a little expensive, but we did go to the Anne Frank House, Van Gogh, and on a canal cruise. The Anne Frank House was the best place we went today, by far, but it was also incredibly emotional. Tomorrow, we have until 8:30PM in the city, so we should be able to see a couple other museums before we leave. Then we'll be on a bus for 10 hours. We're definitely packing some snacks with us. I wish I could share some photos, but the computer here isn't so good, and the internet is a little expensive, so it would take too much time and money to get them up. Speaking of paying for the internet, my money has nearly run out so I need to go...

'

Amsterdam

We made it to Amsterdam! I love this city. Even with a bus strike, rain, and random weirdness, it is perfect. Even though we've only been here since yesterday afternoon, I already like Amsterdam so much more than Dublin. Dublin was too crowded, and there were just too many cheesy tourist things, like really bad street performers, and people dressed like leprechauns. There were also a lot of trashy hen parties all over the place. I'm still looking forward to going back to Ireland at the end of the month, but I will only be in Dublin for one more night. Amsterdam, on the other hand, is so great that I wish I would stay here until the end of the month. The buildings and the canals are just so beautiful, and this city really feels a lot safer and calmer than Dublin. Today Hannah and I are planning on visiting the Van Gogh Museum, the Anne Frank House, and possibly going on a boat ride through the canals. We'll see how things go.

I only have about 10 more minutes of internet left, but I think I need to leave now so we can get to the Van Gogh Museum around the time it opens. I really wish I could write more, but I just don't have time. Just wanted everyone to know that Hannah and I are doing well, and we're having a great time.

Dublin

I made it to Dublin on Friday, and I'm finally reunited with Hannah. The weather here is pretty warm, and I've been struggling with the change in climate and time zone as Hannah guides me throughout the city. At the moment we're in an internet cafe trying to catch up life and book some hostels for our return to Dublin. We've discovered that nearly everything that we wanted to see in Dublin can be done in two days, so when we return at the end of the month we'll go to a different part of the country.

So far we've been to the Christ Church Cathedral, Dublinia (a Viking museum), and the Guiness Storehouse among other places. I really enjoyed Dublinia, but I felt like I was being brainwashed at the Guiness Storehouse.

After were done here, we're probably going to head to St. Patrick's Cathedral and maybe the Oscar Wilde monument. I'm really looking forward to tomorrow...Viva Amsterdam!

A Day in Helsinki

I only have 3 days left in Finland. I'm not particularly happy about this, nor am I ready to leave. I know that I have an amazing summer ahead of me, but it feels really strange to leave my life in Finland behind. Unlike my Humboldt County life, which will be pretty much the same when I get back, this whole exchange experience will just disappear when I leave. The people I've met here and the experiences I've had can never be recreated or duplicated. I'm leaving Finland with a lot of sadness, but I'm not going to let it overshadow the fantastic time I have had and will have this summer. I can't wait to Hannah again, and I think Ireland will be amazing too. Although I'm leaving Finland, the blogging isn't over. I'll try to post as often as possible while I'm traveling, so you can know what I'm up to this summer.

But since I'm still in Finland, I should write about that. I went to Helsinki on Friday and had a wonderful time, and even better tour guides.

I arrived in Helsinki around 10AM and met my friend Vappu, who is part of the Finnish-Exchange Student group that I went to Stockholm with. We went to a record store (she was shocked to learn how cheap CDs are in the States, even if they don't seem cheap to us) and then had some breakfast. I had a huge omelet that kept me full until late afternoon, and apparently we were sitting right next to a Finnish movie star. Of course, I have no idea who he is, but Vappu seemed a little excited. Afterward, we rode the 3T tram in a circle around the city, and she pointed out all kinds of interesting things and filled me in on some Helsinki history and folklore. We exited by a nice park near the train station, and then we looked at some of the shops nearby. My favorite was the American and British food store. Too funny! Everything was really expensive, but they had root beer, so I had to splurge on a can. By this time it was nearly 2PM and I needed to return to train station to meet Nina, a Finnish woman my mother knows.

Nina offered to show me around Helsinki, and I accepted. Her son and husband joined us for part of the afternoon as well. Our first stop was the Sibelius Monument, which is in a nice park by the water. Of course, everything in Helsinki is by the water, so I guess I mean, you could see the water from this park. There were also lots of tourist buses at the monument, which was kind of strange for me, since I'm not really used to seeing tourists in Finland.







After the Sibelius Monument, Nina's husband Timo gave me a short tour of the city by car and we went to the Temppeliaukio Kirkko, or Rock Church. Which doesn't host heavy metal concerts as you might guess, instead it is an actual church built into rock, and slightly below the ground in places.





The ceiling is a giant circle made of copper. There were also tons of tourists here too, but I'm still happy I went. It's a very unusual looking church.

We then went on another short driving tour, and then to a cafe by the water. We had originally planned on going to Suomenlinna, which is an island close to Helsinki, but it was too windy, so we just looked at it from across the water. When we had finished our coffee and snacks, Timo dropped Nina and I off at a nearby park, and we began to explore the city on foot.


I saw old men playing chess with giant pieces!


And really beautiful tulips too!


We also visited the Cathedral of Helsinki, and the Helsinki University Library, which is across the street. The library was very impressive, it was like the perfect old-looking library. It looked like a place you could film a movie inside of. There were wooden bookcases, spiral staircases, and elaborate murals all over the ceilings. Unfortunately, I wasn't allowed to take any pictures inside.

Nearby, there was a cute craft bazaar that we looked in for a little while, and we continued our shopping trip on one of the city's main shopping streets. On our way I had another celebrity sighting when Nina pointed to Ilkka Kanerva, the former Finnish foreign minister, sitting at a cafe across the street from where we were standing. Mr. Kanerva was recently involved in a high-profile sex scandal, so even I had heard of him. Both Nina and I had a good laugh over this "celebrity sighting." We both couldn't believe that he was sitting outside of the cafe, in one of the most visible places in all of Helsinki. To each their own, I guess.

I ended up buying a couple last minute presents for myself, including a Marimekko coin purse, a Moomin book, and a book of Finnish recipes adapted for American kitchens. If any of you would like to try some of my favorite Finnish dishes when I return to the US, just let me know! I'm planning on making a ton of Karelian pies and freezing them. They're amazing.

Eventually, Nina's son called and she had to return home. We walked to the bus station and went our separate ways. I felt very fortunate to see Helsinki through the perspective of locals, and it was also really nice to talk about the differences and similarities between Finland and Davis with Nina. Good times!

The return to Tallinn

We arrived back in Tallinn around 4PM and took the bus into the city. On the way to the hostel we stopped by a Texas-themed restaurant around the corner from the hostel. Another traveler I met in Vilnius told me that she went there and they had a sign offering free phone calls to the United States. Typically I would not be eager to go to a Texas-themed restaurant, especially in Estonia, but I thought a free phone call to my parents would be funny, and I decided to check it out. We couldn't see anything advertising a free call though, so we decided to pass. On our way out this creepy American guy started talking to us, which was unfortunate since we met a really bad American guy at our hostel in Vilnius too. The guy in Estonia was trying to get us to go to his art gallery to see some "heavy" stuff that he and his art collective are working on. He then elaborated, telling us that they are doing racist art, which is "heavy" because they're not racist, or something. They were also going to do some "controversial" stuff like Mohammad strapped with bombs and George Bush and Tony Blair having sex. Obviously this stuff has already been done, which we told him. He kept saying that his art was completely different, and when he asked us our opinion on it, once again, we told him that he's an idiot and there was no way that we would want to come to his gallery.

So, as you can probably tell, it took us a long time to get rid of this guy, but eventually we did and checked into our hostel. That evening I went out for Estonian pancakes and walked around the city.



The next morning I went to the museum inside the Kiek in de Kök tower, and the Tallinn City art museum, which had an exhibit by Orlan, an artist from France who uses plastic surgery as part of her art. It was interesting, but a little too much for me.


Kiek in de Kök



We then went out for lunch, and made a trip to the supermarket. That evening we caught the ferry back to Helsinki. We tried to get off the ferry as fast as possible so we could catch the 9PM train to Turku, but we just missed it. Recently the train station in Helsinki has become a hang out for skinheads, and there were about 10 of them by the door when we came in. The next train wasn't until 11PM, so we decided to find the bus station, rather than stay at the train station. Luckily there was a bus to Turku at 10PM so we didn't have to wait very long. The bus is about half an hour longer than the train, but it felt like it took 3x as long because I was so tired. It was nice to return to Finland, but I also felt inspired that after a week of traveling I didn't feel like I had to return. Maybe I'll be able to survive this summer after all?

Vilnius, Lithuania: days three & four

Sorry for the delay, I've been a little busy planning to make my grand departure from Finland. I had to go to the Posti and buy some boxes and packing supplies a couple days ago, and on Friday I went to Helsinki for the day.

Here are some more photos and stories from my trip to Lithuania.

On the third day we walked around the city some more, and visited some of the more eccentric tourist attractions in Vilnius, such as the Frank Zappa monument.



I think I was trying to point to Frank in this picture, but I missed him. Um...Frank Zappa is number one?

The statue isn't very impressive, it's kind of like Frank Zappa's head on a stick, but the story behind it is really funny.

Afterwards we went to the Uzupis Republic, which is an area in Vilnius that has declared itself an independent nation, but is really more of an artists' district.

One of the best things in Uzupis is the republic's constitution, which is available in several languages and posted to a wall in the district on metal plates. Here are some of the best clauses from the Uzupis constitution:

3. Everyone has the right to die, but this is not an obligation.
12. A dog has the right to be a dog.
16. Everyone has the right to be happy.
17. Everyone has the right to be unhappy.
20. No one has the right to violence.
26. Everyone has the right to celebrate or not celebrate their birthday.
27. Everyone shall remember their name.

You can see a picture of the whole constitution here.

Here are some photos of some other interesting things that I saw in Uzupis.

Unfortunately, my camera ran out of memory when I was in Uzupis, so I missed taking photos of the murals, but luckily Kristen and Leila got some great shots which they're letting me share.







I did get a photo of the Uzupis Angel though. Before there was a statue of an angel they had a statue of an egg as a place holder, which was later auctioned.








Later we walked around the city, had some carbalicious food, and I took some photos of the various beautiful churches throughout Vilnius.










The next day we flew back to Tallinn, which was an adventure all by itself. The stop for the bus to the airport is not marked at all, and we had the hardest time in the world trying to find it. We had to ask about 5 people to finally get there, and by the time we got to the airport we only had 40 minutes before our flight left. It was pretty intense. Riding buses in Lithuania is also really different because you have to buy the ticket from a news stand and then punch it on the bus. In practice a lot of people don't punch their tickets and reuse them later. I didn't want to worry about getting a fine though, so I decided to be a good citizen and punch my tickets.

Carbs of the World: The Baltic States

Carb lovers, rejoice in the stodgy offerings of the Baltic States, where potatoes in all their possible incarnations can be found along side dark rye bread and a half liter of beer!


Here we have ,33cl of Švyturys Lithuania beer, and rye bread fried in garlic and oil topped with cheese. A fabulously greasy afternoon snack.


And now we have a potato pancake with cheese curd and horseradish sauce. It seems impossible, but I was actually a little underwhelmed with this one. I love potato pancakes, but this one was just too mushy on the inside. The sauce was nice though.


Finally, we have and Estonian pancake complete with cheese and bacon filling on the inside and a bowl of cream sauce on the side.

As you can see, the culinary delights of the Baltic States aren't for the faint of heart, but they're cheap, filling, and just what I needed after a day full of walking and tower climbing.