Sorry guys, summer is not the time to keep a weblog up to date. You will have to wait for winter to come and then I may post more here.
Quick update on what my life is going to look like in the coming weeks:
- City trip to Bratislava next weekend
- Helping to renovate an old monastery in Ukraine at the end of July
- Sister + some friends coming over in August
- Teambuilding weekend from work in August
- Lots of Couchsurfers coming over in the time between those things
It's going to be one awesome summer. :)
donderdag 23 juni 2011
dinsdag 7 juni 2011
Trip to the Baltics & Poland - The summary
Dear reader,
Below you will find the travel diary I wrote during my travel to Lithuania, Latvia and Poland. I realise that I wrote quite a lot and not all of you may have the time to read all of it, so I will just write a short summary of the travel here.
The whole idea behind my travel was to meet as much locals as possible, to get an impression of what a country is really like instead of just exploring the country using a travel guide and map. I travelled alone, but in total I met up with 9 people (plus their friends sometimes) in 5 different cities: Vilnius, Riga, Kaunas (my favourite), Warsaw and Ostrava. This concept was a big success: I got to do and see a lot of things the average tourist would never get to do or see and made a lot of new friends.
I'm already considering doing a second trip like this, to the Southeastern part of Europe next year, because this last trip has certainly been the best trip I have ever made. But that's for later, first I have to start planning my travel to Ukraine in July. This is going to be my best summer ever. :)
A selection of my photos are available on Facebook. And if you can't see them because of that, just do something about that. :)
Below you will find the travel diary I wrote during my travel to Lithuania, Latvia and Poland. I realise that I wrote quite a lot and not all of you may have the time to read all of it, so I will just write a short summary of the travel here.
The whole idea behind my travel was to meet as much locals as possible, to get an impression of what a country is really like instead of just exploring the country using a travel guide and map. I travelled alone, but in total I met up with 9 people (plus their friends sometimes) in 5 different cities: Vilnius, Riga, Kaunas (my favourite), Warsaw and Ostrava. This concept was a big success: I got to do and see a lot of things the average tourist would never get to do or see and made a lot of new friends.
I'm already considering doing a second trip like this, to the Southeastern part of Europe next year, because this last trip has certainly been the best trip I have ever made. But that's for later, first I have to start planning my travel to Ukraine in July. This is going to be my best summer ever. :)
A selection of my photos are available on Facebook. And if you can't see them because of that, just do something about that. :)
Trip to the Baltics & Poland - Part 3&4: Kaunas, Warsaw & Ostrava
Part 3: Kaunas
The 2.5 days that I spent in Kaunas can be summarized by two words: absolutely amazing. I was busy all the time with meeting new people and really got to see the best side of the city.
When I arrived in Kaunas after a 5.5 hour bus ride from Riga (which is really not something I would recommend on the hottest day of the year) I would meet up with a girl named Eglė and one of her friends straight away. I had just enough time to drop off my backpack at the hostel and freshen up a little bit before they would pick me up to visit a sports event by the medical university. After watching some of the games, we went to a nearby lake with some more friends for a swim and some mosquito bites and we ended the night on a viewing point over the whole city, where we could watch a storm above Kaunas.
The next day I met up with my good friend Rima, who I already know for almost 2 years. Together, we visited pretty much all places in Kaunas that are worth visiting, ate some Lithuanian food (but no cold soup) and had some fun taking pictures of eachother together with some very friendly statues. Even though she had an exam the next day, we stayed together till 5 in the afternoon, which was highly appreciated by me. :)
The next morning I met up with Agnė, who has not been my penpal for so long yet, but I certainly had a very enjoyable time with her. We had some Lithuanian food at the same place I was the day before (still no cold soup for me), went to a church where I burnt my thumb trying to light a candle and visited some musea. I was a bit sad when she had to leave in the afternoon, but luckily I was able to arrange another meetup in the evening, with someone I met on CouchSurfing. After that, it was time to go clubbing in Kaunas with the owners of the hostel and two other guests from the hostel: a girl from China and a man from Alaska. It was a very nice way to end my short stay in Kaunas.
Right now, I think Kaunas is a city full of amazing people and my days there were definitely the best days of my trip, and maybe even of my life. I really hope I can go back there soon.
Part 4: Warsaw
The day that I had to leave Kaunas and Lithuania had arrived. I had a weird feeling, because I would have liked to stay there for a longer time. So I took the train to Warsaw. I had to change trains in a small Lithuanian village, which I, with my passion for small villages abroad, really liked. After a train ride that lasted in total for 8 hours I arrived in Warsaw, totally exhausted from the boring trip and still feeling the lack of sleep from the night before. Despite of that, I still went out that evening with my CS-host Mateusz and some of his friends, but this time it didn't get so late.
During my stay in Warsaw we did some traditional sightseeing, visited an impressive museum about the second world war in Poland and in the evening we chilled in a park, violating the Polish law that forbids to drink beer in public places. I still believe that such a law is ridiculous, but who am I to judge that..
The final stop of my travel would not be Katowice, as just before my travel started the friend I would meet there had to cancel our meetup. Luckily I was able to find a very good alternative: I could meet my friend Petra from Ostrava instead, for the first time. After a funny situation when I texted her where I was while she was standing right behind me, we went sightseeing in the city and afterwards she took me to a very nice tearoom/loungebar where we had a drink together. After that, we went to a park where I pretty much forced her to be on a picture with me, so I would have a photo with everyone that I met up with during my travel.
At 8 o'clock it was time for me to take the last train home and around midnight I got back to Prague safely, with a lot of great memories on my mind and an extremely satisfied feeling. I had done it. I had finished my first journey alone with just a backpack and a list of people I would meet up with. I can't wait to do such a trip again next year!
The 2.5 days that I spent in Kaunas can be summarized by two words: absolutely amazing. I was busy all the time with meeting new people and really got to see the best side of the city.
When I arrived in Kaunas after a 5.5 hour bus ride from Riga (which is really not something I would recommend on the hottest day of the year) I would meet up with a girl named Eglė and one of her friends straight away. I had just enough time to drop off my backpack at the hostel and freshen up a little bit before they would pick me up to visit a sports event by the medical university. After watching some of the games, we went to a nearby lake with some more friends for a swim and some mosquito bites and we ended the night on a viewing point over the whole city, where we could watch a storm above Kaunas.
The next day I met up with my good friend Rima, who I already know for almost 2 years. Together, we visited pretty much all places in Kaunas that are worth visiting, ate some Lithuanian food (but no cold soup) and had some fun taking pictures of eachother together with some very friendly statues. Even though she had an exam the next day, we stayed together till 5 in the afternoon, which was highly appreciated by me. :)
The next morning I met up with Agnė, who has not been my penpal for so long yet, but I certainly had a very enjoyable time with her. We had some Lithuanian food at the same place I was the day before (still no cold soup for me), went to a church where I burnt my thumb trying to light a candle and visited some musea. I was a bit sad when she had to leave in the afternoon, but luckily I was able to arrange another meetup in the evening, with someone I met on CouchSurfing. After that, it was time to go clubbing in Kaunas with the owners of the hostel and two other guests from the hostel: a girl from China and a man from Alaska. It was a very nice way to end my short stay in Kaunas.
Right now, I think Kaunas is a city full of amazing people and my days there were definitely the best days of my trip, and maybe even of my life. I really hope I can go back there soon.
Part 4: Warsaw
The day that I had to leave Kaunas and Lithuania had arrived. I had a weird feeling, because I would have liked to stay there for a longer time. So I took the train to Warsaw. I had to change trains in a small Lithuanian village, which I, with my passion for small villages abroad, really liked. After a train ride that lasted in total for 8 hours I arrived in Warsaw, totally exhausted from the boring trip and still feeling the lack of sleep from the night before. Despite of that, I still went out that evening with my CS-host Mateusz and some of his friends, but this time it didn't get so late.
During my stay in Warsaw we did some traditional sightseeing, visited an impressive museum about the second world war in Poland and in the evening we chilled in a park, violating the Polish law that forbids to drink beer in public places. I still believe that such a law is ridiculous, but who am I to judge that..
The final stop of my travel would not be Katowice, as just before my travel started the friend I would meet there had to cancel our meetup. Luckily I was able to find a very good alternative: I could meet my friend Petra from Ostrava instead, for the first time. After a funny situation when I texted her where I was while she was standing right behind me, we went sightseeing in the city and afterwards she took me to a very nice tearoom/loungebar where we had a drink together. After that, we went to a park where I pretty much forced her to be on a picture with me, so I would have a photo with everyone that I met up with during my travel.
At 8 o'clock it was time for me to take the last train home and around midnight I got back to Prague safely, with a lot of great memories on my mind and an extremely satisfied feeling. I had done it. I had finished my first journey alone with just a backpack and a list of people I would meet up with. I can't wait to do such a trip again next year!
donderdag 2 juni 2011
Trip to the Baltics & Poland - Part 1&2: Vilnius and Riga
Part 1: Vilnius
My trip to the Baltics and Poland started on 27 May. On that day I would fly to Vilnius, where I would stay with Andrius, who I met via CouchSurfing. On the bus from the airport I already met the first new people. First I was talking with a middle-aged woman who was travelling alone with her (obviously single) 35-year old son. Then the guy sitting next to me overheard us speaking Dutch and started talking to me about the political situation in the Netherlands. However, I will mostly remember this guy for the quote he told me before I had to transfer the bus. He literally said to me: "You know, girls are actually just like buses. You get on them, you ride them for a while and then you get off again to transfer to another." And the worst thing is that he was actually not even joking. Luckily this guy was not my first impression of Lithuanian people.
So after riding the second bus for a while I arrived at the bus stop where I would meet Andrius. He welcomed me to his home with a smile and made me feel like at home immediately. After having dropped off my backpack we went out for dinner in a traditional Lithuanian restaurant. I really enjoyed the food there, much better than what I'm used to in Czech Republic. :)
On Saturday we walked around in Vilnius (and the unofficial republic Uzupis) for a while, before going to a CouchSurfing-meeting in a park on the riverside. I met some very nice people there and when the evening arrived most of us went to a bar to watch the Champions League final. It was kinda funny, because some people had never really watched a soccer game before, as basketball is the national sport (or as some people say: religion) in Lithuania. All of us enjoyed the good game though.
At the end of the evening, Andrius and I shared a taxi with Paul: a 50 years old American who is currently travelling through the Baltics using Couchsurfing and Interpals; the same websites as I used to get in touch with the people I will meet on my trip. His host was living in a brand new house just outside of Vilnius. In that area, the roads were not paved yet. It was a real experience to be in a taxi on a dirtroad in the middle of nowhere at around 1:30 am. Once again an experience that a typical tourist would never get during a trip to a European capital!
The next morning I experienced why Lithuania is called Lietuva (literally: "rain country") in Lithuanian. It was raining as if the clouds had just burst open and it looked like the rain would not end soon. Therefore we played pool in a nearby shopping center in the morning and went to Trakai, a national park in Lithuania, in the afternoon. When we arrived there the rain had miraculously stopped. Near the castle of Trakai we met Paul again, who was visiting the place together with the two teenage sons of his host. Together we enjoyed the traditional food Kibininė in a restaurant with a great view over the lake. Even though the castle itself was a bit disappointing to me, I can really recommend people to go to Trakai, because it is a very quiet, relaxing place.
Part 2: Riga
On Monday I had to leave Andrius, who had actually become like a real friend during the 3 days that I spent with him, again and made my way to Riga. In this city I would also be Couchsurfing. My host would be Lelde, a very experienced CS-er. She had to work until 6, so I had to enjoy myself in Riga for a few hours, but that was no problem, as I got a map with all the highlights of the city at the bus station. In the evening I was kinda tired (had to get up at 6:30 in the morning), so I just stayed in and had a nice conversation with Lelde while enjoying a good glass of wine.
The next day I would finally meet my first penpal: Kristine. We would meet only in the afternoon, so I had all morning for myself, but that was still not a problem, as I could just visit all highlights that I hadn't seen the day before and because the weather was just perfect I could spend the rest of my free time in beautiful Kronvalda park. In the afternoon I met Kristine and her friend Lolita. Together we went to the roof of a shopping center to get a view on the skyline of Riga. After that we had some drinks in a bar and we went for a walk in the old city, but it was just too hot for that, so we ended up sitting in a park most of the time, which is not really a punishment when the weather is like that, I can tell you.
After just one day in Riga I left Latvia again for Kaunas, where I am now. I will already share with you that I'm having the time of my life here, but you will read more about that later.
I will post my photos online as soon as I get back to Prague.
My trip to the Baltics and Poland started on 27 May. On that day I would fly to Vilnius, where I would stay with Andrius, who I met via CouchSurfing. On the bus from the airport I already met the first new people. First I was talking with a middle-aged woman who was travelling alone with her (obviously single) 35-year old son. Then the guy sitting next to me overheard us speaking Dutch and started talking to me about the political situation in the Netherlands. However, I will mostly remember this guy for the quote he told me before I had to transfer the bus. He literally said to me: "You know, girls are actually just like buses. You get on them, you ride them for a while and then you get off again to transfer to another." And the worst thing is that he was actually not even joking. Luckily this guy was not my first impression of Lithuanian people.
So after riding the second bus for a while I arrived at the bus stop where I would meet Andrius. He welcomed me to his home with a smile and made me feel like at home immediately. After having dropped off my backpack we went out for dinner in a traditional Lithuanian restaurant. I really enjoyed the food there, much better than what I'm used to in Czech Republic. :)
On Saturday we walked around in Vilnius (and the unofficial republic Uzupis) for a while, before going to a CouchSurfing-meeting in a park on the riverside. I met some very nice people there and when the evening arrived most of us went to a bar to watch the Champions League final. It was kinda funny, because some people had never really watched a soccer game before, as basketball is the national sport (or as some people say: religion) in Lithuania. All of us enjoyed the good game though.
At the end of the evening, Andrius and I shared a taxi with Paul: a 50 years old American who is currently travelling through the Baltics using Couchsurfing and Interpals; the same websites as I used to get in touch with the people I will meet on my trip. His host was living in a brand new house just outside of Vilnius. In that area, the roads were not paved yet. It was a real experience to be in a taxi on a dirtroad in the middle of nowhere at around 1:30 am. Once again an experience that a typical tourist would never get during a trip to a European capital!
The next morning I experienced why Lithuania is called Lietuva (literally: "rain country") in Lithuanian. It was raining as if the clouds had just burst open and it looked like the rain would not end soon. Therefore we played pool in a nearby shopping center in the morning and went to Trakai, a national park in Lithuania, in the afternoon. When we arrived there the rain had miraculously stopped. Near the castle of Trakai we met Paul again, who was visiting the place together with the two teenage sons of his host. Together we enjoyed the traditional food Kibininė in a restaurant with a great view over the lake. Even though the castle itself was a bit disappointing to me, I can really recommend people to go to Trakai, because it is a very quiet, relaxing place.
Part 2: Riga
On Monday I had to leave Andrius, who had actually become like a real friend during the 3 days that I spent with him, again and made my way to Riga. In this city I would also be Couchsurfing. My host would be Lelde, a very experienced CS-er. She had to work until 6, so I had to enjoy myself in Riga for a few hours, but that was no problem, as I got a map with all the highlights of the city at the bus station. In the evening I was kinda tired (had to get up at 6:30 in the morning), so I just stayed in and had a nice conversation with Lelde while enjoying a good glass of wine.
The next day I would finally meet my first penpal: Kristine. We would meet only in the afternoon, so I had all morning for myself, but that was still not a problem, as I could just visit all highlights that I hadn't seen the day before and because the weather was just perfect I could spend the rest of my free time in beautiful Kronvalda park. In the afternoon I met Kristine and her friend Lolita. Together we went to the roof of a shopping center to get a view on the skyline of Riga. After that we had some drinks in a bar and we went for a walk in the old city, but it was just too hot for that, so we ended up sitting in a park most of the time, which is not really a punishment when the weather is like that, I can tell you.
After just one day in Riga I left Latvia again for Kaunas, where I am now. I will already share with you that I'm having the time of my life here, but you will read more about that later.
I will post my photos online as soon as I get back to Prague.
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