That Girl Needs the Lord and a Shower

Oh hello faithful readers,
Assuming you have not gotten tired of our adventures, I'm going to keep putting off sleep to entertain you. Yes, I know, selfless. Sooooooo. Let us get right to the point and start with our last day in Krakow.
Day 10:
We awoke to our New Zealand neighbours at the hostel eating breakfast. They were nice fellows. We went downstairs to pay our more than funny french/polish host who spoke excellent english but insisted on only speaking french. Weird. We paid for our tour to Auschwitz and tried to scarf down some bread before leaving on the most nauseating van ride I hope to ever have. The combination of the terrible polish driving, a video about the Holocaust, and the back seat of a van do not mix well together. Don't try this at home. After 40 minutes of intense deep breathing and large gulps of water, we reached the town of Oswiecim. We followed our crazy driver to meet our tour guide (who apparently looked like a Polish version of Charlie Sheen?). To be serious though, cause this is quite a serious matter. After 3 hours at Auschwitz and Birkenau, seeing the sites, the land, the prison buildings, the execution wall and the train tracks all I can say is eerie. Eerie and overwhelming. I always thought that it was hard to connect to the Holocaust as something other than literally unbelievable because of it's gravity, even for me. Our guide stressed that we knew nothing about these people except their date of birth and date of death, maybe even their names. This makes it hard to really fathom the extent of the human destruction and makes it difficult to really know what these people went through. The fear, the anger, the disbelief, and the possible hope will forever be remembered. I would like to say that the one true hope is that history won't repeat itself. Here is the famous sign and the prisoner bunk building:


After a tiring, sweltering day and another van ride that was quite memorable, we arrived back to Krakow extremely hungry. We had to catch a bus to Zakopane, the Polish resort town. So we headed straight from our hostel to the bus station, eating slices of bread along the way. It's like Hansel and Gretel, except we were so hungry, we left no crumbs. At the bus station, we were quite proud of ourselves for buying tickets and then buying strange round Polish bread things for the ride. We get to the track and our bus doesn't arrive. A new bus comes in and we try to get on it, only to be yelled at by an angry Polish bus driver. That's right, the communist attitude is still present in some people (but really only a handful). Apparently if your bus doesn't show up, that does not mean you can get on the next bus, no no. You MUST purchase new tickets for the new bus that says 5:10 instead of 4:55. Excellent. Also, beware of weird men who give you Jesus brochures in Polish. We decided that Kat must have looked like she needed the Lord and a shower, so she was the target of this religious gift.

The ride down to Zakopane (said Zah-Koh-Pah-neh)was quite lovely. Hills, colorful homes, sheep, playing children, and a horizon. Zakopane itself is just a small town in the south of Poland overlooking the High Tatras. BEAUTIFUL BEAUTIFUL and equally unbelievable. We strolled the small streets and had ourselves a traditional Polish meal with pork, huntsmen sauce, grilled chicken, steamed veggies, and homemade bread with....lard? Yes, lard goes well with bread. I do not know how Polish people are so skinny, lard does not make for a pretty figure. We decided that the lard wouldn't really finish the job, so we went for some lody (ice cream) and ate it on our hostel balcony that overlooked the main street. Unforgettable moment. Our tired feet enjoyed this whole process:


Day 11/Beginning day of World Cup:
This was our plan, see if you think it's crazy or crazy awesome. Wake up really early, eat, leave hostel, take bus to cable car, take cable car to mountains, hike for 3 hours, come back by 11 am, shower, check out of hostel, shop in Zakopane for a few hours, get a bus back to Krakow, eat dinner, take night train to Prague. How great does that sound? If you are reading this and planning to do the same thing, don't. Do not plan to just waltz onto the cable car, that's a false dream. You must stand in line for at least an hour to only buy tickets to your cable car, by which point you would have let's say maybe 20 minutes to hike the High Tatras, come back on the cable car and make sure you don't get a late fee from your hostel. Oh well. Look at this view and plan accordingly as the mountains are absolutely breathtaking. Playing with snow in the summer is also a huge plus.



Since the Tatras lie on the border between Poland and Slovakia, we were excited to know that we would be going to Slovakia that day to get a peak before we actually went to Bratislava in a few days. We are so good at border crossings:

After a hiking fail, we rushed back to check out of our hostel and decided that the shopping and strolling was not to be given up. So we strolled, and purchased several items that included dresses, shirts, postcards and a whole lot of lody. Look at her happy face, it's as if they were meant to be.

Also, I tried my hardest to find Polish/Czech shoes called Haker comfort shoes. If you know them, or how to get them, contact me please. It was a hunt for these shoes that I have never seen before. We were ruthless, but failed miserably. Let's make sure we never have to look for shoes if we're going on the Amazing Race because I would be left behind.
So, back in Krakow, we scavenged some more for these shoes and then went to the train station to board our very first night train! Complete with bunk beds, a sink, lots of buttons and extreme heat. We met our nice neighbours, one of which works for the Price is Right with buddy Drew. No way man. I was hoping he'd offer us all to meet Drew at some point, but that didn't happen, so I tried being nice anyway. Our porter was a 60 year old man who had a great Czech-English accent and told us not to be scared of him. I wanted to put him in my pocket, but figured it would elicit questions. Night trian compartments are cramped:


Day 12:
We made it through the 7-8 hour ride a little tired and a lot sweaty, but we had our trusty baby wipes for a shower, so don't be scared. We shall remain clean through thick and thin. Voila Prague, here we are.
The 30 minute walk to our hostel was less than pleasant but we were excited to be in Prague, I mean, it's Prague. The city that everyone raves about. Let's just say this Prague, I've had better. It might be because the city is swarming with toursits who push, shove, and yell or it might be the plethora of homeless people with their smoke, dogs, and smell. I really can't tell you what it is, but I much preferred Poland. The cities in Eastern Europe are just as pretty, less crowded, with better service and better food. Don't get me wrong, Prague is gorgeous, but when you combine it with the ugly tourist face, it get's less pretty as the day goes on. We went for a large and quite delicious breakfast at Bohemian Bagel, a little taste of home. We then tried to go tour the Old Town, got mad at all the tourists, and decided to go to a chocolate factory to make ourselves feel better. Wonderful experience as we were the only ones there. We got to pet some rabbits, learn about Mayan choclate drinks and paint with chocolate. Here is my painting of the old story of the sheep who was scared to go to hell because of the lion devil. Oh you don't know that one? I might have made it up, I can't remember. Those Nigerian kids books were weird.

We were given a quiz at the tour, which we of course answered perfectly. Here is our prize. Homemade Czech chocolate.

Our second attempt at touring Prague, although unwillfully, was much more successful. Maybe it was tourist nap time. We saw the Prague Castle, the changing of the guards, the botanical gardens, and some predatory birds. It was nice. Although Katie would have rather sat on a bench eating lody, which she made quite clear. My parenting convinced her to reluctantly enjoy the city. We took Frommer's suggestions of unforgettable moments and decided to go on a boat tour down the Vltava. Let's just say we will not be trusting Katie's book much longer. Very forgettable. But we got free lody, a free beer, and a guide that spoke Italian as a consolation.
We made our own unforgettable moment though. Watching the World Cup in the middle of the Old Town in Prague surrounded by people who like soccer. It was magical. I was rooting for England, because, let's face it, they have nice looking players. Wayne Rooney, yes please. Look at how happy we are! Forgettable? I think not.


The tie ended with Katie promising us small lodys, which we never received. I'm keeping the tally. We had wonderful plans for our next day beginning with a Catholic mass in the Czech language, the Jewish Quarter, Troja Castle to avoid the tourists, and a Black Light Theatre show. Wait till you hear about it all in one second.

Day 13:
We awoke early to attend Catholic mass at St. James church in the Old Town. My idea of course seeing as how I'm so close to Catholicism. It was a great experience. I understood nothing and felt completely awkward sitting there being Jewish, but, a cultural experience not many have had. I'll be adding it to the list of great things I've done. Next time, I'll try and be closer to my heritage and go to a Jewish service. But look how fancy (and clean) we are.

The Jewish Quarter, makes you pay. Not much for students, but quite a lot for people who forget their student ID's in the US (Katie). Think of all the lody you could have bought with the saved money :( We toured the synagogues which you can't take pictures of, so no evidence guys, no evidence. You can google them as they are quite simple, but striking. The Spanish Synagogue is particularly ornate and has a lot of crowns, silver, and books. A very interesting history I would say. I think the exhibit I enjoyed the most was the artwork from the children of the Terezin ghetto. Really special and mostly saddening. We went for a quick (that's really a relative term I guess) bite at the Franz Kafka cafe. Rick Steves' only terrible recommendation thus far. Don't go there, it's not pleasant. We then tried to avoid all the tourists by going to "Prague's hidden treasure" in Troja. The Troja castle. A 2.5 km walk from the Old Town. LIES. The castle, which was not on a map anywhere in Prague, is close to the Praha zoo. The zoo is an hour walk from the city. Great. Thanks Let's Go. We wandered around aimlessly at a less than pretty part of Prague for about an hour, asked a nice tattooed gentlemen how to get there, got the ugly truth, and left in anger. We were trying so hard to like Prague, but this is making it really difficult. Instead, we went back to our hostel, played on the computer/napped and then went to the a show called Studio Clip at the Black Light Theatre. Black Light shows are very unique to Prague involving black lights, acrobats, weird humor and some crudeness apparently. This is what we got: a mix of Lady Gaga, Cirque de Soleil, and psychedelic backgrounds. Very strange, but I guess a true Praha experience? I think I would recommend it if you're looking for the weird side of Prague, or the very weird side. Outside the theatre we found this gem in the midst of the World Cup frenzy:

Riding a soccer ball, maybe a new unforgettable moment in Praha. Tomorrow we head to Cesky Krumlov. What used to be an undiscovered part of the Czech Republic but apprently is now discovered by the tourist mob. We are hoping for the best, but I think we all decided that away from the mob is the best place to be. Poland, I miss you. Maybe in Hungary we can once again be alone with Europe. For now, we'll try our best to not hate Czechia and maybe enjoy the skies a little more.

Krak-OWWWW

Dzien Dobry!
Or hello in Polish. I just discovered that there are semester long programs in Poland to come and learn Polish, do you think the nursing school would be up for some sort of exchange?
Anywho, let's talk about the amazing city that is Warsaw before we move to our day in Cracov, or you can say it American-ly as Krakow.
Day 8:
I forgot to mention that I met my Polish husband last night, his name started with a P and he was extremely good looking with that great "I am foreign" accent. He even remembered my name when we proceeded to claim our free beers at the hostel (yes, that's right, we get free beer in Europe more than once for staying at hostels). It might have been that the hostel was great, that Warsaw was great and I was transfering those feelings to P-Polish name that I don't remember, but still, I was in love for the day. We were not married and I am still on the lookout. If you see P, tell him I'm going to be at Auschiwtz tomorrow.
Warsaw Warsaw Warsaw. Wonderful city. We all felt right at home and thought that it very much reminded us of Boston, but with a better history, culture, food, and just general beauty. It's extremely modern with fancy restaurants everywhere, outside eateries, coffee houses, and beautiful people walking fast to unknown places. We began the day by climbing a 150 stair tower to the top of St. Anne's Church to visit the magnificent views of the city. The eeriest thing about Warsaw is that the entire town was rebuilt a few decades ago after World War II and they used paintings by local artists to see where things go and how they looked.
Enjoy the pictures of the views:


We were obviously starving after all those stairs, so we decided to go eat some authentic Polish Pierogi's, a great alliteration. Here is mine: Pierogi stuffed with cheese, tomato and pumpkin seeds. Delicious. Almost as good as grandma's. Oh, PS, peirogi is like a Polish ravioli and is traditionally boiled, but can be baked or fried.

If you've never had it, highly suggested. Also, Kathryn being a sneak and stealing my peirogis.

After a hearty lunch, we walked around the old town a bit more and then decided to go visit the old Jewish Quarter of Warsaw where the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising took place. Interesting story that I had never heard until this day. Good for them I say. Sometimes, some rebellion is quite necessary. Check out the monument. They all look pretty strikingly strong. Also, the wreath is from an IDF brigade, made me feel closer to home. I got to use my language skills here and read all the plaques (that were in either Hebrew or Polish) to my comrades. Wouldn't you have laughed if I said I read the Polish part? Or maybe not, that could have really gone either way.

That night, we had our celebratory free beer at the hostel (that's when P remembered my name, swooning and being cool at the same time is hard). After 9 days of no make-up and baggy clothes, the heavens parted and told us to look nice, if only for the Polish men. So....we put on some dresses (and 1 skirt), a little mascara and eyeliner and went on a hunt for Golabki (stuffed cabbage). We enetered the first Polish restaurant we saw and noticed that they only had peirogi. So it was peirogi again for dinner. You'd think that would have been too much, but oh no, you were wrong. You can never have too much peirogi, unless you eat about 14 per day, which, we successfully did, or should I say I attempted and the other two were victorious. Stretchy stomachs galore! Look at those pretty faces though, happy and full:


Day 9:
Took a well needed rest on a train to Krakow. Listened to some Kesha and talked about her influence on the music world. Deep thoughts people. We also tried to eavesdrop on a Polish conversation, unsuccessful. We checked in to our wonderfully cute hostel, Apart Hostel. I think they call it Apart because it's apart from the rest of the city, but other than that, it's just wonderful. I may be bitter because I'm sitting here writhing in pain from walking for 7 hours straight (all for a good cause of course). Or should I say 9 days of walking. I really should have used the pedometer, maybe we could have walked from Boston to Maryland by now, who knows. I'll do that on the next trip and let you know. You just wait there in anticipation. So.... KRAKOW. Here is a fun story about Krakow. Legend says that a dragon kept people from entering the city and some guy named Krak came up with a genius idea to feed it livestock with coal so that the dragon got heartburn and drank all the water from the Vistula and therefore exploded. That of course saved the town and Krakow was founded! How wonderful, and then everyone got free ice cream (lody in Polish). I made up the ice cream part, but the rest was in my guide book. Therefore, the dragon is a constant symbol here is Krakow. Enjoy this picture which is part of Wawel (or to say it properly, VAVEL. I just don't want you to be embarrassed in front of any Polish people).

Prior to that, or actually as soon as we checked into our hostel, we went for some golabki, another attempt if you will. We followed Rick Steve's advice and went to a little self serve cafeteria. SUCCESS in numbers, numbers I say. Some of the best stuffed cabbage I've ever had. Grandma's is still better though not to worry. Look, smell, and drool.

After satiation (is that a word? I'm just going to keep making up words until someone stops me) we moved on to get a look at market square, cloth hall (where they used to sell fabrics but now sell souvenirs), the old town, some gothic looking churches and Wawel hill/castle/cathedral. We found a couple who were taking wedding pictures and decided to not only follow them, but also to get in their pictures by accident. It was a grand old time and I recommend that if you're ever bored, this is a fun thing to do. Also, the inner courtyard of the castle is supposedly known for the Hindu energy chakra as it's seven points connect there. My guidebook told me to go there and make a prayer, apparently it angers the guards. Point taken, as there was a man there looking all calm and full of chakra and the guards immediately swarmed him. He was stealing all the chakra and we waited and waited, but he didn't budge. I say that's rude sir. If you're reading this, I hope you got an overload of chakra and that this means something. Next time you're in Wawel hill, go for some of the chakra. Look at him all serene:

After Wawel Hill, we decided to finally discover my Jewish roots in Romania, but in Poland. We made our long way to Kasmierez (Kah-ZHEE-mez), what used to be the Jewish section of Krakow. We tried, several times, to enter the Jewish cemetery, but with no luck. It was like the secret garden, but only creepier. Tired and in immense foot pain becuase none of us were gellin, we made our way to Schindler's factory. What we thought was a nice stroll across the river turned into a nightmare scavenger hunt for this factory. Pretty famous movie, pretty famous factory, no signs, no notices, no maps, and no one that actually knows where it is. We somehow, by miracle and directions from nice Polish people, found the address and instead ventured into the woods looking for it. It wasn't there, but there were some creepy corners in the trees with lots of trash. We thought we were doing the Polish police a favor and that we would get a parade. We'll see what happens, I'll update you on that as well.
Finally, we found the factory. It was blocked off by a concert stage and so were the streets leading to it. We made a pass at one of the barricades that had torn tape and went in. Turns out the place is closed since they are building a museum and the whole concert stage was for the opening this week. Oops. In order to get out, we had to literally jump some barricades. We are tourists running from the law, and we are good at it. Look at that agility, pure muscle and great form.

Oh, also, the factory plaque, apparently from Michigan?

We are sitting in the hostel right now, eating lody and preparing for a mentally and emotionally draining day tomorrow. Auschwitz. And then, tomorrow night, Zakopane and the High Tatras. Poland, I could really get used to you, don't tempt me.

Take my money Lithuania!

Hello!
We are blogging from the distant lands of Warsaw, Poland. Sorry for the blog-free 3 days, but internet was scarce and let's face it, tired-ness won again. So, let's recap....
Day 5 of crazy trip:
We were in Riga, Latvia for a second day, getting cabin fever from 2 full days in one country. So, instead of actually seeing Riga, we decided it would be best to transport ourselves to Sigulda, Latvia (a 1 hr tram ride to nature). We started the day off right by deciding to bobsled with real live (yes, they weren't dead) bobsledding athletes from Latvian origin (you could tell by the nice muscular build). We got lovely directions from the guard to walk all the way down the hill to the bottom of the track, so we followed suit, like sheep. At the bottom of the hill we entered several interesting buildings such as the Finish house, now I get what it means. We waited for about half an hour for the guides to find us, with no success. So, we decided to make the best of it and eat some fruit and then throw the peels in their grass in protest. If you are a Latvian bobsledder reading this blog, sorry. Train your guard better. Anywho, finally, someone found us and laughed in our face when we said what happened. He managed to take us back up the hill where the real guides were with an actual bobsled. We met some nice Norwegian men who were waiting in line and then it was our turn. Fast winds, wobbly heads, and a full bobsled ride later we were all quite happy and satisfied. Now it was time to actually see Sigulda.
I'm sure Sigulda would have been a lot more enjoyable if I loved the sweet sounds of mosquitoes biting my hands and feet and if there was a pond of free ice cream. But there was no pond and I unfortunately do not love mosquitoes (Nigeria made sure of that). Sigulda is a beautiful place, but I just wasn't ready for what it had to offer. If I ever return to the Latvian forests, I'll be sure to bring my own bug spray and shoes full of traction. Enjoy some of these views, including the ones with our faces in them.


Also, here are the ladies swatting those bugs away. How attractive :)

We ended the day as locals in Double Caffe, our regular spot for the last 3 days. Ordering hot chocolate and traditional Latvian desserts.

On to Day 6:
Started off with a quick shopping trip to an authentic Russian market in Riga where we purchased unnamed pastries with various jams and custards along with bananas and oranges, yum! We took a 5 hour bus to Vilnius, Lithuania (Keith, if you're reading this, it's your homeland in case you were confused). The chocochino was not all it was made to be. We arrived in Vilnius and went straight to the train station to purchase our train tickets for our Vilnius-Warsaw trip, 10 hours of butt-sitting bliss. No stop or drive-through Belarus, which is a success because if you know anything about Belarus, it's that you need to get a visa to go through, yes through, their country. Not ok Belarus, not ok. We didn't have to deal with that though, so let's move on to countries that don't require such nonsense. Vilnius! is beautiful. Old (and un-renovated) churches with peeling paint and cracks in the foundation (safe if you ask me), miracle plaques in old town squares, and foreign countries within foreign countries. Check out Uzupis, it's own little republic with it's own president and government and about 4 streets wide. Love it. I say that brings our country total to 15 and I really don't care if you say otherwise. Look at that sign, so official.

That was at night though so let's back up a little. We walked all the way to the KGB museum which was supposed to close in the next hour. Our 30 minute walk was failed by a sign that went as follows:
Closed for Father's Day June 6. Is it sad that I'm a little mad at my dad for this? I mean a real KGB torture chamber overlooked due to a fake holiday. I'm sorry, not ok Lithuania, not ok.
We were utterly disappointed and took comfort in a pretty park next door. Pigeons are not comforting. We decided that sulking was not the best way to enjoy Lithuania so we proceeded to the old town to see some old churches, bell towers, castles and magnificent views of the city. Here is a view of the old town from some hill, I don't remember what it's called, but there is a cable car/elevator thing that we rode without paying. The authorities are still looking but we are long gone in Poland, out of their jurisdiction.

Also, deep thoughts on the top of the hill.

I gotta say that I'm rediscovering my Catholic roots on this trip with the amount of pretty churches we have visited. Oh wait, just kidding. I'm Jewish. Well, good thing I can rediscover my Jewish roots for the next 4 days in Poland. Here is another pretty church, almost completely unchanged from when it was built, a long long time ago. St. Anne's church in Vilnius.

It is a true backpackers life here in Eastern Europe. Please marvel at our talents in doing laundry at B&B Florens, Vilnius. Kat and my agitation powers to simulate a real washing machine and hours upon hours of Katie's arranging to ensure the best drying methods leads to success. I do not know how women in the old days with 20 children laundered in the pond. Maybe the donkeys helped.

Also, a fun picture from a menu in Uzupis. Just to show how much I love cross-language translations. Makes me chuckle everytime.

In case you can't read it, it says: Snack to the Vodka
Today (Day 7, in case you got tired of counting): We began with our "breakfast" of sliced bread and weird orange mini-muffins at the B&B in Vilnius and tried to find a mysterious local market to buy some snacks (not snacks to the vodka though). That did not go well, so we entered a supermarket and with our budget friendly eyes, purchased enough food to leave us only slightly hungry on the 10 hour trip to Warsaw for about $5 (18 Litas). We kindly said thank you to our cashier (aciu) trying to sound as if we are not sneezing. We boarded the train and watched the Lithuanian/Polish countryside for the next 10 hours. Wait, did I not say 10 hours. It was long.
Please see the excitement:

On our Polish train, we met a very nice Polish woman who lives in New York. She offered to help us find our hostel and was a true testament to the Polish generosity. I like this country already. She warned us of flooding in Krakow though and I don't like the sound of that, so let's see how nimble we have to be to continue on our path. We arrived in Warsaw starving, so we went for some authentic Polish pizza. It doesn't exist, so we decided to just go for regular pizza. It was delicious.

We are now satiated and tired, so for now, Do widzenia (goodbye in Polish).

You are holding something that has killed thousands of people

Hello and welcome to Latvia!
A 4.5 hour journey from Tallinn, Estonia to Riga, Latvia started us off this morning. We weren't sure if we were going to have to stand the whole way, but the Soviet gods smiled upon us and we successfully boarded a eurolines bus with free snacks, coffee, tea and hot chocolate (sorry Kat and Katie for forgetting to mention the free-ness of these items). Also, Estonia's countryside is spectacular! Moving on. We arrived in Riga at around 2:30 pm to Friendly Fun Franks hostel, apparently a famous hostel. We were welcomed with open arms and a free beer/champagne (what?), the Soviets know how to do it right.


We then signed up for our true Soviet bunker AK-47 tour, no big deal of course. We just wanted to get the true communist experience and
shoot some Kalashnikovs, pistols, and shot guns. By the way, we have some sort of sniper/killing future as our master shooting instructor said that we do better than Latvian police trainees. I say it's all part of my Israeli blood, I don't know where the other two got it, maybe a gift from the soviet gods as well.
Check out our form and kickback in these staged photos. My shoulder can tell you that this truly happened and I am proud to say that I am now a Kalashnikov expert (oooo feel the power).

Alert: 3 femme fatales (or fatal, you know, whatever) on the loose in Eastern Europe.

And with our excellent, pretty badass instructor. I couldn't tell if she was part of the Red Army or not, but she looked pretty lethal. Exceedingly sweet though :)

After not eating all day (Katie's endless granola bars don't count), we decided that a good shooting deserves a great dinner. So we headed over to Lido Restoran to enjoy some authentic Latvian food for $8. YES, that is my style people. A buffet of deliciousness for dirt cheap.
After the major food coma, sleepiness, and forceful winds outside, we toured the old town of Riga for about 10 minutes (we managed to appreciate the house of blackheads, magnificent on the outside!) got tired and decided to get hot chocolate and dessert instead.

Latvians know how to make Belgian desserts right! Look at those waffles, yum yum yum.

I want to say that I am thoroughly enjoying the moderness of Riga, its strong people, the history it brings, and it's abundance of techno music and free things. Tomorrow we are going to Sigulda, a fun town with bobsledding, bungee jumping (don't worry mom, it won't happen), and wonderous hikes. Two days in one city guys, I don't know how we're going to make it. The wanderlust will have to wait until Sunday.

I am the bull and you are the china shop

Estonia, Estonia, Estonia. Music to my ears. After 3 days of traveling with a 30 lb pack we have all realized that it is hard to maneuver our person in tight corners, nooks, crannies, and around small children. Also, around Eastern European pottery. On the other hand, we discovered that Finland has wonderful wool, reindeer furs, fresh fish, and sporadic live music in random parks. Excellent. This morning we took a ferry over from Helsinki, Finland to Tallinn, Estonia. Tallinn is a mecca for adorableness. It's true. The entire old town of Tallinn is about 10-15 streets with outdoor cafes, historic palaces and forts, old Russian churches, Amber malls (that's stores that sell amber jewelry and amber jewelry only), medieval torture restaurants, ice cream shops, and helpful men on segways. We started the day off by walking to a cute cafe where we bought delicious lunch pastries. We then decided to go for another snack at a hidden (literally) cafe that included only Estonian people, amazing coffee, and some of the best tiramisu I have ever had (look at it and salivate).


After spending about an hour in a quiet courtyard, listening to the birds sing, we decided we should actually explore the town of Tallinn. We went to a mysterious Dominican monastery that was actually Russian. We trailed one of the oldest pharmacies in Europe and took a look at preserved mummy hands, deer penises, and pickled toads. We also went to Alexander Nevsky Church and got distracted by the all too touristy archery challenge that was actually archery blackjack. Kat and Katie were brave enough to pick up a bow and arrow and attempt to make excellent fools of themselves. Please enjoy the pictures that follow:

and

Who knew that the archeologist and the med student would be so good at archery? Katie even won us a traditional Estonian liquor, PARTY! We then proceeded to actually look at Alexander Nevsky Church: magnificent architecture...not really sure what it is or who it is for, but it's definitely pretty to look at, just like the Finnish men.

Oh, also...we were in a palace with some towers that had names and secret Estonian music rooms, and one more, little Estonian children performing the art of parkour. Here we are, look at those grins!

To commemorate our thus far great experience, the ambitiousness of this trip, the joy we all get from traveling, and the fateful years of friendship, also apparently health, we all purchased a piece of traditional Estonian amber jewelry. Check it out, we thought we were pretty rockin'.

The memories have been made and Tallinn is a city that I would consider moving to as well. I think we see a trend here. It was peaceful, not too busy, charming (this is actually what I would call charm city, sorry bmore) and it had a colorful culture. I'll leave you with a fun fact: Estonian is NOT the official language of Estonia, it's actually Russian! I just wish I spoke Estonian, because those accents are pretty cool. Tanan for now (thank you in Estonian).
Nomad Wannabe

Iceland is rocky, Finland is green and Greenland might still be icy

Surreal, but nice. So we have started our whirlwind tour of Eastern Europe covering Iceland and Finland, with much more to come. Can I just say that exhaustion is a key ingredient in adventure. A 5 hour overnight flight to Iceland was mostly spent wondering what would come next, except for Katie, who thought that this would be her only time to shut her eyes and was knocked out for the duration of the flight. Jealous. After getting into Iceland, we went straight from the airport to the Blue Lagoon, a thermal mineral spa in the middle of a lava field. Pretty damn cool. Not so cool what your hair feels like afterwards, STRAW. With the amount of conditioner we used in our hair both before and after the swim, you could have greased an elephant through a banister. That's hard people. Needless to say, we conditioned some more and the Finland air is doing wonderful things for our attractiveness.

Check out our fancy bathing suits. Also, it smelled like sulphur. Yum.

After a quick 2 hour dip in the baby blue springs, we headed back to the city of Reykjavik. Gloomy, but nice. Very modern, the people were all dressed nicely and it rained, just like Ireland. It had a beautiful view of the mountains and adorable shops and churches. I would have enjoyed it much more if it was 70 and sunny, but I would go back for an Icelandic farmer, I really would. The sun shines til 12:30 am and then shines some more til the next day. We were awoken by 15 straight gunshots. No mom, they weren't gunshots, we just thought they were until we heard the rain of fireworks. In the meantime we just cowered, hoping they wouldn't hit us.

On to Finland! We took a morning bus from Reykjavik to the airport, it was scenic, but I was tired, so sleep won. We took a flight from Reykjavik to Helsinki and might I add that I am a fan of Icelandair. Promptness and fun words in Icelandic are their strengths. Takk is thank you by the way.

In Finland, we encountered the wrath of crowded streets and a lack of knowledge of where to go. Finnish men are nice and pretty is all I have to say. A random stranger noticed the frieghtened looks and bewilderment on our faces and offered some well needed directions to our hostel. We preceeded to make it to the hostel safely and on time to take a ferry over to Suomenlinna, an island that houses a world heritage fortress and beautiful beautiful views. We toured the fortress, hid behind isolated rooms and doors, and rode, yes rode, canons.

We also encountered supposedly famous Finnish men that offered a picture with them for 10 euro. A steal if you ask me as they were ridiculously intoxicated and unattractive. Maybe next time boys, maybe next time.

After a lovely 4 hour tour of serene beauty, hot air balloon sightings, church bells, picnics, supposed jewish weddings, and european techno family gatherings we headed back to Helsinki. Helsinki is absolutely breath-taking. Parks, outside cafes, fresh fruit markets, ice creams, adorable dress boutiques and wonderfully attractive people. This, I could get used to. Anyone want to help me open up a bakery in Finland? We could learn nordic languages together, become blonde, and eat some cured fish. It'll be a party.
Enjoying the past two days with my comrades. Be jealous, they're wonderful. Fast fast typing becuase my 15 minutes of allotted hostel computer time is up. Until I get free internet again, enjoy!