All Good Things Must Come to an End

I have spent the past 3 nights in the capital of Estonia, Tallinn.  It is a medival gem of a city.  The country is small as all are of the Baltic Countries so there are only 1.37 millon people who live here.  The capital has about 500,000 people or so, give or take a few.  There is the Old City as usual that is surrounded by some old walls that are still standing.  I arrived here at 11am on the bus and found my hostel.  I tossed my stuff in the room and then was off to do a free walking tour recommended from the hostel.  As I approached the tour, I ran into 3 girls from my previous hostel in Riga, Latvia, so that was kinda fun.  We did the tour together and then I was off to explore the city for the day.  I spent the entire day just wandering all the winding zig zagging cobled streets here.  I tossed out the map and just went.  I discovered that this is really the best thing to do.  There are some great old churches here that were beautiful.  One of them has a bell tower with the best view looking out over the entire city, so I climbed up it for the view.  Now, I climbed up Notre Dame and the Effiel Tower by foot in Paris and this was much mroe intense.  I think it was probably the equivalent of climbing 10-12 flights of stairs by foot except these are winding stone staircases with very little footing or they are very tall stairs that are nearly to my knees.  I was huffing and puffing by the time I made it to the top, but it was so worth it.  There is an unbelievable view looking out over the entire city unlike any other. 

Yesterday, I took myself on a day trip to Helsinki, Finland.  It is only an hour and a half ferry ride accross to Helsinki so I decided to go check it out for the day.  Getting there and back was torture as my stomach still does not like the water, but it was worth it.  This city reminded me of a little London.  Very clean with tons of people walking all over the place.  The architecture looks similar as well.  There is this great market right by the port that has tons of vendors selling food, fruits, veggies, and other produce.  I tried a reindeer meatball (which tasted kinda like beef) and also these little fried fish that are the size of french fries and eaten like that.  They were not my favorite, but I figured might as well try it while I am here.  Then I was off to explore the city for the day.  I walked all over the place enjoying the churches there and just wandering around.  It was packed as there were several cruise ships that were in port for the day, but by 5pm, most of them were pulling out so there were much less people.  The city had the feel of being a big metropolitin area with everyone walking fast, on phones, trying to get to their next destination.  I loved it and was so glad that I saw it for the day!

Today, I spent my last day here, just wandering around Tallinn again.  I headed over first to the Museum of Occupation as this was also a formally occupied territory of Russia until the early 1990's.  After that, I headed off to walk a bit outside the Old City and see what I ran into.  I was very glad that I did this as I stummbled accross what is a mainly Russian neighborhood still.  As this was Russian territory, the second largest ethnic population here is Russian.  There is a neighborhood, I found out today where many still live.  The houses there are all old buildings straight from the early 1900's and they look the neighborhood probably has not changed a bit since it was constructed expect that there are cars and satelite dishes scattered throughout.  In the midst of this neighboorhood, right behind the old train station, has sprung up a cross between a flea market and farmers market.  I was stoked when I ran accross this cause I love being in markets when I am travelling.  It is seriously probably one of my favorite cultural experiences.  I spotted it and headed straight in.  The market sprung up between some old buildings that must be a hundred years old they look so run down.  There are some stalls inside various buildings and some outside selling everything from fruit, veggies, produce, to clothes, baked goods, old crystal, tools, toiletries, shoes, records, you name it and I probably could have found it there.  It seemed like it was as much a gathering place as well as a place to purchase items.  I saw several older, Russian ladies selling their goods and catching up with what seemed like every person who walked by.  As I wandered throughout, it was very obvious that tourists do not get to this part of town much.  I was clearly out of place as people just watched me walk by giving me that look of "How in the world did you end up in this part of town?"  It was great!  These are the types of things that I love.  I purchased an apple while there for munching purposes and the kind old woman smiled at me, wrote down the price (as she did not speak a word of English) and sent me on my way.  I didn't pick up how to say thank you in Russian, so I said it in Estonian instead and she seemed to understand. 

After that, I headed back into Old Town where there was a huge craft market set up in the Old Town Square as there were several cruise ships in port today.  There was music playing and tons going on in the Town Square.  The sun was shining with a bright blue sky and the perfect weather.  The city is filled with cobbled streets and medival architecture which is gorgeous.  It felt a bit overrun with tourists today, but by 4ish or so they had started to clear out.  It was a day of wandering, finishing up some last minute shopping and enjoying a slice of some great cheesecake in a little cafe.  This city has a cafe culture that almost rivals that of Paris.  There are tons of cafes all over on the main streets and in little back alleys and courtyards.  I stumbled accrosss this one that looked so cute and cosy tucked into courtyard with some other shops in there.  I ordered one of the best slices of cherry, white chocolate cheesecake with milk chocolate and also some orange jam.  It was amazing and so good!  I sat there just enjoying the sun, eating my cheesecake, and reading for an hour or two, basking in the relaxation of my last day before I have to return to real life. 

I take off tomorrow, bright and early.  My first flight leaves here at 6am, then it's off to Helsinki, Finland where I change planes.  Next stop is Heathrow, London where I change flights again for the last leg of the journey home.  I've only been here a month and it feels like it has flown by.  It has just been too short, but I have added a few more places to my list of where I want to travel.  It seems like the more places I see, the longer my list gets of places I want to go.  I love travelling and can't wait for my next trip.  I have now officially been to 30 countries, so hopefully that list can continue to keep growing in the future!  Tomorrow starts the trip back home to real life again.

On to Estonia....

After leaving the fabulous city of Riga in Latvia, I hopped on a bus and headed for the city of Tartu in Estonia.  Tartu is a University town, with the 100,000 people consisting of a large number of students.  Kinda like San Luis Obispo or Santa Barbara for us.  I caught the early bus and arrived around 1pm in the afternoon.  I figured    I would head straight to my hostel, dump my stuff off, and then head out to explore the town as I only had the one night there before I was off the next morning again.

My plan seemed good in all logic.  I headed out the door of the bus station and got my bearings as I had to figure out what streets I was on and such.  Once that was accomplished, I was on my way walking to my hostel.  Now, I booked one that happened to be in my guidebook and it warned that it can be tricky to find, so either print a map or call if you get lost.  Seems easy enough.  I found the building that my hostel was in, but could not for the life of me figure out how you are supposed to get into the building.  The bottom floors were all lined with shops that were closed as it was Sunday and there was not any type of door that I could find with a bell to ring to enter the apartments on top.  I walked entirely around the building 3x checking to make sure I wasn't missing anything.  Not a big deal, I told myself.  I will just find a pay phone and call, so off I went in search of a pay phone.  Now it took me about 15 minutes to walk to my hostel.  I went wandering in search of the pay phone and a good 30 minutes later, still had not located one.  I thought they were becoming scarce in the US, but this was a bit ridiculous.  At this point, my back was ready for a break as I had been carrying my 20lb backpack for a while now without a rest.  (I swear, I think I am going to be a hunch back by the time I am 40 from carrying the backpack around).  I figured I would head to the tourist office in the off chance that they happened to be opened on a Sunday.  Thank goodness they were.  I entered and asked the nice woman where the nearest payphone was.  She replied that Estonia does not have any pay phones any longer.  Seriously?  We're not even at that point yet in the US.  She informed me that I could make a call from there and gave me the rates for international.  When I told her that I only needed to call my hostel, she said she could do that.  I dug out the paper I had written the information on and she knew right where the hostel was (which incedentally was litterally a half a block from the tourist office in the main town square).  Apparently they moved, but in my haste of booking a hostel for that night at 1am in the morning after being out, I didn't pay attention that there was a different address.  Needless to say, I found my hostel, threw my stuff down, and then was off to explore the town.

It was a great city to just walk around in.  There was this old town square as all the cities here seem to have with cafes filling it.  I walked around the university botanical gardens filled with every type of flower immaginable and sat in them for a while just relaxing and enjoying the beautiful day.  Next stop was the museum of Estonian history regarding all of the history of this country condensed into a nice museum.  That was great as it gave me a better understanding of everything.  After walking all over town, I ended my day by sitting next to the river that runs along the city, wacthing the ducks swim by as I wrote.  This again seemed like a good idea, but I ended up being eaten alive by mosquitos.  Ugh!  Now I am itchy all over the place.

My friends keep telling me that I need to go shopping more and while I usually don't think that I do....I think that it may be time for some new travel clothes for me.  I brought several of the same things that I wore 5 years ago when I was here.  My jeans now have 4 holes in them (which I plan to patch when I get home).  The soles of my shoes are litterally coming off (I plan to invest in some shoe goo when I get home to remedy that situation).  I spent the other night sewing up 2 holes in one of my tops.  Another top has a hole, but it can't be sewed as it is not on a seam.  My skirt is extremelly faded and is edging closer to dark gray than black.  Perhaps it is time for a few new clothes, even though I often don't like to have to shop.  

After Tartu, it was on to my last stop, Tallinn, Estonia before heading home.  Here will be a few of my final counts on things once I head home:

Countries Visited: 6
Cities Visited:  Not sure on that as I have to total them all with Tina and Jessica...we saw so many in England and Ireland I couldn't keep track.
Currencies Used: 4
New Languages I can say Thank You in: 4
Airports I was in this Trip: 7 (which seems ridiculous when I was only gone a month)
Favorite Places:  London (most of you know that I love this city) and Riga, Latvia (I enjoyed this way more than I thought I would)

So much fun in so little time.  I wish I could stay longer, but unfortunately, it is back to real life for me in a few short days.

I Think I'm in Love!

Now don't get worried over there, I have not found someone over here that I have fallen in love with, but a new favorite city.  I have spent the past 4 days in Riga, Latvia and this city is just amazing.  It is dubbed the "Paris if the North" and I can see why.  The entire Old Town is a Unesco World Heritage site and is just oozing with charm and appeal.  Everything is pedestrian friendly as cars are not allowed in Old Town and it is all cobbled streets with old buildings, several of which have been redone with the Art Noveau style.  There was music playing all the time with cafes spilling onto the streets and town centers.  It is very clean and well groomed all around.  People are constantly out walking around at all hours of the day and even night.  Families will be out strolling until very late as the days are long and lazy.  It was truly an amazing city. 

I spent the first day just walking around, taking in all the sites and sounds, soaking up all the amazing architecture.  There are several grassy parks around town on the outskirts of Old Town, one of which is beautifully landscaped with bushes, flowers, statues, low lying waterfalls.  I spent a good chunk of time in this park several times just relaxing, basking in the feel of the city.  I also was able to see a Museum regarding the Occupation of Latvia by first the Germans and then the USSR until their independence in the early 1990's.  This was fascinating as it chronicals everything that occured and discussed the Holocaust as well. 

The next day, I took the bus outside the city for about 30 minutes to see the Latvian Ethnographic Museum.  This is an entire area sitting on the edge of a lake that has tons of old buildings from the last several hundred years taken from all over Latvia to this museum.  It was fabulous as well.  This type of stuff I love.  The next day I did a small tour of Rundale Palace about an hour or so outside of the capital.  There is no way to get here really other than by tour or by car, which obviously I didn't have here, so I opted for the tour option.  It was just me and this other couple from Australia which ended up working out quite well.  It was like we had our own personal tour guide for the day.  Our tour guide was great and took us not only there, but to another castle and some other beautiful spots along the way to stop.  Now, I have to laugh cause at the first castle, I went to pay to get in and she asked "Student?"  I replied "No, Adult."  She then says, "No, family ticket is better."  We tried to tell her that we were seperate, but finally just said that sure a family ticket was fine.  The couple and I laughed about it cause they were old enough to be my parents, but here is the great part....to get the "Family Ticket" this is for 2 adults and up to 2 children between the ages of 7-18.  I'm still getting people who think that I am in high school.  Rundale Palace was like Versailes in Paris, very beautiful, ornate, and has gorgeous gardens that have been done in teh French style. 

My final full day, I took a day trip over to the town of Sigulda about an hour away to see some more castles.  This town is in a National Park Area called Guaga National Park.  It was stunning, trees all over the place with some castle ruins and a partially reconstructed and excavated castle perched high up on the hill looking out over the entire area.  There is a river that runs through the valley at the bottom.  I decided to try and follow a walk laid out by one of my guidebooks to see everything so I got there and immediately set out.  Part of it included a ride in a cable car that is suspended hundreds of feet in the air that takes you from one side of the to the other over all the trees, just breath taking to see.  I tried to follow the map as best I could and ended up on these little trails leading me past trees, winding streams, and caves.  Many times, it was just me a nature again.  As I was making my way up to the main castle, I was getting slightly concerned because some of the trails on the map were truly not well marked in reality and didn't even look like trails as I was walking them.  I had that thought that I really shouldn't get lost as it could be a while before anyone found me, but eventually I made my way up top and was rewarded with another great castle. 

Latvia is home to a great Opera house which supposedly has some of the best opera shows in the world, so I decided to take in my first official opera show while here.  It was really good and I was very impressed.  Luckily, I think they get a lot of tourists as there were subtitles up top in the show in both English and another language, of which I am not sure what it was. 

The group of people in my hostel this time has really been a lot of fun.  One night I went out for drinks with two of the guys in my room and then last night, a group of about 10 of us went out for drinks.  We went to this great restaurant that was excavated in the 1970's below the ground level.  It is an old wine cellar that is hundreds of years old that they did not know was there until they started digging to try and build something else on top.  Once it was found, they restored it and made it a restaurant instead.  It is kinda touristy, but it is done well.  We all had a good time with each other and were quite the mixed group.  I meet me first Americans in this hostel while here and one was even from California, although now he lives in the Ukraine.  We were laughing about that as when he arrived and we met, we started talking about where we were from and he says, "I moved to the Ukraine to get away from Americans."  I was laughing and said yes, "I really was not expecting to meet other Americans here."  Then he switched into Spanish and asks me "Eres Latina?"  I was laughing and told him, yes, half.  We thought it was funny that not only were we Americans over here where most Americans do not travel, but we are both hispanic and these countries do not have a lot of hispanic travellers here.  Go figure. 

I have decided that I think I have one of those looks about me that people don't quite know where to place me or where I am from.  I have gotten asked 3x while in Lativa if I am a local by a tourist, really?  I don't think I look Latvian, but alright.  When people speak to me and I just smile and give them a blank stare, they then ask if I speak Russian (as that is the 2nd most common language spoken in this country).  I shake my head no, then it's onto Dutch, German, and the last one asked is always English.  Maybe it's just that English speaking tourists are not nearly as common here as tourists from other countries.  Who knows.

Anyway, this city has been fabulous and I would highly recommend it for a visit.  I was thoroughly impressed and pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed it.  I love that I can walk everywhere.  I can sit in anyone of numerous parks around the city and enjoy the sites and sounds.  The sun is up here until 11pm (although winter here I am sure is terrible as there is only like 6 hours of sunlight at that time).  It is small enough that you feel as if you know the city after just a few days.  I hope that one day I can make it back here again!

Aciu

And that is the extent of my Lithuania.  It means "Thank you" and is pronounced like when we are faking a sneeze (Achoo).  Anyway, my next stop in Lithuania was to the Western Coast in the town of Klaipeda.  I arrived there in the afternoon on a Sunday and after throwing my stuff in my hostel, was off to explore the town by foot.  Now, every other country in the world seems to recognize that Sunday is a day of rest, I don't understand by we in the US don't.  Most shops are closed except for the occassional restaurant or corner store and towns are generally quite.  Klaipeda was no exception.  I headed into Old Town where I enjoyed a leisurely couple of hour stroll all around the old cobbled streets with mainly families or couples who were out doing the same.  The Old Town is very compact so you can walk everywhere and the streets all snake around as they were designed before the advent of cars.  The day was a beautiful clear crisp day.  The sky was shining bright blue, there was a slight breeze and it was probably in the high 50's.  It felt like one of those cool crips autumn days that I liked when I was living in Colorado.  Now most of you know that there were not hardly any times that I enjoyed living there other than about 3 weeks in autumn and 3 weeks in spring when the weather was changing.  This day felt like one of those autumn days.  I love old towns like this where you can just wander around and enjoy them.  You really can't get lost because they are so compact.  Often you see the old buildings from the 16th or 17th century and just think that if only the walls could talk they would have several stories to tell.  As we are so far North here, it stays light out much later than at home.  We turned the light out in my hostel room the other night around 11pm and it was still light out.  That makes for very nice long days during the summer, but I am sure horribly short winter days.  I spent a couple of hours enjoying the sun light by reading a book on a bench next to the main river in town. 

Yesterday, I took a ferry from Klaipeda accross the Curonian Lagoon to the Curonian Split.  This is a very narrow strip of land that separates Lithuania from the Baltic Sea.  It is only a 10 minute ferry ride over there and the whole strip of land is very delicate and is a national park due to it's shifting sands and dunes.  It is roughly 60 kilometers long and maybe 3 kilometers wide or so.  I haven't converted this to miles so am not sure exactly what that equals in miles.  About 3/4 of the split is part of Lithuania, while the remaining 1/4 at the Southern end is part of Kalingrad, which is Russian Territory.  Once I arrived, I hoped on the bus and headed to the Southern most town on the Lithuanian side, Nida.  It took about an hour by bus and there was just gorgeous scenery on the way down.  There is exactly one main road that runs the entire length of the split so that was what we were on.  I walked around the tiny town and it truly felt like being on a movie set.  There were all of these very cute, wooden clap board type houses with blue trim.  Several had old fashioned clothes lines outside strung between trees with clothes drying.  It felt just like a lazy seaside small town that has not hardly been touched by time at all.  People were out strolling, talking, and everyone you pass gives you a smile.  The pace of life seems relaxed, leisurely, and much slower than even in Klaipeda. 

From what I read and heard, the best way to explore the split is by bike as there are several well marked bike trails running the length of it, so I decided to take myself on a bike ride from Nida up 30 kilometers to the town of Juodkrante.  I rented a bike that was only a one way rental (as I knew there would be no way I would want to bike back).  I headed out (and made sure I was going north, not south as I didn't want to accidentally end up in Kalingrad without a visa....I am all for great travel stories, but being detained in Russian territory with no visa is probably not a story I want to tell) and was on my way.  The bike ride was absolutely incredible and amazing.  The path winds along the beach at some points, through woods and covered areas, along pathes with Queen Anne's Lace growing wild up to waist high, and past sand dunes and a gorgeous beach.  For the most part, it was me and nature for the ride with the occassional biker passing me going the opposite direction.  The day was another clear, sunny beautiful day so this made for perfect weather for biking in my pants and a tank top.  The birds were singing as I went along and made for a lovely melody.  The ride took me about 3ish hours or so, give or take.  I stopped at several points to take pictures along the way.  Now, I haven't ridden a bike in officially about 8 years and I couldn't even tell you the last time I road that distance.  Toward the end, my fanny was not happy with me (which you would think wouldn't be a problem considering I have enough cushion down there), but it was definately worth it.  Although, I am slightly sore today from the ride. 

This morning, I headed out to Riga, Latvia, with a stop off in the town of Siauliai, Lithuania.  There is this hill there called the Hill of the Crosses.  It is a type of memorial about 12km outside of the city where there must be thousands of crosses there of every shape and size to remember those who have passed away and also to commemorate newlyweds as well.  It is truly a site to see.  The crosses range in size from probably 30 feet tall down to the size of a charm for the necklace.  Intermixed with them all are some status of a sorrowful Jesus and there was one of the Virgin Mary as well.  It is an awe inspiring site. 

I had just enough time to see that before I needed to be back at the bus station to catch my next bus onto Riga.  I was told at information before I left to see the hill that there were 2 more buses for the day to Riga, one at 1:45pm and the next at 4:45pm.  I was also told to buy the ticket on the bus for 40 Litas.  I was back in time to take the 1:45pm and attempted to do just that.  The bus driver asked for my ticket and I said that Information told me to buy it on the bus.  He shook his head no, said "Ticket" and pointed inside.  I assumed that meant buy ticket inside.  I said in English "Buy ticket inside.  She told me buy here."  He just shook his head no and walked away.  Ok, I thought, so inside I went back to information to ask.  Information told me the same thing as before, "No, you buy on Microbus."  I  replied, "Driver of Microbus said to buy in here."  She says "No, buy on Microbus."  Oye, ok, so back outside I went.  The driver said something else to me and then they left.  My best guess is that it was full and he had no more tickets to sell as the "Bus" is really a 15 passenger van and it looked very full.  Well, I figured at this point I needed to have a back up plan in case this same thing happened on the next bus and I got stuck here for the night.  Since I had 3 hours until the next "Microbus" arrived, I walked myself to the train station to see if this would be an option to get to Riga.  This was not, as the train system is not as extensive here as in the rest of Europe, so I walked myself back to the bus station where I waited for the next bus and proceeded to find a hostel in my guidebook just in case I was stranded for the night.  As soon as I saw the next bus arrive, I got up pretty quick as I did not want to miss it and wanted to make sure I got a seat.  Luckily I did without any problems.  It was interesting too crossing the boarder into Latvia as there was absolutely no one at the boarder.  It was like crossing a state line at home where all you see is a sign that says the new state you are in.  Very different from our hypervigilant boarders. 

I arrived here in Riga, Latvia safely tonight and luckily was able to withdraw cash to use.  What I didn't tell many people is that my bank informed me before I left that Latvia was the only country that they could not guarnatee my ATM card would work here.  Fantastic!  Their recommendation was to have cash on me just in case.  Now, I always carry $100 in American money just in case something happens and I can't access my accounts and I made sure to withdraw 300 Euro in Ireland before I left incase I couldn't get cash out here.  I figured between those two stashes of money, I could get by for 5 days without access to cash.  If I didn't need the Euros, I wasn't too concerned as Estonia is on the Euro and I will use it there.  I stuck my card in the ATM at the bus station, kept my fingers crossed and thank goodness, the cash was dispensed and I was on my way to my hostel where I safely arrived tonight.   

A Baroque Beauty and a Fairytale Castle

I have spent the past two days exploring Lithuania.  I am currently staying in the capital, Vilnius, which has a population of about 600,000 give or take.  It's a fairly small capital for a European Country as capitals go, but it has lots of character.  The entire heart of the capital is Old Town which is filled with old Baroque style architecture buildings that are beautiful.  As it was built in the days before cars, the entire city is very walkable without much difficulty.  Some of the streets are pedestrian only, while others have cars that manage to snake down the winding, often cobbled streets.  It really reminds me of some of the cities I was in when I went through Nicaragua.  I set off yesterday to do a tour of the entire city on foot and followed a recommended route by one of my guidebooks.  I saw tons of amazing old churches, climbed up to the old castle where I was rewarded with a stunning view looking out over the entire city, checked out the entire Old Town, and then headed down to the farther end of town to check out the Museum of Genocide Victims.  The city is built right next to a river as most old cities are, with several hills of green surrounding it.  There are parks and trees around here that make it very pretty. 

The museum was very interesting as it gives a very good overview of the history of Lithuania, it's occupation by Russia, some of the attrocities that occured during the Holocaust and even continued to happend up until about the 1980's.  Lithuania has only been independent of Russia again since the early 1990's with the last Russian troops leaving here in 1993, so we are talking less than 20 years ago.  The museum is housed in what was used by the KGB from the 1930's through 1990's as a jail and offices.  It really gave me a better understanding of the country and what occured.  It also made me think about the fact that while I was living my cozy little life in sunny Southern California, people over here were being displaced, arrested for simple things such as political views, and living without the same freedoms I have.  It is easy to forget these things still continue to occur in our world, even today in many places, because in my normal everyday life, I am for the most part so far removed from this.  I know this type of thing goes on, but often it is out of sight, out of mind.  I don't want that to be the case.  I need to make myself more aware of these types of things, do my homework and know what is happening to others out there, if not for the simple fact of knowing how to pray more for those that do not have the same freedoms I enjoy. 

I have been struck while here about how faithful this country is.  The majority of the country is Catholic and there are beautiful old churches everywhere you turn.  I was in several of them yesterday in awe of their glory.  I have noticed that anytime a church is passed, most of the people will make the sign of the cross to show respect.  As I was in many of the churches, I also noticed that there always seems to be at least a handful of people who have stopped in just to pray and spend some queit time there before moving on.  These are people of all ages, who have things to do, are walking through and just stop.  Many have their purse, shopping bags, or brief cases.  Church here seems to be a part of everyday life.  They seem to always be open during the day, welcoming anyone and everyone in.  It made me question why it's not like this more at home.  I am at church exactly 1x per week, on Sundays for service.  I may attend a meeting here or a special event there, but that's it.  I have never once in my entire life, just stopped at my home church because I was passing by it in the middle of the day to sit and pray.  When I am travelling, I always usually sit for a few minutes and spend a quick time in prayer.  If I am with others and don't have that luxury, then I will send up a quick prayer while walking through.  Why do I do that here, yet not at home?  Now, I realize that I do not need to be in a church to pray, it can be done anywhere, but it challenges me to think about how I spend my time.  Am I carving out that time each day to pray or I am making excuses that I am too busy?  It is the idea behind what I observe here that I think is truly a good one.  I see people taking the time out of their day to pray, to observe their creator, to be with him instead of just bustling around in a burst of business. 

Today, I headed out by bus on a small day trip to the nearby town of Trakai.  It is this small penninsula of land snuggled between 2 lakes with some islands dotting the lakes.  On one of the larger islands it an old castle that was restored over a period of about 50 years and finally finishing in the late 1980's.  It looked like something straight out of a movie, set on a small island, green trees surrounding the castle and the land with small fishing boats tied up all by the lake.  It was great!  I also stopped in to see the remains of another old castle in the town and checked out the Kariamites (I may have spelled that wrong) Ethnographic Museum.  The small community of the Kariamites is the smallest ethnic group living in Lithuania with only about 280 people in the country.  They are of Turkish decent and speak a very specific dialect.  It was facinating to see how this small community continues to survive with so few.  I also grabbed a Kapalai for lunch, which is one of their common foods.  It was like an empanada, stuffed with some type of pork, onions, and other spices.  I am not exactly sure what all was in there, but it was delicious, although I am sure my arteries are not super thrilled with me as I bit into it and grease just poured out.  As I was heading back toward the bus stop, I attempted to stop in the main church in town for a look, however upon arriving, it sounded as though perhaps something was going on in there.  I decided to walk around the grounds first to try and scope it out before proceeding inside.  Good thing that I did as a few minutes later, it appeared as though a wedding party was coming out.  Crashing a wedding here, probably isn't the best idea ever.  After that, it was back to Old Town Vilnius to explore some more, wander through shops and take in the city before I am heading out tomorrow. 

Weather has not been the greatest here.  Yesterday, it was sunny when I left, but by about noon, it had started raining.  I pressed on throughout the day as I had a city to explore and rain or shine, I wanted to see it.  I got a brief reprieve from the rain while in the museum, but by the time I got back last night, I was soaked after spending 5 hours in the rain, wet and cold.  Probably not the best thing on my part as I have had a stuffy nose and been coughing for about a week, but what can I do?  Today was supposed to have thunder storms and I groaned when I heard that.  I woke up to the sun streaming in through my window and immediately jumped up and headed out the door, hoping to arrive at the bus station before the rain.  Luckily, I got no rain while I was in Trakai, but it was freezing as the town is situated between two lakes with!  I was better prepared today and had on a tank top, long sleeve top, fleece zip up, and my rain jacket, so that helped.  My hands were ice cold and I didn't bring gloves with me.  I got back to town and the clouds started rolling in.  I got a few hours to look around before it started raining.  I was able to make it back to my hostel though with only some wetness, not dripping as the day before.  Thank goodness for that. 

I have been surprised at the number of tourists that I have seen here.  There are not a ton, but there were more than I was expecting.  Most of them seem to be European, although there have been some tourists from I think China, and very few others.  I have seen only a few tourists who speak English as their first language.  When I have heard tourists speaking English, it has been because it is the only common language with a store keeper.  I was in the store today buying some food and the check out girl rattled off something to me related to the apples I was attempting to purchase.  I looked at her and smiled, saying sorry in English, with a clueless look on my face.  She smiled back, said "It Ok" and continued ringing me up.  I have absoultely no idea what she was trying to ask me or tell me, but I finished my transaction and thanked her at the end.  She gave me a big smile as I headed out the door.  I love being in places like this where there are really no other people who are from the States.  It puts me completely out of my comfort zone and I have to figure things out.  Now, I realize that most people don't get travel opportunities like I have had over my life time.  When most travel, they want to see the major sites in Europe such as London, Paris, Rome, etc... and I am not saying that people shouldn't see those.  Believe me, they are amazing.  However, I think that we should try and travel to places like this as well where we are truly the minority.  There is so much culture and history here.  So many things to see that most are not going to get the opportunity to see, but they are truly amazing. 

Tomorrow, I am out of here and off to my next town and I can't wait!

A Final Farewell and Off I Go

My last evening and day with Tina and Jessica was two nights ago.  We went out on our last night together to grab a drink and listen to some Irish Music being played in the pubs.  I always have to laugh cause one of these days I am going to look my age.  Here is how the conversation with the bartender went:

Me:  Can I please have the Bulmers Cider?
Bartender (BT):  How old are you?
Me:  (as I am laughing) I'm 29.
BT:  (with a shocked look on his face) Really?  You really do not look that old.
Me:  (as I am laughing) I get that a lot.  What is the drinking age here?
BT:  I don't want to tell you. (BT goes to fill my glass for me and comes back)
Me:  No, really....what is the drinking age here?
BT:  You have to be 18 to order a drink.

Awesome....I officially still look like I am in high school when I am nearly 30!  Let me clarify too that neither Tina or Jessica even got questioned about their age.  At least this time in the airports I have not gotten asked if I am an unaccompanied minor or where my parents are.

Our final day together we headed over to explore the old jail in the city of Dublin.  This was very interesting because it not only tells the story of what the jail was used for, but also much of the political struggle that occured throughout Ireland and with Britian.  It gave us a better understanding of Ireland and all that occured with their history as none of us really knew.

Then it was back to the hostel to collect my backpack and for Jessica and Tina to recheck in.  Unfortunately for them they had to check out, put their stuff in the luggage storage room, and then recheck in to change rooms as the final night there was only 2 of them and not 3 of us.  Now, the one thing that I have failed to mention in any of my posts is that in nearly every hostel we have been in, our rooms have been at least 3 stories up, which really is 4 as the street level is actually the ground floor and the 1st level is what we would consider the 2nd level.  We have had to trudge up and down stairs, which was easier for me to do with a back pack slung on my back than for them with suitcases.  Our last hostel was no diffierent and was probably the most stairs we had to climb.  If hostels have elevators, it is a luxury and definately not the norm.  So we had to drag all the stuff down stairs and their room was one floor lower that they were checking into, so luckily it was not as bad as the first time.  They walked me to my bus stop, we said our goodbyes and they were off to lunch, while I was off to the airport in Dublin.

I boarded my flight and truly think I was the only American on there.  I was sitting next to this young coupule who could not have been older than 25 tops.  They were heading home to Lithuania to visit family for 2 weeks as they now live in Dublin.  I don't think the wife spoke any English, but the husband did speak some, although it was pretty broken.  He seemed very confused as to why I would be going to Lithuania to travel around.  We chatted for a while before the landing with pauses as the husband translated to the wife and then we arrived.  I followed the crowd to Passport Control where I handed mine over.  The Customs Officer who took my passport ran it through the system and gave me a stare down.  Didn't crack a smile at all.  Once I got what I am assuming was the "OK" sign from the computer, as it beeped, he stamped my passport and slide it back to me.  I happily said "Thanks" with a smile and I continued to get the stare down as I proceeded through.  I seem to be a hit with all the Customs people on this trip.  He did not speak to me once and I am used to at least getting asked in every country where I am staying, why I am visiting, and for how long....nothing this time.

I grabbed my bag and headed off to find an ATM cause I needed some cash to be able to get to my hostel.  I jumped time zones there and it was 2 hours later than Ireland time, so by the time I landed it was about 10:30pm at night.  I hate landing and arriving new places in the dark, but unfortunately, I had no other option.  So I grabbed some cash and headed outside the airport to make my way into town.  There is a bus stop, but I was not sure if any would be coming at that time.  I did some homework to find out what the average taxi fare should cost me to my hostel from the airport, which really isn't that much (roughly $7-9).  I went over to find out about the taxi, the first one quoted me 2 1/2x that amount.  I said no, I'd wait for a bus.  Another taxi driver who was trying to arrange for the first guy to take me said that he would take me for less, which was still too much.  I said no that I would wait for the bus.  He kept haggling with me, advising me that I didn't know the city or where I was going.  I told him he was absolutely right I didn't know this city, but I had figured it out in other cities and would figure it out here.  As I was walking off toward the bus stand, a third taxi driver called me over and asked what I was willing to pay.  I said my price (which was on the lower end), he said higher, we met in the middle and I had my ride to my hostel.  I made sure he was a legitimate taxi driver before I got in and made sure he had a # and his badge displayed, which he did, for those of you out there who consistently worry about me.  It feels like Costa Rica all over again, haggling with taxi drivers for lower prices to make sure that I am not ridiculously over charged as I am clearly not from here.  Always a fun time, but all part of the experience of travelling and experiencing new things!  Once I arrived and checked in, I flopped into bed as I was exhausted.  Planes always seem to make me tired.

Driving into Dublin

Well, my friends and I finished up our time in the countryside by spending one last night in the medival city of Kilkenny.  We arrived in Kilkenny just in time to tour the castle which is right in the middle of town, before it closed.  We then were off to find our hostel and head out in search of food.  We had a great dinner in an Irish Pub and enjoyed the atmosphere.  Once done, we wandered around, taking in the city and enjoying the ambiance.  It was a beautiful city, built long ago with old buildings set next to a river with a few major bridges crossing over.  We also found this great old fashioned candy shop that looks like the candy shop in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

The following day, it was onto some small towns for another coastal and scenic drive.  We have seen more rolling hills just covered in green grass and trees here than I think I ever have.  I was driving us down several small back country roads, so we have also enjoyed many small towns and cities that we would not have had the opportunity to see if we were taking public transportation.  We first stopped in this little tiny town called Glendalough, where there is an old monastery that was once a city in ruins.  Monastic priests lived there fore several hundred years before it was destroyed and conquered.  Unfortunately, we arrived there about the same time as a tour bus so it was not as quiet and sureal as we would have hoped, but it was breath taking.  The old city ruins are set back against a back drop of green hills and trees and it is very secluded.  There are some old buildings, churches, and several gravestones in the city. 

After that, we were on our way to Powerscourt, a huge estate with these beautiful gardens.  The house is not open other than the shops, but the gardens are really what make it worth it.  We had lunch in the cafe with a gorgeous view of the Wiklow Mountains, greenery, and trees.  It was amazing!  We then walked around the gardens enjoying the birds singing and the quiet setting before grabbing dessert and heading off to Dublin. 

I drove us into Dublin safely and am happy to say that my driving days are over here.  We are walking around by foot.  Driving was an adventure as usual.  We did it all by maps, the old fashioned way.  Tina was navigator using the maps and we were able to get around.  We kept having a slight mix up though as she would say Right when she really meant Left or the other way around.  Driving on the opposite side of the road really screwed with her Left and Right, so Jessica would interpret for us.  We ended up on the wrong roads at times, sometimes these little one lane roads where I was having to back up or the other car was to be able to pass, but it ended up well and there were no major problems.  More than once, I ended up circling a traffic circle several times while my navigators figured out which way to go.  Other cars were looking at us like we were crazy, but it worked and we were on our way!

Yesterday, we arrived in Dublin, which has been in stark contrast to anything else we have seen in Ireland.  It is a big bustling city with tons of people, traffic and cars.  There is no where else here that we have seen that even compares to what it is like here.  As it is summer, the sun shines until 10pm at night and people are out walking around at all hours.  We headed out and walked around to get a feel for the city and enjoyed some time relaxing in one of the beautiful parks. 

Today, we have been on the go all day.  First stop was Trinity College where we did a walking tour to get some history of the city before going to see the Book of Kells, which is housed there.  This is one of the oldest manuscripts in Ireland related to Christianity as it is the 4 gospels.  Next stop was St. Patricks Cathedral, which is a very impressive church.  There has been a church on this site since sometime in the 12th or 13th century.  The church itself if beautiful, a very old building and still used to this day for services.  Our final stop of the day was the Guiness Storehouse where we did a tour of how they make the beer and brew it.  It has been at this sit for going on 250 years and supposedly when it was originally started, a 9,000 year leased was signed which is on display.  After the tour, we headed to the very top (7th) floor of the building where you can see our over all of Dublin as far as the eye can see all around.  It is a circle room encased in glass so you can see everything.  There is a bar up there and everyone who does the tour gets a free pint, so we all did our best to finish ours.  Let me just say, I have no idea why people like this stuff as it was aweful!  I have tried and am just not a fan of beer. 

Tonight, we are heading out to enjoy our last night together before I head off for the next two weeks and my friends head home on Friday.  I leave tomorrow at 5pm and need to leave for the airport around 2pm.  So tomorrow morning we are going to head over to see one of the old jails here that tells a lot of the history of the city.  It sounded interesting and was recommended to us by this family we met today.  It has been tons of fun so far and we all realize how blessed we are to have the opportunity to travel as we do.  Many other people our age do not have nor do they take these opportunities.  We have been truly blessed. 

I realized the other day that by the end of this trip, I will have visited a total of 29 countries in my short little life.  I am currently 29 years old.  I told my friends that I think my goal is going to try and continue to have visited as many countries as my age. My friend pointed out to me that as I am turning 30 in a few months, I will need to visit another country before my next birthday.  I realize that and am working on planning my next trip already!  I gotta have something to look forward to, right? 

A Bit O' the Irish Countryside

After finishing up our time in England, it was off to our next part of the trip in Ireland.  We began by arriving in Shannon, Ireland, which is on the west side of Ireland late on Thursday night.  We grabbed a taxi to our hostel for the night, which was actually a Bed and Breakfast.  It is owned by a couple in their 60's or so who have been running it for the past 20 years.  It was like staying in their home and we had an amazing home cooked breakfast in the morning before the husband drove up back to the airport to pick up our rental car so that we could be off. 

We have been on the go non-stop for the past several days.  We explored the Cliffs of Moher, Ring of Kerry, Dingle Penninsula, several small towns and cities along the way and also numerous castles.  They have all been amazing to see.  The Cliffs were covered in green grass and wildflowers with straight drops down in the ocean.  There were beautiful views looking out into the spectacular ocean.  The Ring of Kerry and Dingle Penninsula were both beautiful as well.  Lots of lush, green grass and many wildflowers.  There were also several sheep along the way just hanging out all over.  The country side here looks like a patchwork quilt of green with sheep dotting the landscape.  All of the parcels of land are separated by green bushes and tall trees.  We went through several small towns along the Ring of Kerry and Dingle Penninsula as well.  The towns were very cute with several different colored buildings that look straight out of a movie set.  There are Pubs all over the place as well and people out walking around at all hours of the night.  We stopped at a beach to take pictures on the Dingle Penninsula and while there, took off our flip flops.  The wind was so strong that we ended up chasing them down the beach trying to stop them from blowing away.  Always a fun time!

We stayed in Kilarney for 2 nights and as we were out walking around that night, there was traditional Irish music playing, people walking all over down town, and brightly colored buildings that look like they are over a hundred years old.  My friend Tina said that she really felt like we were in Ireland at this point. 

We have seen several old ruins as well.  There are old remnants of churches, buildings, and other structures that are all over the country.  Some are well preserved and others are crumbling to the ground with only a glimmer of their former glory as several of the buildings are crumbling.  This has been great to see as I love this type of stuff.

Now, for those of you out there who consistently ask if I kissed anyone whenever I come back from a trip (and those of you know who you are), I can happily tell you that I kissed a something (although it may not be a someone).  We went to the Blarney Castle and all of us took our turn kissing the Blarney Stone, along with every other tourist who goes there, so I don't even want to think about what germs are hanging out on the stone that I kissed.  Supposedly now we should all have th gift of eloquence and gab.  We also walked backward up and down a stair case with our eyes closed, which has Druidic Roots and if you do that, the witch is supposed to make your wishes come true.  Not that any of us believe that, but we figured it would be fun to try this...and none of us fell! 

Today, we took a scenic drive along a coastal route through a bunch of small beachside towns before arriving in Waterford where we took the factory tour.  That was facinating to see them acutally blowing the glass and making the crystal.  It is quite the process and beautiful to see. 

Driving seems to be going better here as it is slightly easier than the first time was in England.  We have had no incidents where we nearly plunge off of cliffs as happened in St. Thomas, so that's been a good thing.  More than once we have gotten lost, had to turn around, or managed to be on the wrong road.  However, we have managed to nagivate the country without a GPS and get everywhere without any major mishaps.  That's been quite the miralce as well!  Between the 3 of us, we have managed to get around everywhere.  

Food has been delicious.  We have been enjoying lots of Irish food and ice cream every night.  None of us eat like this at home, so it has been a treat.  We stopped this morning at a Farmer's Market type place in Cork before leaving where we grabbed some apples, a homemade bread with sundried tomatoes, super yuumy Irish Chedder Cheese, smoothies, and Danishes.  We had our breakfast and lunch for the day there and boy was it yummy!  Tomorrow is our last day of driving before we are dumping the car and heading into Dublin to finish up. 

London!

After our time in the English countryside, we headed into London for 3 glorious days!  We had amazing weather the entire time and it was perfect for walking around and exploring the city.  I was very excited to be back there as I absolutely LOVE London.  If I could live in a big city anywhere else in the world, it would be there without a doubt.  There is just something about it, it's so alive with energy and people walking at all hours of the day.  There are so many things to do culturally and to see.  I also am a big fan of the fact that you can walk everywhere, take the Tube, or take the bus.  There is no need to drive at all.  Plus one can see a play any night of the week.  This was the third time that I was in London, and it was still fabulous and I am sure that I will be back there again some day.  

We started off our first day there with heading over to Tower of London for the morning, Tower Bridge, and then finished the afternoon by doing Westminster Abby.  We were at Tower of London first thing in the mornign so we beat several of the tourists getting there, which made it nice to see.  It is a very old fort type castle set right on the river.  The afternoon we wandered around Westminster Abby, seeing everything and enjoying.  We then parked ourselves outside on the grassy area where we grabbed a 20 minutes rest/nap before we were off again. 

Our second day we got up first thing in the morning to do the new Harry Potter studio tour about 20 minutes outside of London.  It opened up a couple of months ago and the entire studio where most of the movies were filmed was turned into a tour.  We were able to see several of the sets, get a look into the movie making process, and have some fun pictures taken flying on brooms.  We also enjoyed some butter beer while there!  After our tour, back to London we went and did the London Eye, which is basically this large ferris wheel type thing that takes you extremelly high up in these enclosed glass cylinders.  When at the top, there are breath taking views looking out over all of London in all directions.  That I had not done before, so it was very enjoyable.

Our third and final day, we saw the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace and were a bit confused cause toward the end of the ceremony, they starting playing New York New York.  It seemed very out of place.  Once that was done, we were off to Harrod's to explore how the other half lives and spends their money.  We walked through the huge department store for a couple of hours, in awe of how expensive everything was.  We finished up our day with a picnic lunch in Hyde Park, a quick nap, and then off to finish up some souvenier shopping before catching our night flight to Shannon, Ireland. 

We had an amazing time in London.  There was this yummy Italian place we found that was unbelievable and had the freshest gnocchi I have ever had.  We also had lots of gelatto while we were there.  One night it was even our dinner instead of real food.  It counts, right?  We are on vacation.  Although, the next day was when we had butter beer and a danish for lunch/snack so we decided after not having real food for 24 hours, it was time for some actual food for dinner by the next night.  We figured all the walking we were doing around London was probably a good thing.

We also saw Chicago and this other play while we were there, 39 Steps, at the recommendation of our hostel.  It was hilarious!  We wished we could have stayed longer to see more plays and musicals, but there just wasn't time.  I love the fact that you can see so many plays and musicals there all the time. 

We had 3 Australians as our roommates at this hostel and they are all traveling for several months.  I realize that I am blessed to be able to travel for a month, still receive a pay check, and come back and have a job waiting for me, but hearing that they will be gone for months, makes me itch to be gone again for longer than a month.  I would love to have that type of opportunity again.  One day...I figure when I retire or if I am every in between jobs, off I'll go!

A Bit of the English Countryside

Well my friend's and mine first stop on the trip was off to Oxford.  After we finally got our car and got out of Heathrow, we headed off toward Oxford.  We arrived there just in time to throw our stuff in the hostel and we were off to walk around town for a night tour.  It was after 10pm and tons of people were out strolling and biking.  The city is an old beautiful town with Oxford University spread out all over.  We walked around just taking in the sites and attempting to find something to eat and somewhere to sit for a bit as we were very jet lagged.

The next day, we stopped in town to walk around again so my friends could see it in the daylight hours then we were off to the Cotswold region of England.  The Cotswold is a region of approximately 50 x 100 miles in England that was all sheep farming country.  It is dotted with a bunch of small, quant little towns all over.  Since we had our own car, we were able to enjoy some of the beautiful country.  The area is just covered in rolling fields of green with several areas of sheep all over the place.  My friends were laughing at me cause I thought it was the neatest thing to be able to see sheep roaming around.  There were these huge fields of golden flowers all over as well.  We think that they must have been growing these and havesting them for something, but they were absolutely stunning.  We pulled over at one point on the side of the road, carefully crawled under a barbed wire fence and hopped over into the field to take some pictures.  The plants with the gorgeous yellow flowers came up to our shoulders, give or take so it truly felt like we were in the middle of flower fields.

We found the town in the Cotswold we were staying in for the night and headed over to the tourist office where the very nice gentleman who runs it helped us map out a route for the day.  We saw a bunch of towns, all of them small little towns that had an old feel to them.  It felt almost if you were stepping back into time to the 1700's or so with the exception of cars and electricity being present.  We enjoyed lunch at a small cafe in one of the towns and strolled down the main street in several of the towns as well.  The houses were very cute, with gardens and flowers galore.  We stopped for a little ice cream as well even though it was freezing.  We were driving around this region all day just taking in the sites everywhere.  My favorite town was this little town called Bilbury that has really not much more than some houses and a trout farm, but it is so cute.  There is this row of houses there that are the oldest row houses in England and also one of the most photographed sites in the country.  The exterior looks straight out of the 1500-1600's or so.  The thing that gets me is people still live in those houses today and supposedly they cost a fortune. You look that them have it is exactly what you think of when you hear English Countryside.  We also saw several structures in towns in this region with thached roof houses.  These again are not something we see in the United States, but they reminded me almost of being on a movie set the way they were constructed. 

We attempted to see all of the cities that were recommended to us, but as luck would have it, we were unsuccessful at locating the town of Staton in the Cotswold.  We asked directions and tried to follow the signs, but for whatever reason and after 3 seperate attempts, we gave up and called it a day.  However in the process of trying to find that town, we ended up seeing the town of Broadway, 3 different times as we kept ending up in the same place.  Between three of us in the car and three different maps, you would think we could figure it out.

It truly is a side of England that many people often likely do not see when they come here.  It feels the complete opposite of London, with it's busy city life.  This area of England is all country and farming area.  There are still sheep grazing and roaming, and other farm animals as well cruising around.  It has the feel of a much more calm and peaceful pace of life.  It seems serene and during the night when we were there, after toursists had left for the day, the town was quiet and there were very few people out other than a few locals. 

On Monday, we got up and headed out the door early for Stonehenge and Avebury.  We arrived at Stonehenge where we proceeded to walk around the entire circle taking in the site.  It is really impressive to see as they are massive boulders that you look at and wonder how they managed to get those in that shape and location back where there were no modern day machines as there are today to move them.  Very impressive.  The stones are set in the middle of a large open field surrounded by green grass on all sides and on a slight small hill.  Next we were off to Avebury, which is another ancient site such as Stonehenge, but this one is much larger and you can walk up near the rocks.  In Avebury, the stones circle is very large with a small town built around and in the circle.  They were saying it is likely the only place where you can find a pub and a church within ruins like that today.  They are not sure what the exact origins are of either or why they are there, although there are some theories.  Both were very impressive to see.  While in Avebury, we headed into the town church where the woman who was fixing up the altar covering (which was over 100 years old) proceeded to ask us our opinion on the fabric color that we thought went best with it.  We stood there chatting with her for a good 10 minutes or so about this.  Little things like this are what makes my trips as I really enjoy these types of discussions and conversations. 

Next we headed back to Heathrow to drop off the rental and head into London.  Driving over here has not been terrible, but it has been an experience.  There are virtually no lights and everything is done by roundabouts instead, which I am not used to as we don't use those nearly that often in the US.  Luckily, my friends were able to help me look at signs and figure it out.  More than once, we were going the wrong way, ended up on the wrong street (not on the wrong side of the street though), or ended up on the wrong highway.  I was able to drive stick with my L hand better than I was anticipating and I only hit the curb 2x, which I didn't think was too terrible considering I was driving stick with my L hand, on the opposite side of the road sitting on the opposite side of the car.  The hard part came when we had to fill the gas tank.  We had a practically brand new Fiat.  I got out to fill up the tank and couldn't get off the gas cap.  It just spun round and round and would not come off.  After messing with it for a good 5 minutes, I had my friend Jessica get out to try it and Tina look in the owners manual to try and figure it out.  Seriously, we are all educated and intelligent people and we can't figure out how to take a gas cap off?  Finally, we figured out that you have to use your car key to insert in the middle of the gas cap to unlock the stupid thing before it will come off!  What a pain.  10 minutes later and three people later we finally figured that out!  We then dropped the car off at Heathrow and into London we went. 

Off to an interesting start

Well we took off for Europe on Friday, May 18th.  The day started kind of crazy as all of us were up until 1am the night before take off packing and taking care of last minute things.  Then we all worked full days before leaving straight for the airport. 

My friend Jessica met me at my house where my roomie Molly was driving us up to meet our other friend, Tina.  As we are heading out the door, I was telling Molly my awesome story of forgetting my Driver's License the frist time I went to Las Vegas with some friends.  We got an hour into the drive, in the middle of Riverside, and had to turn around and go back for my ID.  Not my finest moment.  I made sure that I had my passport this time before I left for the airport.  We get about 3 minutes from the house when someone mentions something about an ID.  I fumbled through my stuff, realizing I had completely forgot my license, so we turned around and I proceed to race up my stairs to grab this.  Sure enough, it's sitting safely in my wallet, right where I left it.  That could have potentially been a disaster since I am the one driving over here and without a license, can't do that.  Once that was resolved, we were on our way. 

I was on a seperate flight from my friend, Tina and Jessica, so the plan was to meet at the Budget Rental Car location in Terminal 3 in Heathrow.  It's a massive airport so we figured that would be the easiest.  I was scheduled to arrive about 30 minutes before them so I told them I'd head to their terminal, which was 3 and wait for them. 

In flight, I meet these two women who live in Santa Barbara, so we started chatting about that.  We took off out of the plane together and headed for Customs.  We're waiting in line and as were chatting decide to snap a picture together.  Apparently, this is not allowed in Customs....I've done this in other countries and it wasn't a problem, but here, not so much.  The Customs woman came over and was not happy with us, having us delete the pictures.  She also wanted to see what else was on my camera before that.  There wasn't anything as I had just cleared my camera before leaving and I told her that, but she didn't seem to believe me and was getting a bit more frustrated with me and telling to go back.  I told her the same thing as nicely as possible as I did not want to spend the next 2 hours being interogated by Customs.  Great way to enter the country by being yelled at while in line to enter.  Finally she left us alone.  Next it was on to get me passport stamped.  The woman was very nice, but kept asking bunches of questions.  Once through Customs, we grabbed our stuff, said our goodbyes, wished each other trips, and I was on my way to meet my friends. 

My flight ended up being delayed upon leaving so I arrived 35 minutes later than planned.  I figured that my friends would be there in our designated location because they should have landed at the same time I ended up landing, plus I had to work my way to their Terminal, which in Heathrow is a 15-20minute ordeal.  I got there, and nothing.  There's no one there.  So I sat down and waited.  They should have landed around 3:45pm.  I was sitting there for a while and around 5:30pm when they were not there, I went to find out if they landed.  Sure enough, they had landed at 3:45pm as scheduled.  Did we get our wires crossed and was I supposed to meet them somewhere else?  I was going off of very little sleep so perhaps I misunderstood.  I decided to suck it up and try to call one of them...found out my phone doesn't work over here.  So now what?  I had that thought that this might be another St. Thomas fiasco where these same friends and I and another friend were meeting up in St. Thomas and flights were delayed, wires were crossed, and we all eventually ended up meeting up like 6 hours later than planned.  Luckily this did not end up being the case.  Finally I spotted them and I guess they were put in 2 Customs lines as one of my friends is a US citizen and one is a Mexico citizen.  My friend Jessica got to go in the "special line" and ended up waiting over an hour longer than Tina to get through.  What a pain.  At least we found each other and were on our way to pick up the rental car.

We arrive at Avis/Budget and I give the nice lady my name.  "Oh, miss, we have that you were supposed to pick it up at 5am this morning."  Excuse me?  I just looked at my friends and started laughing.  This really was not turning out to be my day.  We all just laughed and there was nothing that could be done, so instead of getting the type of car we prepaid for, as there were none available, she checked and we ended up with the next size up.  That was a good investment for us as it was a small 2 door Fiat with just enough room for 3 of us and our 3 bags.  We were wondering what in the world the other size would have been.  We got in, I tested out the stick with the L hand while driving on the L side of the road, on the L side of the car.  Different, but doable.  Needless to say, once all that excitment happened we were on our way to Oxford, our first stop for the trip. 

Less than 24 hours to go!

Well, it is nearly 11:30pm at night and this trip seems to be starting out as all of them do, last minute packing and trying to get things done.  I should be in bed sleeping as I plan to be in my office tomorrow between 6-6:30am so I can be out of there by 3pm.  In my brilliance, I always work the day that I am trying to leave.  Instead of being in bed, I am stuffing things into my backpack, online getting directions, calling my travel buddies last minute to cover last minute details, oh it's tons of fun getting stuff done like this.  Every time I go somewhere, I always think I will be more organized than I am, instead, it seems to get worse as I get older and I seem to leave the packing for the very last minute. 

After I finished up my State Licensure Test for Social Work 2 weeks ago (which I passed!!!) I then got on booking us stuff.  As of a week ago, we now have hostels to stay at in Oxford, Cotswolds, and London, so we are officially booked for all of England.  Not that any of us were too worried, there are about a millon places to choose from to stay, so somewhere was bound to have a room available.  We got the first night in Ireland booked as well.  Beyond that, we'll figure it out as we go.  We have rental cars booked for the 2 days we will be driving in England and the 5 we will be driving in Ireland.  I'll be driving on the wrong side of the road, on the wrong side of the car, and doing stick with my L hand instead of R, so we'll see how this all goes.  We keep thinking it'll be an adventure and make for great stories.  So long as we don't nearly plunge to our death as we did the last time I drove when the three of us were together in St. Thomas a few years back, we'll be good.  I am on a separte flight than my friends so the plan is to meet up at Heathrow Airport in London and we are hoping to find each other and our bags by picking out a location to meet.  We are all set for take off.

As I was at my Women's Bible study the other night, the ladies prayed for me and sent me on my way wishing me tons of fun and letting me know that they would be keeping me in prayers.  More than one of them said they hoped I had opportunities while I was over in Europe to be a witness and share my faith.  It struck me that in the past 10 years of traveling and in the numerous countries I have been in, this has entered my mind at times, but never too frequently.  I get in this mind set of being a traveller and being with the people I meet along the way, sometimes even travelling together for days to weeks at a time, talking with locals, but I never look at it as a mission field.  Usually my prayers consist of "Lord keep me safe, give me traveling mercies, allow me to experience Your wonderful creation in all it's glory."  Very self centered and selfish prayers.  Never once have I asked, "Lord, bring people into my path who I can be a witness to.  Grant me opportunities to share your love."  Why has that never crossed my mind before?  I always travel with my small Bible when I am gone.  I read it and sometimes other see me, sometimes they don't.  I tell others what I believe if we get into a discussion about faith, but this is different than actively sharing my faith.  I state my beliefs more as facts when asked, not in any real personal way to reveal God's love.  Those prayers said in my Bible Study this week, challenged me to look at the way I often travel differently.  To take more opportunities that I have perhaps missed in the past this time around. 

2 weeks to go!!!!

Two weeks to go and my friends and I are definately on the countdown!  It can't come quick enough for us.  My friend, Tina, is a CPA and just coming off busy season, so she is ready for a vacation.  Jessica has been working hard and is ready for vacation as well.  Myself, well, I am definately ready for vacation as life has been crazy around here as usual.  I should be studying right now as we speak, as tomorrow I am sitting for the first part of my State Lincesure Test for Social Work.  I have cut it off for the evening though because at this point, all the facts that are gonna stay in my mind are already jammed in there and I am prepared as I am gonna be for now.  Whether I pass or fail, it is onto a month off for vacation. 

Last time I posted, the plan was to book things the following week such as hostels, rental cars and such.  I still have done nothing.  There has been too much going on, so we are two weeks exactly from departure and still have nothing other than plane tickets.  Oh well.  Once my test is done tomorrow, my homework for the next few days is booking us places to stay and a car.  We could just really try and wing it, but we are cramming way too much stuff in to be able to do that, so we have to be very organized. 

About the only progress I have made so far toward getting things ready is I did purchase a Kindle with some gift cards that I had.  With the rate I read, this will be much easier for me than last time I went 5 years ago and was hauling around books, exchanging them when I could, and trading with fellow travelers.  I am exicted about this new purchase. 

I am very excited to take off and see some more of God's beautiful creation.  I did not discover the world until I was 20 and left for Costa Rica to study abroad for 4 months.  I had the opportunity to see all of Costa Rica, a huge part of Nicaragua, and part of Panama.  From there I was hooked!  God's creation is such an amazing thing to be able to see and experience.  I have continued to travel over the years and have seen more of the world in my short little life than most see in an entire life time.  How blessed am I?  I've seen some of the oldest structures around, beautiful sun rises and sunsets all over, tasted delicious food, and done so much more.  Words can't even describe the feeling that I have when I am traveling.  It is as though I don't have to worry about anything other than what I am going to see today.  It is a way to be carefree and relax while enjoying life.  I get to meet new people, try new things, have experiences that I never thought possible.  It is hard for me to comprehend when people do not share this type of enthusiasm for travel because it is such a passion of mine.  A friend of mine in college was joking around and said that our motto should be "have no money, will travel" and that pretty much has become my motto.  I'm a Social Worker, so I am definately not rolling in the dough.  But I can support myself and have some extra money to spare for the travel.

I have been told before that I am very independent and have an adventerous spirit.  I've never really thought of it that way, but sure I suppose that's a good way to put it.  I look at it as not wanting to put my plans on hold waiting for someone else to accompany me somewhere, hence the times I have travelled by myself and have loved every minute of it.  I think if my family and some friends had their way, I would never go off on my own anywhere, but there is something to be said about being an independent traveller.  I have learned more about myself over the years in doing this and gotten to do things that I would not have if I was with a group of friends.  I have shared meals with locals in their homes, found myself completely changing plans at the last minute on a whim to see a different country, been challenged to be more outgoing with others, and just generally tried new things.  My dad always tells me that I am causing him to age prematurely, he's not a "young spring chicken anymore and he has a heart condition."  I hear this all the time fom him.  I tell him that he is fine and my parents get to live vicariously through me.  I'd rather live life to the fullest instead of reaching the end and think "man I wish I would have taken the opportunity to do that." 

On the Countdown to Departure...

Well the departure date is about a month away and thus far, my friends and I have plane tickets.  This is totally my kind of trip.  We fly out on Red Eye's on May 18.  We have our flights reserved from LA to London, London to Ireland, and then Ireland to either home for my friends, and onto Lithuania for me.  So far, that is the extent of planning we have completed. 

I felt productive this week because I did book us our tour for the Harry Potter Studio and bought us tickets for Guiness House in Dublin, but that's as far as we've gotten so far. 

I plan on getting on booking things for us this week, which will include a rental car for Ireland and some hostels in London and Ireland.  My friends haven't really done much with hostels before so we are aiming for all female dorms if we can swing it if they are available and no much more expensive.  Ultimately though it will come down to whatever is least expensive.  We are all about saving money where we can. 

I can't wait to go!  Traveling is truly a passion of mine that God created me with.  Unfortunately it is an expensive passion, but I am alright with this.  I love seeing new places, experiencing new cultures, and just getting out of my comfortable little South Orange County bubble that I am ashamed to say, often times I have become too comfortable with living in.  I am on the countdown to departure date and within a few days it will be less than a month until I am off again!!!

Europe Again!!!!

Well for those of you who know how much I love to travel, I am off again on another trip.  I had a couple of people ask me if I will be posting again while I am gone and I decided to start a new blog instead of continuing off of my old one.  So welcome to my new blog....

As some of you may or may not know, I will be leaving for Europe again for a month in the middle of May.  I have to work for one of the best companies around because not only do I have an amazing job that I love in Social Work, but I get to work from home and have a lot of benefits and perks to my job.  Not only do I have a very flexible schedule and a ton of vacation time, but how many other companies out there give employees a month off at a time?  Not many and my work has given me a month off from mid May to mid June to take an extended vacation. 

This whole thing started over a year ago when a friend and I were discussing our 30th birthdays.  I will turn 30 in October of this year and wanted to do a big trip sometime this year to celebrate the ocassion.  A couple of friends can go for two weeks so we planned that and I figured I would ask for as much time as I could to stay longer.  I broached the subject with my boss about a year ago who advised me that the maximum amount of time I could take would be one month.  He kinda laughed and smiled when we first discussed this because he knew where this was going as I have the reputation at work of being the resident traveler.  So a couple of months back, we discussed it and I asked for the time off. I figured go big or go home, the worst he can do is say "No" and then we could negotiate down from there for less time.  A few weeks later, I was approved for the whole month off and started planning! 

The plan is to head over to London for a week with my friends Jessica and Tina.  We will be there doing all the touristy and sightseeing stuff we can in and around the area before hopping a flight up to Ireland.  We'll spend a week driving through the south of Ireland before they will both head home.  After that, I am off on my own for 2 weeks.  My plan is to head over to Estonia, Lativa, and Lithuania for two weeks and then likely fly home out of Helsinki, Finland.  It's so close to Estonia, might as well throw in another country, right?  Now I know this will be my third time in London, but as some of you may or may not know, I absolutely LOVE London and have no problem heading there again!  If I were to live in any big city somewhere else, it would most definately be there!

It should be tons of fun and I can't wait!  Traveling is truly my passion in life and if I could just get paid to travel, I think would be in heaven on earth!

As of now, there are no reservations made, no plane tickets bought, no anything done other than knowing the dates we are traveling.  And we are leaving in 2 months!  It's my kind of trip where everything is handled last minute, but it will all work out well.  I dug out my good old trusty backpack that I was living out of for 4 months last time I was there and it was very excited to see the light of day and know that it will be getting used again.  My traveling shoes came out of retirement and a shiny new passport just arrived and is itching for those stamps to be placed in there.  For those of you who will be following along, thanks for reading and I will be posting once it gets closer to departure time.