How Swede it is to be loved by you

Hej,

Sorry for the lack of updates lately, but hanging with my parents has really threw off my `backpacker internal blog clock´. I will attempt to catch you up.

I met up with my Kevin and Mary in Stockholm where we all hung out and did family things, such as testing out every Swedish beer we could find and sleeping in till noon. We also went to a museum on a ship called the `Vasa´which was a really big, really old built of the finest Swedish engineering that sank 20 minutes after it lauched. In the 50´s they dug it up from the depths of the harbor and it is now on display.

After Stockholm the Henle´s traveled to Borås to meet up with the expansion pack to the family, Karl. We stayed with his parents and toured around his hometown. I had been there 5 years ago with Erik Braegelmann it the city really hasn´t changed a whole lot. They have more statues than before, but the McDonalds, main square, and establishments are all still in their spots. They did however remove a outdoor urinal/toilet that I remember an angry Finnish guy storming out of last time. I also met up with a few of Karl´s friends, one of which remembered Erik and I vividly and actually (to my absolute amazement and glee) remembered the chorus of `I Like Beer´.

Once our time in Borås came to an end we headed to Copenhagen for a few days where we are currently staying. Our accomodations are...unique. It is a cabin style room that looks like its straight out of a Japanese apartment. The beds are all stacked on top of each other and the entire bathroom converts into a shower. I´ll have to check this place out a little more and give you an update.

Next stop is back to Stockholm for a flight (possibly).

Adjö

Put a chicken in the ocean and Helsinki

Päivää,

Wow, that "hello" doesn´t even look real, but it´s what google told me... My trip to and from Helsinki has been a super unique one. I left Tallinn, after staying an extra night, on a fast ferry that skirted me over to Helsinki in only an hour and a half. During the trip we passed beautiful scenery of the Estonian and Finnish shoreline, marvelous rain showers in the distance, and majestic ships plowing their way through the smooth Baltic waters. However, I was oblivious to all of this because I was sleeping during the whole excursion. I had to be up at 7:45 AM which my body is equating with bedtime lately rather than a time to get up.

Relaxed from my nap, when I was ejected from the ferry to the shores of Finland I was ready to explore. I searched all around and found another ferry line which I used to book a passage to Stockholm where I would meet my parents. Once I had the ticket in hand I explored 2 nearby churches and feasted in an open market which served me a hearty portion of potatoes and reindeer meatballs. Donner was delicious.

The real fun happened on the cruise I took from Helsinki to Stockholm. At first it appeared as if I was the only one who fit into the age demographic of 17 to 35 year olds. This was reinforced by the other 3 guys in my cabin, one of which had the smelliest feet in all of history. I had to exit the room several times to gag and get fresh air. On one such get away, I managed to see the largest rainbow in the world. I don´t even know how to describe how big it was, but it stretched across the entire sky like the gates of Mordor (did I reference that right JooJee?), and I couldn´t even fit the whole thing on my camera. I did take a load of pictures though...

Later on I went to a live music show and found my kin. 3 people who were right age bracket (one of which I actually knew, and have been stalking since Warsaw always a few days behind). It was a groovy time of live music, disco, and Finnish beer. All I´ve ever wanted in life. I was in such a good mood that I didn´t even smell stinkfoot when I returned to the cabin and slept until we hit the dock in Sweden.

Now I´m in Sweden hanging with my parents which is an abrupt change of pace. I´ll let you know how it turns out!


Näkemiin,
Eurokid

Charming, Tallinnted individual

Tervist,

To sum up Tallinn in one word: touristy. The whole old town outside my hostel is pumped full of wenches wearing typical peasant garb and barking at me to come and eat their wild boar stew. At first it was charming, but after getting handed the 556th flier it gets a little old. The city itself is really clean and beautiful though.

To keep busy I've done two tours in the city. The biking tour which I went on today took me around the city, to a market where we all were given a mission by the guide to buy the best pair of panties we could find for under $0.40, and to a prison that was just decommissioned in 2005. The former Soviet jail was super creepy. They just left all the equipment, such as operating tools, scalpels, typewriters, vials of clear liquids, ect...

The walking tour I participated in the day before was a different story. To preface, I'd been suffering from a headache the previous day, (possibly caused by the solid chunk of sausage that acted as my entire meal of the day) so I decided the best course of action was to rehydrate. I did this by ingesting nearly 3 liters of water and a liter of OJ. About half way during the tour the liquid groaned within me and the only toilet near cost 3 Krooni. This comes to about a $0.25, but I only had a $500 Krooni bill with me. So I quickly ditched the tour and waddled back to a free toilet by the old church we started at. After remedying my condition, I entered the church and took a look at the Danse Macabre that is lodged within.

I'm slightly over half way done with my European Exursion and it just feels like a started. Tomorrow I'm grabbing a ferry to Helsinki where I will spend the day, then I plan on taking a night ferry over to Stockholm where I hear some of my relatives might be visiting.

Head aega!

Eurokid

Magical MysteRiga Tour

Sveiki!

Latvia has been a strange land. My bus ride from Vilnius was a great deal shorter than the ride from Warsaw which was much appreciated and I was much more prepared in terms of food and beverages. Pretzels and nuts nourished me during my trip and the conversation was also stimulating. I found myself sitting on the bus next to a big player from the Netherland's Christian Democratic Party. He filled me in on his party and how he is involved with an orphan reduction program in Africa. He was really an interesting guy and it was great hearing his story.


Riga itself is a luscious city, but the heat here is putting a damper on my site seeing. As a fellow traveler, Brittney, told me in Berlin, "this is vacation dude, do whatever you want". So, apart from a brief walking tour, I've been laying low and drinkin in the hostel trying to fend off the heat.

Last night I did experience a completely new level of cool. The owners of the hostel organized a group of 8 people for a BBQ at a campsite by the Baltic Sea. We headed there and ate a huge pile of smoked meat after swimming in the Baltic (it was that hot up here). Additional coolness was added because it stays so much lighter here due to the latititude. In fact, the sunset was around 10:15 last night. We stayed in the water until the sun set, were accosted by flies the size of butter sticks, and then went home. It was by far the best Riga offered.

I am now in Tallinn (I didn't have time to blog on location, Buhh) and it seems to be even better here. I will report back with my findings.

Uz Redzešanos
Eurokid

P.S. I have also received a request for pictures on this here blog. Most of mine have not been uploaded onto a computer, but these were e-mailed to me by a guy who went to the BBQ too. Pardon the poor layout.

You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and Vilnius

Labas!

The experience of Lithuania has been an odd one to say the least. The bus trip here took 12 hours from Warsaw, but since it was a night bus with no one in the seat next to me it was acceptable. Plus I actually remembered to buy food and water before the bus left. This was not the case during the 12 hour Berlin-Warsaw ride where a family ate an entire cooked chicken in the seat next to me while I tried to savor my remaining 3 Tic-Tacs. However, upon arriving in Vilnius I realized I forgot my travel planner I've been keeping. This planner contained all the info for the hostel I am staying so it was a major annoyance to lose. I ended up getting an inadvertent tour of the city as I roamed the streets in search for the internet.

The hostel, "Jimmy Jumps", is soo cool. The Canadian guy who owns and operates it is absolutely the coolest and I've spoke with him a bunch about how he got into the business and just started up the place on a whim and is now terribly successful. It feels more like you are staying at an awesome friends house that serves free waffles in the morning. The people here are also very cool and we have went out several times to check out the night life which is curiously much more hoppin' than Warsaw.

However, the craziest thing that has happened was going shooting with a group from the hostel. Apperently Lithuania doesn't believe in huge gun regulation like some European countries. We went with an army guy to an old Soviet bunker in the middle of nowhere (a little dodgy I admit) and shot the s*** out of everything. We had 12 different guns too including M4's and AK 47's. I don't really get into guns in general, but it was a super wild experience. Don't worry Mom, it was safe.

Next stop is north to Riga where more Baltic suprises are sure to crop up.

Viso Gero,
Eurokid

I came, Warsaw, I conqured

Cześć

Eastern Europe, what a place. I have entered a realm of backpackers who stray from the beaten paths and traditional tourist sites of the West and it has been amazing.

Getting to Warsaw was an adventure in itself. The bus ride from Berlin was 12 hours and I was the only American (or native English speaker) on board. Luckily I met a few really awesome people who helped me out. All were super hospitable and I didn't feel quite so terrible about leaving the more English speaking city of Berlin.

I haven't done a lot of sight seeing in Warsaw especially when compaired to Berlin where I went on several tours and walked around extensivly. I did see a museum today about the Polish uprising that took place in WWII and it was very intense. Some of the scenes and exhibits probably wouldn't have been displayed in US because they were so graphic. Overall it was a sombering experience but a good one none the less.

Luckily the rest of the time in the city has been the funniest I've had in a while. The people in the hostel are really close and bond really quickly. We've went out just about every night but it is much different than Berlin. For one they do not seem to believe in clubs here in Warsaw. Last night for instance we went out to a bar to watch the world cup match and then went to another pub (which closed at midnight). This forced us to wander the streets looking for something that was open. Unfortunatly nothing, and I mean absolutly nothing, was open and we just came back to the hostel.

One intersting thing about Warsaw is how awful the bike riders are here. The first night that we went out to eat we saw a biker plow into the menu sign outside the resturaunt and totally wipe out and take the menu board with him. Today, we saw a biker crash into a waitress at a different resturant we ate at which sent glasses and bottels everywhere. Compaired to the rest of Europe (especially Amsterdam where bikers are everywhere and thus the populous has mastered the art) the Poles seem to be terrible drivers.

Next on the tour is further into the unknown, Vilnius in Lithuania. What awaits is anyone's guess, but so far Eastern Europe has been a blast and I've got high expectations.

Do zobaczenia,
Eurokid

Berlin' alive

Guten Abend!

So much awesomeness has been condensed in the few days it is hard to begin...

My last night in Hamburg was by far the best in that city. The hostel still was a ghost town, but I met a fellow solo traveler who was awesome and we toured the churches during the day and ate some of the most filling mustard-salami sandwhiches that side of the Elbe. However the real awesomeness came during the evening when we went to a really super sweet bar to watch the football game. We sat in this bar and the guy to my left started talking to us. He turned out to be a local who know a load of info about Hamburg and took us on a personal tour of Hamburg. We wound up going to a pub on a boat and seeing the harbor and seeing where the Beatles started their career. It was super awesome and I left Hamburg on a postive note.

Berlin is a much different city. The hostel actually had real live people staying there and they were super cool. I use the past tense because the majority just left today. It is such a weird cycle of meeting people making fast friendships that quickly form and fade as people travel from city to city.

We have a roof that all the people at the hostel can go out and hang out on and that is where most of the drinking and bonding takes place. We have also went to some rockin Berlin clubs. The nightlife here is much more intense and awesome than back home. I hope that lazers don`t cause health issues because I got zapped in the eyes by quite a few.

Also it has been ungodly hot here. Almost over 100 degrees for the last 3 days. The room I sleep in is a legitimate sweatbox and smells pretty aweful, but luckly this place has a nice mainroom and plenty of ventalation.

The plans for the future look like Warsaw Poland on the near horizion and after that its just a big honkin´ ?

I´ll let you know when I`m in Poland!

Prost!

Eurokid