And onwards to Krakow Poland, via Warsaw.

On varous reccomendations, I decided not to spend more than a day in Warsaw. I had just enough time to wander around, and admire that the city was pretty much rebuilt after WW2 because something like 85% of it was levelled. The Warsaw history museum was pretty lame - no lables in English was the most annoying bit. But there were some cool monuments and memorials, mostly to Jews and other uprisers. However, I did witness this exchange at Warsaw Ghetto uprising memorial (by the Jews in the ghetto) -
Lady: This place is a mess. You'd think they'd clean it up a bit (talking about flowers and candles left there, as well as pebble which are a Jewish cutom to leave at a memorial site)
Man: Well, to be fair, tons of visitors come here every day. Besides, the flowers are all still fresh, so obviously someone takes care of it.
Lady: Well, you would think the Jewish community would want to take care of it
Me *in my head* This is a memorial to them. They're all dead....
Gah.

Krakow is an awesome city, and I want to thank everyone who aimed me there instead of Warsaw. First of all, it's gorgeous. It's got tons of old pretty buildings. Second, it's cheap. Not as cheap as the Baltics, but cheap nonetheles. Third, the people are lovely. The town is small enough that they aren't all crabby, but it's big enough that there's always something to see/do.

On that note
- The salt mines are insane. It's like a small village underground, complete with 3 banquet halls. Some really bored/talented miners carved the place up - statues, flights of stairs, whole rooms, all in salt.
- I saw Aushwitz. I can't really say too much (what is there to say?). The day was sunny and a little too nice. My guide was a moron (reading quietly off posterboards in a heavy Polish accent does not make one a good tourguide). The whole place was creepy as hell, and I'm glad I went, but I was glad to leave. Also, who the hell would want to live in the town called Aushwitz? there are people who's backyards back on to the place...
- Did a bunch of meandering and a bunch of shopping. I didn't really buy much, but I sure enjoyed looking. What I did buy, though, kicked ass. For all those ladies in Ottawa, check out the new makeup store in the Rideau Centre. It's a Polish company and completely kicks ass.
- Completely unexpected meeup with my friend Dan, of Birthright fame. I was on MSN and so was he. He asked where I was, I said Krakow Poland. So was he. We went for perogies. He's the only person I know who I've seen in 4 different countries.
- My hostel was amazing. They had a ton of movies to watch, while laying on a big comfy couch. The best moment was likely when I dozed off beside some guy and woke up cuddling him. Whoops. But seriously, great bunch of folks there.

Anyway, keep the comments coming. I'm glad people are reading this.

I miss you all.

The Baltics (does my insurance cover ostrich bites?!)

Well, now that I'm in Poland I figure I'd better give a brief Baltic update before I get too far behind.

I didn't intend to go there. The original plan was to take a boat straight from Finland to Poland, and carry on traveling. Someone on a travel message board I frequent said I should consider Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. It'd be easier than taking a ferry to Poland, she said, and they really are gorgeous countries. I admit I was hesitant. Estonia, for pete's sakes?

Estonia (Tallinn)- The old town is ridiculously beautiful. It's a mediaeval town, relatively untouched by the devastation of war. It looks, quite literally, like something out of a fairy tale. All red roofs, castles, city walls and churches. I climbed what was once the tallest church spire in the world. I paid almost 10 Canadian dollars for a small Estonian flag to add to my collection (one from each country), and less than 5 for a fantastic, full meal. Mostly, I just walked around in awe.

The bus between Tallinn and Riga - The washrooms in the truck stop... well, let's just say I've peed in my first toilet-hole. Picture a permanent porta potty with nowhere to sit. Just a hole. The flies were intense.

- Upon arriving, the hostel worker insisted I have a free welcome beer. I met some American dudes, who dragged me off to some trampolines, conveniently located in the middle of a public park. At 3 in the morning. As the sun was rising. I saw a gorgeous occupation museum, which detailed the struggle of the Baltics in general (especially Latvians) under the German and Russian regimes. It's interesting to see that they welcomed the (Nazi) Germans as the lesser of 2 evils, after having been invaded by the Russians a year earlier. Also interesting - when watching a movie, it said that the Russians gave them an hour to gather their possessions before moving them to Siberia, and they could only bring a long what they could carry, I was strangely proud of the fact that I could do that. Of course, for me this is a game. For them, it was their lives.

The bus ride between Riga and Vilnius - My new camera (still working on a name.. I kind of like Sammy) almost died a tragic death. The bus stopped at a typical bus stop - small diner, washrooms, and... ostrich farm?! Of course I busted out the camera to take a few shots. I just remember thinking "Wow, fantastic shot, he's so close... okay, zoom, focus- ARGH!!!!" The argh, in case you're wondering, is when the ostrich bit my camera! Right on the lens, too. Thank goodness, everything seems to be in working order (I got a mini lens error once soon after, but but nothing bad has happened since.) Well, at least he would have gone down fighting. And I got a good picture out of it all.

Lithuania (Vilnius) stay an extra night in Riga, because I liked my hostel (6 CAD a night!) and the city. That left me with one evening and one full day in Lithuania. Luckily, I met up with a mad Aussie chick, who whisked me around the sites in record timing. We even managed a full brekkie and lunch. In that time we: hiked up a castle, saw the KGB museum (old Russian prison... very, very creepy business), 2 churches, and a gigantic market. We parted ways around 3 pm, when I darted off to see the Holocaust museum. Closed, sadly, on account of a national holiday. So I wandered around the old Ghetto, where they kept the Jews, and found the last surviving synagogue in the city. It isn't mean to be a tourist attraction, but a man let me in and let me take some pictures. As I ws leaving, I said thanks in English, and he smiled politely. Then it occurred to me he had a common language. So I said thanks in Hebrew and smiled this huge smile and replied "you're welcome."

Why you don't want to be seen with me in public

Due to aforementioned shoe failure, I've taken to wearing my socks with my sandals. I always used to mock those people mercilessly - either it's cold and you wear shoes or it's warm and you wear sandals. Choose one! I've discovered a third - maybe you have broken shoes and it's too cold for sandals.

I bought a new camera. Because my old S2 IS model has since been replaced by the s3, it was impossible to find. Therefore, I was forced to upgrade to the S3. Sigh, life's rough. Seriously, it's an awesome camera and my only issue now is not enough memory card space. Or not enough memory cards

The boat from Sweden to Finland is a blast. It's a gigantic cruise ship with a disco, a kareoke bar, a sauna, a huge buffet, a few restaurants, a few duty free shops, a casino.. etc etc. I watched the sun not go down (again) out the windows of a bar. I also ate at one of the best buffets of my life (dinner) and then felt ripped off by the breakfast.


Finland was short but sweet. The highlight for me was likely the Olympic stadium, since I love that kind of stuff. That and mama's noodles. I found cheap, kickass ramen type noodles, and proceeded to have a feast. And then when I couldn't find boiling water I just smushed the package up and dumped the powder on top. Did anyone else ever do that? It was the cool way to eat Mr Noodle back in elementary school...

And now I'm in Estonia. I've just arrived in my hostel (which has a mini putt hole upstairs) and there are about 100 people gathered in one of the bedrooms watching the England v Portugal game.

Welcome to the Baltics...