Land nummer 11 på min liste var Moldova, hvor jeg besøgte landets hovedstad Chisinau. Moldova er relativt ukendt og de får ikke mange besøgende, men jeg må desværre sige, at jeg ikke er overrasket. Det er ikke verdens mest interessante hovedstad, faktisk er byen lidt kedelig og især skuffende efter min begivenhedsrige tur til Ukraine. Det er dog værd at besøge, hvis ikke af andre grunde, så blot for at sige du har været der. Det har jeg :)
Turen til Europas fattigste land fik en lidt rocky start da jeg næsten missede bussen fra Kiev grundet det absolut minimale antal skilte på engelsk. Godt nok havde jeg lært at læse kyrilliske bogstaver, men det betyder ikke en skid hvis jeg ikke ved hvad Chisinau hedder på Ukrainsk. Det vidste jeg ikke.
Da jeg så bussen, som jeg skulle bruge de næste 8 timer på, blev jeg enormt overrasket. Hele Busterminalen var fyldt med busser der reklamerede med gratis wi-fi og snacks ombord. Det var virkelig fedt at se. Men.. i hjørnet ventede min lille bus, rystende og raslende i tomgang med en sky af sort røg bag sig. Indvendigt var sagen ikke bedre. 6 ud af de 25 sæder var i stykker, det ene lå helt vandret og kunne ikke rettes op og selv dem, der var i perfekt stand, var ubehaglige at sidde på. Landevejene i udkants-Ukraine og Moldova er fyldt med huller, så jeg hoppede op og ned på de hårde sæder hele vejen. Her prøver jeg at tage et panorama billede mens vi kørte på en relativt jævn vej, men alligevel blev billedet totalt forvrænget af rystelserne
(læg mærke til damen i den stribede trøje ikke har nogen stolryg at læne sig op af! 8 timer!)
Da vi nåede grænsen til Moldova, blev jeg og en australsk med rejsende hevet ud af bussen og ind i et lille hus i vejkanten, hvor vores pas blev inspiceret endnu en gang, hvorefter grænsebetjenten stillede os nogle spørgsmål, som ingen af os kunne forstå eller svare på. Underligt nok var dette intet problem, men i stedet for at stemple vores pas, gav de os hver et stempel på et lille stykke papir. Dette papir måtte absolut ikke mistes, da jeg ikke ville kunne komme ud af landet igen, hvis jeg ikke havde det på mig.
Da vi ankom til Chisinau, var det blevet sen aften. Af en eller anden grund var vi ikke i hovedbusterminalen, men ude midt i ingenting cirka en times gang fra centrum. Uden kontanter og med mangel på hæveautomater i nærheden, måtte jeg altså gå fra stoppestedet midt i ødemarken, midt om natten, for taxaer tager ikke imod kort heromkring. Heldigvis fandt jeg sammen med min australske busven, som skulle nogenlunde samme vej, og vi gik langs den mørke landevej ind til byen. Vi fik en god snak om hver vores rejser, han var taget fra australien og var på vej mod Spanien uden at have brugt en mønt på transport. Jeg er ikke helt sikker på hvordan han havde endt op i bussen, men det siger meget om venligheden og viljen til at hjælpe her i det østlige Europa!
Vi splittede op, da vi nåede parken i midten af byen, ham til et hostel lige i nærheden, mig videre til en lejlighed lidt længere væk i et boligkvarter. Desværre gik det galt for mig kort efter vore veje skiltes, og jeg kunne slet ikke finde opgangen jeg skulle ind i. Den bygning jeg cirklede om og om igen havde ingen numre på sig, så jeg var i tvivl om jeg overhovedet var det rigtige sted. Jeg blev nødt til at spørge de eneste mennesker, jeg kunne se på gaden. Et fuldt par! Manden ville låne min telefon. Tillidspring! Midt om natten i en fremmed storby i Europas fattigste land, beder en fremmed, fuld mand om at låne din telefon, hvad gør du? Jeg lod ham låne den, med google maps åben uden dataforbrug og næsen mod skærmen viste han mig frem til min opgang, talte med viceværten i dørtelefonen og bankede på døren til lejligheden for at sikre sig for jeg kom sikkert hjem “du kan jo rende ind i alle mulige slemme typer midt om natten”, sagde han. Jo tak, det var jeg sådan set ret meget opmærksom på, fulde mand! Jeg takkede entusiastisk parret, og gik ind for at møde min midlertidige roomie, som var en dame fra Østrig, som går i skole i Frankrig, studerer russisk her i Moldova og er selvstændig arabisk-til-engelsk oversætter! Vilde mennesker, man møder!
Dagen efter gik jeg rundt i området, i den nærliggende park og nabolaget. Moldova har også kyriliske bogstaver, men har også skilte på engelsk! Chisinau er den hovedstad i Europa med flest parker, og selvom det er fattigt, er det ret high-tech, og nogle af parkbænkene havde strømoutlets indbygget. Hvis man nu skulle oplade sin telefon.
Der var 33 grader varmt og vindstille i hovedstaden og da lejligheden ikke havde nogen form for aircondition eller koldt drikkevand, tog jeg til Mcdonald’s for at køle af og bruge deres wi-fi. Desværre kender ingen i Moldova til hverken Cola Light eller Zero og alt jeg fik var tomme blikke, da jeg bad om vand til mit frokostmåltid. Ikke at de ikke HAR vand, man kan bare ikke købe det sammen med et “meal”. Meget underligt sted.
På min tur fik jeg set nogle af seværdighederne. F.eks. Moldovas Triumfbue. Den var heller ikke synderligt imponerende
Dagen efter var det meningen, jeg ville tage til sigøjnerhovedstaden Soroca, hvor sigøjnerkongen Arthur Cerari bor i under en kuppel af guld i sit palads på toppen af en bakke. Derefter var det planen jeg skulle tage til det uofficielle land Transnistria, der ligger på grænsen mellem Moldova og Ukraine. Desværre blev ingen af delene til noget, da jeg ikke kunne finde et busstoppested. Så jeg fik en øl og en is i byen i stedet, hvilket var en ganske fin erstatning!
Lime smag med noget blødt vaniljefudge eller guf-agtigt stads i midten og inderst; pop rocks! Den bedste is nogensinde! Jeg tog ud for at handle mad og gode sager, men præcis som på McDonalds var der absolut ingen light-produkter at finde, ingen fuldkornsversioner og ikke særligt meget at vælge imellem, når man nu både gerne ville være en smule sund og samtidig er nødt til at passe på sukkeret. Oh well. Isen var god.
Det var vist et tegn til, at jeg skulle videre, og dagen efter tog jeg afsted. Heldigvis var der hverken tog eller busser til Rumænien, som var mit næste mål, så jeg fløj. Jeg fandt heldigvis et busstoppested hvor endestationen på bussen var lufthavnen, og da jeg kom derud og skulle afsted måtte jeg vise mit lille stykke papir med et stempel på. Det var jeg lidt stolt over at have husket! Grænsebetjentene var ikke helt lige så imponerede, for de anede åbenlyst ikke hvad pokker jeg ville sige med det lile krøllede papir med et stempel på. Heldigvis slap de mig ud. Alt godt og videre mod Rumænien.
I Moldova taler de i øvrigt primært rumænsk og lidt russisk, så de vigtige fraser kommer efter Rumænien. :)
First of all, I would like to say that everyone I met and talked to while in Ukraine were super friendly and welcoming. There weren’t any bad vibes or grumpy locals.
However, I will warn you that Kiev is NOT the place to go if you are an inexperienced traveler or are a bit shy with tendencies towards minor panic attacks. Kiev is huge, noisy and confusing and absolutely not used to or designed for tourists from the West. The city definitely gave me some challenges, but at the same time I also had some really incredible experiences here.
As soon as I walked out of the airport, I was bombarded with taxi drivers yelling something or the other. For the most part, I had no idea what was said.The only thing I could get out of all their squawking was: “TAXI? YOU HAVE MONEY?”, which was repeated constantly, and loudly.
As a person who does not respond well to in-your-face yelling, nor am I especially trusting of taxi drivers (having been recently fleeced by one), I immediately dropped the idea of a quick cab ride into the city, Instead I decided to take the nearest bus, without really knowing if it was heading to the city. There were no (decipherable) signs and the bus driver couldn’t speak English. So I was really taking some chances.
Fortunately, the bus’ first stop was Kiev’s central train station, which also had a metro station. Yes! I remembered that there was a metro stop near my hotel, so all I had to do was find the metro that went to that station. Simple - normally. There was just one little detail: all signs were written in cyrillic letters (think Russian).
And unfortunately, that is a script that I still have yet to master.
After being astonished that there actually existed a European city with absolutely zero signs in English (or any other Western language), I desperately started looking for a person who could help me. However, I noticed people quickly shut down as soon as they heard my English, so I decided to try with “Maidan?” (”Independence Square,” which was where my hotel was located) to a man sitting peeling an orange. Fortunately, he nodded enthusiastically, grabbed my hand and started walking off. At that moment, I said a little prayer, to both God and Odin, and submissively followed after onto a packed metro car. My giant backpack only just fit through the doors, but we made it.
Apparently/surprisingly, I had made myself clear enough, cause when we walked out of the metro station, I was exactly where I needed to be: Independence Square, and only a few minutes from my hotel. I thanked my good Samaritan with several “Spasiba! Spasiba!,” as I climbed the stairs towards the square, only to find out later that that’s not “exactly” how you say thank you in Ukrainian. Oops.
Independence Square or Maidan Nezalezhnosti (or just Maidan) is the most central square in Kiev. It has been used over the years for political demonstrations - most recently during the Ukrainian revolution in 2013/14, where riots and street fighting filled the square with gunfire and blood.
That day, it was beautiful and peaceful under a picturesque sky.
Directly behind the spot pictured above is where my hotel, Koziatsky Hotel, stood. What luck! However, the hotel did not take credit cards and bank machines do not allow over 1000 hryvnia at a time - and I needed at least over 3000. So, at 9pm, with my giant backpack, in a city that did not speak English, I had to find 4 different cash machines before I could finally relax and get some sleep.
When I finally got to my room, I dropped everything I had on me, and threw myself on the bed crying from both exhaustion and relief. Then I called my mommy 😄
Even though I was super tired, I simply could not sleep. The bed was hard as concrete and some lady upstairs was yelling and screaming and stomping around all night. I finally got to sleep around 4 in the morning, and amazingly still able to drag myself out of bed to meet outside the hotel at 8 am for a tour to Chernobyl and the nuclear power plant that was destroyed in 1986 (the worst nuclear disaster ever).
So with morning-after hair and sleep in the corner of my eyes, I bought a breakfast wrap at McDonald’s (hallelujah for McD) and jumped into a minibus, where 6 other travelers waited for me, and headed north to Chernobyl.
After about an hour’s drive, we made it to a gas station, that was the last stop inside of the “accessible” Ukraine before entering the Exclusion Zone. We bought water, snacks and mosquito spray before heading towards the zone’s entrance. From then on, we were not allowed to take pictures. I managed to get one anyways - we were a bit further away from the guards as we waited to be checked.
But it’s part of the story, and had to be shown!
After our bags were thoroughly checked, we signed a waiver saying that we would not blame Ukraine if we ended up radioactive monsters with 8 legs and fangs. Then we drove into the zone and into Chernobyl, which is NOT where the explosion took place but is the city where the reactor’s workers now live while they are within the zone.
Workers live here 2 weeks at a time - maximum. Their families live outside the zone and may only visit here for short periods. Besides those that actually work at the plant to clean up, there is also a small police force, some firemen and a couple of people who work at a museum in the middle of the city. Next to the museum is a giant angle statue that is there to protect the residents.
Further in the Exclusion Zone is the fire station, whose primary responsibility is to put out any forest fires that pop up in the untamed, extremely dry forest that stretches across the entire zone. Next to the station is another monument, “First Responders” that honors the men who had no idea what happened or what would happen later, but jumped into the scene of the accident and died as a direct consequence of being so close to ground zero.
The monument was financed completely by the firemen themselves, as the government did not recognize their actions as heroic nor did it feel responsible for their deaths.
After the fire station, there is one more checkpoint before entering the 10 kilometers zone, which has even stricter restrictions. The rules are quite simple: 1) Don’t touch anything, and 2) Listen to your guide. Boom. Easy. :)
The 1st stop in the 10 km zone is Kopachi kindergarten. This was an emotionally difficult place to visit, with little slippers, toys and children’s drawings scattered throughout the building.
Everything was abandoned as they were tossed aside or forgotten as people rushed out of the building. In the years following, anything with even a small amount of value was ripped out by looters. Mattresses were removed from beds, copper extracted from pipes, lamps and walls, and even the eyes of dolls were popped out to get at the glass. What was left, was a spooky, spooky place.
All the dust in the air made me nervous, since there was a lot of it, and radioactive fallout is basically just dust. Our guide, Nikolai, assured me with his Geiger counter, that it was just as safe as if we were in Kiev. That was both scary and calming at the same time.
We then traveled to Pripyat,
This ghost town is just 2 kilometers from the nuclear plant, and therefore, hardest hit.
The workers have tried to maintain the main road leading into the city center, but nature seems to be against them. The road is overrun and distorted by bushes and trees, and it is completely impossible to drive on it with a regular car. It was actually quite cool to see how quickly nature takes over when man leaves it alone.
Pripyat was established in 1970 as a community for those who were to work at the newly built nuclear power plant. At the time of the accident, Pripjat was seen as one of the Soviet Union’s more luxurious cities where the residents were highly educated and specially selected to live. In the city center, there was a large supermarket and entertainment center with a cinema, disco and sports hall. Today, everything is completely blacked out with an undefinable liquid dripping from the ceiling.
Here’s the public swimming pool.
Early in the morning on Saturday, 26 April 1986, reactor 4 exploded. Pripjat was evacuated 36 hours later. At the time, the city was busy preparing for their May 1 (Workers’ Day) celebrations. Among other things, a carnival was being put up for the occasion:
One of the most iconic symbols of the Chernobyl catastrophe is the large ferris wheel in the middle of the amusement park. It’s said that after the accident, the day before the evacuation, they test ran the ferris wheel in the hope of still holding the May 1 celebrations.
We then went to Pripjat’s highest building, a 16-floor apartment complex, to get a view of the city from the top. I am not sure if you aware of this, but most abandoned buildings don’t have electricity. And if there are elevators, but no electricity, you can’t really use those elevators. So, for us that meant 16 flights of stairs using our own energy. For a relatively seasoned stair climber like me, thanks to previous tours up church towers and whatnot, this was not so bad. However, for my 6 tour compatriots, the dark narrow stairs caused a lot of dissatisfaction, puffing and moaning.
When we finally made it to the rooftop, we were met by the most spectacular view. You could see how nature had grown and taken over the city in the 30 years it was left to itself. This is even more incredible considering how dangerous radioactivity is for humans. Nature seems to be doing fine.
On the horizon you can see the nuclear plant and the new sarcophagus covering the melted reactor.
We had a half hour to look around before heading to the minibus. In that time, we could look around the apartments. Most everything was taken by looters, so there weren’t many objects left inside the apartments. But, it was still interesting to see how they were designed. Each room was tiny, with only space for the absolute necessities. And each apartment was identical to the next.
You could imagine that there were a lot of families living here, as close by was Pripyat Elementary School. It was evident that the school is a popular place for music videos and photo shoots. The few pieces of furniture that were there seemed staged, and in some cases it looked like things were moved from one location to another (even though it is strictly forbidden to touch anything!). In the canteen, children’s gas masks were brought in and spread out all over the floor. Macabre!
The irony is, the school had all these unused gas masks in case the Americans attacked with atomic bombs.
At the end of the day, we drove back to Chernobyl, and back to the hotel where we had lunch earlier in the day.
Here we were served a gourmet dinner of freezer pizza and soup (no idea what was in the soup). There is a 9pm curfew in the city, at which time the hotel’s doors are closed and locked and the bar stops serving alcohol. Normally the “locals” go out and buy beer at around 8pm, which they take back to their rooms and drink themselves silly. I wasn’t feeling especially silly, so I drank just one beer together with my tour mates, Michaela and Raphael, and went to bed early.
At 8 the next morning, breakfast was served: eggs, bacon and a strange baked good with poppy seeds and chocolate. The eggs and bacon were lovely; the “cake” wasn’t my thing. Nor did it sit well with our guide, Nicolai, who was the one who insisted that we try it. Typical Ukrainian 😄
At 8:30, we headed out to the Duga Radar, which is another icon of the Chernobyl catastrophe.
The radar was built to spot American missiles. Despite its massive size, nowadays the radar’s detection capabilities are about the same as an iPhone 6. When it was at its strongest, the radar’s signal could be heard on radios across Europe. Back then, the radar’s true purpose was top secret, so a lot of people thought that it was some kind of brainwashing technology. It wasn’t until 2013 that the radar was open to the public.This happened only after 2 teens sneaked in and base jumped from its tower.
Then we went to the highlight of the tour: reactor 4. It was here the meltdown actually took place so many years ago. We were shown what the Ukrainian government is doing to keep the world safe from the still life-threatening reactor core. The catastrophe was caused by Soviet errors, but the responsibility for its clean-up has been placed on the independent state of Ukraine. Right now, the only solution they have is a thick steel sarcophagus that will cover the entire reactor when finished, and which they guesstimate will contain the contamination for the next 100 years. After that time, a new sarcophagus will have to be built. The sarcophagus is the world’s largest single, moveable structure, but it will only be moved once.
Due to the extreme conditions, the project will first be finished this November (2016).
While the others who purchased a guided tour of the reactor went on their way, me and few others went to Pripyat Hospital. It was here that the first firemen were treated before they were flown to Russia where they later died of radiation poisoning. The hospital is still so radioactive in some places, that our guide does not dare go in, even with a protective suit and mask. Everything is accessible though, the safest area being the entrance and the maternity ward, so that’s where we went.
Again, anything of value has been stolen, so we saw none of the possibly exciting medical equipment. It was nevertheless, still quite eerie to walk past all those empty cribs.
In one of the rooms, one of the firemen was washed clean of radioactive dust. The cloth used on him still lies on the floor where it was dropped - and still registers extremely high levels of lethal radioactivity.
It was totally creepy to visit that hospital.
We then went to the old police station, which is one of the few places that still has intact furniture. These tables and chairs are in the interrogation room. They have not been stolen - perhaps because they are nailed to the floor so that interviewees could not use them as weapons!
Next to the police station is the small car graveyard, the big one is filled with cars used by clean-up crews and highly radioactive and therefore forbidden to enter. In the small graveyard is the cars that were just pushed there to move them out of the way of tour buses and workers.
This is of course, after they were “relieved” of their wheels, motors, headlights, and so on, and so on…
We drove back to the reactor to pick up the rest of the group and to eat lunch at the workers’ canteen. The workers seem quite used to eating together with small tour groups, but I thought it was a pretty special experience.
The last stop was the unfinished reactor 5. The intention was to have 6 reactors in total, but they were never able to finish number 5 before reactor 4 melted down. Inside the reactor moss is growing, which is incredibly radioactive due to its natural absorption ability. Because of this, you had to be especially careful where you walked - that is if you wanted to keep your shoes. If there is even the slightest indication of radiation on your shoes when they measure you at departure, you will be required to leave them where they stand!
In the middle of the reactor I found 5 bullets on the ground (not radioactive according to the Geiger meter). Hopefully though, they were there because someone got off on hearing gunshot echoes, and not because we had stepped onto a murder scene...
My fingerprints are, unfortunately, all over these - so cross your fingers :)
After a successful tour without the loss of a single shoe, we drove all the way back to Kiev where I had one more night before moving on to Moldova. Before hopping back onto the bus, I managed to get a group shot of our tour group.
Thanks a lot for a fantastic tour and for teaching me to read some cyrillic script (probably one of the most important lessons I learned on this trip!)
From my arrival to this country, where English was completely useless, signs incomprehensible, and people seemingly unapproachable (at least compared to other countries I’ve been to) and through to my incredible adventure in Chernobyl - I have learned and experienced a lot. It has been truly an unforgettable trip to Ukraine.
I will never really figure out what makes people tick, but this trip has shown me that nature always wins in the end - and that there are good people out there. For that alone, I will always remember this place.
Useful words and phrases:
A thousand, thousand, thousand times many thanks for everything!: tysyacha tysyach tysyach raz velyke spasybi za vse!
Da jeg ankom til Helsinki havn fredag eftermiddag, var det til piskende regn og voldsom blæst. Alligevel besluttede jeg, at gå til fods til Hotel Klaus K, som var perfekt placeret inde i byen, og i læ for blæsten, som rev paraplyerne ud af hænderne på finnerne, der stod og bød de sejlende velkommen.
Da jeg ankom til hotellet kiggede receptionisten medfølende på mig og undskyldte for det finske vejr, som om det på nogen måde var hendes skyld. Jeg må have været et sølle syn. :)
Hotel Klaus K er super lækkert indrettet, det er perfekt placeret og har et vidunderligt og smilede personale. Godt valg, når jeg nu havde brug for lidt forkælelse.
Efter jeg fik skiftet mit regnvåde tøj og slappet af, gik jeg en tur i området. Solen var nu ude og hotellet ligger lige overfor en park med små bænke og isboder. Den aften var parken fyldt med især unge mennesker og deres smartphones. Jeg var åbenbart faldet over et populært sted for PokemonGo spillere.
Det var intet problem for mig da det betød jeg selv fangede en masse pokemonner i mine 4 dage i byen. :)
“lure modules” blev sat op i hele parken for at tiltrække de mere sjældne væsener, så også på den måde var Finland god ved mig.
Med telefonen fuld af nye lommemonstre tog jeg lørdag formiddag på sightseeing rundt i byen på egen hånd. Første og mest centrale stop var Helsinkis hovedbanegård eller på finsk Helsingin päärautatieasema. Stationen er stemt ind af BBC’s seere til at være en af de 10 flotteste banegårde i verden.
Måske ikke den smukkeste bygning jeg har set, men den er i hvert fald intimiderende. Det kan englændere åbenbart godt lide.
Næste stop på min tur rundt i byen var Helsinki domkirke.
Jeg kom desværre ikke indenfor, men den ser stor og prægtig nok ud udefra, så det var heller ikke nødvendigt. Nede af de lange trapper ligger Senaatintori plads som var det sidste stop på min lille rundtur. Helsinki er en flot by.
På vej tilbage til centrum for at få noget aftensmad, faldt jeg over endnu en lille park, ja park er endda et lidt for stort ord at bruge. Det var en stribe græs mellem en gågade og en trafikeret vej, men finnere, ligesom danskere, er vilde med den sol, der så sjældent besøger os. Det betyder, at lige så snart der er bare en smule sol, er alle på græsset for at få mest muligt ud af strålerne.
Græs-striben var pakket med solhungrende finner!
Som sagt var græsset lige ved siden af en gågade, så der tog jeg hen for at finde aftensmad. Jeg fandt frem til bar/restauranten Shanghai Cowboy, tiltrukket mest af navnet alene. Der SKAL man jo spise! På Shanghai Cowboy fik jeg de helt traditionelle og meget kendte finske soft tacos med pulled pork og en klassisk finsk strawberry lemon mojito.
Det bliver ikke mere finsk end det!
Med kulturelt tilfredstillede sanser tog jeg glad tilbage til hotellet, nogle mennesker ville måske kalde mig u-ædru, men den slags mennesker kan man ikke stole på.
Søndag stod jeg sent op og besluttede at tage i finsk sauna. Jeg spurgte google til råds om hvor den nærmeste offentlige anstalt var, som havde åbent på en søndag, men da jeg kom derhen efter 20 minutter med det offentlige, var stedet lukket. Permanent. Det havde Google Maps ikke fortalt mig. Tak Google Maps.
Skuffet tog ned ad shopping gaden købte de bukser, jeg så desperat manglede efter turen i grusgraven tidligere på rejsen. Her spiste aftensmad i en gårdhave, hvor de serverede både pizza-burger OG burger-pizza! Sikke vandvid!
Jeg var dog ikke eventyrlysten nok til at sprænge ud i sådanne madtryllerier, så jeg bestilte bare fried chicken.
Uden pizza-burger og burger-pizza tog jeg ud om mandagen til Helsinkis Central Park, som er så stor, at det basalt set er en skov. I midten er der et mini-vandland, hvor jeg fik mig noget sol og en is.
Det er helt vidunderligt, at kunne gå direkte fra storbyen og ind i naturen på den måde. Der er næsten helt lydtæt bag træerne og hvis man ikke vidste bedre, ville det være umuligt at vide, man er inde midt i byen ved siden af en tæt trafikeret vej.
Til aftensmad blev jeg i den nordlige del af byen, hvor jeg kom ud af parken. Jeg tog til Kallio ,som er et lidt fattigere område af byen og fik endnu et traditionelt finsk måltid i form af håndlavet pita med kebab i Fafa’s.
Finsk mad <3
Om tirsdagen skulle jeg rejse kl. 15, så der var ikke meget tid til at lege. Jeg spurgte dog receptionisten om hun ikke havde et forslag til en finsk sauna, og selvom jeg allerede var checket ud og havde betalt, gav hun mig et nøglekort så jeg kunne komme ind til en sauna, hvor hotellets kunder får en stor rabat. Sød receptionist.
Jeg var derinde en time og et kvarter, dog uden den traditionelle piskning, og blev taget ud og viftet væk uden at skulle betale en øre. Jeg har ingen anelse om hvorfor, men jeg klager ikke!
Rød som en reje tog jeg til lufthavnen og fløj til Ukraine, hvor jeg har store planer!
Til slut vil jeg sige, at selvom jeg blev advaret om, at Helsinki skulle være en dybt uinteressant by med sure mennesker, var det virkelig rart at være der. Menneskerne var søde, og der var altid noget at se på eller lave, og jeg kunne endda godt se mig selv bo i byen for en stund!
Tak for en god tur Helsinki!
Nyttige ord/fraser:
Hej: Moi
Ja/nej: kyllä/ei
Please/tak: Ole hyvä/kiitos
Tak for at sætte et lure module på pokestoppet, jeg fangede en Ryhorn!: Kiitos laskemisesta Lure Module päälle Pokestop, sain Rhyhorn!
I arrived by ferry on Friday afternoon to Helsinki port in pouring rain and hard winds. When I saw how umbrellas were being ripped out of the hands of the greeters who welcomed passengers off the ferry, I decided to head for cover at my hotel, Klaus K, located perfectly in the city center.
Hotel Klaus K with its super cool interior, great location and friendly staff, turned out to be a great replacement for a non-existent host here in Finland. When I walked in, rainsoaked, the receptionist looked at me sympathetically and apologized for the terrible Finnish weather - as if it was at all her fault…
After catching my breath and changing out of my dripping clothes, I went out again, to get a feel for the area. Across from the hotel is a charming park with small benches and ice cream stands. But on this evening, the park was filled with young people with their smartphones - a sudden hotspot for PokemonGo players.
No problem for me, I could now easily catch me some pokemons over the 4 days I was in the city,
as “lure modules” were put up several places in the park to attract the more rare pokemons.
So on Saturday, I went out sightseeing with my phone filled with new pocket monsters. My first, and most central stop, was Helsinki’s central station, or in Finnish, Helsingin päärautatieasema. The station was voted by the BBC to be one of the 10 most beautiful train stations in the world.
It may not be one of the most beautiful buildings I have seen, but it was definitely imposing.
My next stop was Helsinki Cathedral.
I could, unfortunately, not come in at that time, but it looked impressive enough on the outside, so I didn’t mind too much. Down its many steps lies Senaatintori Square, which was the last stop on my mini tour. Helsinki is a beautiful city.
On my way back to the city center to grab a bite to eat, I ran into another little park. Ok, maybe “park” is a bit bigger term than the little stretch of grass that it was. Here I discovered that Finns are as sun-hungry as we Danes, as they flocked to this patch of grass as soon as there was just a little bit of sun.
I tell you, the grass was packed!
As mentioned before, I was in the area to find a place for dinner, and there I found the bar/restaurant Shanghai Cowboy, which I chose mostly because of its name. There I decided to go traditional, so I ordered pulled pork soft tacos and strawberry lemon mojito.
They’re Finnish dishes, aren’t they?!
So with my senses culturally satisfied, I proudly went back to the hotel. Some people would say that I was a tad not sober, but you can’t trust those people.
Sunday seemed like a really good day to try a Finnish sauna. So after thorough research into public baths and pools, even assuring that it would be open on Sundays, I set off on public transportation through Helsinki only to find out when I finally get to the suggested place, that it was closed. Permanently. Google Maps, my friend, why didn’t you tell me??
Disappointed, I went shopping instead and bought the pants I so desperately needed after my gravel pit incident in Latvia. I then stopped at a garden restaurant for some lunch, and was amazed by their menu: burger pizza AND pizza burger. What! I could not comprehend such madness, so I ordered the chicken.
Monday, I went out to Helsinki Central Park, which is actually more of a forest. In the midst of it all, is a mini waterpark, where I enjoyed an ice cream cone.
It was absolutely fantastic to go from metropolis to wooded nature so easily. When you walk in, the trees almost entirely block out the sounds of the city, and if you didn’t know better, you would swear that you were miles from the nearest city street.
I exited the park at the northern end and went toward Kallio, which is one of the city’s poorer areas. Here I enjoyed another well-known, traditional dish of Finland: homemade pita with kebab at Fafa’s.
Gotta love Finnish food <3
As I needed to catch a flight at 3pm on Tuesday, I didn’t have much time to play. So to ensure I got a true Finnish experience as quickly as possible before I left, I asked the receptionist where I could go for a Finnish sauna. Incredibly, even though I had already checked out and paid, she gave me a key card to try out the hotel’s sauna treatments. Normally, this is a service that guests pay extra for (of course with a discount). So this was incredibly sweet of her!
I was shown in, and for a little over an hour, I enjoyed a Finnish sauna (minus the usual tree branch whipping) without spending one markka - and I have no idea why. I, of course, am not complaining. Thank you Klaus K!
Red as a shrimp, I went to the airport to catch my plane to Ukraine - where I had big plans… Stay tuned.
As a closing note, I just want to say, that I was warned that Helsinki was a boring city with grouchy people. But that wasn’t what I experienced. Everyone was friendly and there was always something to see or do - basically, it was a really nice place to be. I could even see myself living here for awhile. Well done Helsinki!
Useful words and phrases:
Hello: Moi
Yes/No: kyllä/ei
Please/Thanks: Ole hyvä/kiitos
Thanks for putting a Lure Module at the Pokestop. I caught a Ryhorn!: Kiitos laskemisesta Lure Module päälle Pokestop, sain Rhyhorn!
Tusind tak til Thomas og Maarja for jeres gæstfrihed og de hyggelige aftenture gennem smukke Tallinn, det var en virkelig dejlig tur!
Jeg ankom mandag aften med bussen fra Riga. Vi var der en del senere end forventet, så jeg havde min tvivl om Thomas stadig ventede ved busstoppestedet, men mens jeg modtog min rygsæk fra chaufføren, var der pludselig en stemme bag mig, der sagde “du må være Nathalie, velkommen! Skal jeg bære noget for dig?”. Det var virkelig en god start på det hele.
Så med den lille taske på Thomas’ ryg og den store på min, gik vi stille og roligt hen mod lejligheden, hvor jeg skulle bo de næste 4 dage. Her blev jeg introduceret for Thomas’ søde kone Maarja, som var så sød at lave aftensmad til mig.
Da jeg vågnede tirsdag morgen, var det til lyden af måger lige uden for vinduet. Thomas og Maarja bor nemlig i en loftslejlighed, så mågerne på taget er aldrig rigtig langt væk. Det regnede fra morgenstunden - og det meste af dagen, men jeg og Thomas tog alligevel ud i det våde for at se lidt af byen og for at spise frokost.
Det første stop var Vabadussõja võidusammas, eller Selvstændighedskrigens Sejrssøjle på dansk; et mindesmærke for de faldne under den estiske selvstændighedskrig.
Søjlen har dog desværre haft lidt tekniske problemer siden den blev rejst i 2009. Det var vidst meningen at glaspanelerne skulle lyse, men af en eller anden grund har lysene aldrig virket. Underligt, da det faktisk er et højteknologisk land, som eksempelvis kan opleves i supermarkederne, hvor man går rundt med en scanner mens man køber ind for så derefter at dumpe scanningerne ind i en maskine, du så betaler i. Eller som ved den restaurant vi spiste frokost i, hvor man bestiller maden på en håndholdt dims, som blinker, når maden er klar til at blive hentet og som du giver tilbage ved udgangen hvor du så betaler. Genialt. Men lyset i søjlen har de altså aldrig tændt.
Da Maarja kom hjem fra arbejde tog vi alle en tur til den Gamle By. Ja, jeg ved det, endnu en gammel bydel? Alle europæiske storbyer har åbenbart en gammel bydel, og selvom de egentlig ligner hinanden ret meget, er det interessant hver gang. I Tallinn har de eksempelvis lavet et stort nummer ud af det og der er middelalder tema i gaden og i mange restauranter og butikker.
Vi tog blandt andet en tur op og ned ad den flotte lange Pikk, som forbinder den nedre og øvre del. Den kan være svær at komme op ad, da den er så stejl, men det er det værd!
(Pikk betyder forresten lang på estisk 😂)
I den øvre del af byen ligger den Danske Konges Have. Endnu et baltisk land der mindes om dengang danskerne var seje og bankede befolkningen til underdanighed. Efter legenden var det her Dannebrog faldt fra himlen, hvorefter danskerne vandt krigen. Vi har faktisk vundet ting. En gang.
I Haven er der en lille café, hvor de blandt andet serverer romkugler.
(Helt forkerte romkugler, men de gør vel et forsøg)
Og jeg fik et godt gammeldags glas mjød.
Skænket med Thors velsignelse.
Til aftensmaden tog vi på en cool lille café/bar, som minder lidt om Laundromat eller The Livingroom i København. Hovedretten var ikke spektakulær, men jeg fik mig en lækker, lækker dessert.
Flydende chokolade kage med laktosefri vaniljeis og bær. Mmmmm!!❤️
Bagefter tog vi hjem og jeg sov tungt og godt på en fuld mave til sen onsdag morgen. Da jeg havde spist og Thomas var færdig med sit arbejde, kørte han og jeg til TV Tårnet. Øverst i tårnet er der et lille museum der fortæller om dets fortid i Sovjetunionen og fremtidige teknologier. Museet er nok mest indrettet til børn, men en feature jeg var helt vild med var glasset i gulvet så man kunne se alle 314 meter ned.
Scary!
Til aftensmad tog vi efter mit ønske til kreative bydel, Telliskivi. Selvom den gamle bydel i de europæiske byer kan være historisk spændende og interessante, er den kreative del altid mit yndlingsområde. Hvis stedet er populært nok til at blive hipster cool, kan det være svært at finde billig mad og drikke, men heldigvis er Telliskivi stadig relativt nyt, så der var masser af muligheder. Vi valgte at tage til F Hoone, selvom restauranten Foody Allen ved siden af fristede med sit stærke navn. F Hoone har dog en kæmpe grill, og grill vinder altid!
Her fik jeg en øl fra et lokalt mikrobryggeri her i Telliskivi. Det var måske den dårligste øl jeg nogensinde har smagt. Og jeg er ikke meget til øl i forvejen. En oplevelse!
Da shorts var for koldt i Tallinns regnvejr, og jeans for varmt i pauserne mellem bygerne, besluttede jeg mig for at tage ud og shoppe om torsdagen for at erstatte de bukser jeg revnede på grusbjerget i Plavinas, Letland. Desværre er jeg en utroligt dårlig shopper og jeg kom tomhændet hjem. Heldigvis fik jeg brugt en stor del af dagen på denne fejlede mission, så Thomas var klar og villig til at kører en tur ud i den skov, som omringer Tallinn så smukt. Skoven er så moset, at det har været nødvendigt at lægge brædder på jorden som sti at gå på.
Thomas fortalte mig at desværre var områdets bævere begyndt at lave ballade og stjæle stiens brædder til deres dæmninger. Jeg tænker det har noget at gøre med de omkringværende træers størrelse. Man kan jo se lige over dem!
Da jeg skulle afsted næste dag besluttede vi os for at tage hjem, så jeg kunne pakke færdig og få en god nats søvn. Fredag morgen vågnede jeg frisk og udhvilet og tog ned til havnen for at hoppe på færgen til Helsinki.
Endnu et virkeligt dejligt besøg!
Vi ses på den anden side!
Nyttige ord/fraser:
Hej: Tere
Ja/nej: Jah/ei
Please/tak: Palun/tänan
Jeg leder efter Pikk, kan du hjælpe mig?: Otsin Pikk, saate mind aidata?
A million thank yous to Lisbet and Linda! It was absolutely wonderful to stay with you!
From Vilnius, I arrived in Daugavpils on Wednesday in a minibus that was in desperate need for new seats. So the 1½ hours I spent waiting for my next bus was well spent stretching out my traveller’s legs. In Daugavpils, about 90% of the population speaks Russian and about 0% speak English - so help in finding my bus was hard to find. I found out that they even refuse to speak Latvian, despite the fact that it’s the officlal language and all signs are in Latvian. Fortunately, it turned out that it was not so hard to find the bus after all, and by 6:30pm, I was on my way to my hostesses in the town of Plavinas.
I was immediately greeted with warm hugs by Lisbet and Linda as soon as I arrived at around 9pm. Plavinas is a very small town, so it took no time to walk from the bus station to their home. The house was a bit rough around the edges, but this is soon to change as they are busy remodelling. When I walked in, Lisbet asked me if I was afraid of animals, as they had 3 cats and a dog. I think the giant smile on my face was answer enough 😄
Let me introduce them to you:
First,Minka, the tame wild cat
Frankie and Bonnie (awh)
and finally, the crazy energy bomb, Frida the dog.
That fantastic animal simply could not sit still for 5 seconds. I love that!
Soon after we walked through the door, we sat down and enjoyed a late dinner made with mushrooms recently picked from the nearby forest. We then went for a walk with Frida the dog and, surprisingly, Minka the cat who followed us the entire way!
I was tired and went to bed when we got back to the house. When I opened my eyes the next morning I learned that the cats were not yet bored with me, as I awoke to a purring cat in my face. It seems Frankie decided to make me her bed from now on. Fortunately, neither of us had any problems with that :)
In the afternoon, we took a walk in the woods and into the cemetery, which lies in the middle of nature. Unfortunately, the number of graves here have grown over the past year due to the violent rise of drunk drivers in the area. It was sad to hear that one of those recent graves was a friend of my hostesses’. She was only 22 years old.
I thought that the cemetary was uniquely beautiful in the way it blended into the forest. It was really lovely to walk around in it.
It was really just a nice day that Thursday. On Friday, we met Linda’s mother, Aija, and her 2-year old nephew Thomas. Together we drove to Koknese where there are ruins from an ancient castle, fittingly named Koknese Castle :D
The castle is from the 13th century, but was bombed in the 1700′s during the Great Northern War (den Store Nordiske Krig) and was never restored after that. We then went to a garden called Liktendarzs or Garden of Destiny.
The garden is a memorial for all the victims that suffered from the soviet regime throughout the 20th century. It is designed by the Japanese buddhist monk, Shunmyo Masuno. It was here that sweet little Thomas gave me a dry grass straw in place of flowers. “Puķe, puķe!” With the Latvian ķ (a prick underneath), that translates to ”flower, flower” not “vomit, vomit”.
Yeah, yeah, I could see that he was actually holding a bouquet of “real” flowers in his other hand, but I chose to interpret his gesture as something sweet, and thanked him accordingly. It is after all, the thought that counts. Or something like that.
The garden is filled with wild raspberry bushes, and I found it impossible for me to walk by these wonderfully decorated bushes without taking a few samples with me. Let’s just say that it was worth the effort: YUM!
DELISH!
On Saturday, the neighboring town was celebrating its birthday. There was a giant street market filled with all kinds of things. There was also a little carnival/funfair, where Lisbet got her hands on a mega candyfloss.
The town also had a super cool art gallery, which we had to visit. The owner of the gallery must have good connections in the art world, cause it had a surprisingly large number of well-known Latvian works for such a small gallery in such a small town.
There were a lot more festivities going on in the town, but we had to hurry home, as they had arranged a grill party with the whole family. At the grill, we were served some really good Latvian specialties. The one was shashliks, which is a version of shish kebabs. The other was balsams, which is an alcoholic drink made from herbs and spices - something like Fernet Branca - that really clears your sinuses. And everything else.
On Sunday, we went sailing on a real viking ship, reliving the history of Danish vikings who sailed through the Baltics and conquered the hell out of Latvians - cause Lisbet and I are so bad ass :).
We sailed down the river Dauguva, which because of a dam, has flooded a large portion of the nearby countryside.
Afterwards, we visited Mother Aija’s bakery, which is apparently well-known throughout Latvia. People all the way from Riga come down here just for some bread from her bakery.
On the way home, we stopped by a quarry, as Lisbet and Linda had heard that it was really beautiful in the center. We desperately tried to get over the top of the gravel hill, but it was too difficult. So instead, we decided to slide down the hill. Strangely, myy pants did not handle the gravel very well - and ripped completely.
Fantastic.
On Monday, it was time for me to continue on. So we took a train to Riga, where the bus to Estonia would depart. Fortunately, there was a long 4-hour wait before the bus left, so we had time to see a bit of the older part of the city. That was a nice way to end a great tour!
Useful words/phrases:
Hello: Labdien
Yes/No: Jā/nē
Please/Thank you: lūdzu/paldies
Oh my God!: Ak Dievs! (I’m assuming that it must be important to know, since they said it all the time:-))
Tusind tak til Lisbet og Linda, det har været så hyggeligt at besøge jer!
Jeg ankom til Daugavpils fra Vilnius om onsdagen i en minibus med utroligt ubehagelige sæder, så den 1,5 time jeg skulle vente på næste bus var meget værdsat og fyldt med benstræk. I Daugavpils taler ca 90% af befolkningen russisk og ca 0% taler engelsk, så der var absolut ingen hjælp til mig. De nægter selv at lære lettisk, selvom det officielle sprog er lettisk og alle skilte er på lettisk. Det var heldigvis ikke det store problem at finde min bus, så kl 18:30 var jeg på vej til mine værtinder i Plavinas
Da jeg ankom omkring kl. 21 til den lille landsby, mødte jeg med det samme Lisbet og Linda, som begge gav mig et stort kram. Plavinas er en meget lille by, så det var intet problem at gå fra busstationen til deres hus. Huset var lidt slidt og gammelt, men de er i fuld gang med at renovere det hele og det bliver rigtig pænt. De var endda så søde, at give mig det eneste færdigrenoverede værelse! Lisbet spurgte mig, om jeg var bange for dyr, da de har 3 katte og en hund. Jeg tror mit store, begejstrede smil var mere end svar nok 😄
Her er dyrene:
Minka, den tamme vildkat
Frankie og Bonnie.
Og til sidst den sindsyge energibombe, hunden Frida.
Det dejlige dyr kunne simpelthen ikke sidde stille i 5 sekunder. Elsker det!
Kort efter vi ankom fik vi noget aftensmad med svampe plukket i den omkringliggende skov, og da vi havde spist færdig gik vi tur med hunden Frida og til min overraskelse fulgte katten Minka med os hele vejen!
Jeg var træt og gik i seng, da vi kom hjem, og om morgenen var der mere kat til mig.. Torsdag vågnede jeg nemlig op med en spindende kat i ansigtet. Frankie havde åbenbart besluttet, at jeg var hendes seng fra nu af, og det havde ingen af os rigtigt et problem med :)
Om eftermiddagen tog vi en tur i skoven og ind til kirkegården der ligger midt naturen. Jeg fik desværre at vide at kirkegården havde vokset en hel del det sidste år, på grund af en voldsom stigning af spritbilister og at en af deres venner lå her. Hun blev blot 22 år.
Kirkegården er ret speciel, idet den ligger i skoven på den måde, den gør. Jeg synes den er utrolig flot og smuk, at gå rundt i.
Det var i det hele taget en dejlig dag og om fredagen mødte jeg Lindas mor Aija og hendes 2-årige nevø Thomas. Sammen kørte vi til Koknese hvor der ligger en gammel slotsruin, fornemt kaldt Koknese slotsruin :D
Slottet er fra det 13. århundrede, men blev sprunget i luften i 1700-tallet under den Store Nordiske Krig, og det er ikke blevet genopbygget siden. Efterfølgende tog vi til en have ved navn Liktendarzs eller Garden of Destiny på engelsk.
Haven er et mindesmærke il ære for alle ofrene der led under sovjetregiment i det 20. århundrede. Den er designet af den japanske buddhistiske munk Shunmyo Masuno. Her gav søde lille Thomas mig et tørt græsstrå i gave i stedet for en blomst “puķe, puķe!”
Ja, jeg kan godt se han holde en hel buket “rigtige” blomster i den anden hånd, men jeg vælger at være taknemmelig og sige at det er tanken der tæller... Eller noget.
Hele haven er omgivet af vilde hindbærbuske. Det er helt umuligt for mig at gå forbi sådan en flot dekoreret busk uden at tage nogle smagsprøver med mig. Og jeg blev ikke skuffet! Mmmmmm :)
Mums!
Om Lørdagen var det nabobyens fødselsdag. Her var der er stort gademarked fyldt med alle mulige forskellige ting. Derudover var der også et lille tivoli, hvor Lisbet fik en kæmpe candyfloss
Byen havde også et super cool kunstgalleri som vi tog ind i. Ejerene af galleriet har åbenbart gode connections i kunstverdenen, for de havde overraskende mange kendte lettiske værker hængende af sådan et lille galleri i sådan en lille by at være.
Der var mange flere festligheder i hele byen, men vi skulle skynde os hjem til grill i haven sammen med hele familien. Her var der to gode lettiske specialiteter: Den ene var shashliks som er lettiske shishkebabs og den anden balsams, som er en alkoholisk drik lavet på urter og krydderier i stil som fernet branca, der godt, grundigt og hurtigt renser bihulerne. Og lidt til.
Søndag tog vi ud og sejle på et vikingeskib, for at mindes om dengang danske vikinger tog på togt til de baltiske lande og bankede letterne sønder og sammen. :)
Her sejlede vi ned ad floden Dauguva, som på grund af en dæmning, har oversvømmet en stor del af det omkringliggende landskab.
Bagefter tog vi til Mor Aijas bageri, som åbenbart er utrolig kendt i Letland. Flere mennesker tager helt fra Riga bare for at få noget brød fra bageriet.
På vejen hjem tog vi forbi en grusgrav. Vi prøvede iherdigt at se hvad der var omme på den anden side af grusbunken, Linda og Lisbet havde hørt det skulle vær super smukt i midten, men det var forgæves. I stedet rutsjede vi ned langs det kæmpe grusbjerg, hvor jeg så helt uforståeligt fik ødelagde mine bukser.
Smukt.
Om mandagen skulle jeg videre, så vi tog til Riga hvor bussen til Estland kørte fra. Heldigvis kunne vi være sammen i Riga 4 timer, så vi hav os til at udforske den gamle bydel. En god afslutning på et dejligt besøg!
Nyttige ord/fraser
Hej: Labdien
Ja/nej: Jā/nē
Please/tak: lūdzu/paldies
Oh my God (jeg tænker det må være vigtigt at kunne, for de sagde det he-le tiden): Ak Dievs!
After a long bus trip, I arrived in Vilnius on Friday, a little after 11pm. It didn’t take long after my arrival for me to experience the true generosity of Lithuanians. While walking through the streets towards my hotel, I was cheerfully offered a portion crack by some friendly, bare-chested young men, one of which carried a boombox on his shoulder.
After politely turning down their offer, I walked the remaining 10 minutes to my hotel, Comfort Hotel’s Rock n Roll hotel in downtown Vilnius. I stayed on the Ray Charles floor, and can definitely say that this is a pretty cool and well furnished place.
On Saturday, I slept in til about 11am, so I missed out on breakfast. Instead I ate the rest of the baby carrots I had with me from my bus trip from Warsaw and then walked out into the fabulous 31°C weather. The hotel is located pretty centrally, and nearby is the old city center. There are a lot of charming and interesting shops in this part of the city, with handcrafted clothing and cozy cafes. About 5 minutes away is one of the more popular nightclubs in Vilnius called Kablys or “The great hook”.
The building houses both a restaurant, which supposedly has a fantastic Sunday brunch according to TripAdvisor, and a bed & breakfast. The nightclub often holds electronica concerts and raves, whose ads you can’t miss outside the building.
That evening I had dinner at the hotel restaurant, Time. The word is that they have the best chef in Lithuania.
The bread they served was a kind of Lithuanian rye bread baked with fruit inside and a kind of homemade spread, the ingredients of which I am not too clear on.
I ordered duck with potatoes and asparagus for my main course. When it arrived, I couldn’t really see either the duck or the potatoes.
(Hint: The duck are those thin strips of red placed over the giant asparagus.) Maybe fancy food is not my thing…
After such a big meal, I decided to wash it all down with a few drinks at the hotel bar. While there, I met and chatted with some of the other hotel guests and managed to get hit on by an older Scottish gentleman. After that, I decided it was time for me to go back to me hotel room. Alone!
On Sunday, I got up early (at least for me it was early) and made it down for breakfast. Unfortunately, my plans for the rest of the day were ruined when I looked outside and could only see rain and thunder.
So I went back up and slept some more. When I woke up, I decided to see the finale of season 6 of Game of Thrones, since I couldn’t surf social media without being bombarded with spoilers anyway. I am not the biggest fan of the series, but if you are a complete newbie, I can recommend watching seasons 3, 4 and now season 6 - it was fantastic! All the other seasons you can just read about online 😄
When I finally got out of the room, all the restaurants were closed, so I went over to the local supermarket and purchased this fabulous dinner:
A ham/chicken & bacon sandwich with snap peas and Bueno chocolates for dessert. A true culinary experience.
On Monday, I played tourist and walked around to see the sights. I started by walking through the old town section with its narrow winding streets.
The old architecture suddenly stops as soon as you get close to downtown. To solve this “problem”, facades are simply propped onto the front of the newer buildings, so it looks authentic.
Here is an example of a facade (seen from behind) attached to a newer building:
Afterwards, I headed towards St. Michael’s church, which is big and beautiful on the outside, but going through a major renovation on the inside. I can only imagine that it will be gorgeous when the renovations are done.
As the remainder of the sights on my map were also churches, I decided to get off the beaten path and get a little lost around the outskirts of the city (though never really lost, as Google Maps is my friend #4life)
While out there, I ran across this big abadoned building, which I later found out is an old soviet building, which was used for who knows what...
Here you see it from the front:
and from the back:
Spoooky 🕵
Then the rain started. After a long and rain-soaked walked, I ended up back in the old town area and found shelter and a little lunch/dinner at a cafe on a square. While sitting there, I couldn’t help notice how untimid Lithuanian birds are, as I was chatted up by this sweet little sparrow.
"Sooo... you got any brothers or sisters?"
On Tuesday I went to the area in town called Užupis, which translates to “the other side of the river”, and funnily enough, I had to cross a bridge to get to the other side of the river to get to it. The place is a bit like Christiania (an autonomous area in Copenhagen), but at the same time it isn’t. At an art happening in 1997, the quarter declared its independence, and has, since then, been something of a “creative area”.
The first you meet when you walk into the “republic” is Užupis angle, which was crowd-funded by the residents themselves.
Since Užupis should be a creative area, I thought I’d check out their art gallery Incubator 1. I expected to see some wild and crazy art there, instead there were only 5 or 6 paintings plus some notebooks that someone drew on and in.
Around the quarter you can see indications of the friendship between Danish Christiania and Užupis. for example, this sign with the two official flags (left: Užupis and right: Christiania).
The reason I chose to come to Užupis this day, was because it was Culture Day with lots of celebrations. But I don’t know if I came too early or too late, but despite the many decorations, there was no one on the streets.
So instead, I headed back towards the hotel and stopped and ate at one of Lithuania’s popular chain restaurants, Cili Pica. Their main dish is pizza, but you can also get just about anything you could dream of.
On Wednesday I hopped on a bus to the southern Latvian city Daugavpils to continue my journey north :)
Useful words and phrases:
Hello: Labas
Yes/No: Taip/Ne
Please/Thank you: Prašau/Ačiū (prah-SHOW/ah-CHOO)
No thank you, no crack for me: Ne, ačiū, ne įtrūkimai kokaino man
