You last heard from me right before I left Krakow - wow, that was so long ago. The last day in Poland was a sad one. Lacey and I really loved where we were staying in the city and we really enjoyed the town. It was getting a bit depressing by the time we left though... the fog was at head level and the sky was dark by about 4pm. It was also very wet and cold. Sadly, we knew that it wouldn't get much better as we headed further north.
Tuesday night (4th Nov.) we boarded the Eurolines bus to Vilnius, Lithuania. The bus had already been travelling for the last 24 hours by the time we got on it as the route started in Rome. You could smell it also, not really a great start. What made the trip even more crazy though was the man sitting behind Lacey.
One hour into the trip while Lacey and I were snoozing, I wake to yelling and the people behind us jumping around. Now I am not sure if all of you, keep up to date on CNN but recently in Canada, on a greyhound bus, a man who was also sleeping started to get stabbed by the man sitting beside him FOR NO REASON. Obviously the guy died and the sicko beside him then CUT OFF his HEAD! True story. So you can imagine my fright when I was half asleep and I awoke to this commotion.
The guy wasn't getting his head cut off but he appeared to be having some sort of seizure. It was really scary and we didn't know what was happening, until the bus pulled over and an ambulance pulled up and took him away. It turns out that the man had been drinking the entire trip and was suffering from alcohol poisoning. Foaming at the mouth, convulsing and making really weird sounds.... Lacey and I didn't feel so sorry for him anymore...
Back on the road we only had another 13 hours till we reached our destination and it wasn't so bad. Vilnius was the first stop on our Baltic leg of the trip and it was a really beautiful city. More churches down one street than I have ever seen in my life, even one that looks like a bridge, as it goes over the road.
We spent the first day with a super nice Aussie guy from Newtown and we whizzed through the sites seeing as we changed our plans around a bit and decided to take another night bus on Thursday (6th Nov.) up to Tallinn. So we only spent one night in the little city but it was plenty of time to get a feel for it and also get confused by LITAS, the Lithuanian currency! Thursday was Noels 7th birthday so I got a quick chance to speak to him while he opened some of his present and also to Nicolas who was full of joy.In 1991 the Estonians, Lativans and Lithuanians formed a human chain called the Baltic Way It was originally organised to remind the world of the historical fate that these three countries had suffered for the last 50 years at the hands of the Soviets. It was reported that about
700,000 Estonians, 500,000 Latvians, and 1,000,000 Lithuanians joined the peaceful protest. Lacey and I went to the spot in Vilnius where the protest began in Lithuania. A stone marks the spot and says MIRACLE in Lithuanian. I think it is a really significant place, click on the link above and watch the movie!Arriving in Tallinn at 6.30 in the morning wasn't the best moment of my life, but I blame that on the gazillion noisy spanish people who boarded our bus at midnight. It wasn't so bad though once we found our hostel (in the pitch black dark) and fell into bed until midday. Not much of the day left on Friday we headed to a
chocolate shop my mum had recommended as I was in serious need of a pick-me-up. Lacey and I both ate far too much chocolate in one sitting, and left feeling more sad and sorry for ourselves than when we had walked in...Saturday was destined to be the day for sightseeing, but it didn't really turn out like that seeing as it was freezing and miserable outside so we sat around with our fellow hostelling people and watched movies. Dark Knight with Heath Ledger, is a must see if you get a chance :-)
By the time dusk had fallen we went out and explored a bit, mainly the mall for groceries but we did go to the Port and book our ferry tickets for the following day. We decided that while we were so close to Scandanavia we may as well jump on the ship for 2 hours and head to Helsinki, Finland for the day.
It was an early start, which we are getting used to, but we arrived at the port at 7.15am only to find that our ship was like a moving hotel with a casino, bars, restaurants, shops, you name it. So we had a pleasant journey and enjoyed looking around Helsinki for the day. Another cold and wet place, we spent the day shivering. Not much was open in Helsinki seeing as it was a Sunday, we did get to go to the Protestant Church and the Orthodox Church though which were both very impressive.
In the afternoon we caught a boat out to the UNESCO world heritage listed site Suomenllina which is an inhabited sea fortress built on six islands. It was interesting to see here, including the church pictured left which also doubled as a light house. Here it looked to me like what the 'olden days' may have been like!!!
Back to Tallinn that evening, it was into the nice warm beds for us. Sadly I feel like in Tallinn and Vilnius we didnt do as much sightseeing as we should have. Both towns were so beautiful with so much to see but with the combination of sleep deprivation and coldness we weren't as motivated as in previous cities. That is perhaps why we really made an effort to get out and see the next city we visited.
Monday was the day I realised my potential as an Olympic sprint star and Lacey's definite talent as a psychic.
We walked through the old town to get our bus tickets to head to Riga, Latvia Tuesday morning. We knew our bus was around 2 pm so we were in no rush. Tickets bought, we decided to board at the port as it is was closer to our hostel, meaning that I wouldn't have to carry my giant bag any further than necessary.
The lady told us that our bus would pick us up at 1.55pm. We made sure we got there super early, allowing us heaps of time. Lacey kept stressing and saying the bus isn't going to come, something is wrong with the bus. I was trying to be positive and saying ''Dont worry, it will come!!!'' It wasn't until Lacey decided to go into INFORMATION that the lady said (at about 1.50pm) ''Oh, the Ecolines bus comes at 1.25'' It was then we threw our bags onto our backs and raced for a taxi. There was no way that we could miss the bus; as we had paid for it, we had accommodation booked and we needed to be in Riga!!
Thankfully our taxi driver spoke a little bit of english and I think he saw our frantic faces. We had no Estonians Eeeks (as we came to call the currency) on us, but the man took our Euros and raced through red lights, drove down the wrong side of the road and PRAYED as we dashed through the city.
Across the road from the bus terminal he told me to get out and find the bus as we were standing still at a busy intersection. This is when my 3 minute sprint came into action. Racing across the road, dodging traffic I zoomed into the terminal only to find that the bus at platform 12 had already left. Nooooooooo. Then to my surprise Lacey is yelling at me from the bus terminal entrance and the kind taxi driver is hauling my bag into a bus. Haha! He had flagged the bus down as it left and saved us from missing our bus! We gave him big hug and climbed aboard. We both fell asleep (even though it was 2pm) and didn't wake up until an hour later after our blood had stopped pumping so rapidly.
So it is now, that I truely believe that Lacey has super powers.... how would she have known that the bus wasn't coming???? The lady at the bus company spoke perfect english and specifically told us 1.55 at the port and 2.00pm at the bus terminal. Psychic - Lacey is magic!!!! Thank you also Mr Taxi Driver!
Sooo now arriving at Riga. Cold, dark, lost. After a few minutes glance at our trusty city spy map we found our hostel and walked the few kilometres to our destination. Turned out our hostel was an apartment and Lacey and I pretty much had it to ourselves the whole time, so we played 'house' and cooked, watched tv and spent a long time relaxing in between seeing the sights of Riga. We went to St Peters Church where we went to the top and nearly got
blown right off. We wandered through the old town and successfully managed not to break our ankles on the streets of cobble stones. We also went down to the river, went into Riga Cathedral and spent alot of time drinking hot chocolate! 
We even got to see the guards do their little walk at the ''Riga Statue of Liberty'' (the freedom monument)
Thursday afternoon we went to see the new BOND movie, Quantum of Solace which cost us a huge 2.45Ls ... about $5 so we were cheering and it was a nice way to spend the afternoon.
After another near missed bus to the airport late Thursday afternoon, we then caught a sleek Air Baltic flight to Berlin.
On the topic of airports, I have a bone to pick with whoever invented the Schengen Agreement
While I know the purpose of the agreement is to open up borders and allow easier travelling through the European countries, it has caused me much heart ache and distress whn crossing through the borders of amazing countries and not getting a stamp in my passport. Luckily in a few countries that arent part of the agreement such as Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania we got a little stamp but the rest of these great places dont get marked in my passport and it makes me sad. Hahaha!
Arriving in the much anticipated capital city of Germany. We both felt at ease in the familiar territory of Deutsch speakers! Our hostel turned out to be like a hotel. Beautiful and clean, in a great area and with really nice staff.
Now less than a week to go before we head back to Zurich. At times on this trip I was ready to finish travelling and be back home, yet as the trip comes to an end I am sad that I will have to go back to Switzerland because that means that I only have 10 more days till that lovely 24 hour flight home to Sydney.
Don't get me wrong I am excited to go home and be with all my family and friends, I will just miss my life here. Going home means getting a job and paying bills... real life I guess, which will be hard because my life in Zurich felt like a holiday since I loved everything about it so much.
Right: Me with my new brown hair getting ready to go downstairs and cook dinner with Lacey.
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