Introducing the Baltics - Riga and Tallin

For weeks I had been planning and looking forward to my self titled FEEE, Far Eastern European Extravaganza. As I was heading back to OZ for a while I decided to do a whirlwind trip visiting some of the countries I’ve never quite gotten far enough to explore.

I was all set, I said goodbye to the Ledgers and Luxembourg and dealt with my fear of the impending descent into -20 degrees... I had opted to fly Ryan Air out of Frankfurt Hahn, a sign of my desperation to get to the Baltics as I have refused to fly Ryan Air since the first time I flew with them some 7 years ago. Sadly budget and convenience got the better of me but thanks to my cheeky concealment of my 2^nd bag (lap top bag) I ‘got the better’ right back!

Arriving in Riga was an instant thrill. It was -15, the language was so far distant from anything I have ever heard and the currency was bizarre. The ground was laden with thick snow, the dry crunchy style that is Angie’s bung knee friendly. Although I must note that my knee is doing exceptionally well, no slips at all, a far cry from the shuffle/crawl I had to permanently perform during mine and Amy’s Christmas/New Year adventures. Yay!!

Fun Franks hostel was fantastic. The main guy, Jeremy the Aussie, was great which helped make up for the two surly local girls who also worked there. I did come to realise the next day that their hostility was more a language and cultural barrier difference than an attitude problem.

Venturing into Riga that night I was surprised by how quiet it was, especially for a Saturday night. Fair to say this may have had something to do with the fact that it was -15 which I discovered the second I walked into a bar on a side street and saw that it was packed to the brim. Not exactly ‘roaming the streets’ weather...

In the day light Riga is simply gorgeous. Ice carvings in the main square, renaissance style architecture everywhere you turn and a beautiful frozen river. For breakfast I went to a local little cafe to sample their famous pancakes, I tried plain with jam and sour cream (turns out everything is served with sour cream here, EVERYTHING!) and one with banana filling!

Riga is a great city to just walk around exploring the intricate mate of side streets and chasing away stray cats while listening to Fifi and Jules’ new radio podcasts while laughing out loud. The markets are a must to get a real taste of the locals, and the museum of occupation of Latvia was a brilliant insight into Latvia’s former soviet history.

To enhance my ‘soviet’ experience I went to an underground former soviet bunker that is now a shooting range and it was brilliant! I went with some hilarious Scottish girls from the hostel one of whom works with my ‘Aupair’ mum in Luxembourg, such a small world! The bunker was lined roof to floor with egg cartons for noise insulation and the couple facilitating the shooting wouldn’t let us photo graph them ... Dodgy!

We would each be shooting a Glock 17, an AK – 102 and an AK-47. I personally have always wanted to do this, even more so the past year or so and I could not wait to have a shot.

First up was the Glock 17 and I found it to be the hardest. I felt uncomfortable with such a small thing - I felt like I had no control, like with one twitch of the wrist and it would be disastrous. I found the AK-102 was the best, almost no recoil and although it was bigger I felt I had much more control over it. Last but not least was the much anticipated AK-47. Holy crap, I think my shoulder was still sore 2 days later! The power of the AK-47 was exhilarating and frightening at the same time! At the end I had gotten 17/18 shots on James Bond and 15 of them were between the brain, jugular and heart. A fact I am still not sure that I should be proud of... Bah let’s face it, I loved it!

Straight after the shooting it was off to the bus station for the first of 7 overnight buses/trains I would be catching before the FEEE is over!

Tallin got off to a great start. My taxi driver was absolutely adorable and it was slightly warmer than I had been anticipating at -12 and the hostel was great and welcoming! I had lost one of my favourite red leather gloves at the underground bunker and thanks to the sub zero temperatures it was the only thing on my mind! The grounds were noticeably icier than in Riga, I noticed some spectacular stacks. Once I had bought spanking new gloves it was time to join the slip and slide around the city. I thought ‘kissing hill’ was pretty cute with a maccas at the bottom of the hill perfect for all the randy hungry teenagers. I stumbled across a park full of gorgeous snow sculptures in various shapes and sizes but all with the theme ‘child’s playground’. I particularly liked the massive naked woman; you slide from between her boobs and finish ceremoniously flying out of her vejayjay. 3 year olds screaming all the way down!

I went for a walk out to Tallin Prison where I decided to pull a Jesus and walk on water; the Baltic Sea is frozen solid out to about 200 meters. I could only bring myself to go out about 2 meters before shitting myself and ‘sliding’ back to safety. Of course right at that moment my camera ran out of battery so I high tailed it back to the hostel to thaw, recharge and check out Facebook. Good thing I did as the second I logged on I knew something was wrong from all the posts of disbelief and shock from family and friends. It took the spotting of a post from a cousin in Brisbane to another cousin in Christchurch that I realised New Zealand had been struck by another earthquake. Thankfully my family and friends are ok but my thoughts go out to all who have been affected. Arohanui

Once I had regained composure and my battery had recharged I returned to the slippery streets of Tallinn. Like Riga Tallinn is an easy city to lose yourself in. So much so I spent 5 hours walking around without a single cafe stop (stupid considering it was -20) and started to have genuine fears of frostbite. I was beginning to think that I would never regain the feeling in my fingers but managed to thaw them wrapped around a cup of hot mulled wine at Krug.

Krug is a gorgeous wee medieval tavern on the main square where you can get a mug of mulled wine, a bowl of Estonian stew and a wild boar pie for a grand total of 4euro. There was also Kohvicum, an underground cafe with funky decor and Hells Hunt bar, the first bar Tallinn and proud brewers of their own range of beers and cider (the latter being particularly yummmmmmy!).

In the upper part of town there are some amazing vantage points for views of both the city of Tallinn and the Baltic Sea. Right on sunset I got to witness that pink dusty colour that is only found during sunsets in Europe. It was up there that I discovered Boheme, a cute and cheap restaurant serving Russian style pancakes and local ‘A le Coq’ beer. Combinations of either bacon or cheese mince and potato or mushroom filled pancake served with sour cream. So tasty!

Everything about Tallinn and Riga was lovely. From the Russian like accents to the cobblestoned streets and funky filled pancakes I can’t wait to come back!

Generation F

In 2010 Time magazine controversially named Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook.com, Time Magazines’ man of the year. This decision came under both heavy fire and critical acclaim. Scholars and citizens arguing both sides of the case. While Facebook currently has over 600 million users there is still a large portion of the technology savvy community who see Facebook as a time consuming, privacy invading waste of time, heck even most Facebook users will admit to that.

Facebook graced our presence in 2004 not long after social networking giant My Space had really begun to gain momentum. The site began at Harvard University when a group of unlucky in love ‘geeks’ thought of it as a way to meet and ‘grade’ girls. Many years, billions of dollars, a box office movie and countless lawsuits later it has grown into the most visited social networking website and the second most visited general website, second only to search engine Google.com. As a social network Facebook has different applications. Mainly used as an easy and free way to keep up to date with friends and family, some also use it to meet new people and others use it as their main form of communication. I remember times living in London where I could faster get a response on Facebook than via ‘old fashioned’ SMS.

Some will argue that Facebook is a copout. The slack persons way of keeping in contact with friends without any actual face to face contact. You can comment on photos without actually being part of the action, leave comments on status updates with ever picking up the phone. I must admit I do turn to Facebook to keep in contact with people a lot. However I do travel and when I am home I can go weeks without logging on. I also think it is important to still pick up the phone or at least email/sms close family and friends for birthdays and special events, but it is very easy to fall into the Facebook bubble.

There is also a gaming element to Facebook. A large range of applications and games are available which is where, along with consumer based advertising, is where the money is made. Through Facebook ‘apps’ you can get your daily horrorscope, follow your pregnancy with the help of a weird blob shaped cartoon character, play poker, build a farm, create a mob war and send virtual cirthday cards. There is even an applications to see how much time you spend on Facebook. I generally stay away from the extra time consuming temptations and even block games and apps as they begin to flood my page but this particular app terrifies me. I’m certain my % would be mortifyingly high!

A huge problem with the applications and games is the exposure to harmful viruses and hacking. If Hotmail wasn’t bad enough for virus sharing there is now a wide range of applications and programs that are fronts for hackers. I know at least half a dozen people who have had their pages hacked and had to cancel their accounts and start afresh. Allowing these programs to access your profile puts holes in what is already a thin privacy net. Facebook is constantly tweaking their privacy laws and settings leaving even the technology savvy user out of their depth. Do you turn your account to 100% private and stop people from being able to find and request your friendship or do you leave it open and hope for the best?

Between networking, applications and games it is ridiculously easy to waste time on Facebook. Facebook ‘stalking’ is a major culprit. Looking at certain friends’ pages to see you they are talking too, what they are planning and what they have been up to. And we’ve all had FB crush we’ve stalked too! On Facebook there is even the option to ‘poke’ one another. In the virtual realm a peak means ‘ Hello, I’m thinking about you but don’t have the time to string a sentence together so... POKE’. I once had a ‘poke-a-thon’ with a friend that went back and forth for a month before we actually exchanged words.

Facebook also gives you the option of ‘liking’ friend’s photos and status updates. Show support for a cause LIKE, think a photo is particularly memorable LIKE , impressed by what one friend says to another LIKE. For years Facebook users have been calling for a dislike button but Facebook still hasn’t come up with the goods. I personally think it is a good thing, it’s already easy enough to have a Facebook friendship based primarily on LIKEing each other’s every move, throw a disLIKE button in there and we will no longer have the need to converse.

Facebook has redefined friendship; the Oxford dictionary defines a friend as ‘a person with whom one has a bond of mutual affection, typically one exclusive of sexual or family relations’. Facebook friends are a different kettle of fish entirely. For starters you can Facebook friend people that you have never met, and secondly Facebook relationships tend to be very superficial. I met a guy in Latvia that had randomly searched for people named Emily and set out befriending as many as he could for a bet. €50 and 130 Emily’s later Facebook would have you believe that he is fortunate enough to have an extra 130 extra friends to call upon when in need. But realistically how many of these Emilys will be there when he needs them? How many of these Emilys know his allergies? How many of them even know where he is from. I think it is fair to say that Facebook friends should be better referred to as Facebook acquaintances.

I currently have 436 Facebook friends, this time last year I culled about 50 but with all the travelling the number seems to creep back up. Every now and then I go through and delete people I rarely speak to on Facebook and never in real life. Of the remaining 435 friends 30 of them are brothers, sisters, lovers and pets of closer friends. 100 of them are once upon a time friends, people that I knew back in the day either through school or work but if it weren’t for Facebook we would probably have little to do with each other. If I was to run into one of these people the conversation would likely go a little like this – ‘‘Wow, how are you? Oh my god it’s been so long! Me? Yeah I am really well thanks, I saw on Facebook that you (insert live achievement here), that is amazing! DO you hear from anyone from back in the day? Yeah true, well it was so great to see you, I have to go, and we should make a time to catch up, yeah for sure. I’ll Facebook you.” 50 of them are family and family friends and at least 10 are people I want to delete and probably would delete would it not be such a drama. Probably over 150 of them are people I met while travelling and at least 30 of them are close friends that I communicate with more on the phone or in person. The rest are normal real life friends who happen to be on Facebook and it is just as easy to use FB as it is to contact in person.

Facebook has ruined the concept of school reunions. Thanks to status updates and photo uploading by the time the 10 year reunion comes along we all know each other’s news. Photos mean we even know how each other may have aged – ‘Ooh did you see on FB that such and such had a boob job’, ‘Oooh I noticed on FB that so and so went blonde!’, and my favourite ‘Did you see that trashy photo of bla bla at you-know-who’s party?’

I am a huge fan of FB photos. 3 billions photos are uploaded to Facebook per month worldwide. I think I currently have an ever increasing 130 photo albums, which is quite a lot by most people’s standards. To be fair I’ve travelled a lot and even in High School I was the girl with the camera snapping every move. Facebook offers users a free and easy to use forum for sharing all kinds of moments through words and pictures and even video. Once you have uploaded photos you and your friends then have the option of ‘tagging’ each other in the photos. This can be dangerous as there is often some contention over how people look in uploaded photos. Some people get very sensitive about the hideous/funny/incriminating photos. I try to be nice with the uploading of photos but I have definitely had a few run-ins with friends who got upset by photos I uploaded. I find the best way to go about it now is to tag the person once so they know they are part of the album and then let them tag themselves and choose which photos they want shared on their profile. Problem solved. There have also been stories of potential employers ‘face stalking’ and seeing raging photos of possible future staff can be a bit of a turn off.

There are also the parents and family friends on Facebook. On one hand it is fun to add them and for me it has been a great way for my parents to keep tabs on me. While the downfall being that they know every time I come home at 4am or do something stupid! On the travelling circuit it allows for peace of mind but when you live near your parents there is definitely less appeal to having them privy to your every FB move. Lucky for me both my parents rely more on my siblings to hear FB stories.. Phew!

It goes without saying that Facebook has enhanced the backpackers travel experience. Almost every person you meet has a FB account so it is perfect for photo sharing and a potential bed or coffee mate one day in the future. I have FB friends that I met travelling that I have put up for a night here or there and would hope to be able to ask for at least a ‘locals perspective’ when I visit their city. There are also the times when you see a friend is or is about to be in the same place as you, it is a great medium for the accidental catch ups!

Recently I have come to realise Facebook is much more than a social networking site. During the many national disasters that have been occurring in Japan, Queensland and New Zealand Facebook has been an invaluable source of comfort through status updates. During the flood event and Cyclone we Aussies overseas were able to keep up with all the information through the likes of family and friends on Facebook. The QLD police department and the Bureau of Meteorology among others were using their pages to bring updates, links to live news conferences and important information to their ‘fans’. It was incredible to be able to see photos come up as it was happening and see status updates from being in the heart of the disasters. As heart wrenching as it was to be so far away from home it was great to be able to offer support on FB and pass on information and links to friends in need. With Cyclone Yasi it was amazing as there were people in the affected areas that were able to communicate and talk about what was happening around them as the cyclone was on their door step. With phone and electricity lines down people where able to turn to FB to contact family and friends and release tension and fear and get messages of support from around the globe.

With the earthquake in Christchurch Facebook once again has been turned to for information, reassurance and support. It was through FB that I heard of the earthquake and through FB that I was able to search for and confirm the safety of my family and friends in CHCH. With phone lines down it was invaluable to be able to see up to date information. Even people in CHCH have been using Facebook to contact and support one another. I heard an amazing story of a girl whose father lives in Christchurch and was non contactable in the hours after the earthquake. She had FB’d her brother who is living in America. He posted on his FB page that he was seeking help looking for his dad in Christchurch. His friends than re posted his message on their pages and on Twitter pages, his plea for help being seen by 10’s of thousands of strangers around the world in less than ten minutes. Within 15 minutes he had a response from a guy in CHCH, who was in grid locked traffic and only a ten minutes walk from the man’s fathers house. He got out of his car and walked to find the man’s father safe outside his home. To me this is an amazing example of the power of social networking and the kindness of the human race.

Facebook is only 7 years old and with 600 million active users (people who have logged on at least once in the last month) it is arguably the 3^rd largest country in the world. Available in 70 languages including ‘Pirate’ and with 1700 employers based in 12 countries it is easily the most multicultural ‘country’ in the world. Like any country you can choose to live there or just pass through when you get the time. It is what it is but more importantly I believe like any country I have visited Facebook is what you make of it, good bad or indifferent.

The night I spent with a prostitute...

There are 2 things people go to Amsterdam for;

1) Bike riding along the canals

2) the red light district, and

3) to have a ‘coffee’ at a ‘coffee’ house.

Some on the best spots to do number 3 is in number 2 and if you do want to do number 1 its probably best to avoid doing it after number 3 and avoid doing number 1 in number 2 because it’s just so crowded.

I recently managed to pop up to Amsterdam for a quick weekend away from Luxembourg, not only to have a go at #’s 1-3 but to notch up country #33. Upon arriving I quickly decide to ditch #1 after seeing how crazy the locals are and how hazardous the tourist riders are! After settling into my hostel I walked outside to be treated to a few window displays – seems I was staying right on the edge of the Red Light District. Sweet!

I opted for the 2hr walking tour of the RLD to get acclimated with the city straight away and it was perfect. Our tour guide was 18yr old Tina, the crudest 18yr old I have ever met, perfect for the job. One person was complaining that she was a bit too rude but really if you cannot handle a few sex jokes then you probably should shy away from the Red Light District altogether!! We walked past the oldest bar in Amsterdam, ‘In the Monkey’, named so because of the years when sailors would pay off their tabs with monkeys they had procured on their pirate journeys. We spotted some blue flags and rainbow flags, generally found opposite taped/boarded up buildings that are in fact hard core mens gay S&M clubs.

Apparently UK men account for over 50% of the RLD’s income – quite a substantial amount really!! How it all works is the girls each rent a window in 8 hr time blocks ranging from €60 to €200 depending on location, amenities and the girls ‘stature’. There are alleys with only Scandinavian girls/Latin girls/Russian girls and so forth. A standard ‘suck and f*&@’costs around €20 and lasts 15 minutes not a second longer. Want her to smile? Pay more. Want her to say your name? Pay more. Want her to pretend to be in to it? Pay a lot more. The same ‘service’ from a lady on the Highrollers Street will cost you at least double and you’ll be lucky to walk past an open window, those girls tend to be booked up. Photos are generally not accepted and the girls are known to pretty hard arse about it, cameras have been known to be broken. ..

When the light outside the window is on it means the window is open for business and if the curtain is closed it means come back in 15 minutes. Apparently a few years ago they had an experiment to see if men would be as popular. 4 men rented windows to see if women would hire their services. Unfortunately because of the press attention it was shut down after 30 minutes. However 10 women did get their business done in that time, well done ladies.

Right in the middle of the RLD there is a stunning church, because even hookers are religious. Right? It was originally built so the sailors could repent after a wicked night, or even confess the day before if they were leaving early in the morning. There is also a Christian Hostel right in the centre. Brilliant! Just up the road there is also a fantastic condomerie right down the road, very innovative stuff!

All in all I have to admit I did not once feel unsafe – even walking home at night after a few too many ‘coffees’, I honestly felt safer than I ever did in London. Although I don’t think that even the police could save me from a cranky prostitute.

Speaking of prostitutes, after the RLD tour I decided to go to Resin Cafe just up from my hostel and have a few ‘coffees’. I was at the bar sitting next to a girl and we got to chatting, she was lovely, has a kid, is a local and was kind enough to give me some tips on what to do while in Amsterdam. An hour and a half later when we were talking about work I asked her what she does for a living and she said she worked in the area so I thought nothing more of it! Took me a coffee or two more to realise that she is a famous window worker! Haha so funny, she was hilarious and so genuinely kind, would never have picked her for a hooker! Not bad for the first night in town...

For breakfast the next day I went to another coffee house that sells splifs with your breakfast, only in Amsterdam! I met the most hilarious Kiwi woman, she was so bubbly and happy, and her accent had me in stitches! I met up with her later in the day for a beer, love!

After breakfast I decided to go for another tour, but this time it was the 3hr walking tour. Unfortunately this time round it was shit, the guide sucked and was not at all funny or interesting... I still absorbed some info but she didn’t leave me inspired! No tip for you! We did however get to try some yummmmmmmy Edam cheese and we saw some pretty interesting statues...

I quickly discovered that Amsterdam itself is actually a bike city. As in there are more bikes than people in the city at any one time. Every 6 months the council goes through the city and removes bikes that have been unused for x amount of time and there are bike parking centres all over the place. The Dutch are awesome!

The thinnest house

I also went on a boat trip around the Canals which was much much better! The boat driver was hilarious and spoke about 5 languages, was really informative without being boring and even let me have a drive of the boat! Look out!!

I checked out a great little restaurant just up from the Anne Frank house for dinner and had delicious Pea and Ham soup, a Dutch specialty apparently, not normally a fan but it was pretty tasty!

And for desert it was off to test the famous Bull Dog cafe coffee. The Bull Dog cafes are a chain of coffee/joint houses with quite an extensive menu. The space cake is pretty good and effective as is their ‘coffee’ menu. I spent the night blogging and chatting to another local I met at the bar and the two guys working the bar. They shouted us a few coffees and the three of them showed me to the best waffle house in town after dinner... FUN!

I was lucky enough to find quite a few shops that sold travel patches, much to my delight as I have been missing about 15 badges from my collection. So exciting!! My bags are now covered and I only have one or two spots left before I need to move on to the next bag! SWEEEET

All up Amsterdam was an absolute blast, the clogs, the smokes, the cheese, the whores, the waffles, the bikes. Definitely a memorable trip!!!

Just to be sure...

After days of indulging in Christmas goodies Amy and I hopped on an overnight bus to Prague, my favourite city in the world.

I don’t really need to go in to the specific with Prague because we all know I bloody love it there (4^th visit in 4years.. not bad). In all the times I have been there every experience has been different and has introduced me to som cracker people that I am still in contact with now. The beer factory and the Aussie bar have been HUGE parts of my love of Prague, oh and of course SIR TOBYS!!

I was so keen to introduce Amy to my favourite city but we only had a day and night and a few stop overs while going back and forth to Vienna and Cesky Krumlov and Bratislava. I do have to admit that this visit was very different to the other times. A lot more cultural than the other times!! Mostly what I love about Prague is the how great it is to just walk around and see what you stumble across. I have done a few museums and the castle once but other than that I am normally there for the fun not for the culture!! This time round we scrammed a whole lot of culture AND fun in. A good combination.

After the success of the Berlin NEW WORLD 3hr tour we decided to hit that up again and it was brilliant, again. The guide was a local which is always a plus and he had degrees in politics, history and drama... Pretty much a hilarious knowledge filled guide! He told us all about the floods of ’92, defenestration (when one dislikes a politician and throws them out a window, LIKE!), communism in Prague and the Velvet revolution.

It was such a fantastic tour and nice to actually get a bit of history in for once! We also checked out the awesome Lennon wall, a wall on the west side of the city that is covered in graffiti and art promoting music and peace. So beautiful.

It was post Christmas and the Christmas markets were still going so we were really lucky, Prague is beautiful enough but at Christmas it is a magical wonderland! It is also a feast of yummy foods, Langos (my favourite), Cinnamon Roll, mulled wine, Bratwurst and so on. YUMMM

When we first got there I withdrew 500kn and had no idea what is amounted to.. haha I was so tired it didn’t occur to me to check the balance until the next day!! Luckily it as not much in AUS $$.. Phew!

In Prague I started to experience Ski Envy. Seeing all the ads for ski gear and skiing holidays and seeing all the people in their ski pants was making me seriously jealous. Damn knee!! L

All in all Prague was brilliant, as per usual, and we had a great time. Hopefully I managed to get Amy to love it half as much as I do!!

the other side of Slovakia...

Last stop on our EPIC Christmas and New Year extravaganza was Bratislava, Slovakia. To be very honest the only reason we went there was because it was the cheapest and easiest place to get home from for both Amy and I but I am so glad we actually did!

Our hostel, A1 Hostel, was cute. Only two rooms, 8 bed dorm and a double room and that’s about it! A really new place and the manager was clearly soooo tired as he had been working so hard, poor thing!

The town is pretty quiet in winter and therefore and bit dodgy and creepy at night time but I imagine its actually quite safe normally. It was cute to see the town still speckled in snow!

The hostel manager recommended that we go to a local restaurant that was Amazing! I Slovak pub – best Slovak feed in town. We tried the local beer which was pretty tasty, and we really liked the funny menu – some of the translations were a bit dodgy!

I think Bratislava is quite a popular weekend destination with the Brits, there are so many pubs and bars and a fantastic assortment of coffee shops for such a small city. My kind of place.

I quite liked the sculptures. Throughout the town there are three men placed in different spots ‘minding their own business’.

The Photographer

The Watcher

The Frenchman

Other than these three men and the Castle there is not a lot else to see in Bratislava. But the castle does have an amazing view of the whole city, oh and the great windmill farms too!!

Once we said our goodbyes it was time for Amy and I to get back to our realities – Amy back to work in London and me back to Mulhouse to repack and head up to Luxembourg where I would be working for a bit.

I was looking forward to getting back but I was not at all prepared for the ridiculous bus trip home. First of all there was an absolute shit fight with the buses and they had booked too many people and there were not enough seats. Then the dude sitting in front of me had a crazy afro that meant I couldn’t see the TV and every time I thought I had a spot where I could see her would move his head. Annoying! They played Avatar on the TV and it was so loud even with the IPod on I couldn’t drown out the noise. Then to top it all off on the last leg of the trip there was a group of horrendous children sitting in the three seats in front of me, screaming and kicking and yelling and farting, all while their mum had a little nap. Stupid cow

Needless to say it was great to get back to the comfort of Mulhouse! Very memorable trip!!