Portugal 2016

I somehow don't have time to post stuff these days. That's why you are reading about my trip to Portugal from September now when it's not even the same year. But better late than never, right? On the bright side, I won't remember as much as if I was writing it right after coming home, so I'm going to keep it short.

Good thing I managed to save my Instagram stories, otherwise I would have no pictures to show you. I mean I would have but they would bore you to death since they are just azulejos or gargoyles and grotesques. We could call it a selfie story because I'm in an unhealthy amount of pictures. :-)=

So here is me being bored at the airport on the left (yes, my love of avocados is endless and if you say 'cados are tastless boring fruit, I'll fight you to death). And on the left you can see Lisbon at night. Pretty, huh?!

Our first steps (apart from finding our hotel) weren't in Lisbon, however. I managed to persuade my colleagues we all needed to see Coimbra - a picturesque university town. I heard no complaints so that made me happy - it was all just my scheme to see one of the coolest libraries in the world. And that I did. It has its own bats! And on the left you can see a pic I managed to take while the security was busy telling other people not to take pictures. Apart from the unique library we walked around the university complex (more tiles for me, yay) and we enjoyed almost getting lost in the little streets surrounding the university. Unfortunately our time was running out and we didn't visit the botanical gardens which is a shame but the train timetables are what they are. 

Oh, that reminds me - the public transport - from the centre to the station looks like it exists but the times written on the noticeboard are just for fun and for tourists to have something to complain about (not just in Coimbra, everywhere we went) and don't have to apply for the particular bus stop - we were sitting at one but the scheduled bus was leaving from a stop 50m up the road so that we barely managed to get on our train to Lisbon.

What's this? Sorcery? :-)=

Anyway, we got back to Lisbon and went for a walk through the streets (more azulejos, yay!) and got to eat some really delicious food (basically everything I ate in Portugal was fish or sea monsters so naturally I had difficulties getting in my pants on my way back home).

Selfie with a giant. Let's count my chins.

The next day we were picked up by our Portuguese colleagues and basically went round Lisbon from one restaurant to another while staring at sites (so we saw the main stuff

and I even waited in a looooong line to get to a tiny elevator to walk narrow steps where two fat people can get stuck while passing each other by to get to the feet of JESUS! 

As I learned he was built later than the one in Brazil so that was a bummer but I pride myself on the fact that I'm the only one of our group who is not claustrophobic or isn't afraid of heights so yeah. I went. They didn't. More food followed, I feel bad knowing some of the species I ate are on the brink of extinction but how can I not eat them?!

Anyway, the next day we were taken on a tour round the coastline (which is very dramatic and full of rocks and the beaches are good for surfers but the normal swimmers might die there.

Yes, I have a sushi sweatshirt and I'm an adult.

Before I went to Portugal, I had been instructed at home not to swim in the sea since the end of September is already too cold for swimming. 

Well, maybe for the natives but not for us... but as a joker I am I was dragging winter clothes with me all day so that I could send some pictures home, saying no one should worry, I have winter clothes for swimming with me :-D= . I must admit I was a sight putting on gloves and a hat wherever we went. Everybody laughed at me. And on one beach, there was a guard because the waves were too high but I needed a pic with my feet in the water and they kept whistling at me to get out of there. So I did. After a big wave came to my unsuspecting self and kissed my butt. Yup, my dress was wet that far up.

It was a good thing that we then went to Cabo da Roca where it was windy and my dress got dry. But I had to hold it down al the time.

Sintra followed. The downtown was packed with tourists even at this time of the year and we soon went up the castle. Now that was something. It looks like a weird hybrid of sorts. Each part is a different colour and there are so many azulejos! And wind :-)=

The days which followed were work-based so I don't really want to show pictures from our meetings and pubs though as I was getting bored at one restaurant, I acquired all the shells around me and started building a tower from them. The waiter looked horrified when he saw it, took it away and then I saw him taking a picture of it. I hope I didn't commit a crime or anything.

Pena Palace

A view from Sintra Castle (Pena Palace)

This also reminds me-one night our hosts took us to a different town to have supper. One of them borrowed that 8-passenger vehicle from a local basketball team and took us there. Since the South isn't famous for people's driving skills, everybody was afraid to sit next to the driver (in Czech we call it a Seat of Death BTW) so I had to sit there and witness it all from the front seat. But the drive to the town was uneventful. What was full of events, however, was the time when we entered the town and our driver got a call that not everything was ready so he had to make the ride longer. He proceeded by entering the oldest part of the town despite all those road signs prohibiting vehicles to go there. It was up the hill to the casle and the streets very soon became unbelievably narrow. We reached a place where it was impossible to turn left or right because the street was made even narrower by scaffolding on a house. So our driver started to go in reverse down the steep hill. He scratched and dented one side of the car because he didn't hear my scream warning him of steps on the right, he hit a flowerpot right after and so he decided he had to go up the hill again. We were desperate to get out of the car but he had none of it and somehow managed to turn left around the scaffolding and get to a place where he could turn the car. Needless to say we all jumped out of the car and never wanted to go with him again.
We walked around the castle for a while and then he got a call to get us to the restaurant but he said he needed to go for one of his friends first so we were left at such a small square where we decided to hide and give him some trouble for our suffering. We hid behind a stone wall and waited. There was an old man sitting on a bench a observing everything with interest so we made a "psst" sign not to tell on us. Soon we heard a car and José asking the man but the man didn't tell him. Of course, we had to get out of our hiding after a while because we didn't want to be left alone in a foreign town but it was funny how eight absolutely mature (or at least adult by age) women can have childish joy from this.

Tejo River boat trip

Afterwards, we were greeted by gin and tonic picnic (that's why we had to drive around and almost die) - that was super awesome and I think we all got a little tipsy from the stress. But that's how our hosts were - full of mysteries and cool surprises.

Oh, and one more thing apart from my expanding waistline, I learnt to eat olives! I hated them till Portugal but as they were fresh or were pickled in a better way, I realised I loved the black ones. The green ones are still not a hot thing for me but I'm getting there :-)=

Road Trip to Budapest 2016

Neusiedl am See

I'm incorrigible. Every time I return from a journey I say to myself that I'll write a blog post immediately but look at this. This was in the summer and yet I'm writing this on New Year's Eve.
This year my friends and I couldn't make our schedules meet for longer than five days so we decided to hit the road and get abroad but not that far. Once we got on the highway connecting Vienna and Budapest, it was so easy. 

4 iconic things: Buda castle, the Danube, old tram and the Joker ;-)

We made a stop in the half or our journey - in Austria in Neusiedl am See - to refresh ourselves and to stare into water for a bit. I must admit we could have stayed a bit longer were it not for one member of our party who started to burn in the sun. It was hot but still... Weird.

We arrived to Budapest in the afternoon and found our hostel in the centre as well as cheap parking space quite easily. Our first walk was along the Danube and then we searched for a place to eat some traditional food. We found a restaurant and placed our orders. When the food arrived, the waiter warned us of hot pepper on the food. I thought he was talking of the dry stuff which the food was dusted with so I tried to blow it away. But my friend took a bite of fresh veggies on the side (where there were a couple of slices of green

This dude reminded us of Karl Marx so we called him thus.
What's very funny about it is the cross in his hand. Get it?
No? Then I'm sorry. This is a nerdy joke for social scineces
majors... 

pepper) and started choking. We didn't know whether to call the ambulance or not. He became red. He couldn't talk. This proceeded for ten minutes. I tried the pepper too because I couldn't believe it would coax such a reaction out of someone (it was no jalapeño) and half of my tongue was on fire first and then I lost sensation in it. So I can only tell you how only half of my leco tasted. :-)

The next day we embarked on a trip up the hill. There is a Hungarian statue of liberty watching over Budapest so we went there. It was 30° at 8 am already and the storm clouds which threatened to spill over made sure the humidity was unbearable once we started sweating our way up. When we

Liberty Statue on Gellért Hill

got there, there was a group of Asian tourists in the first photo spot and they were just getting their cameras out of their bags which meant they arrived seconds before us. While we were drenched with sweat and were happy they came first in big numbers (so that we could take a breather and look less shiny in pictures), they were perfect. No sweat stains on their clothes, no runny make-up. Nothing. They were photo ready. Just how?! What country were they from that they found this exercise in humid hot conditions normal and didn't break a sweat? We found out later that there was a bus stop at the top so their group cheated. :-D=

Later we went to see Buda castle, which is biiiig and again on the top of the

You know I have a thing for these ;-)=

hill. But there were escalators. And an art exhibition so our souls were fed. Later we emerged at a different end of the castle and saw an awesome funicular. We waited for it to go up to take pictures and one of my friends decided to have an ice-cream while we waited. It was the only thing she had and we didn't so that must have been what caused her diarrhoea later. That sucked but only slowed us down a little.

We went to see the Parliament building (it's stunning) and the The Shoes on the Danube Bank memorial. After seeing St. Stephen's Basilica we went on a souvenir hunt and came across a big water fountain or whatever it was and were more than happy to dip our feet in it. 

Our last day started by seeing the synagogue and trying to find the Hungarian National Museum. We got lost for a bit and walked in a different direction (yay for maps where there aren't the little streets) but we found it and learned something of the Hungarian history.

At Buda castle

Then we went to see the Central Market Hall to get the feeling where various things were because we wanted to buy the fresh goods upon our departure the next morning. It was packed with people, chilly peppers, wreaths of garlic, sausages and other very odour-emitting products. Last souvenir hunt followed.

There was a beheaded snake under the fountain below "Karl"

Early in the morning of the next day we went to the market to buy stuff for our families and went home. We didn't see everything in Budapest, far from it. But what we saw we liked. It was beautiful and I see why people had problem saying if it's Prague, Vienna or Budapest which is the most beautiful city in Europe. I can't honestly tell.
Now let me tell you a story of our departure. As I was mentioning earlier, there were storm clouds everywhere making the air not so lung-friendly. And in the morning of our last day, the sky was dark and we knew it would start raining any minute. The check-out was at 8:00 and we waited ... and waited ... and waited for the dude to come in and open the reception to give us our deposit and documents back. He came about half an hour late. As we were dragging our luggage (now full of meat treats and wine) to the parking lot (about 2km away), very heavy raindrops started to fall. It was so dark suddenly that we didn't even see the corner where to turn. Needless to say that before we reached the car which now seemed very far, the rain seemed to "fall" up from the ground. The dirt surface of the parking lot made sure we got mud on our legs. Thoroughly wet and dirty we went home.

I don't know what's creepier - that the penguin has bigger boobs than me or that the penguin has boobs o_O

Every day I'm bookstagrammin' ...

The Parliament

The Market - food was downstairs and other goods up on those narrow "catwalks" ;-)

We sooo didn't want to get out of the water

The Hungarian National Museum and us chillin' on a red bench

The Basilica ceiling

Castle Hill Funicular

I have a ton of building decorations' pics but you don't want to see them, do you?

Poland 2016

There are no straight flights from Prague to Vilnius. Maybe they are in the summer but definitely not in May. So when we had a layover in Warsaw we decided to spend a day there because why not use our time in a more pleasant way than sitting at the airport all night long - yeah the connecting flights are also super crazy. When you arrive in the evening or at night you have to wait till the next day. Sheesh.

There was total chaos when we arrived. Firstly, they didn't give us our bags at the airport because they thought we wouldn't need them and hid them somewhere to wait till the next day when we would return for them. Bummer. So I had to explain how all our stuff was there and how we need it to survive so we waited a looong time but got them back. How come no one asked us if we wanted them if they saw we had two different dates on our tickets?! Anyway, the night had fallen before I managed to get the bags and buy bus tickets so we disembarked at the last stop (the closest to the old town where our hostel lay) and found ourselves in total chaos. People were everywhere. 

They shouted, played some weird instruments and were drunk and happy I guess but swimming against the flow with heavy bags at night when you are looking for something you haven't seen before sucks. 

It took us a very long time to find our hostel but we managed. Usually I'd leave my bag somewhere with the group and would run around looking at buildings and street signs and asking waiters where the heck I was. And I found it. My group found a piece of a tank in a church while I was gone. That was a double win. 

Oh speaking of the church - apart from whatever the Polish people were celebrating that day it was also the night during which entrance fees to museums disappeared so more people in the streets. Lucky us. 

I must say I was famished by the time we settled in our rooms and fortunately there was a baguette place around the corner. I've never had so expensive and delicious tuna/avocado baguette. Yum!

The next day we explored the old town which looks so nice and clean and the buildings are in great condition - then you realise they must be since Warsaw was bombed during the WWII and most of the buildings disappeared for a moment. So basically what you see in the Old Town nowadays is replicas of the original buildings. And some of them (like the church) have a reminder of their tragic past in the facade. They found the tank which destroyed the church and put one of its ... what is it called ... the thing which it uses for motion .. you know, the track thingy ... into the facade as a reminder. It's very interesting to say the least.

This was yet another reminder of the horrors people must have gone through. There was nothing left behind and they had to start anew. The same thing happened in Lithuania so most of the Vilnius's Old Town buildings are fake, too. And in other towns people just didn't bother with replicas and started building totally new structures. Unfortunately it was a Soviet kind of style. The ugly blocks of flats mushroomed everywhere. Not that I don't see those in my own country. But what I saw in Warsaw and Lithuania was more space between those hideous structures. People left enough space for trees so that they kinda obscure the view. I wish someone thought of that in here as well.

We spent a pleasant day in Warsaw - didn't have time to go in any museum so maybe next time around. I definitely plan to go back because I liked it there a lot.

 

Lithuania 2016

I'm currently packing my bags for a road trip to Hungary and it reminded me I actually didn't post anything about my last journey. So here it is. Lithuania in May. Yeah, that's exactly my problem. Not keeping up with my schedule. But better late than never, right?

Our school coordinates a project focused on different aspects of water and since schools from various European countries are involved, we can exchange students for a week. Which means someone has to accompany them. 

Two of my colleagues and I were picked for the Lithuanian adventure and before anything starts I have to admit some people should have a break. Like when dealing with teenagers you have to be patient and you have to take into account the fact that even though they act all cool they are just insecure kids inside and especially abroad they may feel homesick or afraid. You just have to put up with their mood swings and not take it personally. You gotta be there for them when they need you. Well, I was but I just don't understand my two much older colleagues who thought our kids were idiots all week long. I had to hear it day and night and just smile and nod because every time I tried to defend the reckless youth I was told to shut up (not this directly but still I got the message) because I was biased or something. I just fucking hated this. Just because I have a different opinion doesn't mean I have to be wrong! I pretty much think I was right all along and as the leader of our group (that's right, I was the only one able to communicate and find the way) I thought my opinion mattered. I guess it didn't. Being young in an old group of people sometimes sucks.

I found this cool vampire-looking bar in Klaipeda but I was closed in the wee hours of the morning :-(=

I my opinion it's OK to be young and careless or loud or crazy because how else are you going to find out who you are?! (By the way, our kids were the least noisy from all the kids there so what the hell?!) We all did things we are not proud of but it helped us grow. And if someone says otherwise then he/she is too old to remember or a hypocrite. I just wanted to tell you this because every time I recall those days I do not see problems with kids but with adults. It seemed as if I had one big group of kids and the two oldest were the meanest and caused most problems when interacting with the rest.  Because the kids were being what they are - kids, while the adults were being pain in the ass. You have no idea how stressful it was for me. I had to make sure we found our way, our hostel, something to eat, buses etc. while not losing any kids and I really wasn't in a mood to be a judge. Especially when no one really bothered to listen to my opinion. RANT OVER.

And now to the beauty of Lithuania which I tried to enjoy despite the constant fights between the said two parties. First of all, let me tell you something. When flying above Europe you can actually tell that you have crossed the borders. While the Czech Republic tends to have big square fields, a little up north in Poland they become long and rectangular and even further up in Lithuania they almost disappear to give way to forests and lakes. 

When we were travelling from one city to another, Lithuania indeed looked like one gigantic forest. It seemed as civilization existed only in big cities or in small wooden cottages at some fields and forests where there still is a cow or any farm animal tied to a pole instead of living behind the fence. I must say I found the countryside spectacular. It says more about a country than a city ever could. And I got a very good look at it since the bus driver refused to speed on the deserted highway. I mean, c'mon! The journey would take us half the time if he just his the gas. But as we've learned, the police officers are behind every tree waiting exactly for that. They obviously have nothing better to do than make sure the traffic is ridiculously slow.

We travelled from the forest to the seaside (that's always something for a central Europeans, trust me) by ferry which took about three minutes to cross the water which means if they built a bridge, the traffic wouldn't be that heavy around but who am I to judge. Some of us (OK, all of us) took the challenge to climb up a dune in Nida (they have a very cool story about the whole sand thing in there, google it) where there were warning signs telling us where not to go since we were very close to Russia - and guess what, my colleague actually got that greeting sms from Russia  x-D=

The seaside day was really awesome even though we started it in Dolphinarium (these things are very controversial for me since I don't know how I feel about animals who are used to travelling long distances every day being closed in a small space). I could just sit somewhere by the sea and just watch the waves. It was too cold to do anything else anyway. And the villages near the coast were picturesque - I just love the colorful wooden houses.

One day the Lithuanians told us that we'd go to the Hill of Crosses and that it was basically near the botanical garden where we were spending some time. So naturally, we started looking for it right away because if there is a hill then it must be seen from everywhere - Lithuania is a very flat country. And then the bus stopped and we were still looking for the hill. Still saw nothing. Well, if this is a hill then the hill in Vilnius must be a mountain then. I'd call it a heap. But it doesn't change anything about the fact that the place is eerily monstrous. There are crosses onto which people hang other crosses onto which you can add yours. Pilgrims from all over the world come there and even though I am not a religious person, I was affected by the vibe of the place. For Lithuanians (apart from being a part of their every day lives - the parents put crosses there for their christened babies) it's place which symbolizes their religious strength. It was torn to pieces many times during occupation yet the crosses always found their way back. 

I spent an amazing week in Lithuania mostly because our partner school took great care of us and prepared very entertaining program (so that those who take care of the kids can have fun, too), heck I even baked traditional Lithuanian rye bread! The people were very nice to us and everything they did seemed to come from the heart - that's a rare thing. 

One funny thing - when we first arrived it was almost midnight and our hosts found only one open bar to serve us food. It was a bar with fake mist and a dance pole. And apart from the waitress there were only men sitting around. So I thought we were in a gay bar. I mentioned this to our hostess once in the week and she looked at me shocked. There aren't gay bars in Lithuania. Because of the religion these people tend to hide or something. I was sure it was a gay bar and kept telling her the whole week. On our last day we were passing the bar to get to a different restaurant and there were only men around the entrance, you know talking and stuff. So I pointed out I saw no girls which means it's a gay bar. Our hostess kept saying it wasn't. When we were going back from the restaurant again passing the bar, AGAIN no girls only men around. So I told her again that it was definitely a gay bar. She saw two girls in front of us going in the direction of the bar so we turned and waited if the bar was their destination. Nope, they went into the distance and none of the guys turned his head to look at them. Just saying. So I discovered a gay bar in the middle of a christian community even though everyone says otherwise.

This is what kept us entertained while our bread was in the oven :-D=

The Baltic Sea is cold in May but I had to do it!

In Šiauliai they have these - and you just know I will have to post it on Instagram :-D=

Hated by many, the metal Fox became the symbol of Šiauliai (yeah, the golden archer is almost forgotten)