Darameja

I know that the city you live in is often the last one you consider to explore. And I promised myself this would not happen to Warsaw... and I did not keep my promise. Of course, I saw the city, and you can see some things I have done in my Experiences in Warsaw blog post. However, I could have done it much more and much better. Nevertheless, I had my free last full-of-sightseeing days and I want to write about Praga district. This peculiar part of city is separated from whole Warsaw by Vistula river. Failed attempts to build a bridge left both parts disconnected until 18th century. Praga left relatively untouched after World War II, meanwhile the rest of Warsaw was mostly destroyed. But in Soviet times it became a district of criminals and ... read more

I went to Vienna because of Vienna Calling - the couchsurfing summer camp. It was really intense so I cannot write this all into a blog post; there are just scarce memories and impressions. This will be more a photo blog. Living in apartment with 7 people. Beer drinking at first day BBQ. The huge park and finding the exact place there. The MUSHROOM. The huge party, lots of lots of people. Meeting Casey. Salsa lessons at workshop camp. Opera. Little pub crawl the last evening. Waking up in 3 hours and getting a ride to Krakow. Crazy, dynamic and good. ... read more

Burghausen was not anywhere in my travel plans. Before that I did not even know this town existed. The destination of whole trip was to get to couchsurfing meeting in Vienna and to visit a friend in Germany before it. So I managed to hitchhike to Prague, where my friend picked me up and then I had to find some way to get to Vienna. Luckily for me there were few people offering a ride to Vienna for this meeting and I wrote message to Jackie. She answered fast and positive and that's how I got to Burghausen. We entered town in the evening and were surprised how peaceful, calm and charming it was. It had usual layout of these small German towns, with main square in middle, a church and nice colorful houses along the ... read more

So, I was on my way in a minibus to Chemerivtsy where my American couchsurfing host lived. Of course I got some attention from the driver, as there are not so many travelers going to Chemerivtsy. But that was lucky encounter, as he said he was going to Kaliningrad the next day, so I can have a ride all the way to Warsaw. The mini bus was full of people and very warm. A woman nearby started talking to me. She came to minibus earlier and heard me talking to driver, so knew that I was foreigner. Apparently she used to be a journalist and worked in Middle East a lot. It took just 40 minutes and we were in this little place Chemerivtsy, so much different from magical Kamenets-Podilsky. Driver gave me his phone number, ... read more

Zheckov was quite different world indeed. The town itself has nothing special - it’s a leftover of Soviet Union. The main sight of it is statue of Lenin. It has 3 huge factories around it 2 of them not working - very typical town built for workers. I stayed there with Masha, who is a friend of my grandmother. She has lived in my hometown Siauliai for around 20 years and then after the break of SSSR she had to move out and came back to her home in Ukraine. She became very good friend of my grandmother. Strength and bad luck with husbands (they both had to raise children on their own and work very hard) - I think these are the reasons that connected them so much. Also Masha is well known in her ... read more