Częstochowa, Wrocław, Karpacz, Kamiena Góra - Poland, July 20th-30th, 2009 After leaving Krakow, we began our journey to my hometown of Wroclaw. We stopped along the way in the pilgrimage town of Czestochowa for a brief two night stay. Czestochowa is one of many major pilgrimage sites for Christians around the world. This particular place is a pilgrimage site because of the painting of the Black Madonna which resides there. The painting is believed to have started bleeding when it was cut by invading Hussites in 1430, who after seeing the bleeding retreated in fear. This [View Full Entry]

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Krakow, Polska - July 3rd - 12th, 2009 For the first time since leaving London, we arrived at our destination and it was not raining on us. Instead it was very hot and humid... kind of made us wish it was still raining so it would be cooler. We got to our reserved hostel only to be told that it had been double booked! Fortunately this turned out to be a good thing as they sent us to another place closer to the town square, and they paid for the first night! We ended up in a great hostel, a [View Full Entry]

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Zakopane, Poland - July 7th - 10th, 2009 After an uneventful 2.5 hour bus ride from Krakow, we arrived in Zakopane. We easily found our hostel and for the first time since Iceland had a private room with our very own shower and toilet! Fancy! Things you take for granted in normal life quickly become luxuries while traveling. The day we arrived we set out to see the town. Zakopane is a nice tourist town with one main street filled with bars, clubs, restaurants, shops, street entertainers and even working ponies that you can pet for a small price. The following [View Full Entry]

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Warszawa, Polska, June 26th - July 1st, 2009 Our trip in Russia ended with us being back exactly where we started. No more booking so far ahead, as we do not like to follow a set schedule so strictly. We spent our first day in Warsaw doing absolutely nothing as planned. We had been on the road for almost a month and needed a day off from sightseeing to relax and recuperate. It wasn't till the late afternoon of our second day that we finally left the hostel to see some of the Polish capital city. Since the weather was not [View Full Entry]

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Москва - June 21st - 25th, 2009 After sleeping 4 hours in St. Petersburg, we had to pack up and catch the 9am flight to Moscow. We took the metro with all the drunks getting home from the celebration of the night before, and made it to the airport on time. 2 hours later we were in Moscow, and as usual it was pissin' on us again. We wandered around for an hour trying to find our hostel, and eventually stumbled on it after passing right by it twice. We were pretty pooped from the night before, hungry and just feeling [View Full Entry]

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St. Petersburg, Russia June 17th - 21st, 2009 After heading east for nearly 3 weeks, and a final 2 hour flight from Warsaw, we arrived in our destination of St. Petersburg, Russia. We are glad we decided to fly as we got a great deal on 3 flights, and to take the train would have taken us probably another two weeks to get here. True to form, it pissed on us as soon as we got off the plane. We were thoroughly soaked by the time we reached our hostel in the heart of the city on Nevsky Prospect, a stones [View Full Entry]

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Gdansk, Poland - June 15th, 2009 We arrived in Gdansk after a 6 hour train ride from Szczeczin. As usual, we were greeted by heavy rain, and of course, we did not have a hostel reserved. So we set out on a mission to find some lodging. Easier said then done. A lot of the hostels were booked solid because it was a holiday. After wandering around for several hours in the rain we managed to find of all places, a barge on the river which was converted into a hostel. The place was decent, even though the room was about [View Full Entry]

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Berlin - June 8th - 11th, 2009 From Amsterdam, we took our first (and hopefully last) night bus to Berlin, Germany. We had promised ourselves that we would avoid travelling longer than 5-6 hours per day, and avoid night travelling all together, but with the weekend cost of hotels in Amsterdam, and the cheap bus fares, it only made sense. We boarded at 11:15 pm, and after a sleepless 9.5 hours, were in Berlin the next rainy morning. We had a place reserved, which only cost us 10 Euro per night, a decent hostel with all the amenities. Needless to say [View Full Entry]

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Amsterdam - June 3rd - 7th 2009 It was finally time to leave the comfort of my brothers place, and begin the real travelling which is what we came to do. Our first stop from London was Amsterdam, home of whores, Heineken and magic muffins from space. We got set up in a little hotel just outside of the center, and began the walking tours which have become a routine for us now. Our first stop was the Heineken Experience, the original brewery of the world famous beer. Last time I was in Amsterdam, admission to this place was about $2 [View Full Entry]

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May 31st, 2009 - Scotland, United Kingdom For our last road trip from London, we set out for Scotland, home of Sir William Wallace, Alexander Graham Bell and Scotland's most famous son, Groundskeeper Willy. We left London on Monday afternoon, and stopped in Liverpool, since it was on the way. We wanted to stop there for only one reason, and that was to see the "Most Famous Club in the World", the Cavern Club. For those who don't know, this is where the Beatles used to play and where they were discovered. The place is full of memorabilia, including John Lennon's [View Full Entry]

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