Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Germany and France - Week 12

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July 31st 2013

Published: July 31st 2013

Day 77 – Riga - Latvia

Bus bus bus bus. Sigh! Another border crossing which wasn’t as long as the one getting into Russia but still long enough. Eventually we get to Riga in the arvo and our tour leader takes as on a walking tour of the Old Town. I really like Riga. Everything is cheap and in walking distance. We had a group dinner which was delish and headed to a Kiwi Bar to party the night away. It was a great night. Good opportunity to mingle with people you don’t usually speak to. Courtney and I developed Essex accents as the drinking continued and had a bit of fun with that. A lot of photo bombing and posing going on too. Fun fun.

Day 78 – Riga

A lovely sleep in and late brekky and I was ready to hit the town again. I had a slow wander around with Shari and Leanne as we walked off the effects of last night. We discovered a really nice place for lunch and did lots of shopping. I found some awesome stuff in this eclectic boutique. After a chocolate pit stop Kel and I headed off to meet Kim for dinner. I haven’t seen Kim for about 4 years and she just happens to be in Riga the same night we are. Crazy! We had a nice dinner which included bull’s testicles (quite liked them actually), beer, ribs, pork knuckle and duck. All the good stuff. We then found a funky band playing in an outdoor area so we had a few cocktails while dancing in our seats. I should have realised by the name of the cocktail - ‘Radioactive Long Island’ that it was pretty toxic, however I continued to order more cocktails regardless. Our nice quiet catch-up with Kim became more and more out of hand (mostly by me) and let’s just jump ahead to me feeling very ill the next day. No more needs to be said about this night and I have once again vowed to never drink again.

Day 79 – Vilnius – Lithuania

Kill me! I want to die. Not the best morning to be getting up at 6am and then getting back on the bus. I look and feel like death but I must carry on. Once the bus trip ended I was in Lithuania. Thank god because I kinda hate Latvia right now (and cowboys with drink recommendations). Everyone headed out for a walking tour and I chose to stay in bed. Smart choice me thinks. When I eventually felt like I could return to society I headed to dinner with a few of the crew. I didn’t really get a chance to explore Vilnius but it looked like a nice enough town.

Day 80 – Warsaw – Poland

Another bus day. Our tour guide gave us a bit of info about the Holocaust today while driving. The crazy torture techniques, the numbers of people involved and the scare tactics to stop people running away or killing themselves. It is just so hard to fathom that this happened and not that long ago either. At the end of his spiel Luke put on the MJ song ‘Heal the World’ and the bus just sat in silence listening.

When we arrived in Warsaw we took a bus tour around the city, had dinner in the Old Town and went on a pub crawl. Just what I felt like too. More alcohol… not. I was hanging out for a club with decent music for dancing though. We went to two steaming hot pubs. Where is the air con in Europe? And then we visited two clubs to finish the night off. They had great music and I think I danced for 3 hours straight. Good night had by all I think.

Day 81 – Warsaw

Today we indulged in a sleep-in. We’ve had so many early starts and late nights that I just needed to wake-up without an alarm. We eventually went out to explore Warsaw at noon. We found the shopping centre (of course) and we also visited the Palace of Culture and Science which has an observation deck for views of the city. The temperature has jumped up again so we’re trying to stay as cool as possible. Our dinner tonight was with the group again and we had an award ceremony. We had to nominate people for awards such as… ‘Loudest person’, ‘Worst person’, ‘Alcoholic’, ‘Biggest bull-shitter’, ‘Most naïve’, ‘Biggest creep’, ‘Class clown’ and so on. Thankfully I did not win any of these categories.

Day 82 – Berlin – Germany

Our trip is almost over. Just one more big bus trip back to Berlin and then everyone will disperse. Quite a few are continuing with their holidays like us but an unfortunate number have to return to work. We actually have two people from this trip who will also be on our next TopDeck tour. For our last dinner we headed to a German beer hall and had pork knuckle. It was so ridiculously hot and humid that we didn’t really feel like eating. We sat there waving drink coasters in our faces and cursing the Germans for not having air con. I have not felt as hot as that on this whole trip and that’s including my time in Egypt.



Day 83 – Paris – France

OMG! OMG! I’m going to Paris today. Our final morning in Berlin consisted of laundry, so not that interesting. We said our last goodbyes to the TopDeckers who were left behind and finally got away from the humidity. Our flight was quick and it was surprisingly easy to get to our hotel. We are in the most perfect location right next to the Louvre. We went for a walk around just to see what we could see and everything is amazing. We walked along the river and past the Louvre. Saw the Eiffel Tower in the distance. Eeee!!! I had a cocktail and crepe for dinner. So excited and I can tell this will be one of my favourite cities. Love it already! Did not love my suitcase having a blow out however. My beautiful rainbow suitcase came round the luggage carousel minus another wheel. It is officially useless. Who wants to buy me an early birthday present of a new suitcase??? Anyone???

Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Germany and France - Week 12

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