Today has been much better than expected! We arrived in Poland before 4pm so the bus ride didn’t seem too bad. We had time to explore a bit on our own this afternoon. Actually, we were in Poland at 10am but it took a long time to reach Warsaw. We had a lunch stop at a Polish restaurant where everyone had preordered their meals so they were ready for us when we arrived – Polish schnitzel with vinegar-based coleslaw for me and chicken stuffed with vegetables for Kamie. We shared and they were both good. We arrived into Warsaw, Poland long before we made it to our hotel because traffic was so crazy. Warsaw is 1.8 million people, 2 million with commuters during the day. It feels like every bit of that and then some. I ... read more

We are in the country of Lithuania tonight. I like it! The vibe here is good and the buildings – everywhere – are gorgeous. It’s like walking around a fake town and our hotel isn’t even in the “old towne” section. Their “normal” buildings are beautiful. Kamie & I walked around town on our own for a couple of hours during lunch today and then at 3pm we took a group tour of the Museum of Genocide or the KGB Museum. This is the original prison that was the headquarters for the Gestapo during the German occupation and the headquarters for the KGB during the Russian occupation. I will tell the stories below the pictures but I warn you, they are extremely sad. At one point during the basement prison tour, I felt it was too ... read more

Today was the first day it was beautiful outside - sunny and in the 40s/50s. ? We had very little time in Tallinn, Estonia today before we checked-out and the bus drove us down the coast of Estonia into Riga, Latvia. Our bus has huge glass windows so it’s like being in a convertible – you can see all the landscape, stores, homes, vehicles, etc. It was only a four hour drive but we stopped a couple of times along the way at odd little shops selling strange souvenirs and terrible food. Kamie purchased lunch at one of the stops - soup which included tomatoes, green olives, what looked to be cutup hot dogs, some type of beef and red sausages…all in this one bowl full of orange grease floating everywhere. I swear he will try ... read more

We are here and it’s been quite the adventure. As I write this, we have been awake over 31 hours. I have NEVER been this emotionally or physically exhausted traveling. Our flight out of Chicago on the world’s second largest passenger plane was delayed 30 minutes because 70 passengers were missing. The plane was huge by the way so 70 passengers didn’t feel like lots of missing people. Lufthansa is a German airline so the overhead announcements were in German followed by incredibly muffled and quick announcements in a hard-to-understand English. We boarded the plane, waited for the missing passengers, and finally, the German pilot comes on and says a bunch of gibberish in German and follows the announcement in English with “No passengers so we leave.” And so we left 30 minutes late with lots ... read more

This is a new blog site for us. Travelpod was shutdown. I loved that site but it's no longer available. I'm trying this new site. The way this new blog site works is... you read the entry, you see one picture, you scroll down just a bit and you will see all the other pictures. You may have to click your refresh button at the top of your Internet page or you won't see new daily posts & pictures. I think you can leave comments and then I may have to approve them before you can see your own comments?? I don't know yet. I am using this blog mainly as a way to let mom and dad know we are alive and well. You can subscribe to this blog site and you will get an ... read more