Category Archives: Travel

Discover, Travel

On the Baltic Sea

my birthday's gift on my feet, my woolen cap on my ears, I am ready to go!

my birthday’s gift on my feet, my woolen cap on my ears, I am ready to go!

For five days I enjoyed the fresh and cold air of the Baltic Sea, on a St Peters’line cruise ship. Once again with Sandra (do not change a winning team), we go to visit some beautiful cities of northern Europe: Tallinn, St Petersburg, Helsinki and Stockholm.

We sail by night and arrive every morning in a different city. The first one we visit is St Petersburg.

The next day we arrive in Helsinki, Finland. It’s still cold (about 5°C) but we walk a lot, which is a perfect solution against cold. And we have only few hours to visit each city so we hurry, we almost run so that we do not miss the ship’s departure …

Next stop, Stockholm, beautiful city that was discovered with the sun!

Then we come back on board for the last time, we reach our starting point, Tallinn. From here, we take a bus to go to Vilnius.

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Discover, Money, Travel

2000 km hitchhiking around Europe

Firstly, we take a plane from Kaunas to Copenhagen for 5€. The offer was attractive… We took an one way ticket because we thought that it might be interesting to come back by the road and visit some cities along our way.

Day – 1 Copenhagen

We realized imediatly that this city is not suitable for our volunteer’s salary... In the city, everyone moves by bike, for us, it’s by foot. On our way, we meet Nicola, another volunteer in Lithuania who is Italian. With him, we visit the neighborhood of Christiania, a self-proclaimed “free city of Christiania” founded in 1971.

Day – 2 & 3: Hamburg
After a complete day hitchhiking and takin 3 or 4 different cars, we arrive in Hamburg, where our couchsurfing host is waiting for us. We arrived quite late, around 23 pm, but anyway he kindly opened his door. The day after we visited Hamburg and the harbour, wich is the largest in Europe!

Day – 4 & 5: Berlin
The fourth day of our travel, we wake up early to reach Berlin. We take some advices from the website “hitchwiki” (website listing tips for hitchhikers) and then, we start to hitchhinke again. Luckily, we find a driver who is going directly from Hamburg to Berlin. He is a musician, listening to loud rock music, and driving an old Volkswagen T3. Music for the mood!


Arrived in Berlin early enough, we have time to visit a little before to join our host, a Polish girl who have made few years ago an EVS (European Voluntary Service) in Germany and who works now in Berlin. The day after we visit the city, we go to a museum (culture is important!), we walk in the streets (a lot!), we take sometimes the metro without paying our tickets and, of course, we get control and penalty … Anyway, after that, we pay every transport ticket and we finally reach the famous Berlin Wall by night.

Day – 6 & 7: Prague
Around 9 am, we start to hitchhinke. Unfortunately, we are not in the right direction to go to Prague … So we try somehow to get out of the city towards the south, but nothing works. We waited more than 4 hours before that someone takes us on the way. This car is going to Dresden, in southern Germany, with 2 men and 1 girl. We understand after many questions about Europe and about our European Voluntaring, that the second man is actually a member of the European Parliament.

In Dresden, it is already night when we arrive. We start to be a bit desperate, but after about 30 minutes, a car stops to bring us directly to Prague.
We arrive in the center of Prague so late that we decide to go directly to party in the old town to discover  the atmosphere of the city by night.

Day – 8 & 9: Krakow
For the 8th day, it is difficult again to get out of the city and find a transport to reach Poland from Prague. We first made a stop in Brno (CZ), and then we take a car going to Krakow, that we share with a Dutch hitchhiker. We have the same destination so we take twice the same car. In Krakow, we arrived very late, as usual, and we almost slept in the street because our couchsurfing host was tired to wait for us. Finally, he accepts anyway to host us in his flat. Good news according to the temperature outside. The day after, we visit the Auschwitz camp located near to Krakow.

Day – 10: Warsaw and Kaunas
This is already the last day of our trip. We leave Krakow quite late because I lost my phone the day before in a bus, and we move heaven and earth during hours trying to find it. The bus station’s information point does not have any information for us, the bus drivers give me the phone number of the company that I can call (if luckily, I had my phone of course …) and the public telephone works with a prepaid card, but nobody knows where I can buy it. Fortunately, my team mate is a very helpful Spanish girl (a little bit smarter than me!) who convinced me to stay at the location of the bus we took the day before. And … magic! She comes back from a bus with my phone in her hand!
Then, finally, we can continue our way to Warsaw, and then to Kaunas in Lithuania. As fast as possible because we don’t have other free days anymore.

After hours and hours on the road, all day, all night, we reach Kaunas. Tired but alive …

 

 

 

 

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Money, Travel

Hitchhiking and couchsurfing

Before applying for any EVS, you must know that we do not make money being volunteer. We do not save enough money to travel, even if it is one of the most exciting things in EVS.

The monthly compensation of volunteers depends of the host country. For Lithuania, it is about 200 € per month (food + pocket money), approximately 7 € per day. So when you decide to travel, enjoying of your few days off, you have the same budget. Free things are welcomed: hitchhiking and couchsurfing!

Hitchhiking

Unlike what I knew about France and Italy, hitchhike in Lithuania is quite easy. People uses to take 2015-08-01 08.13.41 hitchhikers. Young or old people, speaking in English, Lithuanian or Russian, driving car or truck, the drivers are simpathetic. Being two or three, we never waited for a car more than 30 minutes.

For example from Zarasai (Lithuania) to Tallinn (Estonia), which represents approximately 500 km, we spend about 10 hours. And this type of transport is a way to meet locals and learn more about the country that we are crossing.

Couchsurfing

first day - Tallinn (Estonia) - 4 am

This website is amazing! It allows to find hosts for free all around the world. The idea is giving an old sofa or a new bed to travelers exhausted and poor who are coming to visit your city. It is also an opportunity to meet interesting people and discover a country from the perspective of those who live there.

For our trip to Estonia, we had the opportunity to meet locals, who loved to talk about their country, their city, or play guitar in their garden all the night!

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When the transport and the accomodation are found (for free!) all that remains is find some food. But for that, fortunately, you have your salary of volunteer, 7 € per day. Great! Ok … It will be pasta and potatoes …

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Our quick tour in the Baltic states, following this way of “couchsurfing-hitchhiking-pasta-potatoes”

1563 km

 

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Tallinn

After the ferry, on the Saaremaa island

Sorve Lighthouse – Saaremaa island

Haapsalu

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Travel

Trip to Warsaw, Poland

For 20 € and 8 hours by bus from Vilnius, we arrive, Oriana and I, in Warsaw. During three days, tours, sun and Polish cuisine!

For two nights, we live in a youth hostel in a very old building. Fourteen people share the dormitory, and also 5 or 6 Spanish people who seem to be 15 when they speak loudly in the room at 7 in the morning! Thank you, we don’t even need any alarm clock!

 

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Discover, Lithuania, Travel

Vilnius (1st part)

For my first weekend in Vilnius, I decide to visit some places … After the old town, I arrive in Užupis, a neighbourhood for artists became an independent republic in 1997. Some extracts of its constitution:

“Everyone has the right to die, but it is not a duty”

“Everyone has the right to understand”

“Everyone has the right to understand nothing”

“A dog has the right to be a dog”

“Do not defeat. Do not fight back. Do not surrender.”

 

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Before leaving

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Before any departure, there is … the suitcase!

I am allowed to take 15 kg. I was pretty much ready to don’t take a guitar or a billiard table, but I had not imagined that a bottle of champagne could be a problem.

I start to fill my suitcase with some clothes that I see around me, without any logic. My room is full of boxes and bags from my last move from Perpignan. I add some jumpers and scarves, then I put some bottles of wine and champagne that I want to take as gifts. Go to the scales! 2 kg more …

I take away some T-shirts and jeans, but of course it is not enough … I decide to “sacrifice” a bottle. Among the three bottles (wine, cognac and champagne) the bottke of champagne is the heaviest one: 1.7 kg! (I thought that the bubbles were light!). So I resign myself to leave it here. We will have to drink it to celebrate my departure!

Now, only 100 grams more! I think it will be ok. I close finally my suitcase.

I check that I have my ID card, my plane tickets and about a dozen of other “useful” papers, I think I’m ready.

 

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