2012 filter cross country tour: day 1

just drove through the arizona state line. 

and nothing has given me more bliss than seeing california through my side-view mirror. all the stress that accumulated this past month took a toll; simply, it feels great to drive away and know that the only thing i have to worry about is the road and what track to play next. so first stop: flagstaff, az. 

we're staying at the montevista hotel, one of the many haunted hotels that our tour manager managed to book us in...again

should be fun!

westerners

five days ago, in the city of old riga, i stood alone inside a crowded bus station holding a one-way bus ticket to vilnius that was no longer valid. standing there, below a dark cloud, i laughed. to the latvians around me, i must've looked mad, maybe i was. there i knew there was absolutely nothing i could do to change my situation. so i kept laughing all the way back to my hostel

but now, a few thousand feet above the english channel, i'm inside an aer lingus flight with two of my closest friends headed to dublin after spending the best week ever in western europe.

we spent the first night in paris in this sheik hotel called the 'le mondrien'. it was nice but we didnt spend much time inside. we walked around the city, played typical tourists while taking countless pictures of the same sites you see on your friends facebook page. we made our way back to the hotel, showered and quickly headed to the eiffel tower for some lambrusco time. as soon as it got dark, the eiffel tower went paparazzi. hundreds of sparkling lights lit up the massive A as we zipped our sweet wine.

the dazzling light show went on on every top of the hour. the next morning we walked to the train station where we caught our train to brussels.

from what i gathered over the years, brussels was not a happening place to be. but o contrare, we was wrong! the city has a unique vibe, one which i cant quite fully describe. normally a city looks similar to others but i cant think of a city to compare belgium with.

the belgian people were extremely friendly, but this might have been due to the fresh rudeness the french had given us the day before.

we stayed in a neat hostel next to the 'godiva' chocolate factory. we also knew coming into to belgium about their famous beers along with the renown monasteries that produced them. as the night progressed, we stumbled into the delirium cafe/bar, which was a three-level cave. it was there where i discovered 'delirium's' nocturnum. if you haven't tried it, do so. it has such an interesting flavor, one that i can only describe as sweet, dark, and refreshing. i usually go for the bitter side of brew, but the nocturnum won me over.
we pretty much did the same the next day.

from brussels we rode the train up to amsterdam where i had amazing time as well. at first, walking outside the train station was a bit overwhelming. all you see is people on their bikes and one false move can have you laying in a hospital. we walked for about thirty minutes looking for the 'flying pig' hostel. we finally found it, and off we were. we bought some of the native brew 'amstel' , some bread, cheese, turkey, then headed to vondolf park. everyone was out, the day was sunny and breezy; the day: perfect.

as the sun's rays began to get weaker  the park began to change the color of the trees. the whole park had a neat amber glow.

the next day we rented bikes and pretty much did the same as before. as we rode our bikes through small streets over the canals we rode right into the outskirts of the red light district, which was not what i thought it was going to be. i found it to be a very organized operation. people walked towards the ladies behind the glass, prices were whispered to each other, and many transactions were done.

a few hours later and we arrived in the emerald island.

once again the sky was open with blue skies and warm weather. we tossed our bags in our hostel and once again we took to the streets. andy and i had already been to ireland the year before, but we primarily stayed on the south side of the river leffey. on this trip we stayed on the north side, which isn't as touristee as the south. we went on a quest to find a store called 'penney's' in order to buy towel. our hostel was charging 6 euro but the kind lad at reception told us that we could buy cheaper ones, which we did. along the ways, i couldn't resist to stop at a kebab shop. later that night, we walked on over to temple bar where we had some guinness and listened to some traditional irish folk.

we ended the night with 'papa johns' pizza.
the next day was pretty uneventful. we did the 'john jameson' tour, which was very informative and fun.

it began to rain so we spent some time inside the hostel. you could tell in our gazes that we were tired. we found a place to eat and from there we stopped by for some souvenirs. sleep came next.

now, like many time before, i'm overlooking the atlantic thinking to myself what comes next.

didn't quite make it to vilnius...

i frantically paced back and forth looking for my correct bay as i stood in front of riga's crowded bus station. signs all in latvian pointed to cities i've never heard before. all i cared about was getting to vilnius. even with all of those strange dotted letters, i was still able to make out some of the cities; vilnius was being displayed at a later time. it was at that moment when i felt my heart sink. 
i instantly knew the huge mistake i'd made. i looked at my bus ticket and the departure time read 2:55. there was no pm or am because in the rest of the world countries use universal time. i knew that my ticket was long gone, but i still tried talking to the agent about possibly catching another bus. "this tiket, no good." the agent said with a lazy swoop of the hand. 

there was no point in arguing, all i could do was smile and walk away. i went back to my hostel where i was welcomed back with open arms. the next two hours i desperately searched online for other buses and flights to get to vilnius but all were either ridiculously overpriced or the timing didn't make sense. i opted to stay one more night in riga in the hope that lufthansa would still honor my ticket that originated from vilnius...not riga.
i slept for the next 15 hours on a empty stomach. i was on a strict budget so one more day of spending in riga was definitely out of the question. the next day i woke up and i headed straight to the fridge where i had my cold sandwiches ready. they weren't that great, but did the trick.
it was then where i met ryan, samantha, and this other kind man who i've forgotten his name. they were new yorkers who were also backpacking europe. we instantly hit it off! i think i had more fun in the three hours we hung out with each other versus the whole 48 hours i'd spent in riga. 
sammy kept bringing us shots of this medicinal herbal liquor that resembled jagermeister but with a much more bitter taste. after three of those shots, we headed to a restaurant where we had a latvian take of mongolian bbq. a few moments later we were at the bus station, the same one where 24 hours before i stood with a decimated look. it's crazy, i think i learned more about new yorkers in the few hours we spent together, than what i learned about the rest of the people of latvia. it's something that i'm not proud of but it's also something that i'm not ashamed of. we said our goodbyes and off they were.

now, i'm on a lufthansa flight a couple of thousands feet above eastern europe eager to see my kin, andy and phillip. usually i can go for weeks on these trips without being home sick, but the baltics has made me miss what i hold close. i cant wait to see them 

elk soup and beer for breakfast

beef in the baltics

there aren't that many things that i can say about latvia. this city, with its cobblestone streets and post-soviet defaced churches looks neat from the outside. but there are strong tensions between the russians and latvians that are hard to avoid. yesterday i hung out with a group i met during a walking tour of latvia, and the tour guide was giving us the breakdown of latvia's history. we were standing in front of the jewish ghetto when an older man approached the tour guide. the man spoke in russian, but our tour guide could not speak it back. she understood almost everything he said and the end of his rant, our guide's eyes became glassy from the anger. russians in latvia will not learn latvian, and i guess they still think that the soviet union lives on.

anyways, today is a new day. in a few moments my carry-on will be stumbling across the cobble stones headed to the great country of lithuania. vilnius is where i'll stop and find my next meal. 

estonian to latvian

its been three days since my last taste of some of that elk soup from tallinn; though the second time around was not so pleasant as the first. from what i gathered, estonians seem to be the friendly and outgoing type. they are also freaks! as in, the women seem to have the same mentality as the opposite sex. 

on the last night of my stay in tallinn, i was invited to an outdoor concert right next to the freedom steps. it was me and four girls from the hostel, which made for interesting conversations. as the concert drew to its end, it grew more patriotic and grand. "estonia!" from all over that specific pocket of the city were shouted as the crowd swayed from side to side. but from what i gathered, this emotion that estonians were displaying has been the same since they gained freedom from the russians in the early 90's. nina, a finnish girl who was studying in tallinn, explained how the movement hasn't really progressed forward. after hearing the same melancholic song for the third time, it didn't seem farfetched.  

the night ended, everyone went there way, and i began making sandwiches for the long day ahead. the next morning i said my goodbyes to john(sweden), and nina(finland), and off i was with roller in hand. i turned a corner and walked into a 'R kioske' and asked, in my most estonian english, "baass tiikettt REEEGAA". that sounded about right, but the lady across the counter just gave me a ticket for the local tram. i shook my head and repeated riga, this time including latvia; the lady laughed. she shook her head and communicated exactly what i feared.

i walked outside and took a cold deep estonian breath. a few seconds after, i heard a soft "hello" directed straight at me. during my deep conversation with the kiosk lady, a girl inside had been hearing our conversation and offered to help me. at first she tried explaining, but apparently the bus station was far. she asked me to follow her to the next block, for a better view of which street to take. her english was good, but very estonian. her explanations of getting to the bus station kept being interrupted by sub conscience. we kept walking until we approached a lot full of cars. she began walking to her car and i tried remembering the vague directions she had said. 

"alright, well thank you so much for everything. so i make a right on..." she didn't let finish my sentence. "no! no, you its too complicated! you will get lost, you come with me." as she pointed to her car, "i will take you"

now, going against all my judgement, i had to make the call. on the one hand, what i had here was a stranger, inside a strange city. but on the other, she seemed sweet, genuine, not out to harvest my kidneys for profit. she was also good looking, so in case of rape, i would rather it be from the opposite sex. 
well, everything turned out fine. her name is christina, and she was very nice. she dropped me off right in front of the bus station which was about a 10 minute drive from where i originally was. we exchanged emails, and parted with a gentle smile. a few hours later, i was on a bus headed to latvia. 

helsinki sunrise