Germany = a bicyclist's paradise

Gutentag from Deutschland! This is my second trip to Germany and I've had such an amazing, fun, hilarious, delicious and active visit with Liane this week. Four years ago, I had the chance to spend two weeks in Germany with Jess when she was studying at the University of Tubingen. We had a crazy/fun time (including a very memorable Christmas day together!)and I remember being anxious to return to Germany again some day, preferably in the spring, summer or fall-just no snow, please. Lucky me, here I am again- four years older, oh so much wiser and yet... still sleeping on the floor of a German dorm room. Huh? =)

The weather has been picture perfect in Germany this week- today, it was an ideal 75 degrees with light breeze. What a stellar day for a bike ride, we decided! Liane and I headed to the main train station in town and rented bikes for 5 hours (only 2 euros per hour!) and after reviewing the map with many, many options in terms of bike routes, we decided to head towards a location called "St. Barbara" which had the icon of a wine glass next to it. Hah. We figured it was a winery, but it turned out to be a family restaurant nestled in the hills with beer/wine/food. First of all- let me clarify "nestled in the hills". Our bike route started out really great... a flat, paved road along the river that runs through Freiburg. Next thing we knew, we were headed straight up a hill that resembled California Street between Grant and Stockton in San Francisco; aka: miserably steep. We ended up walking our bikes up the monstrous incline and each curve we came around proved to have more uphill challenge ahead for us. Awesome. After about a mile, we finally started seeing signs for St. Barbara and pushed on through- moral of the story? Promise me a cold glass of wine at the end of something, and there's almost nothing I won't do. Once we arrived at adorable little German oasis, we opted for beer (far more refreshing than wine, no?), took pictures with the view to prove our accomplishment and headed back downhill to find more paths and... well, beer.

After St. Barbara, we decided to keep heading South along the Kirchzartener Straube, destination: the little town of Kirschzarten. The bike path looked like something out of a German Tourist Ad- most of it was lined with grassy fields full of daisies with an occasional wooden bridge over a quiet little stream. One field we found had two big mountains behind it; it looked just like the one Julie Andrews runs through in Sound of Music. What choice did we have, but to stop and take some self-timer photos? When we arrived in Kirschzarten, we picked a table in the shade at a bustling little cafe in the main square and chowed down on schnitzel, grilled potatoes, salad and Banananweizen. Banananweizen = hefeweizen with banana puree, a local specialty. A-mazing/highly recommend it.

After a full day of exploring the German countryside via bike, we took our sun-kissed faces, sore thighs and banana beer buzz and made the 14km journey back "home" to Freiburg. I had such a fantastic time biking with a good friend, getting lost and stopping at scenic points along the route. A new goal of mine is to head back here one day to do full bike tour through Germany-- who's in?

Can I get a t-shirt that says, "I Survived the Eyjafjallajokull Ash Nightmare of 2010"?

It sounds too strange to be true. One time, in the year 2010, there was an ash cloud from a volcano in Iceland that suspended all European flights for almost a week. What a strange situation I'm in, along with over 6 million other people trying to travel within and through Europe. When Caren and I first heard about "THE" ash cloud on Thursday evening, our first reaction was that we were thankful that we had opted to buy bus tickets to Berlin versus airplane tickets. Our trip was still on. However, on Friday morning, Caren had realized she lost her wallet at the bars the night before, the ash situation had developed into a full-blown travel nightmare AND we missed the bus to Berlin. Believe it or not, the clock on my ipodtouch that I'd been referring to all week was an hour behind actual time. Amateur mistake- and rather embarrassing. I was keeping an eye on the time while Caren was calling around to cancel bank cards & contacting the lost & found office at the Copenhagen Police Station. Finally, as we were on our way out and walking towards the bus station across town, we compared clocks and realized that we had two minutes to make it to the station. Oh, did I mention it was the Queen's birthday in Copenhagen that day? Most of the streets (including the one Caren lives on) were closed in preparation for a parade in honor of her birthday. Ash cloud + wallet + clock + parade = basically, some kind of force was keeping us from getting to Berlin.

Since we had only made reservations and not actually paid for our seats yet, we cancelled the trip to Berlin and decided to spend the day being touristy together in CPH. We rode free (FREE!! my favorite word!) bikes around the city, ate lunch in the gorgeous Nyhavn neighborhood (see photo from my post below) and then visited the Carlsberg Beer Factory. We had an absolute blast together and the good times transitioned into bar hopping around the city center later that night. Two thumbs up for my favorite day in Copenhagen so far.

Since then, I have spent at least 5 hours each day figuring out what in the world (literally?) I'm going to do next on my trip, since air travel is completely suspended in Copenhagen. The original plan, pre-ash cloud, was to head to London to catch my flight from Stansted -> Dusseldorf -> Bangkok. After a visit to the booking desk at the Osterport Train Station, I learned that the next seat available on a train headed to London was on Wednesday. 1 day after my flight to Bangkok. Not going to work. Thanks to the Facebook Group, "Carpool Europe", I communicated with a few different people about getting rides down to London but decided, instead, to focus my efforts on getting United to let me skip the London flight and catch the flight in Dusseldorf instead. At this point, it would be much easier to get to Germany than the UK. After 196 minutes of waiting to speak to a representative, "Wanda" went ahead and made the change for me. I booked a train from Copenhagen to Dusseldorf and thought my plans were finally set in place.

Guess again. Today, I found out that my flight from Dusseldorf to Bangkok has been cancelled. I'm getting really tired of having my plans change every few hours & logging into BBC.com to read the latest on this "ashy situation" so new plan: head to Freiberg, Germany and stay with Liane until next Tuesday, when I leave for Bangkok out of Frankfurt Airport (United Airlines Customer Service = amazingly great to work with!). Liane is VERY excited to have a visitor- she just arrived in Germany last week to begin her Masters in German Studies! I'll take a train from Copenhagen-Hamburg-Freiberg tomorrow and am excited to have this random, albeit, exciting visit to Germany with Liane! Plus, I've scheduled over 4 months to enjoy the heaven that is Southeast Asia, so there's certainly no "rush" to get there. Guess it's true what they say- there's a silver lining to every ash cloud. =)

Cute Little Copenhagen

Today is day 3 in Copenhagen. What a gorgeous little city! My brother, Brian, lived in CPH for a few months while he was playing for a pro basketball team & I'm so disappointed that our paths didn't cross in this city. Unfortunately, he was here during the worst winter Denmark has experienced in over 25 years, and was anxious to return to sunny California when he had the chance. Ironically, an opportunity came my way to visit Copenhagen only about one month later. Caren Currie, my friend from high school, has been living here since January while working for an architecture firm. Even though we hadn't seen one another in a few years, she saw via Facebook (classic) that I was traveling and invited me to stay with her. Lucky for me, I'm here just in time for the sunshine! Copenhagen is currently transitioning into Spring and it couldn't be a more beautiful or bustling time to be here, from what I keep hearing. San Francisco is similar- on a sunny afternoon, the outside cafes/bars/parks are packed with people. Maybe because most of the locals live in apartments and therefore, don't have their own backyards? Maybe because it is a welcome break from the fog and an extra excuse to be social? Whatever it is, the vibe has been similar here in CPH the past few days. Plenty of people have dusted off their sunglasses, left their jackets at home and are outside, basking in the sun for the first time in months. I love it.

I have a nice little routine here in CPH. Wake up around 9am when Caren leaves for work. Check my email/read my book/leisurely get ready for the day. Around 10:30am, I have a cup of coffee and a danish (hah!) at the Beresso Cafe up the street. There is a seat by the window which I particularly love- it faces Kongens Nytorv, which is the main center square of Copenhagen. I make that one cup of (rather expensive) coffee last about an hour while I read my book and people watch and plan my day. From there, I'll either visit a museum or walk down Stroget while taking in the sights, sounds and smells of the largest shopping street in Scandinavia. Lunch has been either a traditional open faced Danish Sandwich (smorbrod), or a Doner Kebab, which I developed an obsession for while I lived in Madrid. Feels good to be reunited with my lover, the donor. Cheapest/most delicious meal in Europe, in my opinion. For the rest of the afternoon, I walk around aimlessly through the canals & windy streets of the city and stop to read my book whenever I see an empty bench with direct sunlight. =) Yesterday, I stumbled into the cutest little bookstore with a small selection of used books, in English. I talked to the owner, who offered to let me trade the three books I've already finished for three new ones. Very exciting, since the bigger Borders-style bookstore up the street was selling The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo for over $20 US. No thanks. My friend Caren gets off work around 5pm, and then we grab dinner and head out for drinks and shenanigans on the town. Two thumbs up for my leisurely and budget-friendly Copenhagen schedule!

Tomorrow, Caren and I will take a bus to Berlin for the weekend. Its her favorite city in Europe and although I visited Jess when she lived in Germany a few years ago, I never made it to Berlin- also, its certainly more affordable than CPH. From there, I'll fly to London (on Ryan Air. gag.) on Monday afternoon and then to THAILAND on Tuesday. My happy place. My heaven. My home for the next few months... I'm sad to see the European portion of my zig-zag come to an end, but I'm also crazy excited to return to the land of cheap hostels & hot weather and thrilled that I can finally pull my bathing suits and flip-flops out from the bottom of my backpack!

Vi ses!
M the E

My 2 Lovely Weeks in Lithuania

Labas, everyone! Figured before I leave Lithuania (in two hours), I should at least quickly give you an update of what my visit was like. I somehow knew that I would really enjoy a visit to Lithuania but I had no idea that I would have SUCH a fantastic time. Over the last two weeks, I had a chance to meet tons of relatives, see interesting parts of my heritage and really get a feel for the Lithuanian lifestyle. Two thumbs up. I love it here and can't WAIT to come back someday.

Day 1- Arrived here around 2pm, met Asta & Ramune and their adorable mini-schnauzer Sky, took a long walk around Vilnius (they live right in Old Vilnius-awesome location.).
Day 2- Learned how to decorate authentic Lithuanian easter eggs from the woman in town who is most famous for her decorating abilities. I'll put up a post later with details, so you try to repeat the process; it's very different than the American way! My teacher said that I have a natural talent for this method of decorating the eggs & kept asking if I do any drawing or painting at home. Hilarious, if you know me. I'm the least artistic person I know. Or so I thought... after Easter egg decorating, we picked up fresh bread & cheese & veggies at the "eco-market" (farmer's market) and then my cousin Vejas from California picked me up and I had lunch with him and his new wife and their hilarious Russian friend, Katya. After lunch and some shoe shopping (flip-flops and running shoes weren't going to cut it in a trendy and cold city like Vilnius), I met Richard back at Asta's place. Richard is 29 and his mother is the accountant at Asta's office. Since he's close to my age, speaks a little English and is currently unemployed, he was assigned as my tour guide for Vilnius. He took me to the apartment of his friend Vladas, who is an up and coming artist in Lithuania. Very impressive stuff. http://vladasart.com/
The three of us went to Cafe Paris for dinner & then I headed home. Long day!
Day 3- Asta was generous enough to hire an actual professional tour guide for me; we walked all over the city for about four hours and she took me into places that require a guide, like the catacombs below the main cathedral in town. Afterward, Ramune made Lithuanian Potato Pancakes (yum!) and then Richard picked me up to take me to his friend's 24th birthday party. Such a great night, but pretty ironic too. Guess how a Lithuanian girl celebrates her birthday? She throws a house party, makes a bunch of finger foods, buys beer/vodka/chasers, makes a new playlist on her ipod and invites all of her friends over. Pretty sure that is almost EXACTLY how my friends and I have all celebrated our birthdays for the past few years. Everyone was incredibly friendly & wanted to know all about life in California. Too much fun.
Day 4- We packed up the car and headed to Ukmerges and Hill of Crosses. Hill of Crosses is about three hours from Vilnius and Ukmerges is about half-way between. In Ukmerges, we visited the house and grave of Simonas Baskauskas, my great-grandfather. Currently, Inga and her husband live in the house and haven't been able to afford to make too many improvements on the house, so its almost in the same condition as it was when Simonas lived there. Inga made us some blackberry tea, from the bushes outside and chopped up some honeycomb to suck on as a snack. She told me what she remembered about my great-grandfather and his son, Vytautas. They were both very generous and sweet men and Vytautas was apprently very handsome and always incredibly well-dressed. Go team Baskauskas. After visting Simonas' grave, we headed up to Hill of Crosses. Amazing and overwhelming- hard to even explain it with words. There are about 100,000 crosses on this one small hill in Siauliai; the first crosses were put there in 1831, but more recently, during the Soviet era, Hill of Crosses took on new meaning as a way of peaceful resistance against Russia. It is common for people to bring their own cross when them when they visit and leave it there, which is how it grew to be such a huge demonstration. Very impressive and beautiful site- I highly recommend a visit, if you're ever in Lithuania.
After Hill of Crosses, we stopped in Panavezys to visit some more relatives. Asta had asked them to make an authentic Lithuanian meal for me, so we had lots of potatoes, fish, Lithuanian black bread & homemade moonshine. The father's friend had made it, so denying the drink would have been a huge insult. Instead, I took a shot every time he offered one to me. 5 or 6 shots later... it was cake time. Ramune made a delicious Devil's Chocolate layer cake. It was such a hit that she ended up making it THREE more times this week, since relatives had heard rave reviews and wanted to try it. Not mad about that at all.
Day 5- Easter! Went to Easter mass at St. Anne's church with Asta, where we actually sat about 5 rows away from the former President of Lithuania. Very cool. The service was in Lithuanian, but I really enjoyed it. About halfway through the mass, the sun broke out from behind the gray clouds and came beaming through the windows of the church. Magical. After mass, we had Easter Brunch at Ramune's mom's apartment. Food, food and more food. And more of the chocolate layer cake. Two thumbs up. After brunch, one of my distant cousins (Solveiga) and her boyfriend came by to pick me up and take me out. We visited Belmontas, which is a park with bridges and walk paths and a small cafe- a great place to visit after eating and eating and eating... after a hike through Belmontas, they took me to the TV Tower, where we had a beer and enjoyed the view from 1071 feet above ground. The TV Tower was the site of a tragedy in 1991 when 14 unarmed civilians lost their lives and 700 were injured opposing the Soviet military seizure of the tower. Nowadays, its a bittersweet reminder of the Soviet era with a nice view of the city.
Day 6- Asta and Ramune took me to a Lithuanian Heritage Festival! We walked all around the park, visiting the examples of different houses from various regions of Old Lithuania. We sampled homemade honey beer, sausage made from potato and potato/meat dumplings called Zepelins. Delicious!
Day 7- Richard and Vladas took me to Trakai for the day. Trakai was built in the 1400's and is a gorgeous castle built on an island. We walked around, took pictures and had a nice little visit. On our way back to Vilnius, we grabbed some beer and a bite to eat and then visited six (yes SIX) museums/galleries for the rest of the afternoon. Blame it on the fact that I was with a local artist? He kept insisting we "had" to see this one more exhibit... but it was great and I had a blast with Richard & Vladas. And now I know more about Lithuanian art than I ever thought was possible!
Day 8- Solo day. Walked around Vilnius, got caught up with some of my blogging/photo uploading, shopped a bit (I found a Zara! yay!) & got some reading done. By the way, HIGHLY recommend The Book Thief- awesome read.
Day 9- Day trip to Ryga, Latvia for the day with Richard and his sister Renata. Lengthy post about that later. Had a fantastic time.
Day 10- Was a gorgeous day, so I spent most of it outside, walking around Vilnius and getting some sun. Had lunch with Asta and Ramune at their place and then went out with Richard, Vladas and their friends at night. We went to the opening of a club called X Factory, which until about 2 weeks ago was a gay club called Men's Factory. Pretty sure the bar staff didn't get the memo about the change, since they were all wearing white speedo shorts with gold suspenders & sailor hats. REALLY bummed I forgot my camera that night.
Day 11- Went to the flower market with Asta and Ramune, since we had to pick up flowers as gifts for Uncle Jonas' 80th birthday later that night. I am obsessed with the Lithuanian tradition of giving people flowers every time you visit them. Flowers here are more beautiful but less expensive and for about $10 US dollars, I picked up a gorgeous bouquet of tangerine colored roses for Uncle Jonas. Later that evening, we headed out to his birthday party, which was at a Chinese restaurant in Vilnius. Sweetest and happiest and HEALTIEST old man you've ever met. We didn't speak the same language, but Asta was a fantastic translater for us. Its standard for each guest of the birthday party to give the birthday boy a toast, so I toasted him after dinner and Asta was able to translate it for him. Very special moment. During the dinner, I met a few of my "cousins" (our great-grandparents were cousins, so the relation is pretty distant) who spoke English. One of them, a gorgeous little 15 year old girl, is a professional dancer in Ireland and recently placed 9th out of over 200 couples in a European Ballroom Dance competition- so cool! Two of the boys offered to take me to Pacha (European club chain) in Vilnius, so at about 1am when the party was over, Asta dropped us off at Pacha. Had an absolute blast partying until about 6am, when we headed back to Uncle Jonas' house to crash on his sofas in his living room. For about an hour before we went to bed, I played clips of American music for them on Uncle Jonas' computer while we drank champagne. I think I sold them on Gavin Degraw. =) But their favorite song was "Players Club" by Rappin' 4 Tay.
Day 12- Asta and Ramune picked me up at Uncle Jonas' the next day with a fresh change of clothes & some sparkling grapefruit juice. They really are the best Moms I could ever ask for. They took me to Europa Park outside of Vilnius, where they have an annual membership, and we went for a small (flat!) hike around the park while Sky ran circles around us for about three hours.
Day 13- Today, I leave Lithuania. Ramune's mom is cooking some homemade Zepelin's for me right now and then I'll head to the airport. I've had SUCH a fantastic visit to Lithuania, all thanks to my awesome hostesses, Asta and Ramune. I already can't wait to come back - Kate and I are hoping for a Lithuania/Estonia roadtrip sometime in the next few years.

Now its on to Copenhagen for a few days before I fly to Thailand on the 20th!!

Literally having the time of my life. <3 Thanks again to all of you for your support and love from back home!

7 Things You Didn't Know About India

1) Honking is kind. In fact, it's more of a way of saying "coming through" or "I'm here" than the American use, which is usually more along the lines of "f_ck off" or "watch it, buddy". One of our drivers in Agra told us, "to drive in India, you need three things: good horn, good brakes and good luck". Amen.

2) There is more than meets the eye with an offer to be driven around in a rickshaw. Often times, after they've driven you to tourist site A, B and C, they'll offer to take you to their "friend's" shop to see some crafts or handy work that is local to the area. After a few of these experiences, it becomes clear that the rickshaw drivers get a cut of whatever you buy in the shop, as well as a small payment for bringing you there, even if you don't buy a single thing. Everybody wins.

3) Sarongs are manly. In fact, women don't even wear them. Worn as a skirt on the lower half of the body, usually with a button-up shirt on top, the fabric is long enough to provide full-length coverage; during a warmer day, the fabric is folded up in one quick motion and tucked into the waist and hits just above the knee.

4) Saying "thank you" and "sorry" is strange to Indian people. In fact, if you say it often enough to the same English-speaking Indian person, they'll ask you to stop. As my friend "Ricky" in Mumbai told me, "friendship is without 'thank you' and 'sorry'".

5) You can turn any scowl or nasty stare into a beaming smile just by giving them a kind grin. Works every time. Its as if everyone in India is playing the childhood-backseat-of-the-Volvo game of Sweet or Sour.

6) The "Indian Head Wobble" is a side to side head movement, which in America might be understood as "maybe" or "so-so", but this is the Indian way of saying "yes" or "no problem". Holy confusing at first!

7) They have the BEST coffee in the world. Er- let me rephrase that. If you like your coffee individually brewed, heavy on the milk, and with a touch of sweetness (figured out they use condensed milk), you will absolutely love Indian-style coffee. Who knew?

If you're going to Goa, India. Be sure to wear some dreadlocks in your hair...

Have you ever dreamed of a place where the beaches are always warm, the food is cheap, the beer is cold and the people are friendly? What if I told you that you can get a room on (literally. on.) the beach for less than $4/day and rent a scooter for even less? The sunsets are mesmerizing, the ocean water feels like a bathtub and the fresh pineapple and coconuts are unforgettable. Its a little place called Goa & you HAVE to go.

So let's start where we left off- Kochin was great. Very calm, very relaxing, very chill. I worked with a travel agent in town (the only way to book tickets on trains without pulling your hair out) and got tickets for the 10pm sleeper train to from Kochin to Goa and then 3 days later, the 9am-9pm train from Goa to Mumbai. I'd find a place to sleep in Mumbai that night and then fly out to London the next day. I had major hestations about spending TWELVE gorgeous hours on a train from Goa to Mumbai, but the travel agent assured me that this was a beautiful train ride with stunning views and that I'd enjoy it. The ticket was 600 ruppees (less than $8), so I went for it.

So. Its 8pm in Kochi the night that I have to catch the 10pm train. I'm standing on the main drag, hoping to find a rickshaw. A very sweet old man who had sold me water and snacks from his shop a few times that week came out to say goodbye, since he saw my backpack and figured I was leaving. He looked deep into my eyes, held my hands, said some sort of prayer for safe travels and then offered to call a rickshaw for me (cabs with a/c are way out of my budget for the hour long drive back to the train station). How I wished I could stick this old man in my pocket and take him everywhere with me. I felt very safe & secure in his presence. So we wait for a rickshaw... and wait... and then his grandson pulls up and gets out of his new/flashy car with his incredibly handsome friend. They were headed to a friend's house nearby. I forget their names. But he has a quick conversation with them, and next thing I know, I'm getting into the car with two young Indian dudes and the old man promises that they'll be gentlemen and take me straight to the train station. Mm hmm. I had one of those "dear god, please don't let this be a horrible decision" moments and then hopped in. We talked about music and movies and Goa and cars. Their English wasn't great, but it was a fun ride. I had a huge smirk on my face in that backseat for most of the drive. These are EXACTLY the kind of moments I was hoping to have on this trip. The boys refused to accept any money for the ride, so I bought them each a cold beer at the train station and then sent them on their way, back to Kochi.

My train arrived on time and the 2nd class sleeper car was pretty fancypants. At the train station, I started talking to two girls from Denmark, who were also on my train but had tickets for the 3rd class car. Similiar to telling plane crash stories before boarding a flight, these two girls told me horror stories about girls who had been traveling on sleeper trains by themselves and had been robbed or assaulted in the middle of the night. Awesome. So much for popping a Unisom and getting some rest. So when the conductor came through to turn off the lights and turn the seats into beds, I not only locked my backpack to the seat, I MacGyvered a little dental-floss trap around the main zipper and tied it to my ankle. Paranoid? Maybe. In the mood to wake up the next morning, sans half of my belongings? Absolutely not. Turns out, nothing bad happened & the train ride was actually rather pleasant. But hey- safe > sorry.

I arrived at the Goa train station around 9am the next day. Took an hour cab ride to Evershine Guest House, in Anjuna Beach. Hey Maura- what was your arrival like, to the super cool hippie hostel in the laid back beach town of Goa? Oh well... I didn't have my glasses or contacts on, completely tripped over the steps leading down to the outdoor "living room" and walked the wrong direction, right past the owner of the hostel. In front of a group of about 10 strangers, who were Goa/Evershine experts at that point. Not my finest moment. But I quickly dusted myself off, put my stuff down on my assigned bed in the 8 person bedroom (yes, 8. more than 6. EIGHT people, 1 giant room), and headed back down to the common area and invited myself to the beach. Five minutes later, I was on the back of a scooter with a Canadian & a Brit, heading down a desolate dirt road towards a beach they had visited a few days prior. I knew right away that I was going to fall in love with Goa.

I'm in Vilnius, Lithuania now and I have *so* much to share about the rest of my time in Goa & the start of my trip to Lithuania, so check back in a few days for more updates! Sorry that I haven't been able to get the hang of this "experience it, post it; experience it, post it" blogging rhythm, but sitting in front of a computer has proven to be far less exciting than being OUT there and seeing things/meeting people/experiencing these places.

Thanks for reading!

-Maura the Explorer