Hasta la vista, Europe

The time I spent in Berlin was awesome but had to come to an end. I kept meeting people. The weather wasn’t so bad, it wasn’t that cold, nothing I couldn’t handle anyway. Even though it was my third time in Berlin, I still went to places I have never been before.

I met with old friends. I met new friends. It was just something else.

The date of my flight was getting closer so I decided to leave Berlin a week earlier so that way I will have the time to visit all the people I wanted to visit.

First stop was Utrecht, to visit my brother Edy. This was my fourth time in Utrecht. This time I also met with Dorus, a guy I met last year when I was living in Prague. He was starting his RTW trip which finished last june. We met again almost exactly a year after we met for the first time.

Then I left for Belgium. This was my fifth time in the land of Speculoos. I was in the Quick Burger near the Central Station without a place to sleep when I ran into Kat in the facebook chat. She told me that Wim was on the way to Hasselt and that I was welcome to stay with them in Zonhoven. It was getting dark but still I managed to get a ride quite easy all the way to Hasselt. A weird ride: George told me I was a dog because I didn’t know the meaning of my name. I don’t even know if my name has a meaning. Anyway, I was having a great dinner with even greater company. Kat’s parents even spoke Spanish!

We went to a party in Brussel the next day and since we didn’t find a place to sleep that night we just stayed up all night. Alright, I took a power nap in a theater where we had some good food. Hitchhiking at night works in Belgium, not so on a Sunday morning at 5. We ended up taking a “free” bus to Leuven and started hitchhiking from there. Made it to Zonhoven around 10.

I’m never going to hitch with my Converse shoes. I should have learnt the lesson I was taught in Utrecht but I didn’t. My right foot was in pain. It hurt a lot. So when I left Zonhoven going to Antwerpen I wore the other shoes. Leaving Hasselt was easy. First ride to a petrol station on the motorway. Second ride, Johan drove right infront of Daniel’s flat. I asked him “do you often pick up hitchhikers?”, “no, but you seemed nice, you have a friendly face and you were polite”.

I was again in Antwerpen, this time I had a place to stay. I crash Daniel’s flat. I met him last year when I had no place to crash in Antwerpen (I’m starting to see a trend here…). He hosted Seung-Ho, Jess and me. This time I met his lovely daughters. We played this board game which I don’t remember the name but it was really cool.

The first time I left Antwerpen going to Gent it was super easy. I didn’t even waited for 5 minutes and  I was already on my way to Gent with this Belgian rock band: Mintzkov. This time, a little bit different. It took me two rides. I was dropped off in the same place where Mintzkov took me the year prior.

Been to Gent before so I decided to relax. I met a CSer, Elke. We had a lovely afternoon drinking tea by one of the canals. Then I met with my friend Vanessa. The last time I saw her was last year, in july. I didn’t see her when I was in town in February, she left me the keys to her flat while she was traveling. I was lucky, this time she was there. Lovely way to spend my last days in Europe.

Time to get to the airport. I thought I was going to have to take the train because it was raining, a lot I may add and no one was picking me up while I was thumbing (when was not raining, that much). Finally, after about two hours (in total I think I stood thumbing around 40 minutes, the rest of the time I was taking cover from the rain!) I found what I think it’s going to be my last ride in a Mercedes for a while. All the way to Brussel. Then a bus to the airport.

Travel tip: if you’re leaving Brussel by plane, instead of taking the train which is I think 7€ for a 15 minute ride, why not take the bus? Yeah, it takes 3 times longer but it cost about 4 times less: 1,80€. Go to Noord Station (Gare du Nord) and take bus 272 going to Zaventem Luchthaven.

Hasta la vista Europe, until next time.

A lot of firsts...after two years

I’m too lazy to write this in Spanish and English and since more than half of my friends don’t speak Spanish, I will write this entry in English.

I can’t believe that it’s been two years since I left Guatemala. I still remember my last sunset while I was riding the bus to the Honduran border.

I guess I’ve been lucky so far. I’ve never  had a bad experience. I never have been robbed. I’ve only lost one camera but now I have two. Here are some thoughts I came up with. Some of you might have read some of these before but maybe this time is an elaborated version of them. I don’t know. Whatever. Read them if you want. Don’t read them if you don’t want to.

I still have the last words I heard from my dad the day I left in my head, it was maybe 4.45 the morning of November 14th of 2009, he said to me “I’m never going to see you again”. I didn’t want to believe those words. But they became true 6 months later.

I saw someone posted on facebook a photo of her travels and that she didn’t remember how many kilometers and what dates. For me it’s the opposite. I remember every single kilometer. I try to remember every date because every single kilometer has been special to me.

Hitchhiking for the first time outside of Guatemala: the first ride was a bus from Puerto Cortes to San Pedro Sula in Honduras. Something I thought it was impossible to do but later I did the same in Turkey, in the Turkish – Greek border and in Belize. And also a taxi in Portugal.

Eating for the first time the food of kings in Honduras, I have to be thankful to my friend Dario for introducing me to baleadas.

Meeting my friend Rachel in Tegucigalpa, she recommended me to stay with some friends of her . I left Honduras with a new sister, Ting. I would later meet with Rachel again, this time in Belgium and she signed my book exactly 18 months later. 

I think that my best ride of my hitchhiking career happened when I was leaving León going to Granada. It was short, maybe less than 5 kilometers and it took about an hour. It was a horsecart.

Taking a 5 hour ferry in the biggest lake in Central America and being witness of one of the most striking sunsets I have ever seen.

Finding out that Costa Rica was a really expensive country: paying 8$ for a really shithole of a hostel  after getting stuck at 8 in the evening in the town of Liberia. And 3$ for hanging my own hammock (which by the way was only 3$ in Nicaragua).

Meeting up with my friend Dan in Lake Tahoe and him being the first person I have ever asked “qué hora es?” in a country different than Guatemala. Later we would add Czech, Estonia and Germany.

Having no really a way how to get to or a place to stay in San Francisco and endep up not only finding a ride but a couch and spending a lovely Christmas with Mike and Kelly aboard S/V Isabella anchored in the San Francisco bay.

Going to New Orleans, first acting like a tourist and only hanging out around Bourbon St. with my cousin Paula but later going back again for Mardi Gras and acting a like a local with my friend Katrina and her friends, staying as far away from Bourbon street as possible. Later those days, meeting up with Krystin and having delivered a letter from my lovely mum and the laptop that is the last gift I have from my dad and that has been my loyal travel companion for almost a year.

Having a awesome surprise from my cousin Paula: taking me to a liquor store and looking into the cooler and noticing that they sell GALLO!!! (Guatemalan beer in case you don’t know).

Living for 2,5 months in Jacksonville and working in the Burrito Gallery and Uptown Market. Having an awesome relief working as a dishwasher after coming from an stressing job in one of Central America’s biggest Holding Groups.

My first road trip: driving almost 1000 kilometers with my friend Megan. From Asheville to Ann Arbor.

Going to my first music festival. For free.

Meeting my friends Tim and Mandy after almost two years and staying with them for a few days in lovely Antwerpen. Twice.

Hitchhiking for the first time in Europe: Utrecht – Münster with my brother Edy. The first ride was with a guy who spoke perfect Spanish because he volunteered for a year in Nicaragua for a year. Second ride with a British guy with a Dutch girlfriend. Third ride with a Dutch – Brazilian girl that lived in Germany and final ride to Münster in a VW Bus with a couple with a lovely baby.

Spending my first birthday outside of Guatemala. The first part in Bocholt with my friends Christina, Christian and Hugo. The second half of it, in Münster with my friend Alice and her friends watching Germany win against Ghana inside a pool.

Watching the Germany – England world cup match in the Hamburg fanpark, Germany’s second biggest.

Sadly being in two countries in less than 24 hours. I wish I could have spent more time in Malmö with my friend Frida.

Rocking in one of Europe’s biggest music festivals: Roskilde. Two years in a row.

Staying for the first time in squat and discovering that København is a dumpster diving paradise.

Staying for the first time in a nomadbase in Amsterdam. Meeting some of the most amazing people I have ever met and going with them to walk alongside the canals finally deciding (as a joke) to hitchhike a boat and  finding out (to our amazement) that it worked and spent 6 hours cruising the canals.

Paying my respects at the graves of Miguel Angel Asturias and Jim Morrison in the Cimetière du Père Lachaise.

Having the most expensive elote asado (grilled corn) of my life in Paris. It was 2€ but in Guatemala it's only about 0,35€ I saw the guy selling them and I just had a moment of nostalgia and couldn’t help buy it.

Meeting with some of the lovely people I met in Casa Robino and meeting some more in Casa Bonita in Lyon. All of us were going to the hitchiker’s gathering. En route to Barcelona I spent my first night in a petrol station with one of the best  friends I have ever had, mio fratello Federico.

There’s a band based in Barcelona, Barrio Candela, the lead singer is from Xela. Freshly arrived in Barcelona, relaxing in Plaça de Catalonya I overheard them. Then saw them played and talked to Sativo. He’s friends with my friend Edy.

Feeling the closest I have ever felt to Latin America when I went to Lisboa. The people there are just lovely. Our last ride dropped us off just 3 streets from Casa Amarela, the squat where the pregathering was held. We didn’t find it, it was 3 in the morning. We had to sleep in the entrance of an apartment building.

Where you are traveling without a plan you have to improvise, like the time I went to Lake Bled in Slovenia with my friend Katrín. Night caught us without a place to sleep so we slept in the laundry room of a campsite near Lesce.

For several years Berlin was the icon of the Cold War. Now I was there! In Alexanderplatz there is a clock with several cities from around the world in it. I was reading the names and to my surprise I found Guatemala Stadt!

I never thought that I was going to travel for this long; I thought that after the States I was going back to Guatemala. I left Guatemala with some 400$. Worked a few months in the States to make a little money to come to Europe. When I arrived here I wanted to learn how to travel cheap (I’m still learning although I have improved significantly).  I had about 100€ left, no place to stay, no job, no return ticket and no worries. The powerful winds took me to Prague where I spent the next 3,5 months. It was my first time working in a hostel, conclusion: AWESOME!

Czech is the country with the cheapest beer that I have ever been. 1€ a pint! No wonder I barely remember my first month! After that I realize that I was not going anywhere if I didn’t start saving. So I did. Not only did I start saving, Marcelo, one of my colleagues at the hostel, helped find another job: posing nude (art school. not porn you perverts!). Yeah, laugh. You would say it’s an easy job but trust when I say it’s not. Not when there’s a super hot Czech girl standing naked next to you. Not easy at all.

Watching the transition from summer to autumn to winter in Prague. Later I was also able to see Wien  in winter (first time there was in summertime). That winter was one of the coldest winters in past 20 (?) years. I had to wear long johns every single fucking day. Not sexy

The astronomical clock in market square in Prague do something every hour on the hour. I was told some dolls dance around? Wouldn’t know. I rarely went to the center and the few times I was there in time for the show I found more amusing to watch the people’s faces than what was actually happening with the clock.

First time in Poland. Poland is the second country to where I have been to more cities. First stop was Wrocław. Then would follow Kraków, Christmas in Rybnik and Newyears in Szczawa.

Falling in love in Kraków.

Through CS I met Joachim and we agreed that we were going to travel to Turkey together. We met in Cluj-Caravanserai, the nomadbase in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. From there we had over a thousand kilometers to go. My first long distance hitchhiking was from Lisboa to Augsburg, during the summer. This time was winter, and like I said before, one of the coldest in the past years. The first night stuck in the middle of Romania I had to use Joachim’s survival blanket. From Bucareşti to Istanbul it took us three days without spending one single cent. Sleeping in Turkish restaurants on Bulgaria and an abandoned hotel in the Turkish side of the border with Bulgaria. The truck driver were really nice, they waited for me for 1 hour in Bulgarian border while they let me into the country. That’s the moment I started to despise border guards.  

Travel tip: get a good sleeping bag, it’s worth it. If you don’t have the money, like it’s my case, go to Roskilde festival. I found my new sleeping bag inside a tent, it’s a sweet -13C sleeping bag and still has the price tag. By the way, I also found a belt, a leatherman, a beautiful amount of alcohol. Luke and I didn’t have to spend money on alcohol in DK.

After some fucked up things that happened to me in Czech and Poland arriving in Turkey I felt like home. No one was staring at me. I was just one me! Well, they were staring at us but for a different reason: coming from Poland, Romania and Bulgaria where the temperature was really low we got into a nice and warm Turkey, about 15C, for them it was cold. For us… lovely. It was flipflop (jandals, sorry Keegan) time again.

Joachim and I were the only foreigners during most of what I call the horny camel festival It was in the Aegen region of Turkey, soufh of Izmir and not far from Şirince, which is a lovely town. Combining Mediterranean architecture with Muslim details. Lovely.

At this point I truly began to see a trend: crossing borders at night and getting stuck in them. This was no difference but Turkish and Greek immigration were nice. Turkish was a lot nicer though. The officer found us a ride on a bus to the Greek side. There after crossing we found ourselves without a ride and without a place to sleep. After sleeping inside a small Greek Orthodox chapel we found what it turned into my longest ride with the same driver: from the Turkish – Greek border to Ljubljana. And what made things better was that Vincent became our friend.

Confirming Aldous Huxley’s words about Lake Atitlán when he compared it to Lake Como: "Lake Como, it seems to me, touches on the limit of permissibly picturesque, but Atitlán is Como with additional embellishments of several immense volcanoes. It really is too much of a good thing". I couldn't agree more.

When I was going from Italy to Switzerland, I found a ride near Como. Edgar was going to Frankfurt but  I was going to Zürich. He was going to drive us into CH but the he missed an exit and dropped in Zürich zentrum. The motorway from Italy goes either through the Gotthard pass connecting the Italian speaking part of Switzerland with the German speaking part.  The pass was closed because of the winter so we took the Sankt Gotthard tunnel (over 16 kilometers long). It took me 15 minutes to figure out that Edgar was asking us if it was our first time riding inside the tunnel. This tunnel is the third longest in the world after Norway’s Lærdal tunnel (24,5 km) and China’s Zhongnanshantunnel (18 km)

Speding the last days in Europe (so I thought) with my friend Wim (we met in Lyon the year prior) and his girlfriend Katrien. Lovely way to spend some time. Perfect last hitchhiking. I met some of their friends. Mira made the best pomme frites I have ever tried.

Seeing my mum after 15 long months of travels! After coming from Norway when I was younger, I didn’t tell my parents the date I was coming back. My friends picked me up at the airport, we went out to get drunk and I showed up around 2 in the morning, drunk… “hello, I’m back!”. My mum almost had a stroke, so I promised her that I was never going to do that. This time she knew all my moves: I called her as soon as I found a hotspot in Playa del Carmen. Called her on the phone from Chetumal. From a café in Xela. From my friend’s mobile from Antigua.

Paying a visit to my father’s grave. I told him that I was happy. He kept telling me “I want you to be happy”. Dad, I miss so much but I know you know that I’m happy.

Hitched my third bus going to the Belize – Mexico border. The first was in 2009 in Honduras. The second was in Turkey more than a year later. This one was on my way to Cancún to catch the flight back to Europe.

The longest distance hitchhiked alone was when I went from Brussel Airport to Kraków in three days. The first day I was aiming to get as far as Köln or Frankfurt but I didn’t even make it close to the border. The following day was different as I was finally out of Belgium and practically crossed Germany. This was the first time I was stuck in the same place for the most hours, I was in that petrol station for 12 hours, but 6 were used to sleep.

Falling out of love in Kraków and feeling absolutely good about it. Luke became the date I took to Roskilde and we had a blast! We were the only two collecting bottles while drinking! I thought all tent in general were waterproof but I found out the hard way that mine wasn’t. I had to change socks three times in one night. I met again with Omar whom I saw very randomly in January when I was in Istanbul.

I missed three times Iron Maiden play: twice in Mexico and once in Costa Rica. For this or that reason I didn’t’ go. I thought that I would never see them play. I saw them in Roskilde and what made me enjoy even more their music is that it was for free; well, almost. Money spent on trip from Prague to Roskilde: `~6€. So in total “the ticket” was that, 6 fucking €!!!

Maria’s mum is such a lovely lady. She became my mum for the few days I stayed with them in Kościerzyna. She was really worried when I had food poisoning. She even told me that if I wanted to stay she could find me people to teach them Spanish. When I left Estonia I would have loved to visit them again but it was out of the way and Kirsty had to take the plane to England.

I was finally able to go to Estonia. In 2010 was one of the places I considered going after Germany but I found the Clown & Bard which was closer to Germany (the place I was at the moment). When I left Prague I didn’t even considered going to -30C. So this was the time for Estonia: summer. Long sunny days, cheap beer and of course, beautiful women.. After talking for 5 minutes to my new colleagues I knew I was in the right place. I wasn’t wrong. Working in the AlurHostel is one of the most fucking awesome things I have ever done. Estonian are such amazing people. Rauno gave me a ride last year from Puttgarden and a year later he gave me a job. Meel and I hitchhiked from Augustów to Pärnu. I stayed with him and his family for the weekend. His mum gave me a jumper and his sister wrote in my book the poem she wrote some time ago. Erko who without hesitating opened the doors of Uus Maailm to a complete and ramdom stanger that just showed up with his bags and asked if he could crash there. The answer was “you won’t crash here, you will sleep here but you have to sing ABBA”.

The little over two months I spent in Tallinn were just, amazing. Tallinn is a lovely city. Very medieval. Estonia is on the Baltics but to me (and further reading I did confirmed that) it’s more closely related to Scandinavia. I will return to Estonia, that’s for sure. But perhaps in springtime and leave (if I manage) at the end of summertime. In Tallinn I also learnt that destiny, if it really exists, SUCKS and I don’t like it but the time spent there is unforgettable. I met lovely people there. Made some good friends. Hopefully we will meet sometime somewhere. Actually, one of them, Sonya is coming to Berlin at the moment I’m writing these lines.

Getting to Riga with one camera and leaving with two. My crappy Kodak digital (but with it I took several amazing photos) and the awesome “new” Fujica ST701 from 1971. Paldies Jim!

While I was in Riga I couldn’t find a place to crash in Kaunas so I thought “I’m going to try to get to Warszawa”. I stayed. I don’t regret it , actually I wished I could have stayed more time. Hanging out with Dominyka was awesome

When I left Poland in June I thought I was never going back. This was the second time after I left. I spent for amazing days, I even had a party thrown in my honor, well, half of the party was for me, the other half, for the organizer, Ami. No new town this time, just Warszawa, Kraków and Wrocław. Kraków became the only city that I have had the opportunity to see in all four season. I arrived for the first time in the winter, when Mateusz saved me from sleeping in the train station. Went back in the spring and left at the beginning if summer. And this time, the last time for a while, was autumn. I went to Prague again. Prague and Kraków are the two places that seems I can’t be too far away. This time Marcelo’s “what the fuck are you doing here?” welcome was replaced by Joe’s big hug that he even made me fall. And also Joe and George made sure I was drunk the entire time and the only times I went out was to get some food from the Chinese restaurant near the JzP metro station.

Arthur is the manager in one of Berlin’s hostels, the Aloha Hostel. We met in Tallinn last August. Now I was staying with him in the hostel. The hostel is one of the coolest I have ever been. The walls are covered with graffiti. 

The staff is very international: Brazil, Italy, Spain, England, Lithuania and now… Guatemala!

The first time I went to Hamburg I didn’t go out at night. I’m not the kind of person that goes into a pub by himself. This time it was different. I was headbanging with my friends Anni, Ina and Kirsty in a pub or club in Sankt Pauli and then again in some bands concerts.

Now, I’m laying in bed, in the staff room finishing writing this entry. I still can’t believe it has been two years. So many kilometers but I remember every single one. So many people, but every single one of them has been special and I keep the memories like it happened yesterday. I soon will be leaving this place. Going to a different place. 

You will know in due time… 

Castellano de nuevo!

Salimos temprano del piso de Dennis. Una vez en en lugar que hitchwiki recomienda, que por cierto queda a la par de un cementerio. Se sentía más frío del que realmente había debido a que el acceso al autobahn estaba cubierto de árboles. Tanto que me tuve que cambiar de zapatos! Al cabo de quizá una hora un tio paró pero iba a Duisburg. Era mejor quedarnos en el mismo lugar. Más o menos 30 minutos después un tráiler con placas alemanas me hizo señas que iba a parar más adelante. Me extrañó porque según mi experiencia, los camioneros alemanes NUNCA llevan pasajeros. El camionero no era de origen alemán y me dijo que tenía que ir al dentista, si al regresar aun estábamos en el mismo lugar nos llevaría en dirección de Holanda. Luego de un par de horas de estarnos cagando del frío un tio paró y le dije que íbamos a Holanda. “Yo voy a Utrecht”… Unas horas después nos estaba dejando en Utrecht Centraal. Qué más puedo escribir acerca de Utrech que no haya escrito antes. Es la tercera vez que estaba en la ciudad. Por supuesto que me vi con Edy y Marinda, siempre es bueno verlos y siempre son la razón por la que regreso a Utrecht.  Aunque esta vez también pude visitar a Tami, a quien conocí en Kraków el verano pasado. Me quedá unos días en el piso de Tami y otros días en le piso de Edy y Marinda. Esperando a Edy me senté cerca del Andersom Coffeeshop a reparar la correa de mi cámara. Recibí algunas miradas extrañas ya que estaba sentado cosiendo la correa. El frasco de Speculoos me duró mucho menos de lo que me hubiese gustado.

We left Dennis’ flat early. Once in the spot that hitchwiki one should go, which by the way it’s next to a cemetary. It felt colder that it actually was probably to the fact that the entrance of the motorway was covered by trees. It felt so cold that I had to change shoes! Maybe after an hour a guy stopped and offered us to take us but he was going to Duisburg. It was better to stay in the same place. About 30 minutes later a truck with German license plates signaled me that it was going to stop ahead. It was strange because judging from my experience German truck drivers NEVER take passengers. The truck driver was not originally from Germany and he agreed to take us In the direction to Holland if we were in the same place when he come back from his dentist appointment. After a couple of hours of freezing our asses a guy stopped and after I told him that we were going to Holland he said “I’m going to Utrecht”… A couple of hours he was dropping us off in Utrecht Centraal. What else could I write about Utrecht that I haven’t written before. This is the third time I was in town. Of course it’s always nice to see Edy and Marinda and they are always the reason I always go back. This time I also had the opportunity to visit Tami whom I met in Kraków last summer. I stayed a few days in Tami’s flat and a few days in Edy’s. Waiting for Edy I sat across the Andersom Cofeeshop to repair my camera strap. I had a few odd looks as I was sewing the strap. The jar of Speculoos lasted way less that I would wanted

Salir de Utrecht esta vez se tornó más difícil que las otras veces. En primer lugar, mi compañera de aventuras durante el último mes me abandonó. Era la primera vez que hacía dedo solo en bastante 3 meses. Fui al lugar donde he ido las otras veces que ha salido de Utrecht, el mismo lugar donde no he esperado más de 10 minutos (verano o invierno). Una pareja de viejos me llevó a un “mejor” lugar, cerca del “liftplaats”, en la entrada a la autopista. Pasarían otros 30 minutos antes de que una pareja me llevara al lado equivocado de Enschede. Esperé un par de horas en vano que alguien me llevara  a Alemania. Decidí regresar a alguna de la gasolineras sobre la autopista por lo que cambié de lado. Una chica me llevaría  otro lugar que estaba lejos de ser bueno: Almelo. Lo bueno fue que ahí no esperé mucho y un tío originario de Malasia me llevó a una gasolinera sobre la autopista en el lado correcto de Enschede no sin antes ofrecerme llevarme a su casa  a comer. Como quería estar en Berlin esa misma noche le dije que prefería ir a la gasolinera cuanto antes. En la gasolinera empezé a preguntar en cuanto antes. Era temprano en la tarde pero todos los camioneros me decían que ya no manejarían más. Me dediqué a hablar en mi polaca inexistente a cuanto tráiler con placas polacas miraba. 45 minutos más tarde Grzgorsz me estaba llevando a Magdeburg, Fueron casi 5 horas en recorrer los casi 400 kilómetros que separan un lugar del otro. Me dejó en la gasolinera e inmediatamente me dirigí a las bombas, esta vez de autos ya que era de noche y no quería pasar la noche fuera. 5 minutos después iba a 160 kph rumbo a Berlin y Thomas me dejaría frente al hostel.

Leaving Utrecht it took me longer than I thought this time. In the first place, my travel companion for the past month abandoned me. It was the first time I was hitchhiking alone in the last three months. I went to the place I always went when I was hitchhiking out Utrecht, the same place I have never waited more than 10 minutes (summer and winter). An old couple drove me the a “better” place, near the “liftplaats”, in the entrance of the motorway. I would have to wait another 30 minutes until a couple drove to the wrong side of Enschede. I waited in vain for a couple of hours for  someone take me to Germany. I decided to go back to one of the petrol stations along the motorway. A girl took to me to another place far from good: Almelo. The good thing about this place is that I didn’t have to wait long for someone to take me. A guy originally from Malaysia drove me to a petrol station along the motorway on the right side of Enschede not without offering food in his flat first. I wanted to get to Berlin in the same day so I politely declined the offer and ask him if he could take me to the petrol station. Once there, I started asking truck drivers. It was early in the afternoon but all truck driver said the same thing: they were no longer driving. I used my non-existent Polish to ask Polish truck drivers. 45 minutes later Grzgorsz was driving to Magdeburg. It took us about 5 hours to drive the almost 400 kilometers between the two places. He dropped me off in the petrol station and immediately I walked up to the pumps and started asking people. I wanted a car because it was already dark and I didn’t want to sleep outside. 5 minutes later I was inside a car at 160 kph on my way to Berlin and Thomas will take me to right in front of the hostel.

HH as in Hansestadt Hamburg

Me pareció muy interesante que la gasolinera desde donde empezé a hacer dedo hacia Hamburgo era el puesto fronterizo hasta 1991.  Me tomaría mucho más tiempo llegar a ella de lo que tenía pensado o de lo que me hubiese gustado. Las instrucciones de hitchwiki son correctas pero hay la señal que menciona es muy pequeña y por consiguiente muy fácil de perderla. Gracias a ello, perdimos un par de horas y caminamos más o menos 6 kilómetros más los casi 2 que hay desde el “la señal” hasta la gasolinera. Una vez en la gasolinera fuimos al final que es desde donde siempre empiezo. Estuvimos quizá una hora, pero nada. Al cabo de esa hora fuimos a preguntar a las bombas. Un tío nos llevaría hasta una gasolinera 60 kilómetros de Hamburgo. Ahí nos tomaría 15 minutos (o menos) conseguir quien nos llevaría hasta frente al piso de Annika e Ina a quienes conocí cuando se hosperaron en el Alur en Tallinn hace un par de meses. De hecho, son las primeras personas que visito de todas las que he conocido en los hostels en los cuales he trabajado. La primera noche estaba demasiado cansado como para salir y nos quedamos dentro. El segundo día después de caminar de arriba abajo por todos lados salimos a explorar la vida nocturna hamburguesa… de regreso al piso pasamos por una panadería que yo pensé que estaba abierta las 24h pero luego vi el reloj, eran las 6.30 de la mañana!

It was very interesting that the petrol station from where I started to hitchhike it was a border control up until 1991. It would take me more time to reach it that I had planned or what I would have liked. The hitchwiki instructions were right but the sign mentioned in them was very small and therefore extremely easy to miss. Thanks to that we wasted a couple of hours and we walked about 6 kilometers back and forth plus the couple more kilometers to the petrol station in question. We waited for about an hour and nothing. After that hour we walked to the pumps and started to ask people. A guy drove us to a petrol station 60 kilometers from Hamburg. From there it would take us another 15 minutes to find another ride straight to Annika and Ina’s flat whom I met in Tallinn when they stayed in the Alur. Actually, of all the people I’ve met in the hostels I’ve worked, they’re the first people I have ever visit. The first night I was extremely tired to go out and we stayed in the flat. The second day after walking like maniacs we went out to explore the hamburger night life… coming back to the flat we stopped in a bakery that I thought it was open 24 hours but then I saw the clock in my phone and it was 6.30 in the morning!

Hamburgo es us una ciudad donde siempre pasa algo, al siguiente día  fuimos a un concierto de 3 bandas: alternative, punk y la primera no sé porque solamente vimos la segunda y tercera bandas. Estuvo muy bueno, aunque al terminar el concierto regresamos a casa porque al día siguiente nos esperaban los más o menos 350 kilómetros que separan Dortmund de Hamburgo.

Salir de HH fue fácil. Fuimos a la gasolinera (solamente que del lado contrario) a la que fui cuando el verano pasado fui de HH a Dinamarca. No tardé en conseguir quien nos llevara hasta Herford. De ahí, al cabo de de más o menos una pareja de belgas de Eupen, que por cierto me estaba enterando es la pequeña región germano parlante de Bélgica (que ni siquiera muchas belgas saben) no estaba llevando hasta cerca del aeropuerto de Dortmund. De ahí una chica me prestó su móvil para llamar a Dennis y ya una vez con su dirección, nos llevó a la estación del U-Bahn. Una vez en el piso de Dennis no la pasamos de puta madre! Tiene una colección increíble de música… era promotor musical. Escuchamos música y tomamos una cerveza, pero fuimos a dormir pronto. Al día siguiente íbamos a Utrecht y tenía mis dudas acerca de cómo nos iba a ir con el autostop desde Dortmund ya que se encuentra en un área que una pesadilla para los autostopistas porque no hay gasolineras y es ciudad tras ciudad.

Hamburg is the kind of city where there’s always to do, the following day we went to a concert,theree were three bands playing: alternative, punk and don’t know about the first one because we missed it. It was great but we finished the night early because the next day 350ish kilometers were waiting for us, destination Dortmund.

Leaving HH was easy. We went to the same petrol station (opposite side of the motorway) that I went to when I was going from HH to DK last summer. It wasn’t even 10 minutes and I already found us a ride to Herford. From there after about an hour a Belgian couple from Eupen, which by the way I was learning is in the German speaking part of Belgium that me and most Belgians doesn’t know it exists,  was driving us to near Dortmund airport. A girl let me use her mobile and I called Dennis. Soon after she was driving us to the S-Bahn station. Once in Dennis’ flat we had an awesome time! He had a massive collection of music… he was a music promoter. We listened to music, had a couple of beers but soon we had to go to bed. The next day we need to hhitchhike to Utrecht and I had my doubts about leaving the city because it’s in an area where there are hardly any petrol stations, it’s only city after city.

Berlin

La última vez que salí de Praga fue un éxito total. Estaba vez tenía la confianza de que me iría igual. No fue así. Tardamos más de 30 minutos de salir de la primera gasolinera y más de 2 horas de la segunda. Una pareja de checos, el vive en el Reino Unido nos llevó hasta Dresden. A la gasolinera donde ya había estado dos veces anteriormente. Después de un par de horas esperando al final fuimos a preguntar cerca de las bombas. Una chica iba a Görlitz pero nos llevó a Dresden. Tenía las instrucciones de cómo salir de ahí por lo que nos llevó al tram para luego tomar un bus e ir a la salida. Esperamos una hora más, estaba anocheciendo y empezé a pensar en dónde podríamos dormir. Luego una pareja en un Mercedes CLK paró y ofreció a llevarme pero les dije que éramos dos. Dudaron un poco ya que el auto es prácticamente para dos personas (Igual que el Honda Prelude del británico que nos llevó a Dreden) y por segunda vez en el día viajamos con nuestras mochilas sobre nuestras piernas. Llegamos a Berlin, frente al hostel de Arthur cerca de las 21.00.

The last time I left Prague was a total success. This time I had the hope that it was going to be the same. It wasn’t. It took us more than 30 minutes to leave the first petrol station and more than two hours to leave the second. A Czech couple, he lives in the UK drove us to Dresden. To the petrol I had been stuck twice before. After a couple of hours of thumbing at the end of it we walked to the pumps and started asking drivers. A girl was driving to Görlitz took us to Dresden. I had to instructions of how to leave Dresden so she took us to the tram we needed to take in order to get on the bus that was going to take us to the end of town. We waited more than an hour, it was getting dark and I started to think where we could sleep. After a while a couple driving a Mercedes CLK stopped and offered to take me but I told them that I wasn’t alone. They doubted a little because their car is practically for two people (the same as the Honda Prelude that drove us before) and for the second time in the day we rode with our bags on our lap. We reached Berlin, in front of Arthur’s hostel around 21.00.

Arthur nos recibió en su hostel. Conocí a sus colegas y cené una pasta tan deliciosa como la que yo prepraro. Maria, la chica con la hice autostop de  Dinamarca a Polonia coincidió conmigo en Berlin. Nos vimos en un par de ocasiones. El ciclo está cerrado por esta vez con Dan: lo visité en Lake Tahoe, me visitó en Praga, me visitó en Tallinn, lo visité en Berlin. Pero aun tenemos que hacer autostop juntos. En realidad no vi mucho en Berlin, ya lo había visto todo el verano  pasado. Me dediqué a compartir  más tiempo con la gente que trabaja en el hostel. El staff del hostel es muy internacional (como es en el Alur), hay gente de Brasil, España, Italia, Inglaterra, Australia. Es genial. Aun no he conocido mucha gente de CS en Berlin, solamente fui con Dan a una reunión en donde pude conocer a Casey Fenton, el fundador de CS. No le dije mucho de lo que pensaba acerca de su nueva posición acerca de que CS es ahora una organización lucrativa porque no quize ser la manzana podrida del grupo. Bueno, al final es su organización y si a alguien no le gusta se puede salir de CS, como ya lo han hecho varios de mis amigos. Nadie está ahí a la fuerza.

Fueron 4 días los que estuve en Berlin pero teníamos que irnos. Nuestro próximo destino sería Hamburgo, ciudad donde también ya había estado, el verano pasado; donde pude ver el juego entre Alemania e Inglaterra en el segundo fanpark más grande de Alemania.

Arthur greeted us in the hostel. I met his colleagues and I ate a very tasty pasta, almost as good as mine. I met with Maria, the girl I hitchhiked with from Denmark to Poland. We met a couple of times. The circle is closed this time with Dan: I visited him in Lake Tahoe, he visited me in Prague and then again in Tallinn. Now I visited him in Berlin. But we still have to hitchhike together. I didn’t really see much of Berlin, I saw must of it last summer. Instead, I spend my time talking to the hostel staff. The staff there is very international (like in the Alur), there’s people from Brasil, Spain, Italy, England, Australia. It’s awesome. I still haven’t met many people from CS Berlin, only once I went to a meeting with Dan and in that meeting I met Casey Fenton, the founder. I didn’t tell him what I think about CS becoming a for profit organization because I didn’t want to be the group’s rotten apple. Anyway, is his organization, he can whatever he wants with it and whoever doesn’t like it can leave CS, as some of my friends have already done. No one is there because it’s forced to.

It was 4 days I was in Berlin, but we had to go. Our next destination would be Hamburg, city in which I was already, last summer; where I watched the match between Germany and England in the second biggest fanpark in Germany.

Prahahaha

El año pasado traté de hacer  Praga – Wrocław pero fue un completo fracaso. Recién estoy decubriendo que después del metro aún tenía que tomar un bus para ir a otro lugar. Con razón nadie me llevó. Esta vez iba a ser a la inversa, ir de Wrocław hacia Praga.  Para llegar al lugar a donde debía de empezar a hacer dedo tenía el mismo bus que tomé para ir a donde debía hacer dedo en dirección Kraków. Esta vez me tomó dos horas menos llegar a IKEA. Caminamos un par de kilómetros hasta encontrar una parada de bus donde nos topamos con otro autostopista.  Al cabo de 20 minutos un chico paró y nos llevó hasta Kłodzko. El otro chico se bajó en una gasolinera y pensé que también debíamos bajar pero nos dijo que nos llevaría hasta la salida hacia Praga. “Frijoles fríos!”.

Estaba haciendo un poco de frío pero al cabo de creo una hora, un camión con placas de Chequia nos estaba llevando hasta una estación del metro en Praha 13.

Llegué al Clown and Bard y de nuevo sentí que solamente estuve fuera un par de días. Aunque esta vez no fue casi un año sino unos meses. Me sentí en casa de nuevo. Fueron unos días de puta madre. Ya he estado en Praga varias veces por lo que recluí a simplemente estar con mis amigos. Sali solamente un par de veces del hostel. Fui a la reunión de CS a verme con mi amiga Ania, pero solamente estuvimos un rato. Despus nos reunimos con unos amigos de la uni. Regresé a dormirme en el bar del hostel. La única vez que fue al Old Town tuve un ataque de ansieded que me regres corriendo al hostel. Bueno pasé comprando comida china antes. Joe y George se encargaron de mantenerme borracho todo el tiempo. Y no me estoy quejando! George y yo íbamos a ir a la reggae night  en el Akropolis, pero no llegamos ni a la puerta del hostel. Nos vemos pronto, porque Praga es uno de los lugares del cual aparentemente no puedo estar muy lejos. Buenos tiempos. George, tenemos que hacer dedo en un barco!!!

Last year I tried to do Prague  – Wrocław and it was a complete failure. I’m just recently discovering that after taking the metro I had to take another bus to go farther away. No wonder no one took me. This time it was going to be the opposite direction, Wrocław – Prague. To get to the spot that you need to start hitchhiking you have to take the same bus as if you were going to Kraków. This time it didn’t take me two hours to get to IKEA. We walked a couple of kilometers until we ran into a bus stop where we ran into another hitchhiker. After 20 minutes a guy stopped and took the three of us to Kłodzko. The other guy got off the car and we were going to do the same but he said that he was going to take the other side of town, on the exit to Praha. Cool beans!

It was getting cold but after about an hour, a small truck with Czech license plates was taking us all the way to a metro station in Praha 13.

I arrived at the Clown and Bard and again I felt like I was away only a few days. Although this time it wasn’t almost a year like a few months ago. I felt home again. I spent a few awesome days. I been to Prague before so I decided to seclude myself to the hostel and just spend time with my friends. I went only a couple of times. I went to the CS meeting to meet with my friend Ania and from there we met with some of her friends from uni. After that I went to fall asleep in the hostel's bar. The only time I went to the Old Town I had an anxiety attack and went running back to the hostel. I stopped for chinese before. Joe and George made sure that I was always drunk and by the way I am NOT complaining. George and I were going to reggae night at the Akropolis but we didn’t even made it to the hostel’s door. See you soon because Prague is one place that I can't seem to be far away for long. Awesome time. George, we have to hitch that boat!!!

Polska

Me quería quedar más tiempo en Kaunas, me la estaba pasando de puta madre pero había acordado viajar con Kirsty e ir a Warszawa por lo que después de chequear hitchwiki Dominyka se ofreció a llevarnos hasta la gasolinera en donde podíamos empezar a hacer dedo.

Cabe decir que era una mañana muy fría y con mucha niebla. Esperamos poco más de una hora dentro del auto y nada. Ni autos, ni trailers entraban a la gasolinea. Solamente un camionero que iba más allá de Warszawa pero no quizo llevarnos porque eramos dos y no quería que la polocia lo multara. Dominyka nos ofreció llevarnos a una gasolinera aun más lejos en la carretera. Era mucho más grande y además contaba con un restaurante. Nos depedimos. Fuimos a la carretera y al cabo de quizá unos 10 minutos un par de trailers entraron a la gasolinera. Pareció como que ni siquiera nos vieron parados a la orilla pero igual fui a preguntarles si iban rumbo a Polonia. Si, a Lublin. Nos dejarían en Augustów (donde tuve que pasar la noche en mi camino  a Estonia), pero después de cruzar la frontera nos dijeron que nos dejarían en Białystok, unos 100 kilómetros más cerca de Warszawa de lo previsto.

Como en otras ocasiones, me han dejado en la entrada de la ciudad. Caminamos a una parada de buses pero nada. Caminamos más. Otra parada de buses, nada. Caminamos mucho más. Centro comercial con gasolinera, otra parada de buses. Nada! Seguimos caminando hasta que llegamos a lo que parecía ser la salida de la ciudad. No esperamos más de 10 minutos cuando alguien nos estaba llevando hasta Warszawa, a unas calles de donde nos quedaríamos. En el piso de Paula.

I wanted to stay longer in Kaunas, I was having a great time but I agreed to travel with Kirsty  and go to Warszawa so after I checked hitchwiki, Dominyka offered us to take us to the petrol station we had to start hitchhiking.

It’s worth to say that it was a cold and foggy morning. We waited for more than an hour inside the car. No cars were coming into the petrol station, or trucks or anything. A truck driver was going past Warszawa didn’t want to take us because he didn’t want to get into trouble taking two people. Dominyka offered us to take us to another petrol station farther down the road. It was much bigger and with a restaurant. We said goodbye. We went to the road and after about 10 minutes two lorries drove into the petrol station. Seemed like they didn’t even notice us standing on the side but I went to asked them if they were going to Poland anyway. Yes, to Lublin. They were going to leave us in Augustów (where I had to spend one night on my way to Estonia) but  right after crossing the border into Poland they told me that they were going to drive us to Białystok, about 100 kilometers closer to Warszawa.

Like several other times we were dropped off in the entrance of the city. We walked to the closest bus station and nothing. We walked more. Another bus stop, nothing. We walked even more. Shopping center with petrol station, another bus stop. Nothing! We kept walking until we reached what it looked like the city’s end. We didn’t wait for more than 10 minutes and we were on the way to Warszawa, a few streets from where we were going to stay. Paula’s flat.

No era mi primera vez en la capital de Polonia, estuve ahí el verano pasado por un fin de semana. Por lo ya conocía y no exploré mucho. La construcción del estadio está más avanzada ahora y no hacia calor como cuando estuve el verano pasado.

Salir de la ciudad fue fácil. Al igual que la vez anterior, tratamos de hacer dedo en la parada del bus pero no funcionó. Tomamos un bus a IKEA y no esperamos más de 10 minutos. Esta vez eramos tres. 10 minutos después el conductor (que hablaba perfecto castellano) no detenía el auto a tiempo y estaba teniendo mi primer accidente haciendo autostop.

El conductor nos dejó en Radom, cerca de la entrada. Muy lejos de donde me dejara el ingeniero de carreteras en junio. Igual, no pasaron más de 15 minutos y un señor algo viejo nos estaba llevando. Nos llevaría a Kielce. Salimos tarde de Warzawa porque la idea original era quedarnos una noche en Radom pero al final cambiamos de opinión. Estaba anocheciendo. El viejo recibió una llamada de su hija, que recientemente se había mudado a Kraków. Un par de horas después nos estaba dejando frente al piso de Magda.

It wasn’t my first time in Poland’s capital city, I was there last summer for a weekend. I knew the place already and I didn’t explore that much. The construction of the stadium was ahead and it wasn’t as warm as my last time there..

Leaving the city was easy. Like the time before, we tried to hitch from the bus stop but it didn’t work so we take the bus to IKEA and we didn’t wait for more than 10 minutes. This time we were three people. 10 minutes later I was having my frist accident while hitchhiking. The driver spoke pefect Spanish.

The driver took us to Radom, near the entrance of the city. Far away from where the road engineer was leaving me in june. Not even 15 minutes went by and an old man stopped and was going to take us to Kielce. We left Warszawa late because the original plan was to stay in Radom but we changed our minds at the last minute. It was getting dark. The old man received a call from his daughter who recently moved to Kraków. A couple of hours later we were getting dropped off in front of Magda’s building.

Pensé que nunca regresaría a Polonia, especialmente a Kraków, pero era mi cuarta vez en Polonia y tercera en Kraków.

Kraków es la única ciudad que he visto en 4 estaciones distintas: la primera vez fue en invierno. Regresé en la primavera y me fui al principio del verano. Ahora estaba regresando en el otoño.

Después de espera un par de horas estaba empezando a creer que en serio mis sideburns estaba afectando el autostop. Justo cuando estaba pensando en ir al  baño de la gasolinera Kirsty me estaba diciendo eso exactamente:  “no querés ir a afeitarte?”. Iba camino al baño cuando le pregunté a un tipo si iba en dirección de Wrocław. Iba justamente a Wrocław. Nos llevó. Y lo mejor de todo, no me afeité.

La primera vez que me quedé en el piso de Ada y Martina dormí mucho porque venía de trabajar 18 horas al día y dormir entre 3 y 4. Esta vez les prometí que no iba a dormir mucho.

I thought I will never go back to Poland, specially Kraków but this was my fourth time in Poland and my third in Kraków.

Kraków is the only city I’ve seen in the four seasons: first time was during winter. Came back in the spring and left in the beginning of summer. Now, I was coming back in autumn.

After waiting for a couple of hours I was starting to believe that my sideburns were really affecting the hitchhiking. Just when I was thinking that, Kirsty asked me if I wanted to shave. I was walking the petrol station toilet when I asked a guy if he was going in the direction of Wrocław. He was going directly to Wrocław. He drove us. But the best thing is that I didn’t have to shave.

The first time I stayed with Ada and Martina I slept a lot because I was coming from working 18 hours a day and sleeping between 3 and 4. This time I promised them that I was not going to sleep that much.

Kaunas

Salir de Riga fue fácil. Un minibús hacia el pueblo de Kekava (donde Dan me había recomendado ir). Luego caminar unos kilómetros  a la rotonda donde estuve atorado por varias horas cuando iba a Tallinn y listo. Todo debería de ser en bajada. Tenía la sensación de que Kirsty se podría desanimar con el autostop si nos iba como nos fue al dejar Estonia. Pocas veces he tenido días cuando el autostop fue nada más que perfecto. Ibamos rumbo a la rotonda cuando una kombi para del otro lado de la carretera y nos llama. Iba para una ciudad que se llama Bauska, a más o menos 25 kilómetros de la frontera con Lituania. No sólo nos lleva, tenemos super interesantes conversaciones acerca de la situación económica de Letonia y de cómo le convendría al país entrar en la Eurozona a pesar de tener una moneda más fuerte. Llegamos a Bauska. Paramos en la gasolinera. Se baja de la kombi y empieza a preguntarle a la gente si podían llevar a un par de viajeros a Kaunas. Al cabo de 5 minutos nos llama y nos presenta a nuestro nuevo conductor: Oskar. Le damos las gracias y nos despedimos.

Una vez rumbo a Kaunas, Oskar nos pregunta cómo conocíamos a Ansis Bogustovs. “A quien” pregunto yo. Resulta ser que este tío es un famoso periodista en Letonia. Es fue la razón por la Oskar accedió a llevarnos: porque si el nos llevó hasta Bauska, eramos de fiar. Si recuerdo que mencionara que fue corresponsal en Bruselas, pero no vi la relación. Casi 3 horas después estábamos en Kaunas.

Leaving Riga was easy. A  minibus Kekava (where Dan told me to go). Then walked a few kilometers to the roundabout I was stuck for several hours when I was going to Tallinn and that was it. Everything should be downhill. I had the feeling that Kirsty might get disappointed if the hitchhiking was going to be like when we tried to leave Estonia.. Only a few times I had perfect hitchhiking. We weren’t even close to the roundabout, we were still walking along the road when a kombi stopped and the driver called us. He was going to the town of Bauska, about 25 kilometers before the Lithuanina border. Not only did he take us but we had very interesting conversations about the current financial situation in Latvia and how it would be good for the country to enter the Eurozone despite the fact of having a stronger currency. We finally made it to Bauska. We stopped in the petrol station. He got off the car and start asking people around if they could take a couple of travelers to Kaunas. After 5 minutes he called us and introduced us our new driver, Oskar. We thanked him and said goodbye.

Once on the way to Kaunas, Oskar asked us how we know Ansis Bogustovs, “who?” we asked. It turned out that this guys Ansis is a really famous Latvian journalist. That was the reason Oskar agreed to take us. He thought that if Ansis took us, we were alright. I do remember that he said he was a correspondent in Brussel but I didn’t see the relation at the moment. Almost three hours later we were in Kaunas.

Pensaba que Kaunas no era un lugar bueno, hitchwiki dice que “no es un lugar para quedarse atascado”. Eso no suena muy prometedor. Aun más, no había conseguido lugar donde dormir entonces pensé en dejar a Kirsty y continuar mi camino a Warszawa. Afortunadamente conseguí couch la mañana antes de salir de Riga (envié emergency couch requests la noche anterior) pero aun así seguía pensando que solamente me iba a quedar una noche… qué equivocado estaba. Conocí a mi host, Dominyka y junto con ella y Kirsty exploramos la ciudad hasta que Kirsty tuve que irse a con la amiga de una amiga de una amiga.

Esa misma noche cambié de opinión respecto a Kaunas y decidí quedarme más tiempo. La primera noche de fiesta regresamos a las 6 de la mañana!

Honestamente me gustó más Kaunas que Riga. El centro de Kaunas me pareció como Antigua: chiquito, con calles de piedra, edificios viejos. Y es en ésta parte donde los dos ríos más cuadalosos de Lituania convergen, el Nemumas y el Neris.

I thought that Kaunas wasn’t a good place, according to hitchwiki it’s “not a good place to get stuck”. That didn’t sound promising. Moreover, I still hadn’t found a place to sleep for the night so I thought of just dropping off Kirsty and keep going to Warszawa. Fortunately I found a couch the morning before leaving Riga (I sent some emergency couch requests the night before) but still I was still thinking about staying only one night… how wrong I was. I met with my host, Dominyka and along with Kirsty we explore the city until Kirsty had to go meet her friend’s friend of a friend.

That same night I changed my mind about Kaunas and decided to stay longer. The first night out we came back home at 6 in the morning!

Honestly I liked Kaunas more than Riga. The Old Town seemed to me like Antigua:small, with cobblestone streets and old buildings. And also is where the two biggest river in Lithuania converge, Nemunas and Neris.

El viernes por la noche me invitaron a una fiesta en un bodega. Prometía ser genial, pero no lo fue. Es decir, estuvo de puta madre pero no para los organizadores. Bailé, y mucho… Domi me obligó!

Tuve la oportunidad de no solamente visitar Kaunas sino que también dos pueblitos cercanos: de primero Sasnava, cerca de Marijampolė. Muy cerca pasa un río donde simplemente uno se puede tirar en la grama y descansar. Además, el clima no podía ser mejor. No había frío y ni una sola nube en el cielo. Al menos no había frío por la tarde. De camino de regreso paramos a “comprar” maíz, bueno Domi simplemente paró el carro, se baja y se escurre entre la milpa para regresar con kukurūzai (maíz en mazorca) . Eso cenaríamos, en teoría. La mamá también se ha bajado y ayuda en la tarea de recolectar kukurūzai con la hija.

Después fuimos al cumpleaños de una tía de Domi, en un pueblito llamado Vilkija. Aunque de este lugar no puedo escribir mucho ya que era de noche y no pude explorar mucho, excepto una iglesia y el hospital. Luego fuimos a un mirador donde durante el día se puede ver el río Nemunas, pero no fuimos de noche al lugar, no pude ver nada!

Regresamos a casa y tratamos de ver una peli pero al cabo de 20 minutos me rendí y me dormí. Le tomó 20 minutos más  Dominyka.

Regresaré a Kaunas.

Friday night we went to a party in a loft. The party was promising it was going to be good, but It wasn’t. I mean, it was great and we had fun but it wasn’t good for the organizers. I danced, a lot… Domi made me do it!

I had the chance to visit not only Kaunas but also a couple of other small villages nearby. First Sasnava, close to Marijampolė. Very closet the river goes through town and on the river bank you just can lay on the grass and do nothing. The weather couldn’t had been better. It wasn’t cold and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. It wasn’t cold at least in the afternoon. On our way back we stopped to “buy” corn, actually Domi just stepped out of the car and walk into the corn field and just grabbed the kukurūzai (corn). That was going to be the night’s dinner. Her mum also helped collecting the kukurūzai along with her daughter.

After that we went to one of Domi’s auntie’s birthday in the nearby village of Vilkija. I cannot write a lot about this village as we went there by night therefore we couldn’t explore that much, only the hospital and the church. After that we went to a lookout to try to see the river Nemunas but since it was very dark we couldn’t see a thing!

We got back home and we tried to watch a film but after 20 minutes I gave up and fell asleep. It took Dominyka another 20 minutes.

Kaunas, I’ll be back.