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Sean Plamondon
Sean Plamondon

Sean Plamondon

traveled in 90 countries Read more🇨🇦Ottawa
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  • Colombia v2.0

    Medellin - Day 4

    November 12, 2023 in Colombia

    Kris and i both slept in, which nullified a few ideas i had for today like parasailing and repelling down a waterfall.

    Instead, we signed up for a very popular grafitti and history tour. This tour takes place in the barrios (slums) of medellin but has now become a massive tourist attraction. The history of how commune 13 was established on the side of a mountain is equally fascinating and tragic. It used to be one of the most dangerous places in the world but that has been mostly cleaned up and is now a vibrant community with an immense amount of culture.

    Our walking tour climbed high up through the jungle of makeshift structures, learning about its history and the deeper meaning of many of the murals. We were also treated to a performance of professional break dancers, who were some of the most athletic and coordinated people I've ever witnessed.

    We went into galleries, treated to a local dessert, and even created some of our own graffiti with a spray can. And the views of the city were quite amazing too

    Our tour had 9 people, and 7 of us were canadians. 3 others were also from ottawa. Too funny. Got to know Sam and his girlfriend a bit and shared an uber on the long drive back to the richy area of el poblado.

    Went to a rooftop bar for snacks and beverages before heading out for one last meal in medellin. In bed relatively early for the travel day tomorrow    Read more

  • Colombia v2.0

    Medellin - Day 3

    November 11, 2023 in Colombia ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C

    Today did another day trip in our rental car to the town of Santa Fe. As usual, navigating our way out of medellin was an adventure with lots of wrong turns and then trying to deal with the ramifications of those errors and get back on track. This might be the most difficult city i have i ever driven in. Rio is a close second.

    The drive to santa fe was spectacular. In one hour's drive, we descended more than 3300 feet of elevation through some of the biggest and most dramatic mountains i have seen.

    Santa fe is a really nice old colonial city with cobblestone streets, and all the buildings are whitewashed. And hot!! What a difference it makes being at a lower elevation. Kris said the temperature was over 40 with humidity. I believe it.

    We walked around for a bit and had some fantastic food at a beautiful restaurant my travel book recommended. After about 2 hours, made the drive back to medellin.

    Rested up for a bit and then headed back to the el poblado area for some good beer and food. Starting at our usual spot Medellin Beer Factory. Waitress recognized us right away with huge smiles and enthusiastically took care of us. Colombians are such great hosts and very naturally caring and always aiming to please. Very salt of the earth. We have already had a number of acts of kindness that were very surprising. But less so while driving where every inch of road is a battle haha    Read more

  • Colombia v2.0
    View from our condo

    Medellin - Day 2

    November 10, 2023 in Colombia ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    We wanted to drive to santa fe today but medellin has really strict rules for different licence plates being restricted from the road on different days. And sure enough, our licence plate ends with an 8, and friday is restricted on 8's.

    So we went to center area of medellin and walked around. Found a nice place for lunch and then found a place that would cut a copy of our condo key for us. One key for 2 people is kinda silly.

    The center area is totally chaotic and soooo many people everywhere. It was fun to walk around but after a while it was sensory overload and we had to get out of there.

    Popped by Bipolar brewery on the way back to our condo, rested for a bit and then went back to the incredibly busy el poblado restaurant area for food, drinks and an attempt at dancing haha.    Read more

  • Colombia v2.0

    Medellin - Day 1

    November 9, 2023 in Colombia

    Got in a few hours sleep and headed back to the airport to catch a plane to Medellin. Picked up our rental car at the airport and started driving to Guatape. Gorgeous scenery winding through the mountains.

    Two hours later arrived at Piedra de el peñol. A huge rock jutting straight up several hundred feet. It has a staircase to the top built into a natural crevice of the rock but unfortunately was closed for repairs. Still the views from its base were high above Guatape and made for fantastic sights. Enjoyed a cold beer here and then drove down to Guatape

    Guatape is a small, colorful colonial town that has been beautifully preserved. Took a while to find parking and finally had our first meal of the day at 4pm. Walked around the cobblestone streets and waa repeatedly rewarded venturing down random side streets with charming buildings and murals and artwork everywhere.

    Would have loved to spend a lot more time exploring but it was getting a bit late and we still had to drive back to medellin and i really didn't want to be driving those mountain roads in the dark.

    The drive back took about 3 hours. The approach into medellin was pretty spectacular. Medellin sits in bowl completely surrounded by high mountains and our approach was high, high above the city. Completely dark at that point but the lights below and up the mountain sides was quite a sight

    Took us quite a while to navigate our way down the mountain and find our condo building. Using only a voice assisted gps is almost useless because there are so many possible splits in the road, its incredibly easy to make wrong choices. Which we did a number of times haha.

    Checked into our luxury condo and eventually got ourselves to the very busy and richy area of el poblado for some drinks and a bit more food before calling it a night. It felt like the entire city was on this one particular pedestrian street with hundreds of restaurants and bars. I found one called medellin beer company and we relexed there for a while. And hit a few other places amongst the crowds until our eyes were starting to close. We were still super tired from the journey from canada plus a very full first day.    Read more

  • Colombia v2.0

    Bogota - Day 1

    November 8, 2023 in Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    Yay back to latin america!

    Long travel day. Had to get up at 345am and after a 4 hour stop in fort lauderdale, arrived in Bogota at 5pm. Same time zone.

    My buddy Kris wasn't arriving until after 8pm so i made my way to the old town. Checked into my hotel and wandered around the colonial streets until i stumbled across a bbc (bogota beer company) location. There must be 50 of them in bogota.

    Met two crazy characters from tennessee at bbc who were both surprisingly very left leaning politically. I guess no book cover judging applies :) rediscovered south american honey beer. Sooo good.

    Once that closed, found my way to a bunch of bar lined pedestrian streets and found a place and eventually Kris found me to share a beer before finally getting some much needed sleep. One more flight tomorrow and can put some roots down for a bit    Read more

  • Penn, Maryland, NJ and NY

    Ausable Chasm / Ottawa

    August 19, 2023 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    Slept in again and then drove 90 minutes to Ausable Chasm. Initially was planning to do the adventure course with harnesses and ropes but alexa wasn't feeling it today so we had a very enjoyable and relaxing hike through the canyon. Such a beautiful spot. Love it here.

    Then 3 more hours back to ottawa. We are both exhausted. We fit so much into those 8.5 days. Even wore me out haha which is pretty hard to do 😄

    We started a fun experiment as soon as we crossed the border. We counted every single American flag we saw during the entire trip. Proper flags. Didnt count images of flags or flag banners etc. How many do you think we saw in 8.5 days?

    964 !

    'murica! Haha    Read more

  • Penn, Maryland, NJ and NY
    Crazy new ride that flips riders at 170 feet up
    The comet. Great wooden coaster at lake georgeView from Christie'sView from Beach ClubMy bucket of seafood. Yum!

    Lake George

    August 18, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    Drove 3.5 hours north to Lake George. New York State has an interesting toll situation now where you just drive through a set of cameras and they send you a bill in the mail. Convenient but i have no idea how much i owe :) Will find out soon

    Started at Six Flags. Alexa and i have been there several times before so we knew all the rides well and were not in a rush plus there aren't many adrenaline type rides at this location. But walking in a new giant one has been built that looks super scary.

    Went on a few other rides but my stomach was feeling off so we only spent 2 hours and left without trying that new scary ride. Spent the evening relaxing by the lake. We both caught up on messages with friends and was nice to have a down quiet day to re-charge a bit.

    I ordered a seafood bucket that was fantastic. Lobster, mussels, clams, shrimp, plus corn, sausage and potatoes. Sooo good. While alexa odered the ribs and chicken combo. And back to our hotel by 930pm. The eariest maybe the whole trip :)    Read more

  • Penn, Maryland, NJ and NY
    At liberty state park
    Times squareWe climbed to the apex of the building in the middle. Normal viewing platform is below the apexVessel. Interesting architectural structure next to our building ascentAlexa at 1200 feet above the cityMuch easier doing this after our building climbPanoramic from The EdgeManhattan bridge from dumbo areaCecconi's restaurant in dumboLamb ragout. Really good!Brooklyn bridge from dumbo areaView from just outside our Brooklyn restaurantLast stop at the yard house. Felt imperative to order a yard of beer :)

    New York City

    August 17, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C

    Short one hour drive today to Liberty State Park on the New Jersey side of new york to get the closest views of the statue of liberty without hopping on a boat. I originally wanted to get tickets to take the stairs to the crown of the statue but it was soldout.

    Navigated our way to Times Square as our hotel is only 1 block away. Driving there wasn't particularly difficult, just really slow and congested. Required some aggressiveness though to fight for lane changes etc.

    Walked around time square and then walked to Hudson Yards where i found a really unique experience for us. We ascended 100 stories in the 6th tallest building in new york city via elevator and then with harnesses, ascended another 16 stories via stairs, most of which were outside the building. And eventually to a ledge where tourists could lean out over the edge. This is apparently the tallest exterior building climb in the world.

    Climbing the staircase outside didn't bother me, but definitely quite a thrilling thing to do. I couldn't get myself to lean out over the ledge at the top. However alexa apparently is much braver than me and did both the forward and backward lean! Wow. After that, went to the normal viewing platform and got a bunch of pictures of the city and us on the glass floor and against the angled glass walls over the city.

    From here, we took the subway to the Brooklyn bridge and walked across it to Brooklyn and we found the really cool Dumbo area which is an old industrial area revitalized into a hip restaurant area with cobblestone streets. Had a really good meal at a nice italian restaurant and then took in the nighttime views of the brooklyn and Manhattan bridges.

    Took the subway back to times square, and relaxed at a restaurant where alexa reconnected with her friends online and i did the same with a ridiculous Yard of beer at the Yard House.    Read more

  • Penn, Maryland, NJ and NY
    The Joker
    SupermanEl ToroKingda KaYou can see the train cresting the topMedusaMedusa againPre congo rapidsPost congo rapidsJersey DevilWonder womanPoint Pleasant on Jersey Shore

    Six Flags / Point Pleasant

    August 16, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    Started our drive back towards Canada but not without some fun stops along the way. Alexa and i have talked about this specific day for a few months lesding up to now. Mostly because this particular six flags has the world's tallest roller coaster at 425 feet tall ! Plus a whole bunch of other huge crazy coasters as well.

    Decided to begin our day on the smallest of all of them but a really unique one called The Joker where you ride beside the track and your seat can fully rotate on its own in free motion independant of the ride. Hands down the scariest thing i have ever done including sky diving many years ago. Poor alexa screamed so much and so loud you'd swear she was being murdered next to me. I was absolutely not ready for that experience wow!

    We were both really shaken up by that ride and it helped to be in line for a while for our next few rides to calm the nerves. Rode superman which has you lying face down. Then green lantern which is a stand up roller coaster. Both of which put you through a lot of loops and inversions. Then the rain came during our food break which seemed to clear out a ton of people from the park and we were walking right onto most rides.

    El Toro was easily the biggest and best wooden coaster I've ever ridden and it freaked me out cuz i was coming way out of my seat on the hills. Followed by Medusa which probably had more inversions than I've ever experienced but super fun.

    Finally we nervously got in line for Kingda Ka, the tallest in the world. It accelerates you from zero to 200kmh in seconds, shoots you straight upwards to the top, slowly crests the peak and then straight down all 425 feet with a barrel roll. I waa soooo scared sitting there waiting for take off. The entire up and down takes about 7 seconds and its actually hard to even have time to be scared. That initial drop feels all kinds of wrong but its over so fast. We loved it so much, we got right back in line and did it again! Feels like you've strapped yourself to a rocket that tries and fails to take you into orbit haha.

    After that, rode the amazingly smooth and wild single seat Jersey Devil, got alexa completely soaked on the congo rapids, then wild mouse in the dark called The Dark Knight and finished with inverted coaster Batman.

    Drove 30 minutes to the Jersey Shore to Point Pleasant Beach and found a nearby place for a late meal, some cards and still chatting away about today's experiences. Pretty sure we talked more about the terrifying joker ride more than everything else combined. But the best was alexa telling me 20 times what an amazing day she had :)    Read more

  • Penn, Maryland, NJ and NY
    Fish Tales restaurantZipper rideSeacrets tables IN the bay

    Ocean City - Day 3

    August 15, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    After another late evening we slept until 11am and lazily got going at noon. Walked to a really fun restaurant called Fish Tales on the bay side. Had a very dominican / carib island feel to it. Alexa ordered something called Walking Taco which was a bag of doritos filled with spiced ground beef and melted cheese. Haha we had no idea thats what the walking taco would be. I had the biggest and most tender scallops ever but they were covered in a spicy wing sauce and topped with blue cheese. Weird flavor explosion in my mouth.

    Spent the rest of the afternoon at the beach. Paid for a big umbrella so we could relax more this time and not get scorched by the sizzling sun here. The waves were huge today! It was really hard to get the boogie board out to tummy deep waters and the waves diced me up pretty good when i did. Alexa wisely played in the more shallow areas while i got myself back to the chair to let all the salt water drain from my nose and ears :)

    Took alexa on my childhood favorite Zipper ride, and then we went to a really cool mini golf place next door. It was ridiculously packed and slow going, but fun. After a bit of rain, started getting an amazing sunset, so we ditched at the second last hole to race to our next destination bay side for some nice pictures for supper.

    Got to the restaurant Seacrets just in time before the sun went down and watched the sky go through yellows, oranges and pinks before a huge thundershower forced us back inside. Its a really unique restaurant with live bands all day in different sections (its huge), outdoor seating literally in the bay, and tons of booths and tables in the sand plus a very Jamaican vibe inside. We split a full rack of ribs with a caprese salad and side of fresh fruit. Back to the hotel and lights out by 10 as we are back on the road in the morning.    Read more

  • Penn, Maryland, NJ and NY
    Crab cakes

    Ocean City - Day 2

    August 14, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    Slept in until noon. We both really needed that. Plus we got to bed after midnight. And have had extremely full days.

    Started our day at the beach again. Shortly after settling in with our beach chairs, we saw 4 dolphins jumping in and out of the water in the nearby distance (oxymoron?)

    Then we had a blast boogie boarding the waves for a couple of hours. Super fun to do and pretty hilarious to exit and watch alexa get occasionally diced by the waves too haha

    From there we went to speedworld which is a mega go-carting place with 8 different tracks. Had so much fun battling each other plus the other racers. A bit of rain made things really slippery and caused a few car pileups, usually with me in the middle of it, and alexa crashing hard into me as she was always looking for a seam to get by me.

    Finished our night at really down to earth Coins restaurant and bar. After a bizarre conversation with the hostess, Dave the bartender took care of us and we had great food and times. I tried the crabcakes, which were awesome. Alexa capped the night with some minecraft and i finally booked our new jersey hotel 2 days from now. Yay    Read more

  • Penn, Maryland, NJ and NY
    Crab ballsCrab soup

    Ocean City - Day 1

    August 13, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    Drove 3 hours to get to ocean city plus a quick pitstop at best buy to get alexa a charging cord for her ipad

    Our hotel is right on the boardwalk so everything is very walkable and convenient for us. Immediately bought boogie boards and went to the beach and spent a few hours in the waves and relaxing in the sun.

    Walked the length of the boardwalk to the main pier but all the food options at that end are pretty junky, so i found us a great seafood spot bayside a few blocks away called M.R. Ducks right next to the marina. Maryland is famous for its crab, so i ordered crab balls and crab soup. Yummy! And we had an amazing sunset as alexa exacted her revenge on me in rummy 500.

    Then back to the boardwalk and we went on all the big midway rides. The ferris wheel, roller coaster, and some other really crazy rides that i don't know how to describe. Super fun. I took a video of the coaster ride but it was such a violent ride i could barely keep the camera focused on where we were going.

    And a really nice long walk back down the boardwalk to our hotel. I think we both passed out really fast.    Read more

  • Penn, Maryland, NJ and NY
    These jellyfish are not dangerous and we could pet themSlothCooled off in the hard rock cafe after our pirate cruiseSalmon stuffed with crab and shrimpCalimari

    Baltimore

    August 12, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C

    3.5 hour drive to baltimore today but i unfortunately i unwittingly made a wrong turn almost immediately and 30 minutes later started recognizing towns i knew from prior drives to Philadelphia. Glad i did.

    Was able to correct it in time and get on a good route to baltimore still and didn't mess up my prebooked and prepaid stuff. Staying at a really nice downtown hotel called the Lord Baltimore. Alexa was immediately struck and exclaimed how fancy this hotel is haha. Definitely not our usual type of accomodation :)

    Started our afternoon on a pirate cruise which i didn't realize was meant for much younger kids but we had a good time and the harbour views were great. Then spent a few hours in the amazing national aquarium. If you're ever in baltimore, its a must see/do. In addition to seeing a gazillion types of fish and sea creatures including sharks, jellyfish, dolphins, etc, theres tons of exotic birds and even some sloths.

    We watched a 20 minute 4D movie about sharks there too. Before entering i was telling alexa i wonder what the 4D represents? Odours? Maybe the seat moves? Haha much more. The seats would rumble and vibrate, gusts of wind would hit our faces, blasts of air from below us too, water sprayed at times and during the tense moments, there is a small rod build into the seat back that would suddenly protrude and poke your back and make everyone jump. Very different theatre experience haha.

    Finished up at a really nice seafood place where alexa had calimari and i had salmon stuffed with crab and shrimp. Both of us are really tired and the heat here wiped us out pretty good too at 38C. No rush tomorrow and we can both sleep in and catch up on some z's.    Read more

  • Penn, Maryland, NJ and NY
    Took this pic just before noticing the no cameras sign
    Mac and cheese on steroidsThe battle begins!Alexa's version of positive comment card

    Clark's Summit

    August 11, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    Me and Alexa's 9 day road trip starts here

    Just a travel day. Picked up alexa from badminton camp mid afternoon and we drove 5 hours to the Scranton area for the night. Alexa chatted my ear off for 4.5 of the 5 hours - i think she is excited haha. Found a nice restaurant across the street and ordered meals that no human should ever be capable of finishing.

    And most importantly, started our rummy 500 battle! Round 1 goes to me but its far too early to celebrate. Alexa will most certainly return with a vengeance :)

    Off to Baltimore tomorrow.    Read more

  • Sean PlamondonScandinavia and the BalticsSean Plamondon

    And home!

    August 6, 2023 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    Finally home! Customs had a lot of questions. After a while i wasn't sure if she was asking customs questions or just interested in my trip haha. Made me tell her about every country i went to. Anyways... here's the final tally:

    8 countries
    8 flights
    4 trains
    1 bus
    1 ferry
    And a lot of trams, ubers and subways

    And i just found out chris christie was secretly in ukraine which explains why he was on the same plane from poland. Ok... thats a wrap!    Read more

  • Sean PlamondonScandinavia and the BalticsSean Plamondon
    Chris Christie
    Business class yayI want it !!Self pour bar

    New York

    August 5, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    Arrived at jfk airport around 8pm after a 9 hour flight from poland. I had a business class ticket, and was able to turn my seat horizontally into a bed and get some sleep. On exiting the airplane i noticed presidential candidate Chris Christie was sitting behind me. Really wanted to engage with him but he was pretty busy chatting with others and i didn't want to bug him either.

    Quickly booked a Manhattan hotel and my taxi got me there around 9pm. Walked around a tiny bit and found a nearby place that my front desk requested.

    Then to another place where you pour your own beer. You get a special card from the cashier, load up money onto the card and then tap the card on the beer tap you want and it charges you by the ounce as you pour. Brilliant! 40 different beers/taps.

    Watched the big event boxing match there with some new friends and then called it a night. On the way back to the hotel i could smell street food being cooked from a block away. Some sort of Egyptian version of a gyro or shawarma. So good! I didn't have any American dollars on me but the guy behind me was kind enough to take my 20 euro bill and give me 10 American in return and buy my sandwich for me.    Read more

  • Sean PlamondonScandinavia and the BalticsSean Plamondon

    Warsaw - Day 2

    August 4, 2023 in Poland ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C

    Joined an old town 2.5 hour walking tour. Very informative and excellent guide with a very dry sense of humour. It blows my mind that over 800,000 citizens of Warsaw lost their lives in world war II. Thats more than the american and british armies lost combined!

    After the tour, walked around some more to some areas the guide recommended and eventually rested at the hotel for a while. Later went to the restaurant right next to my hotel and enjoyed sipping on beers watching thousands of people stroll by. Ordered the wild boar stroganoff with mushrooms. Excellent last meal here.

    Walked around some more to the really busy bar area but ultimately too tired to stay long. And that pretty much wraps up the European part of the trip. Off to New York tomorrow    Read more

  • Sean PlamondonScandinavia and the BalticsSean Plamondon
    Reunited plus blake and latishas parents
    Eggs, bacon, sausage, mushrooms in sauce for breakfast. Weird but really goodSo tired :)Gdansk train stationMy bullet trainMy hotel is the white building in the middleMattAntoineMaria and JakimUgh

    Warsaw - Day 1

    August 3, 2023 in Poland ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    Met up with the germans and americans from the prior night to watch a women's world cup game just after lunch. Had to bring my backpack with me because i was now homeless. Still wasn't sure if i should stay one more day in gdansk or make my way to warsaw.

    Ultimately figured its probably best to get moving again and caught a bullet train to warsaw. I cant believe it got me there in 2 hours. All the other trains were 3.5 to 4 hours from what i saw online.

    Checked into my hotel in really pretty castle plaza and walked around taking in the city. Everything here is much bigger in size than gdansk. Was pretty tired so i found a quiet craft beer place to relax. But matt the bartender was incredibly colorful and engaging. Met antoine from france too. We chatted for a few hours but he had an overnight bus to lithuania and had to go

    Then met lovely maria and jakim from norway. Chatted a long time and then they wanted to show me some other nearby places. Maria went to university in warsaw, so she knew some great hidden spots that i never would have found. I usually have a pretty strict rule of no shots but they were so hospitable and kind that i felt saying no wasn't really an option. Another late finish but the trip is so close to over, and I'm fortunate to meet so many nice people every day. Trying to enjoy every minute and maximize my opportunities    Read more

  • Sean PlamondonScandinavia and the BalticsSean Plamondon

    Gdańsk 2.5

    August 3, 2023 in Poland ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    I wrote my day 2 for gdansk as i finished my beer and was about to head to my hotel. But things took a fun turn. Thus, this 2nd entry.

    I remembered the pub next to my hotel was still open. I figured i would pop in for one more as i was planning to leave gdansk in the morning and a bit reluctant to say goodbye.

    I was standing at the bar sipping my beer and i could hear a familiar accent next to me. I asked the girl where she was from and she said texas. Soon discovered she used to travel to ottawa monthly for work. I got invited to join her and her family at their table.

    Chatted with Spring, Blake and Letisha until the place closed. I told them i know a place that is still open so off we went. At this next place befriended two germans who are cycling 2500km across europe. And also some poles. When this place closed, we decided to find one more place for dancing. My phone cell service died so i couldn't find the place i was at the night before.

    While wandering the streets, we accumulated a few more people from australia and nepal. We thought we found a place and all piled in but it was actually a gentleman's club haha. When i got in, everyone already had a huge table to my surprise. I took a quick picture of only the group and this employee came running over asking for my phone and to delete my picture. I said no thank you and they kicked me out.

    Fortunately everyone followed and the germans thanked me haha. Finally found the blues brothers bar and we were home. One of the germans bought a round. The americans bought shots and i bought the last round and then we all eventually decided to leave and get to bed.

    Made several new polish friends on the walk back. Said our goodbyes with some pics by the neptune statue outside our accomodations. And the Americans arranged a next day meetup at noon at the irish bar. Told everyone I'd likely be on a train to warsaw and the germans told me if i show up, they'd pay for everything haha.

    I don't know how many times i heard "hey Canadian, come here!!" Haha. Possibly my favourite night of the trip and it was so close to not happening    Read more

  • Sean PlamondonScandinavia and the BalticsSean Plamondon

    Gdańsk - Day 2

    August 2, 2023 in Poland ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    Decided to sleep in after the late night. The restaurant i wanted to go to didn't open until 2pm so decided to ascend the 405 stairs to the st marys bell tower summit first. Then walked down the harbor front for quite a while and eventually to that restaurant finally. Had a really interesting local herring dish and then a very long and needed nap.

    Found some yummy dumplings/perogies near my hotel and sipped a few beers while catching up with friends and family back home. Missed my backpacking meetup today which is a bit too bad but needed to recharge too.

    Was soooo close to buying an amazing piece of carving artwork i found on the many street tents selling all kinds of cool stuff. But the price tag was fairly dear.    Read more

  • Sean PlamondonScandinavia and the BalticsSean Plamondon

    Gdańsk - Day 1

    August 1, 2023 in Poland ⋅ 🌧 20 °C

    Got up early and had fun navigating my rental from the old town to the airport. Flying to Gdansk with a 1 hour connection in Warsaw. My Warsaw flight was over 30 mins late. Had to sprint from one end of the terminal to the other end to just board in time. I had a perfect view of the guys loading the luggage and lets just say i wasn't at all surprised that my backpack didn't make it.

    Another gray rainy day but made the best of it and wandered dizzily through the gorgeous old town streets. Then the rain really came down in buckets for a long time. Got some traditional soup and eventually set out to find some good craft beer between rain drops.

    Landed at very hard to find spot called pub 107 with an amazing beer list. Was hard at first to meet anyone because they were all good friends. But eventually befriended 6ft7 jacob and his friend matt. They took me to another bar where we met paulina and izka. Jacob and matt went home and the girls took me to a dance club which became a much later night than i intended. But really fun. And when i got back to my hotel, my backpack had arrived yay!    Read more

  • Sean PlamondonScandinavia and the BalticsSean Plamondon
    This is a recommended read

    Trakai / Kaunas / Vilnius

    July 31, 2023 in Lithuania ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    Picked up my rental car at the airport and headed off towards Trakai. I paid for the cheapest Economy car but they gave me a really nice Volkswagen SUV. That doesn't happen often. But the guy said he didn't have any other automatic transmissions so he had to give me this one. Yay.

    Rained most of the way to Trakai but cleared up beautifully just as i arrived. Trakai has a cool old castle on an island. There wasn't tons to see but its in such a pretty location and really well preserved. Went for lunch at a nearby place that some Lithuanians recommend to me from the night prior. And wow did it rain while i was eating. Speaking of which, had a really yummy lamb stew. Apparently Trakai was their first capital. This doesn't make any sense to me because its just a village.

    Just as i finished up, the rain stopped. Definite theme today :) Headed off to lithuania's second biggest city Kaunas. Made a wrong turn but somehow ended up in the old town and right into an available parking spot. I was wondering how difficult that was going to be. Apparently not difficult at all :)

    Definitely much smaller than vilnius. There's a really nice big plaza with some nice churches nearby and a wonderful long pedestrian street lined with restaurants and shops for many many blocks. Walked up and down and then sat for a beverage to relax for a bit. And then decided i better head back to vilnius before it gets dark. Navigating alone in a foreign city is challenging enough without having to deal with darkness too.

    Just before arriving in vilnius the skies poured down buckets of rain again. I had to pull over a few times. This part was tricky... how would i find parking for my vehicle in the old town? All the streets are narrow and jammed with cars. All my research on the internet resulted in everyone suggesting to just not do it. To not even bother trying haha. I pinpointed on my map a spot i thought looked like maybe my best bet two blocks from my hotel on a long straight street thats wider than most. And super luckily found a spot just as the rain stopped too. One of those days where everything works out just right.

    Noticed on the street of my hotel a placard about the jewish getto during WWII. I didn't realize i was staying in the getto area. Very sad write-up but definitely worth a read. Will post my photo of it here.

    Was supposed to meet up with stacey and Daniel again but they were too tied. As was i. Fell asleep pretty fast at 7:30pm and woke up at 1130pm. Travel day tomorrow so i took care of some bookings and went back to sleep.    Read more

  • Sean PlamondonScandinavia and the BalticsSean Plamondon

    Vilnius - Day 3

    July 30, 2023 in Lithuania ⋅ 🌧 19 °C

    Late morning i joined a 2.5 hour walking tour of Vilnius. Like Riga, highly informative and at the same time many sad stories. Their existence was almost entirely under polish or Russian control until the berlin wall came down. And according to my tour guide, 90-95% of jews did not survive WW2 in Lithuania.

    There's a small part of the city called Užupis that considers itself its own country. When the tour guide said they stamp passports in a nearby building she pointed to, i ran over and got an Užupis stamp haha. Its a bit of a tongue in cheek concept though. They celebrate their independence every April 1st. Which probably says enough :)

    Made some friends from france on the tour but unfortunately they were all flying later that day but they did mention something about a nearby cat cafe. So i went there and hung out with a dozen cats for a while before going for my own cat nap.

    Around 8:30 walked all over the old town for a restaurant. Lots closed because its a sunday and none of the open ones were drawing me in. Then remembered i hadn't yet visited a place called the beer library. Walked in there and while talking to the bartender about my options, met Stacey from vancouver. And she invited me to join her and her husband Daniel. I think these are the first 2 Canadians I've ran into. Chatted forever until they kicked us out because it was getting late. Finished up at the same place as the night prior and met a whole other bunch of friendly lithuanians.    Read more

  • Sean PlamondonScandinavia and the BalticsSean Plamondon

    Vilnius - Day 2

    July 29, 2023 in Lithuania ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    Stsrted the day with a proper scare. I visited the st johns church and at the bell tower i took glass elevator to the top. I literally had to watch the walls cuz that ride was intense. It freaked me out simething crazy. At the top, the views of the city were phenomenal but i knew i still had to go back down. I decided to force myself down the rickety old stairs similar to National Treasure. Wow that was nerve wracking. Some moved, most creaked. My heart was pounding.

    After that went to a nearby restaurant myoko 4 and ordered local delicacies of herring and beet soup. It doesn't look appetizing in the pics at all but soooo good.

    Then did a massive walkabout. I think i covered over 10km. Vilnius has amazing churches at every turn or in the horizon so i had no end to my next destination. Was a fun discovery constantly. This city is much more spread out than riga or tallinn.

    I tried to get to the beer library in the jewish quarter but it was not open until 5pm so i found a great place called senators (definitely a sign!) And walked in. Met Lithuanian lucas the bartender and we hung out and chatted for maybe 4 hours. Haven't solved world peace yet but i think we are on the right track.

    Took a nap and went back out to discover the beer library was now closed. Noooo. But met
    Mindaugas and his gf at a nearby beer garden. From there went a few more places pretty close to my hotel. Talked a ton of politics to a really nice local couple and broke the news to davidos that his taste in movies is terrible haha.    Read more

  • Sean PlamondonScandinavia and the BalticsSean Plamondon
    Street leading to my apartment
    It even says "touch screen" hahaSuper cozy attic apartmentGreat elevated view of the old town

    Vilnius - Day 1

    July 28, 2023 in Lithuania ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    Day started with a 930am bus to lithuania's capital that would take 4 hours. Huge confusion before boarding. My bus was at gate 2, and a bunch of us had already put our baggage under the bus and were lined up to board when a girl comes off the bus and running to the bus at gate 1, runs back to the gate 2 bus and gets the driver to open the luggage compartment and move her stuff to the gate 1 bus. There was a big conversation in front of me about it but all in latvian. The two Americans in front of me start scrambling and doing the same thing. I asked whats happening and they explained that both buses are going to vilnius and both depart at 930 and they are on the wrong bus. Turns out, i was too. Whose brilliant idea was it to schedule two buses like that? Lol. Assigned seating and both were sold out, so it was a crucial detail.

    All the seats had a screen in front of them with the company logo and the seat number on it. I sat quietly with my thoughts and playing on my phone for 2 hours when i see the guy next to me touch the screen and start watching a movie. Haha i can't believe i didn't try that all this time!! Bus was an hour late but i watched almost 2 movies the rest of the way, so it flew by.

    Finally in vilnius and finally nice warm sunny weather! This cannot be emphasized enough haha. What a cold, wet trip so far. Unable to checkin until 3pm, i found a great cafe terrace overlooking a huge plaza meters away from my hotel and enjoyed watching the swathes of people go by and the sun on my face.

    Checked into my cute attic apartment and set off to explore the nearby attractive streets. Went for quite a walk and up a funicular for great views above the city. Eventually back to a great restaurant area for food and then rained again (of course!!) as i left. Ducked into a pub and found a great local ipa and wrapped up another early night. Haven't been sleeping well and am perpetually tired. Hopefully can reverse that tonight.    Read more

  • Sean PlamondonScandinavia and the BalticsSean Plamondon
    There's a huge story behind this famous cat
    Toms the guideLast of original city wallBest ravioli everView from restaurantThat sign is the name of the restaurant hahaBeef dumplings

    Riga - Day 2

    July 27, 2023 in Latvia ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    Joined a historical walking tour late morning through the old town. Such a fascinating but sad history. They have been consistently ruled by another country (many different ones) since the 1300s and didn't have their freedom until the berlin wall came down. Toms, the tour guide was incredibly detailed about every facet of life, then until now. And he's pretty hilarious too.

    Decided to splurge a bit and went to a semi pretentious rooftop restaurant in the middle of all the church spires. Both the view and the meal were amazing. And relative to Canadian prices was still very affordable.

    Rested at my apartment for a while and then found a gastropub for some yummy dumplings and then found my way through the labyrinth to banshees where i was the night before. Chatted with the same bartender for a bit. And then researched and booked my transportation for the next morning to Lithuania. And got myself home nice and early before another travel day.    Read more

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