Day 1 - Warsaw, Poland 🇵🇱
4 kwietnia, Polska ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C
And the journey begins!
We flew to Warsaw on Saturday 4/4 lunchtime. We had packed our sandwiches and all sorts of snacks cause we arrived on their Easter weekend - thus didn’t know what we would find open and our food is very important to us!
The flight was very pleasant even though I had a bit of a headache in the beginning, but it soon went away. As soon as we got to the airport we walked out and there was a huge line of “Bolt” taxis - Bolt is an Estonian company which is super famous here (and around Europe) for their online services of taxis. You just book where you want to go from your phone and you pick whichever taxi you want and just show a code to the driver. No directions or language barriers. Very easy!
Checked into our hotel, and immediately went out for our walk around the city. There weren’t many people out in the beginning. We also noticed black flags outside of a church symbolising mourning, grief, and the spiritual darkness following the crucifixion of Jesus Christ - tomorrow it’s going to be changed to white and gold. While we were walking we noticed some signs on the ground that said “Ghetto wall 1940-1943” and it used to be a wall that the German occupation authorities, had cut off the rest of the city on November 16, 1940. A sign near there wrote: “The ghetto area, surrounded by a wall, was initially 307 hectares (759 acres); with time, it was reduced.
Starting in January 1942, it was divided in two parts called the large and small ghettos. Approximately 360,000 Warsaw Jews and 90,000 from other towns were herded into the ghetto. Nearly 100,000 died of hunger. During the. summer of 1942, the Germans deported and murdered close to 300,000 people in the gas chambers of Treblinka. On April 19, 1943, an uprising broke out in the ghetto. Until mid-May, fighters and civilians perished in combat or in the systematically burned ghetto buildings. The remaining population was murdered by Germans in November 1943 in the Majdanek, Poniatowa and Trawniki concentration camps. Only a few survived. To the memory of those who suffered, fought and perished.”
When we walked into the old town we noticed more people out and a few church services for Holy Saturday. It started getting a bit cold so I gave Lampros my cardigan (luckily for him it was a sweet habit one!) and just wore my jacket which was more than fine. We stopped and had a beer (very fruity local bear) Lampros of course had a non alcohol one (!) and then headed back to our room cause we were getting very tired. Tomorrow we’re spending the day in Warsaw and have a late night bus to Vilnius!! Czytaj więcej
Day 2 - Warsaw, Poland
5 kwietnia, Polska ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C
Lampros started his day with a run. I started my day by staying in bed! When he got back we got ready to leave, but noticed on the door that cause it is a Sunday we still have an hour till check out! (We thought it was at 10:00, but it was at 11:00) so we had a quick power nap because the day was going to be a long one..
When we started our walk out into Warsaw the first thing we did was get on the Metro and head to the Wisla river. There we got coffees and saw the mermaid statue - the symbol of the city. The legend says that the mermaid took an oath to protect the city of Warsaw and she sometimes emerges from the river to check on the city. The day was wonderful - sun was shining and we had a lovely walk along the promenade. Even though it’s Easter Sunday a lot of people were out and a lot of shops were open to our surprise. The promenade ended close to the old town so we walked around there and found a few souvenir shops and more and more tourists. Afterwards, we were getting hungry and went and bought a “Zapiekanki” which is an open face grilled sandwich with sausage, melted cheese, pickles, crispy onion and any sauce. Delicious! Reminded us of the hot dogs we eat with Stamos in CPH🩷. Then it was time for us to visit the ZOO!
It was only a short walk to the zoo, over the river Wistla, and the entrance fee was about 10€ per person. I think we had bigger expectations considering the ZOO’s we have visited in the past, and this one was a bit disappointing. Firstly they didn’t have any maps of the enclosures and when we asked they just said “yes” but didn’t give us any - ignored us. Then, when we walked around there were hardly any animals in the enclosures and a very small amount of signs written in English (and even when we found some they had misspelled words🤭). They seemed a bit unorganised and didn’t inform if the animals where there or not (it just seemed like some enclosures didn’t have any animals at all). Lastly, we thought that the elephant looked a bit malnourished - but we’re no experts, Stamos would be able to tell us!
At least we enjoyed an ice cream and saw a good enclosure for cockroaches styled like a house kitchen.🙃😛
We still had a few hours left before our coach bus to Vilnius which left at 21:45. So we found a Starbucks and sat there to charge our phones and have a drink and a snack. Then we walked back to the old town, eat something more, and when we walked back out it was poring with rain - everyone was looking for cover except for us cause he always have umbrellas!
Headed towards the main train station where the coach was picking us up from. When we boarded the coach we had booked the extra comfy seats, got comfy, and started our Journey to Vilnius! Lampros fell straight asleep and I watched Pocahontas. Time for bed for me too! See you tomorrow in Lithuania!! Czytaj więcej
Day 3 - Vilnius, Lithuania
6 kwietnia, Litwa ⋅ ☁️ 3 °C
Today started a bit upside down! We arrived by coach in Vilnius at 6:30 - our ride wasn’t too bad, Lampros had a good sleep but I couldn’t get very comfy for long and kept moving around. We had contacted our hotel so we could wait there until the shops opened or until we could check in, since it was cold and we couldn’t stay outside for too long. The hotel staff was very helpful and super fast at responding - and also checked us in super early with an upgraded room! That was not what we expected but it was so nice of them. We got to the hotel, found our room and slept for a few hours to get our energy back. After getting up, we got ready to start our day - we went out and walked around the - empty - town of Vilnius. It was rather windy too which made it a cold day. We visited the main square with the cathedral, walked into it when they had their Easter Monday service, and then had a coffee at a small shop called “strange love”. When we sat for our coffees, it started pouring with hale stones for 5 minutes! When it stopped we walked up a hill with 3 crosses, and by the river Neris. Afterwards we walked into an independent neighbourhood called “Uzupis” were local artists live and have decorated the streets. There’s also a road called “Literatu” street with small artefacts of Lithuanian literature and writers. Not much more to see in the old city, so we headed towards the newer part of town. Outside the town hall, there was a portal - a circle that showed live footage of other cities of Europe! We waved at people in Ireland, the UK, Poland and France. That was fun to see - especially since we were only two people but through the portal were more and more.
We sat and had something to eat - local dishes, mainly fried and then had a coffee and a couple of tasty fresh doughnuts. We were getting tired to decided to head back to the hotel early and have a rest. When we got back Lampros slept for a couple of hours and I read my book. When he woke up we watched “Para pente” and had a snack before bed. Early day tomorrow, coach at 6:30 for Riga, Latvia! Czytaj więcej
Day 4 - Riga, Latvia
7 kwietnia, Łotwa ⋅ ☁️ 4 °C
Super early morning and very busy day! We woke up in Vilnius at 5:30 and left the hotel by 6:00 so we could catch our coach at 6:30 for Riga. We got there in time and waited for the coach to arrive. We’ve booked all our coach trips with the same company which is Lux Bus Service and it really is Lux! It’s super clean, comfortable, warm and even has an automatic coffee machine where you can have unlimited drinks. Lampros started by “making” us a couple of coffees and you can clearly see who is a morning person from the two of us…😂 watch the video and you will understand!
Our trip was quiet, we slept most of it and arrived in freezing and rainy Riga at 10:40. We were planning on leaving our backpacks at our room but ended up carrying them with us cause we had booked a free tour of the city for 11:00 and just got there in time before it started. Our tour guide was very pleasant and walked us around the town showing us all the important parts of the old city, such as the Art Nouveau character of the buildings, the cathedral with the largest organ in the world (6.400 pipes!), the cats around the city which are a symbol of it etc. There’s also a “new” main square which was made a 100 years ago by the towns leader by demolishing 15 houses! He had realised it was the norm in the rest of Europe to have a big main square for announcements and since he didn’t have the room for it he decided to demolish a few houses 😂. They have kept the “plan” of those houses though on the ground and you can see where they used to be. There are also three houses that are called “the three brothers” and were each made in a different era right next to each other - you can see the evolution of houses in Riga through these. He explained that most of the medieval buildings had been demolished by the Russians while they occupied Latvia, since they thought that they didn’t need them and they had to build new ones - which he said is something that most Latvians are sad about. All these interesting things were what kept us going through the tour, because the weather was dreadful and we were getting very very cold. It was raining and we didn’t have much of a shelter - also Lampros was not well dressed and by the end of the tour was trembling. So when it ended, we thanked him, gave him a tip even though it’s a free tour and walked into a cafe to get a drink and most importantly get warm and dry! When we were ready we walked to our room to settle down a bit, change our socks and have a small sit down before we continued our walk. Then we went to one of the biggest indoor markets of Europe - there was everything in there and we also had lunch - some traditional boiled chicken dumplings, a chaçapuri and some not so traditional sushi 😂 afterwards we walked to the national library which isa huge building with lots of floors and nice architecture. Although we didn’t understand anything since it was all in Latvian, we had a look around and then continued our walk to a nearby shopping mall cause I was desperately looking for a beanie - how did I visit cold countries without one?! I wonder…
We found a lovely wool one in a trespass clearance stand then then went back into the old town for another walk. When we got too cold, we stopped for a coffee and then went to the super market for tomorrow’s breakfast and snacks. We had lunch in a traditional food chain that the tour guide recommended to us called “Lido”. We had so much to eat for 14€ each and walked back to our room with full stomachs and a lovely full day in Riga. Tomorrow morning we have another early start cause we’re travelling to Tallinn, Estonia. We really enjoyed Riga and would definitely recommend visiting. Goodnight!! Czytaj więcej
Day 5 - Tallinn, Estonia
8 kwietnia, Estonia ⋅ 🌙 3 °C
Today we woke up in Riga - well, someone of us could barely wake up - it took some trying🤭 (you can guess who that was…)
Our coach to Tallinn was leaving at 7:00 and it had a duration of 4 and a half hours. I fell asleep for all the bus ride and Lampros slept for a while too. When we arrived in Tallinn the weather looked promising - there wasn’t any rain but it was still cold. We went straight to our hotel to leave our luggage before checking in at 15:00 and then walked out to find a coffee place for a snack. That was a very fast and easy task since there were plenty of coffee shops around. What really amazed us was that in a lot of coffee shops - yesterday and today - there were signs of “no laptop area” so people can’t go and occupy a table for hours upon end just by having a coffee - something that definitely doesn’t happen in Greece and I think would be frowned upon if it did 😂. We had booked a free walking tour for 15:00 with Gleb, a local guide. He took us through the upper part of the old town and showed us all the interesting places there. He was an excellent tour guide - we learnt a lot of things about Tallinn, the invasions and occupations by Sweeds, Danish, Finnish and Russians throughout the years. The name Tallinn - Tani Llinn- means “Danish castle / Danish city” and “according to legend, the Danish flag Dannebrog fell from the sky in Tallinn on June 15 of 1219!
The legend goes that during his crusade to Esto-nia, the Danish King Valdemar II was close to losing the Battle of Lyndanise. Following prayers from Archbishop Anders Sunesen, the red and white flag suddenly fell from the sky, giving the Danes the victory. The story of the falling flag has been seen in written sources since the beginning of the early 16th Century while Danish kings have used the flag at least since the end of the 14th Century. Valdemar's flag and the coat of arms with the three lions have become Tallinn's town symbols from the medieval days up to today. They represent the historical connections and human cultural relations that have grown between Denmark and Estonia.The legend has been retold through generations. Dannebrog, the world's oldest continuously used national flag, and the legend about its origin, have a profound impact on Danish culture and identity. The story has inspired many artists and writers, who have created beloved paintings, songs and written works about the event.” (Would you look at that! Bravo Denmark!)
What I laughed about mostly though was his pictures of the coat of arms which it nearly the same - and Estonia is copying Denmark’s homework. A bit further we came across three statues of headless monks - they reminded me of the Nazgûl’s of Lord of the Rings. The old town is also a UNESCO World Heritage site for its best preserved medieval buildings in the world. Another legend of the town was a statue on the top of a church - it’s called Old Tom and it’s about a poor boy that won a archery competition between some noble men - normally, if he won he would be given a barrel of gold but the men didn’t want to give that to a boy, so they gave him a medal and made him a knight of the town. When he died kids would ask their parents where Old Tom was and why they couldn’t see him anymore around, so they had to come up with a way of explaining to the children that old Tom is looking after them from above - and for that to be believed they put this statue on top of the church!
When the tour was over, Gleb had mentioned his collection of old and new coins from around the world - so we looked through our change and gave him a few Greek ones that he really appreciated. He also gave us some Estonian coins from before they entered the eurozone. Again, he was terrific!
After the tour we walked around the old town a bit more, went for lunch at Lido (the same buffet restaurant we went to yesterday in Riga) and then headed towards an artistic neighbourhood and the food market hall. After walking around there for a while and taking some pictures, we felt very tired and headed back to the hotel. We’ve just had some yoghurt and tea and getting ready for bed. We’ve really enjoyed today to the fullest. Tallinn has been the best by far until now and it’s going to be hard to top it! Czytaj więcej
Day 6 - Helsinki, Finland
9 kwietnia, Finlandia ⋅ ☀️ 7 °C
Today we woke up right by the port of Tallinn - we’d booked this hotel on purpose, because the ship for Helsinki left at 7:00 in the morning. The port terminal was like an airport, and to get into the ship you followed a long corridor - Lampros couldn’t believe that it was a closed space, he thought we would embark like in Greece, by the car garage. We got in, it left 20 minutes early and found a nice spot to sit. Even though I started watching a film I couldn’t stay awake, so I followed Lampros’s steps and slept on my backpack.. we arrived in Helsinki around 9:30, the trip was very smooth but the cold hit us as soon as we walked out…although the sun was out, the temperature was only 2 degrees.😬 (it really hurts your face but it’s free Botox!)
Firstly, we went into the food court that’s on the port where we “scouted” for what we would be having for lunch later on😉. Then, we decided to visit a cafe called RAMS that had the same policy as all the other cafes we’ve been in - no laptop area. We spent some time there to sort out what we would be doing with our day. After we enjoyed our coffee and a warm welcome from a small black dog that was excited to see us, we walked around the city. We saw the cathedral, a few souvenir shops (everything is so expensive here compared to the rest of the countries we’ve visited on this trip), and just enjoyed the sun where it wasn’t windy!
In Finland, there’s a very popular children’s book series called “Moomin” and it’s about some small trolls that look like hippos but are called Moomins. These tales are very popular in Finland and the Nordic countries - I remember seeing them in Norway shops and in Copenhagen, and I also know that Cecilie likes them a lot too (surprise!). After visiting their boutique I’m intrigued in reading a few, maybe I have to add them to my reading list soon..!
Then it was time for checking into our room - which was a small apartment and rather challenging to get to - the key was in a lock around a bicycle opposite the building, then we had to figure out the exact door and find the apartment but we managed in the end 😂.
Around lunch time, we noticed a lot of young kids walking in the streets and we suspect that they were all returning home from school - by themselves, crossing roads, saying goodbye to their friends and continuing their way, on scooters, all super independent and happy. We discussed how confident they looked by doing so and what a difference it makes to a society when kids are allowed to be moving freely at such a young age and taking the responsibility of themselves - and on the opposite side, how welcoming society around them is considering that they’re not in danger or afraid to do so. Who knows when (or if ever!) kids in Greece will be able to do so…food for thought.
After our walk we went back to the food court and had a couple of Vietnamese sandwiches, I had the pulled pork and Lampros had the shrimp. They were delicious, just what we needed after all that walking. We were considering visiting the saunas which is a must in Finland, but our time was limited and we didn’t have swimming costumes or flip flops which meant that we would have to rent those too, plus our towels and entrance fee. Instead, we decided to use their public transport by boat and visit a small island called “Suomenlinna” for a quick walk around. The boat only took 10 minutes and then we roamed around the island for another 40’ so we could get back to Helsinki by 19:00. The island has the Naval academy there and we saw a few sailors in uniform arriving to Helsinki for their night out. We explored the old fortress which was built in 1760 by the Swedish Kingdom. It felt very peaceful and we noticed that there are many residents on the island. Ideal for an antisocial person! 😂
When we got back to Helsinki, we decided to have burgers, so visited one of the shopping centres and eat there.
Already very tired, we headed back to our room. Now, we’ve sorted our backpacks out for tomorrow since it’s our last night away. We watched a bit of YouTube and climbed on our bed (look for it in the picture!)
Sweet dreams! See you tomorrow! Czytaj więcej
Day 7, Helsinki to Athens
10 kwietnia, Finlandia ⋅ ☀️ 9 °C
Good morning!
It’s officially the first day without thermals! Yoohoo!! I feel so much lighter 😂
Someone definitely had a good sleep in our bunk bed, because they didn’t hear me coughing all night long…(ευτυχώς!).
My cold has gotten worse since the morning tour in Riga where it was very cold and rainy and I wasn’t dressed very well (apparently). I hope it disappears soon so I can enjoy the lamb on Easter Sunday!
We woke up later then the rest of the days and got ready to head to the central station of Helsinki. I had a shower and Lampros snoozed for a little bit before getting up and getting dressed so we could head off.
On our way to the train station we picked up coffees and a small pastry each for breakfast, boarded the train and headed towards the airport.
When arriving in the airport going through security was rather fast although they stopped both our bags to check on them but we’re not carrying any contraband.😂
Then we walked around the airport which has loooots of ships, and I bought a skirt and top set from a second hand shop (in the airport, yes!).
Our flight wasn’t delayed and the boarding went smoothly. Now we’re in our seats, just had a snack that the airline offered us and waiting to land into Athens.
Our trip has been full of adventure and we come back with backpacks filled with memories, laughter and new experiences. Even though our itinerary is always packed and very busy we enjoy this way of travelling cause it offers us the opportunity to explore more and see new places in a small time period - and we also make every minute worth.
4 new countries checked off our list - what could be next?!
Kiki & Lampros Czytaj więcej
PodróżnikBear όπως λέμε αρκούδα;
PodróżnikΑστείος
PodróżnikFor how long are you travelling around?
PodróżnikUntil Friday!!✈️
PodróżnikNice T-shirt Lambros! Very historic city, interesting to see the delineation of the ghetto walls. Anything up there about Janusz Korczak?