International Hostel 9/10- 9/16

On our last night in Tallin, Estonia we decided that we needed to get sufficiently drunk. We had not really gone out much during the trip. We spent most of our days on our feet and most evenings relaxing.




It was Friday, September 11th and we started the night off with pizza and wine. Then to the bars for very strong Estonian beers.

We spent the night on the dance floor in two of Tallin's gay bars. Brad managed to get hit on enough that got us both free drinks. We left after I got yelled at for taking pictures and Brad broke a glass on the dance floor. The following morning we boarded a bus that would take us to Saaremaa island. We found the most lovely hostel called Karluti, run by a husband and wife duo. During our time on the island we rented bikes and jumped in bodies of water. We ate mushroom soup in a bread bowl at a restaurant that was in a windmill. The soup was delicious and we had pancakes for dessert.





The hostel was new and the owners were so proud of it. The first night we shared the room with a Dutch girl and our hosts boasted that it was a very "international hostel." We used the new kitchen and ate an elaborate meal on the deck. Of the trip I would say it was the most memorable hostel.


The following day Brad and I headed our separate directions with plans to meet again in Prague. I went to Parnu, which boasts on being a spa town. I saw one spa that looked like it had been closed for about ten years. The hostel I stayed in was almost empty and sterile. The only person I met was some older man that kind of followed me to a Mexican restaurant and then wanted to drink a beer. I decided that it was past time to leave Estonia. I made plans to ride buses for about 15 hours so I could get to Poland.

Four Year Old Birthday Parties 8/27- 9/9

Somehow Brad had distant contacts in Finland so we decided to go there. And in what we learned is the Finnish way, everyone was very hospitable. When we arrived in Helsinki on August 27th things seemed actually Western for the first time. We saw large grocery stores and everyone looked like they shopped at H&M. We took a metro to an urban campsite which was closed when we got there. We set up our tent and slept without sleeping bags that night. It was horribly cold. The following morning we decided not to pay the campsite and jumped in the lake to clean off. We waved at the metro that crossed on a nearby bridge.
It was Friday evening and we meet a friend of a friend of a friend, a woman named Marjo. We took the train with her to her house in the suburb Lahti. Saturday her four year old was having a birthday party. We told her we would be happy to join everyone for this celebration. We brought the small stuffed Tiger that we bought for the four year old and we were eager to see what a Friday night in Lahti would bring. Marjo's husband Sami was at home making dinner when we arrived. They offered us beds in their children's play room and an amazing dinner. Their home was warm and comfortable. After spending a couple weeks with our backpacks on overnight trains and in houses of Russian strangers this house in Lahti felt like coming home. After dinner Marjo and Sami told us we could us the sauna. It is typical to have a sauna in Finnish homes. And after a sauna the tradition is to drink a beer. So after the sauna we sat outside, in towels, drinking a beer and wondering how we were so lucky to meet these amazing people.

The following morning we woke up to a wonderful breakfast and went to the ski museum. We watched people on a ski jump and ate at McDonald's with Sami and his two boys. That afternoon was Verner's fourth birthday party. A couple of kids came over and everyone ate cake. The adults drank coffee and talked about facebook. The birthday party was really nice. There were some small gifts and everyone jumped on the trampoline.



Alex had a cute daughter that was frightened by Brad and me speaking English. But once Alex and I got to talking it was decided that we should go to the bar and sing karaoke. Sami took a nap before we went out. And once we got there I sang ABBA and Britney Spears. Alex sang some amazing opera songs and I had to persuade everyone to leave at 4 a.m. After we ate a pizza I slept through the cab ride back to Sami's. The following morning we had plans to drive to Sami's mothers lakeside cabin. We tried to push through our hangovers and finally got in the car to drive to the town of Kuhominen. We brought a bunch of food that we ate while we looked at the lake and waited for the wood fire sauna to warm up.




We sat in the sauna and jumped in the lake. It was cold for late August and beautiful. We drove back to Lahti that evening and spent one more night in the comfortable suburban home with our hosts.

That Monday, the 31st of August began our days of hitchhiking and camping for free in Finland. We were headed north, to a small town near Vaasa, Finland to meet Riika, Brad's original Finland contact. Sami spent his lunch break driving us to the train station that Monday. We said our goodbyes and told each other that we would all meet again. These conversations happen a lot in travels. And sometimes they are genuine, this was one of those times. We made our way to Tejo National Park which was much smaller than expected. I saw a lot of moose tracks and I was convinced that we would be attacked by moose or bear while we slept in the tent. I also realized I left my favorite t-shirt at Marjo and Sami's.
The following day we hitchhiked to Turku. Once again we encountered Finnish hospitality. The man that picked us up cancelled his plans and drove us all the way to our desired destination. On September 3rd we spent the day trying to get to Pori, Finland. First, some 19 year old nursing students picked us up. They had recently gotten their driver's license and did not take us very far. Then a man who fixed air conditioners picked us up. He said he occasionally picks up hitchhikers because he travels a lot for his job and that the hitchhikers are mostly foreigners. He dropped us off in the middle of the countryside. We were eating chocolate when some woman with a lot of eye glasses on her dashboard picked us up and told us she would take us to a better spot to get a ride. Finally, some young people picked us up who were going to Pori. They smoked a lot of cigarettes and talked about Finnish music. It had taken us all day to get 120 km, but it was a fun day. We set our tent up behind the train station and went to a bar that ended up being really cool. There was a jazz band and good beer.


We arrived at Riika's on Friday, September 4th. When we got there I had a package, it was my favorite t-shirt that Sami had mailed to me. We spent the weekend with Riika, her husband, their baby, and his parents. They took us to a Finnish food festival, we spent more time in the sauna and played frisbee in their backyard.






We left Finland after we had eaten far too much and found an incredibly cheap ferry ticket to Stockholm, Sweden. Our time in Sweden was uneventful. One night while we were in a bar I said, "I want to meet more people." Brad was relieved. We decided we would spend our time in Estonia together and split up after that. I was starting to feel a little homesick for Ikeda and had anxiety about returning to my parents house. Brad kept talking about Pennsylvania in the fall and his Pittsburgh friends. But I was happy to have slept in so many nice beds and to have those green knitted socks that were a gift from Riika's mother-in-law.

Creeps' 8/25-8/27

We took an overnight train from Moscow to St.Petersburg. I had arranged to stay with a couchsurfer in St. Petersburg. We thought it would be a nice way to see the city, avoid the inevitable young drunks you get at a hostel and to stay on budget. Our host was Alexander. He thought he had to work the day we arrived. We were relieved to hear this as all we really wanted to do was relax since we had not really slept on the train. We asked if we could set up the bed and when he got a phone call informing him that he did not have to go into work until the afternoon he decided to pull out his bed and take a nap as well. Both beds were in the living room. So at about 10 a.m. we all took a nap.


Brad and I began to call Alexander "Creeps." He continued to live up to this name. That afternoon we bought a tent and decided that couchsurfing sometimes gets weird. Our one full day in St.Petersburg was spent at the Hermitage and then I went to see Swan Lake. We took Alexander to eat at Subway for the first time. And I think he was excited to just walk around the city with some "real-life Americans" (as he referred to us).

We tried to do laundry before we left, but we found out that our host did not actually know how to work his washing machine and I think it was broken anyway. We spent a moment wondering how he washes his clothes and then I was more concerned by the fact that all my light colors had taken on weird shades of green and blue.

Cats and Cigarettes at Galina's 8/20- 8/24

While we were in Irkutsk I made reservations at Galina's home stay in Moscow. It was listed as the cheapest place in Moscow and we were enjoying our homestays in Russia, so it was perfect. We arrived early and Galina was sitting in her kitchen with a cigarette in hand. This position looked natural for Galina. Her cats climbed on and off the furniture and we found some beds in her spare bedroom.


Galina showed us how the locks worked and her husband Sergey stood by her silently.


We checked into our rooms the same time as Asmara, an independent French traveler. Asmara was studying Polish which is fairly similar to Russian. She loved maps and was well prepared for Moscow. Brad and I were in luck.


I attempted to enjoy the city our first day there. But, my fever pushed me back in bed. Two older British men were sharing our room as well. I disregarded them as I walked back and forth from the bathroom to throw-up in only a t-shirt. That night Brad came back at 6:30 a.m. I was feeling resentful that I had been in bed with fever dreams. The following day Asmara and I left Galina's with maps and guide books and headed towards the State Tretyakov Gallery and then the Novodevicky Convent. We walked through a cemetery to get to the convent and the sun was out. It was a beautiful day.

Asmara and I talked about how we would like to have a picnic in a cemetery. We payed a fee to get into the convent which allowed us to enter the various churches and galleries and sit on a bench, enjoying late afternoon sun. Asmara and I talked about religion. Not believing in things and believing in other things. All the religious icons we saw that day were so spectacular. I was glad not everyone was Quaker because then no one would make beautiful iconography like that. We left to get wine for the evening and Asmara told me she "had a really nice day." At that moment it was one of the most lovely things anyone had ever said to me.