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March 16, 2005

Jen and Lisa's Baltic Adventure – Day One and Two

It's just after 9 p.m. on Wednesday night and I'm typing from my hostel room in Vilnius, Lithuania. Yesterday, Lisa and I began our 12-day Baltic Adventure by meeting in downtown Karlskrona at the bus station.

We took the 500 bus to Karlshamn. On some trains and busses, the trip is free for students, but apparently this one was not, although we did manage to get a student discount. Having begun the spending early, we arrived at the Karshamn bus station just before 4 p.m. and took a taxi to the ferry station, which is situated in the middle of nowhere.

After some mixed messages (We should wait in the check-in room? Wait—we should go downstairs? Wait—we should take the bus to the ferry, the one we can see 100 meters away? Wait—we can walk to the ferry? Wait—we should get on the bus?), we finally made it to the ferry, which was a far cry from the luxury liner I took to Gdansk in November.

This ferry was a real Soviet-era cargo ship, complete with sewer-smelling bathrooms, scary bunk beds, and sketchy-looking men in ribbed turtlenecks everywhere. I felt like I was a character in a 1980s Tom Clancy thriller.

Once again, we were assaulted with confusing messages. While checking in, we were encouraged to come back at our leisure to buy coupons for dinner. We did so a bit later and were informed that dinner began at 8 p.m. Having snacked during the in the ferry waiting area, we weren't particularly hungry, so after a brief perusal of the ship (during which we noticed we were the ONLY women aboard), we went back to our room. I had taken Dramamine and was drowsy, and Lisa wanted to get some work on her thesis done, so I took a nap and she typed away. Around 8:45 p.m. Lisa wandered down to the restaurant area and saw that they were closing up. After a slight altercation with the chef, she ascertained that dinner didn't begin at eight and continue on for a couple hours—no, no. Dinner began at eight and everyone was supposed to be done by 9 p.m. She dashed back to the room, grabbed me, and we hurried down to the ferry to consume a plate full of lukewarm Swedish fare. It will not be remembered as one of the ten best meals I've ever eaten.

With nothing to do after dinner, we went back to the room, tried to figure out a way to make the bathroom smell less like fresh vomit (unsuccessfully), and went to bed. I started reading my final library book (which reminds me, they will be overdue by the time I get back), Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood. If you have noticed me reading a lot of Atwood recently, I will confess that it's not just because I like her writing style, but because our school library carries just about every work she's ever written (plus a whole section about her, but I haven't gotten that far yet).

Long, boring hours passed and we woke up (after both having terrible nights of sleep—I personally woke up every time the window jolted against the Soviet-style bolts) and had breakfast. Fortunately, the bathroom smelled better (although it was still quite rank) and we were able to pack our things and disembark the ferry promptly at 10 a.m.

We were taken in a minivan (that drove recklessly through the snowy cargo hold and zigzagged around huge transport trucks at breakneck speed) to the customs area, where I was quite peeved when the customs officer did not stamp our passports. I mean, one of the main reasons I travel is to have a record of it in my passport! This whole trip to Europe has been a disaster on that front. But I digress.

We took a taxi from the ferry station through a barren patch of land to the main area of Klaipeda. It was a little surreal to be in Lithuania with Uncle Kracker playing on the radio (with a little Billy Joel thrown in for good measure), but I tried to go with it. Our original plan was to dump our stuff at the bus station and walk around the town for a bit before getting on a 4-hour bus to Vilnius, where we had reserved a hostel. Well, after driving through the city (which was covered in snow, with additional snow/sleet coming down in a steady stream) and noticing that the bus station was no where near the old (and therefore interesting) part of town, we opted to go straight to Vilnius.

I say that "we opted" to go straight to Vilnius, but really it was the cab driver who chose for us. He zipped up to the bus station, nearly rear-ended an 18-passenger bus, and unrolled the window. Having been through a similar scene in Israel, where our bus driver got out of the vehicle and started yelling at the poor car driver, I was prepared for a scene. But our taxi driver just exchanged a few words with the van driver and motioned for us to go with him.

Lisa and I exchanged looks, not sure if we wanted to spend the next 4 hours in a tiny van (particularly since we'd heard there were no bathroom breaks) with a driver that did not speak English. Not only did he not speak a work of English, but he seemed angry with us from the start. He harrumphed to the back of the van, and while Lisa and I were still debating whether or not we wanted to wait for a "real" bus, he grabbed my backpack and threw it in the back, settling the matter for us. I insisted on using the bathroom before we left (thank goodness there was a girl on the bus who translated in broken English that there was time if I was "very fast") and before I knew it, we were whisked off to Vilnius.

I'll skip over the bus ride. Suffice it to say that the main Lithuanian highway is not very interesting. Picture, if you will, a lot of snow, a lot of forest on either side, and crazy drivers surrounding you. After looking out the window, which had to be rubbed every five seconds to keep the fog down, I abandoned the endeavor and went to sleep. Poor Lisa was not so lucky, having a crazy woman directly behind her that kept pushing on her chair. I, on the other hand, was directly behind the crazy woman, and worried that she was going to take all of her clothes off at any moment. It turns out that she was just overheated from wearing 5 layers, but it was touch and go there for a good while—every time I opened my eyes, she was wearing a little less.

In almost exactly 4 hours, Lisa and I were dropped off at the Vilnius bus station. After looking at the map for a bit, we decided that our hostel was across town, but probably only about a kilometer away. So, with our backpacks and computer bags in tow, we set off. After an initial wrong turn, we eventually made it through the old town neighborhood of Vilnius and found our hostel. Other than not having the advertised internet service, the room we got is fantastic. We're on the first floor of a tiny apartment building, with our own bathroom and a kitchen directly across from us. We saw a pair of guys go up the stairs at one point, but so far, it's completely silent except for us.

After dumping our oh-so-heavy backpacks (did I need to bring an extra pair of shoes?), we set back off to explore the town. Thankfully, Lisa has done a lot of the research and is great with a map, so it was fairly easy to navigate the town. Of course, the heavy snow (which somehow never seems to accumulate more than an inch of slush) made it uncomfortable for raising your eyes from the sidewalk and destroyed any photo-opportunities, but we were happy to just stretch our legs for a bit.

Our first order of business was a stop to the ATM. Armed with enough cash to buy the city, we meandered back up the main street to the outdoor marketplace, where I got a new hat. Sadly, my previous touque, which I had since before college, had been sacrificed to the Karlskrona bus gods, and my poor head was wet and cold. I had been all over Karlskrona looking for a replacement with no avail, so I was not optimistic about finding a replacement on such short notice. Luck was with me, however, and I was able to find a lovely new wool hat at the first stall we stopped at. For only 25 Litas, about $6, I thought it was quite the deal. We'll be back tomorrow to look at the other goods, which were being packed away for the night.

Now toasty warm, we worked our way further up the block and did a circle of the old town area. Again, it was cold and slushy, so we didn't get any good pictures, but we saw lots of interesting places, including an old wall with bullet scores (from WWII, we think) and the remains of what looked like a bombed out building. We're hoping that tomorrow there isn't any snow, so we can get better photos.

Having worked our way back to the center of town, we stopped in for a coffee. Lisa had a so-so latte and pear-and-poppyseed pastry, and I order a cup of hot chocolate. What I received, however, was a cup of hot chocolate. As in, melted chocolate. As in, fudgy goodness that might be found atop a scoop of ice cream. While not what I expected, I certainly did not return this unanticipated wonder. So while Lisa had a latte, I had a tiny cup of melted fudge. I love this country!

Once that treat was finished, we weren't exactly in the mood for dinner, so we found the internet café and checked our email. I forgot to report earlier that I finally received an email from one of my recent job applications, and have set up a phone interview for the first week in April. Well, when it rains it pours, because I got another request for a phone interview for tomorrow evening (yippee!). In an amazing stroke of luck, the internet café has its computers set up for Skype, so I can just call into the interview from the café tomorrow before dinner. (I REALLY love this country!) I also received an email response from the Saratoga Foundation about my volunteer work. It was very complimentary, and suggested some new projects that would look very nice on my resume, so I think I'll follow up when I get back.

After our need for technology was satisfied, we found a nice little Italian place for dinner. I had the "original 'clab' sandwich", which, while good, was like no "clab" sandwich I've ever had before.

Now we're back in the hotel room, unpacked, pictures downloaded to the computer, and the day's activities chronicled. We're having breakfast delivered to the door at 9 a.m. (breakfast in bed, included in the price!!) and the a full day of sightseeing planned. Cheerio!

Comments

Posted by: Sheila at March 18, 2005 04:54 PM