Rugby World Cup, Halloween and walking tour

Hi all,

I've had a very busy weekend, hence no blog yesterday!

Yesterday morning I applied for six jobs at home (I'm up to 21 applications now!). I did a few other things I had to and then headed to Shepherds Bush. I went to Louise's house and met her, Mitch, Dave and Rakel. We got the bus to the Chatsworth, a pub in Acton and watched the rugby World Cup final between the wallabies and the all blacks. On September 18 when the tournament started I didn't even know the rules. How much has changed in six weeks! I can safely say I really enjoy watching rugby union now. I'll have to go and see the Rebels play in Melbourne some time. I remember saying that first night that when the tournament ended I would be going home in two weeks - how quickly did that go!!

We had burgers for lunch and some drinks and staked out a great spot on some couches. The pub was a kiwi pub so we were severely outnumbered as Aussies, but we're also joined by Louise's cousin Paige, her friends, Mitch and Jamie. But we sang our national anthem as loud as poss and cheered our heads off. Unfortunately it wasn't enough, and New Zealand were the strongest team on the day and beat us. But it was a gallant effort and we should be proud!!

Jamie and I headed off after this. I had my Aussie flags on my face and my scarf on again, but lucky didn't suffer any abuse on the train. Only incident was an English man saying "loser" very loudly as we changed in Hammersmith, but I just retorted very loudly "AT LEAST WE BEAT ENGLAND!" Hehehehehehehehe! Insert smug smile here. 

Jamie and I then went to the Tower of London. I don't know if any of you have noticed, but this year I haven't been to the tower, or Westminster Abbey, or Madame Tussaud's etc. This is because in 2011 when I came here with mum we did all of those and more, and they're very expensive. But this was a special occasion. To celebrate Halloween and upcoming Bonfire Night (more about that on Thursday) the Tower put on a special thing called 'Nightwatchers'. Basically we had to find a lady in a red scarf who secretly gave us instructions. We got headphones and a phone and had to call and message certain numbers and follow instructions. I'll be honest - it was a bit strange! I enjoyed it, though it wasn't spooky, more interesting. 

We were led around the Tower area then into the tower itself. Mum, the white huge scaffolding that covered half of it in 2011 is now long gone! We got a look around a certain section of the tower and had to do various small tasks involving collecting things, unlocking things and touching things. At the end of it the message was that your personal information, whereabouts and actions are being watched, and that in this day and age we need to be careful of how we perceive things and how things we do are perceived. Interesting, but a tad strange!!

We had a look around the tower bridge in the dark and then it turned out Louise and everyone from earlier were at a Halloween party near Kings Cross. So I went home, got ready and headed off. Halloween is a lot bigger here than in Australia! So many people were dressed up and it's been in the shops for weeks! I didn't dress up but all the others I met up with were. Matt, Mitch and Dave were convicts (Aussies!), Louise a rugby players, Paige was Elsa from 'Frozen'. It turned out the nightclub in Kings Cross were doing face painting for a donation. The lady painted special effects makeup on my face and gave me a gunshot wound to the head and poured fake blood down my face! It looked awesome! So I still got to look nice in my new dress but I had a Halloween part as well. 

Had such a fun night dancing, drinking and catching up. No tables were broken this time! Got the bus half way home, got some fries and walked the rest of the way along the well lit main road. Love going out near where I live, so easy to get home!!

Slept in a little today then left to meet my friend Ashdyn and her boyfriend for a free walking tour. Ashdyn was on my South America tour and I met her on day three of this year. Her and her boyfriend Ed are in the UK for a few weeks now! We went on the 2-3 hour tour and I surprised myself at how much I could tell them about things as we went along. I was also surprised by the fact Christmas decorations have suddenly appeared! Our guide was great and here are two random facts I learned - England have invaded 198 countries over the centuries, and the flag to symbolise the queen being home came along in 1997 after a protest was held after princess Diana's death and no one knew the queen wasn't home. 

It was a lovely sunny day today so the walk was particularly lovely. We saw part of the changing of the guard and also the poppies display for this year. This year it's around Westminster Abbey and poppies frame what look like graves, I bought a poppy too. Afterwards we headed to London bridge and I showed them a few things. Then we walked along the river and I said goodbye. I headed to Angel to do some grocery shopping, made the bus by one minute and am now home. Jamie coming over soon and we are headed back to the table tennis bar for his leaving drinks. Ashdyn and Ed are coming as well as my Canadian friend Lexi. Should be fun!

Back to work tmro (I hope!). 

Love to all

Claire

Xoxox

Trakai

Hello all!

Well I'm back in London now. Had a fantastic last day in Lithuania before I headed back though!

Last night Heather and I went to a local traditional restaurant together for dinner. We tried a Lithuanian speciality called Cepelinai. These are dumplings made of potato with meat inside, topped with sour cream and bacon. They were nice but very rich and heavy! We also had some potato pancakes and I had cherry beer. 

On the way back there was a candlelight protest in the town hall square. I asked someone what it was about and apparently it was about abortion, the candles were in the shape of a baby in a womb. I went to bed fairly early and was lucky enough to have the hostel room to myself again. Not bad for €10 for the night hey!!!

This morning I met Heather at our meeting place and we got some groceries then headed to the bus station. We paid our €1,80 each and got the half an hour bus to Trakai, a town to the west of Vilnius. Trakai is famous for its beautiful castle surrounded by lakes and has the highest concentration of lakes in Lithuania!

We arrived and walked the half hour to the castle, stopping along the way to admire the lakes, the beautiful trees and the reflections everything made in the water. The castle was so lovely! So we took a lot of photos. We then walked over to the actual castle and tried hard not to slip over on the frost that was on the bridges. It was -3 when I woke this morning! 

We went inside the castle and explored. There wasn't too much about the history but from what I can understand the castle appeared in the 1300-1400s period and over time became dilapidated. From the early 1900s a plan was formulated to restore it and it now looks wonderful. Very picturesque and on a lovely little island in the middle of the lake. The only downer was the extremely rude Russian school group going through the same time as us who kept bumping into us and not apologising, and not letting us pass when we said excuse me. So we rolled our eyes and pushed past haha. 

After the castle we enjoyed a delicious lunch in a quaint cafe opposite the castle. The kind old man inside sat us right by the window with a view of the castle and immediately brought us our hot vegetable soup and pork filled pastry. I also had quince tea which was delicious (I think that's what he called it?)! We walked back to the bus station and headed back to Vilnius.

By this time it was about 1pm so we had enough time to do something else before I had to leave to the airport. So we decided to go to the KGB Museum. It was a 40 minute walk from the bus station, and on the way by chance we passed the only remaining synagogue in Vilnius - the Choraline Synagogue. We went inside the KGB building and the ground and first level were exhibitions, while the basement was the former prison and execution area used by the soviets and then the nazis. 

Lithuania has suffered a similar history to that of Latvia. Over time soviets and nazis were in power. The main difference was that last century the poles also occupied Lithuania. 

During the soviet's time in power here 30,000 Lithuanian people were persecuted. 12,000 of these were arrested, 18,000 deported and 700 died in a revolt. The biggest deportations occurred between 14-22 June 1941. Some were sent to labour camps and some were sent in exile. Between 1945-1948 1722 Lithuanians tried to come back from exile, but 1070 of these were caught. Between 1944-1953 the Partisan war occurred here, and quite often people from the same family were fighting on different sides because during different times of occupation they were forced to fight. On the 11th of March 1990 Lithuania became the first of the Baltic States to be independent. 

These two floors of exhibitions were set in administrative areas the soviets used. The furniture still remained but the exhibitions were on glass in front of the items. Upstairs we saw the eavesdropping room and all the phones they used, and then I had a quick look downstairs at the prison which included a room full of bags stuffed with shredded paper that the soviets had destroyed between 1988-1991 to hide their atrocities. Then I had to head off so said a quick goodbye to Heather and set off. It was so lovely meeting her and Sonal this trip! Have had a great time getting to know them and seeing Riga and Vilnius with them. 

I walked back to my hostel, got my bag then walked to the bus station. Had a bit of a trouble finding the bus but managed to play charades pretending I was an airplane until a boy about my age pointed me one street over. I found the bus, checked with the driver who laughed and said "yes, sometimes you need the questions!" and 15 minutes later I was at the airport. 

Waited a little while and used my last €8 to buy some Subway for dinner. Up until now this year every time I've had euros left over I always had a next occasion to use them for, but no more next occasions now in the foreseeable future! I got the flight home to Luton airport which weirdly landed half an hour early and then customs took five minutes! What! I then made the easybus to Golders Green tube an early earlier due to this, and then got the tube home. 

Tonight Jamie is coming over. Ash stayed this week while I was away and has left me some yummy Belgian chocolates (she left for Ireland this morning). Tmro I'm meeting some Aussies and kiwis to watch the rugby World Cup final. I know my brother is, but anyone else who feels like getting up at 3am should get up and watch the final. And if not, send positive vibes over to London before you go to sleep please. Either way, Wallabies vs All Blacks will be amazing. I think we can do it, I'm excited!!!! Go wallabies :)

Love to all

Claire

Xoxox

Vilnius, Lithuania

Labas everyone from country number 51 - Lithuania!

This morning I got up at 6, got ready and walked to the bus station. It was a balmy -3 degrees when I left my hostel and walked - eek!! I caught the bus very easily. Would highly recommend the intercity buses in this part of the world. I paid for the first class bus to treat myself and due to booking in advance it was €18 which was comfy leather recliner seats, a TV in back of seat (I watched 'Match Point') and wifi for a four hour journey. Good work Lux Express!!

The four hours passed really quickly and I arrived in Vilnius, Lithuania. Sunny but quite cold! Walked to my hostel and had trouble finding it, and a lady I asked took me and actually walked me there. Already could tell that people in Vilnius seem to be more friendly than people in Riga!

I checked in to my hostel. The staff are lovely and it's really nice again. They showed me where everything was on the map and off I went. I headed to the town hall to meet Heather (who I met in Riga) for the free walking tour. We spent two hours being shown around the town. The old town here is a lot bigger area wise than Riga, but the buildings aren't as big. There are lots more ornate churches too, whereas ones in Riga were inconspicuous due to the soviet occupation. 

Our guide was Alberts and he told us 3 million people live in Lithuania, with 80% of them being Lithuanian and 5-6% being both Russian and Polish. Does that explain the more friendly nature I have experienced here? Perhaps! Lithuania was first mentioned in 1009 and a state was created here 200 years later. Unfortunately Lithuania experienced a similar history to that of Latvia, especially in the last century with soviet, nazi then soviet invasions. Poland has also invaded and taken over Lithuania in the past though. Poland also occupied Lithuania in between world wars one and two. 

On first glance the Lithuanian flag could easily be mistaken for an African or perhaps Caribbean type flag. It consists of three horizontal stripes - yellow for the sun, green for nature and red for bloodshed of the past. 

It soon became clear that a significant portion of Vilnius was blown up in World War II. Albertus showed us maps indicating how much. As with most countries in this part of the world, also unfortunately the Jewish population was decimated during the holocaust. In Vilnius before World War II the population was made up of 40% Jewish people. Post war Jewish people made up about 1% of the population. 

Lithuania was the last pagan country in Europe which continued all the way up to 1387. Officially the country is now catholic but Alberts said they aren't massive practicers of religion. This is partly because religion was banned in soviet times, so many churches were converted into prisons, warehouses, flats and even basketball courts!

Our next stop was to Užupio; a section of Vilnius that has jokingly called itself a republic, but is not recognised as one. Their national day is April 1 (April fools day) and apparently if you come to Užupio on April 1 you'll receive a stamp and be asked for a visa! But if you don't have one a smile will suffice. Užupio is a tiny island surrounded by a canal. We crossed over and had a look at the bohemian and artsy area which is now 18 years old. There are many sculptures and we also saw the constitution up on the wall with the flag. We touched the sculpture that the Dalai Lama has touched which supposedly gives you energy! Here's hoping I get some to fight off this now month old cough!

Then we went to the literature street. The lady at my hostel had a hard time explaining this to me, but basically it's a street of pastel coloured buildings lined with a trail of tiled artwork, each commemorating a famous writer, poet etc. 

We passed the university, the parliamentary palace and the biggest cathedral and then our tour ended. I asked Alberts about watching some basketball but the next Vilnius home game isn't until next Wednesday. How annoying! Apparently it's like a religion here. 

Heather and I then headed for Gediminas' Tower, which was part of a castle built on this hill in the 1400s. It's a very important symbol for Lithuanians and was even on their old currency (which they stopped using and changed to euro only in January of this year). We went up the tower and inside there were various artefacts found on the hill, and photographs from August 1989 during what was known as 'The Baltic Way'. As a statement to the soviets about independence, 1.5 million people in total from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania linked hands to form a 650km chain started from this tower in Vilnius, passing through the freedom monument in Riga and ending at Hermann Tower which mum, dad and I went up last year in Tallinn, Estonia. How amazing is that!!!!!? There were 50 smaller sections to symbolise the 50 years of occupation. 

After this I realised I had drunk far too much water and was in need of a toilet. Spotting a museum I went in, and had an incredibly confusing conversation with an elderly woman who spoke no English. It involved lots of charades and drawing symbols and ended with me paying the 80 euro cents to get in just so I could use the toilet. Thank goodness I could though haha. 

We then climbed up the 'Hill of Three Crosses', erected to commemorate the lives of seven Franciscan monks beheaded on the site. The soviets took it down in 1950 but a replacement was put up in 1988. The view from both this and the tower was great! So sunny today and not a cloud in the sky. 

We walked back together and I got my magnet for Vilnius. Turns out Heather collects them too! Now I'm back having a rest before we meet up for dinner to try a special Lithuanian type of dumpling involving mashed potato, meat, sour cream and bacon. I'll have full details and a review for you on tmro's blog after our day trip to the beautiful castle town of Trakai!

Love to all

Claire

Xoxox