When Sunday morning rolled around, we weren’t sure what we were going to do. We had originally intended on spending the day at the Con, but the one main event we wanted to see, George R. R. Martin discussing Game of Thrones, had been cancelled by George the day before (and what a hassle that was to find out – It was listed in the printed program but then Ruta had shown me the Con’s app for making life easier and it was not listed there so we ended up at three different locations and talked to four different people before someone confirmed it had indeed been cancelled). And while there were bits of programming we wanted to see, we also wanted to see more of London (it’s a big place, after all). Continue reading “London 2014: Day Five – Hitching a ride with Hugo”
Category: Europe
London 2014: Day Two – Walking the walk, talking the talk…
Thursday started bright and early with breakfast at the hotel, which was kind of weird. Most hotels, if they offer breakfast, it’s usually a continental style, with pastries and coffee. Hostels often offer similar. This place had a kitchen so you could make what you wanted and offered up eggs, bread, cereal and some fruits. So we had scrambled eggs and toast before heading out for our day.
First stop, as planned, was the British Library. There was an exhibition on about British Comic Books until the 19th and since we didn’t know when we’d get another chance, today was our day for it (Monday and Tuesday were already blocked out due to the London Pass – to be explained later). Continue reading “London 2014: Day Two – Walking the walk, talking the talk…”
London 2014: Day One – Getting there is half the fun
This trip actually started a few months ago when AAron and family couldn’t make it to LonCon3, the World Science Fiction convention, this year held in London. Since they couldn’t go, but had already gotten memberships, Rasa and I took them over and planned a tourist trip around the con.
Of course, this wasn’t the only way AAron was involved. See, we were flying RyanAir which is notorious for how cut-rate they are. Until very recently, they would only allow one carry on bag, no more than 10kg, and anything else would be charged an exorbitant fee. They’ve since loosened policy a bit, but not much. In any case, we still weren’t checking any bags, but we had the ability to take two onboard. Continue reading “London 2014: Day One – Getting there is half the fun”
The Stones of Anykščiai
A few days back, my friend Monika asked what my weekend plans were and if I wanted to go to Anykščiai, a village of about 12,000 people in the north midwest area of the country. Now, for those playing at home, Monika is a great friend and in the past we’ve done some great road trips like to Tallin and Finland, just to ride the roller coasters (of course, that trip was before I was blogging so no good record of it exists outside of incriminating photographs). Now, though, Monika has a car so there’s a whole new world open to us. Add in the fact that LAST year for my birthday, she gave me a stuffed creature and a book of 100 sites to see in Lithuania in which I had to take pictures of the creature and I was falling behind due to my lack of independent transport. Continue reading “The Stones of Anykščiai”
Again with the Zoo
Landing back in Helsinki I found my way back to Jennica’s place and we decided to go out for dinner and visit her friend Emma. We’d met Emma on Thursday night when I got in and we’d taken Donna, Jennica’s dog, out to the dog park for her late night business. It’s interesting… in a lot of cities, the dog park has become the best place to socialize. Jennica has met several good friends at hers and my friends Al & Teya do the same down in San Diego (and they don’t even have a dog!). So we met Emma, who’s a chef and evidently the restaurant she works at is pretty good. Also, they were changing the menus on Monday so a Sunday night trip for dinner seemed appropriate. Continue reading “Again with the Zoo”
A Wedding in Vaasa
“I’ve seen you naked.”
This was the first thing I heard when I stepped into the church for Antti & Tiina’s wedding. “I’ve seen you naked.” Thing was… he had. This was Vesa, whom long time readers will remember from my first time in a Finnish Sauna almost exactly six years ago. Continue reading “A Wedding in Vaasa”
The Most Inspiring Travel Video I Have Ever Seen. Hands Down.
The Most Inspiring Travel Video I Have Ever Seen. Hands Down.
Two things I learned from this video:
1) I need to travel more. There’s so much more of the world to see. And naturally doing it via motorcycle would be the best way to do it.
2) I really need a GoPro camera.
This summer for sure I’m gonna edit a bunch of my photos into a nice music video. I wish I had had the foresight to do the same kind of picture everywhere so it could seamlessly blend together but oh well, lesson learned and I can do it moving forward!
Iceland: Eurovision 14
Spring 2014: Day Four – The Magique of Disney
Thursday morning we had a choice. We had spent two very full days at the parks and seen most of what there was to see. The decision now was whether to forego the parks for a day in Paris or forego Paris and keep the trip Disney. We decided to at least start at Disney since we really wanted to see the Cinemagique show, which would be starting at 11:15 (and had been cancelled yesterday). Of course, since the parks opened at 10, this meant we could sneak in some other stuff before the show and then decide about heading into the City of Lights. Continue reading “Spring 2014: Day Four – The Magique of Disney”
Spring 2014: Day Three – Movies, Moters and Magic Dreams
Wednesday morning we were up bright and early… so early in fact, it made more sense to walk to the parks than wait for the free shuttle, which we did. Today was designated as a Disney Studio day so that’s where we headed, arriving at 9:30, a half hour before the park officially opened. This park is similar to the Studio park in Florida and parts of California Adventure in Anaheim, focused as it were around movie making so when we got in, walking through a Route 66 style road-stop (food and souvenir shops), we stopped at the intersection of Hollywood and Vine to decide what to do first. Continue reading “Spring 2014: Day Three – Movies, Moters and Magic Dreams”
Spring 2014: Day Two – Dragons and Squids and a Dangerous Rain Storm
Tuesday morning arrived early, but not as early as it would have had I been at home with the crazy dog! I got to sleep in to the absurdly late hour of 8am! We both woke up, showered and were able to catch the 9:30 shuttle to the parks (which was good since otherwise we wouldn’t know where to catch it to bring us home, and in light of later events, that would not have been good). Continue reading “Spring 2014: Day Two – Dragons and Squids and a Dangerous Rain Storm”
Spring 2014: Day One – Flying High and Climbing Higher
Our trip started fairly easily. I was traveling with my friend Rasa, having decided I was going to go to Disneyland Paris (which is exactly the same as EuroDisney, but not allowed to be called that anymore) and she had decided she wanted to accompany me. It worked out nicely since going to Disneyland by yourself just sucks. So we did a little bit of planning and plotting and had decided that the three full days we were going to be in France (we flew in on Monday afternoon and flew out early in the morning on Friday) would be spent at the two Disney parks (Disneyland and Disney Studios) and so bought three for two day tickets and were ready to go. Of course, since this was going to be Rasa’s first time in France she asked if we could somehow see the Eiffel Tower, so we figured we’d do that on Monday, after we got to town. With all this in mind, we headed out early to catch a train to Vilnius, where our plane left from.
Continue reading “Spring 2014: Day One – Flying High and Climbing Higher”
Thoughts of Lithuania and its place in the global culture
A week or two ago, I was talking to my friend AAron. We try to keep up on a semi-weekly basis and this time there other people with him and his family and one of these other people, upon finding out I lived in Lithuania, had a question for me.
“Do you know any left-handed, redhead dentists?” she asked. Puzzled, I asked her why. She said when she needs to explain something as rare, the phrase which has become second nature to her is “rare as a left handed, red haired Lithuanian dentist.” I acknowledged that I did not know anyone who fit that particular description and we chuckled, but it started me thinking.
Then, a couple of days ago, AAron sent me the above ad from a magazine and those thoughts came back. Continue reading “Thoughts of Lithuania and its place in the global culture”
Happy Independence Day, Lietuva
24 years ago today, March 11, 1990, The country of Lithuania declared its independence from the Soviet Union with the Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania. It was the first of the satellite nations which had been occupied by Russia to stretch its wings and test the limits of Gorbachev’s glasnost policies.
This declaration was not immediately acknowledged and was even declared illegal by Gorbachev, who demanded the Act be rescinded. 10 months later came the “January Events,” when soviet forces invaded Vilnius’ TV Tower, killing 14 and injuring hundreds more.
Eventually, in February of 1991, Iceland became the first nation to recognize Lithuania’s independence. The United States followed September 2, 1991 and on September 6, 1991, Russia acknowledged it as well.
Lithuania served as a model for other nations and ultimately led to the collapse of the USSR.
A much more detailed, on the ground report can be found here, courtesy of 15min.lt
Happy Independence Day to my adopted home! In light of recent events, let’s keep this flag waving high and remember all who fought to get it there!
Photo challenge
Just before my recent trip to America, I received this email from Monika, asking for a specific series of photos to be taken while I was away. Now, Monika and I have travelled together a few times and she knows of my passion for picture taking. And she has one of the driest senses of humor I’ve ever been privy to, outside of 70s BBC night time programming.
So here’s the list, as written, with my photos attached. Enjoy! (My notes are added in red) Continue reading “Photo challenge”
Getting the Hang of Thursdays 