G'dansk to Vilnius

At 5.30am I arrived in Vilnius, Lithuania. After a 10 hour bus journey I was buggered to the bone...but was unable to get into my dorm until 12.30pm...so sleep deprived and very giddy I wandered the old baroque town of this here lovely city. Europe is truly spectacular with it's multitude of hidden treasures!

Poland was such a positively refreshing experience and now that I'm here and able to reflect I feel blessed. Patryk opened his home to me, showed me around some of G'Dansks hidden treasures(Like the mariacki cathedral in the old town which was sooooooooooo beautiful, and the view from the tower, breathtaking), provided me with stimulating conversation, laughter and home made food...He provided me with the most delicious breakfast of cheese and chives and he also made me an exquisite dinner before dropping me at the bus stop and making sure I boarded the right bus! Thank you Patryk...you rock!!!!! Love love love is the key!

Sopot was walking up and down Monte Casino with caricaturists selling their services, budding talented artists practicing their skills on the streets. Ice cream at every corner, big waffles with toppings galore, polish dumplings, vodka and apple juice and chilly hot-chocolate. It is Greenway and Bioway vege extravagnzas, Beetroot soup and La La La.

G'dansk is SOLIDARITY!!! Did you know that it was in G'dansk that the struggle to bring down communism in Europe began? I didn't! But now after having visited the Solidarity Museum I am that little bit wiser about the Polish contribution to the revolution. It all started at the ship yard and resulted in the fall of the Berlin Wall! I was taken to the shipyard to a funky industrial styled cafe by Patryk too.

Today I didn't indulge in too much tourism, I mainly ate, sat and drank liquids to replenish myself after the bus trip. I shall go to bed early (after the football) and tomorrow I hope to be a good tourist and visit some important spots. Vilnius is the Jerusalem of Europe, it's very pretty, it's got some rich history (which I currently know nothing of) tomorrow though is a new day! New things to learn and new adventures to be had.

It's also my first segment of the journey that I'm on my own....I did meet a lovely Dutch lass on the bus with whom I spent the morning with...but since 9am I've been cruising solo!~~I'm also sharing a dorm with 5 Belgian women on a Baltic journey so one isn't ever really alone.

Did I mention that I lost my camera at Open'er festival....well I did so I have to some how get a new one cause There are so many pretty things to take fotos of....I've been forced to take mind snaps.

Ok...over and out!

All alone now...

This morning Tord left me and returned to Norway. We ate breakfast and then I waved him good bye with tears rolling down my cheeks. The last remnants of my Norway stay left with him and now I have the possibility of actually mourning my that part of my life.

I'll be leaving La La La Arthotel today as well, it has been such an incredible place to stay, so serene and such great vibes. Tonight I've been invited to stay with Patryk, Tord and I met him a couple of days ago and he gave us a private tour of the area which was lovely. We then watched Spain beat Germany with him last night....the Polish audience were extatic! Apparently the Poles don't dig Ze Germans so much and to see them lose such an important footbal game was really an event to be celebrated with style!

Tord and I spoilt ourselves with Thai Massages yesterday....ay yay yay! To be physically spoilt is such joy for the mind body and spirit. I was smothered in warm coconut oil and given a slightly hard relaxing journey. I felt a tropical island afterwards, filled with hula dancing girls and pinhacoladas. We also have spoilt ourselves with culinary pleasures, ate at an exclusive sushi restaurant the other night and have indulged in vege expertise at Greenway(a vege fast food joint as commonplace as KFC here in Poland). I've discovered a new favourite drink here in Poland, VOLDKA!!!! I had no idea it could be so good and so diverse and did I mention GREAT! There are two brands in particular that are amazing but their names are beyond me. One of them has a Bison on it and a piece of hay inside it, one has to drink it with apple juice to fully appreciate the multi-layered delights that explode in the mouth....ay yay yay!!!! The other comes in different flavours and my favourite is the herbal one, I had it with red bull....(when i wasn't drinking it straight...cause that's how we roll:) and it was DELISH!

The forests here in The great Gdansk region are spectacular, lots of greenery goodness that supplies the region with fresh air and homes for insects, and other such tree dwelling inhabitants. The Poles are also blessed with fresh and pesticide free fruit and veg, they seem to me to be quite a concious nation with regards to nature and food....perhaps I've only been exposed to that side of things....and i'll keep fooling myself if I'm wrong. I like it here and am grateful to have spent the last week here. The next leg of the journey is yet to be organised...though i don't have any doubts that it'll all work out as it should!

So over and out!

Tandi

Open'er and more

Right now I sit in Sopot, a cosy little holiday town of about 30,000 inhabitants. It's inbetween Gdynia and Gdansk and is the perfect place to be after the 4 day Open'er festival I recently attended. Here my friend, Tord and I have booked 3 days at Arthotel which is absolutely perfect. It's a small hotel on the outside of town, near the forests. Each room was designed by a different artist and there is a funky little bistro downstairs. Three days of much appreciated peace and hygiene will our way come!

The festival was fun! We camped with a group of Australians all linked through some common source. Blue skies and slight breezes blessed us for 5 days (and still the weather is flawless). The evenings were chilly by contrast and one had to either move like crazy in order to stay warm or wear warm clothes! The one artist I really looked forward to was Regina Spektor and on Saturday night she wooed us with her amazing voice, vision and presence! It was amazing! So too were Tinariwen who took me on a hypnotic journey into North Africa! Fat Boy Slim had me boogying like crazy on the last night, Yeasayer had an incredible looking guitarist who also sang like and angel, Damian Marley was dreamy, Matisyahu was calm and centred and I really enjoyed his vibe. Kings of Convenience were beautiful and filled with positivity, Die Antwood were dirty yet fantabulous and I got to get down and nasty on the dance floor thanks to their vulgar lyrics and dancehallish ridims!

So...I've left Norway now! I've got a backpack that is a bit too heavy, my wallet and a rough plan for the next few months. I'd like to go from here to Warsaw, up to Vilnius, Riga and then Tallinn. From Tallinn across to St. Petersburg, down to Moscow and then Trans Siberia journey with Thomas will begin. From Beijing on nothing is certain or really thought through...though I'd like to travel down to Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and eventually Northern Australia. Then work my way down the coast till I find a safe haven in my Mommy's home. That's the rough plan...what eventuates will be another thing of course....then again, maybe not! Maybe my desires will come to fruition.

During Open'er I realised that one of my core fears is that of been rejected! Of letting people close and getting rejected in the end! I hope by the end of this trip that rejection won't matter! I also hope I am able to breath and meet some super humans who will be able to share parts of the Journey with me. Doing it on my own will be made that much better if I have some one to share it with at times. It's been a pleasure having Tord with me here in Poland as it was seeing Rom and Mim again...sharing moments was lovely! I met a woman called Regina from Germany and she had been travelling on her own and she confessed to having resorted to speaking to herself at times....I too did this on the first night of the festival when I'd lost Rom and Tord. Fun and games!

And now I shall send some emails to my family and let them know all is good in the hood...I'm sure they'll be operating on the no news is good news theory...news is good news too some times and probably appreciated for peace of mind.

Until the next stop! One love

Vitenskapmuseum

Today I had my very last day at work. 10 incredible small humans aged 4-5, 1 super human,two young troopers in their early teens and I spent the day at the Vitenskapmuseum. I'm not sure how to translate it: a centre for scientific fun for humans of all shapes and sizes. We had an absolute blast, the kids were able to run wild and instead of constantly been reprimanded for touching things and reminded to be careful they were encouraged to poke, hit, kick and give anything and everything a go if they so desired! We ended the day with icicles, paperdolls and UB40. There was an activity which involved using brain waves, two humans had to sit with a ball the size of a big pea in the middle of a table. The aim of the game was to either use as much brain activity as possible to pull the pea towards yourself or to use as little brain activity to push the pea towards the other. I was beaten four times by little lady Anna (aged 5) despite my immense efforts to think as hard as I could. I was however successful at beating her at the minimal brain wave activity.

Now I sit in my apartment filling the hole with the internet, facebook, gmail, spotify, itunes and now Blogging! I've never had a blog and must be honest have never hooked onto what blogging actually is though the last few weeks I have been speaking about starting one and to be consistent with my spoken word I have figured out how to do it and its done.

I have my last weekend in Trondheim ahead of me before I depart and begin my journey back to the land Downunder. I've been here for 4 years now and such significant years of my development as a big-human-in-the-making they have been. My first long term job, my first time paying rent, my first time living so far from home etc... and now I'm packing up and saying good-bye to all that has been with no real plans for what will be. No real plans, just hopes and possibilities which are enough!

Last night I said good bye to Ali! Wow! That was a ride. There is a song, All Cried Out, by Allure and the true meaning of that song came into reality last night. It was one of the saddest nights I have ever experienced. After 6 years of shared time and space we were to say goodbye not knowing whether our paths will ever cross again. Of course there is the internet: skype, facebook, email, and all that Jazz but the possibility of not sharing physical time and space was heartbreaking. He has been my lover, my friend, my punching bag, my mentor, my pillow, my vice, my chef, my nurturer and the human that has accessed more of my inner-workings than any other during my life-time! He is the one human who has met every member of my immediate family, which is more than my immediate family, who, to this date have not met each due to distance and circumstance. He is familiar with all my faces and has accepted each and everyone of them unconditionally despite the challenges that some have posed for him. And last night we said our farewells. I felt like a walking cliché when I said we can't say good bye, only see you later, yet I really hope that will be the case.

I woke this morning with pillows under my eyes, emptiness in my soul and a desire to crawl into a hole and not have to deal with the consequences of the choices I've made. Luckily the small humans are a beacon of light always! One cannot remain dark and empty when sharing time and space with their radiance! After drawing and discussing why the red team won the football match in the picture, and the reason the yellow team was so awful, and why the green field had to be three shades of green rather than two, my nights tragedies were no more. And after a day at the vitenskapmuseum I must go on with all that shall be and just keep living la vida loca!

I feel centred. I feel alone. I feel calm. I feel like having solitude. I feel certain I've made the right decision. I feel like I have too many clothes and am not looking forward to having to sort through them and decide which clothes have to go to the salvation army and which must be sent along the yellow brick road to the wizard of Oz. I feel a little anxious that I may have gotten a mate into a sticky situation because I told a friend what the mate had said about her and the mate was confronted...those are situations I don't like getting involved in and I did! I feel sad to be leaving Trondheim and all that I've come to love here. I feel all cried out...and...I feel ready to take on the next leg of my journey!