We were planning on doing a bit of camping on our next phase of Europe, so we started collecting all the things that we would need. We bought ourselves a big inflatable mattress, a pump, and an esky that plugs into the lighter in the car for extra power. We got a great 3 person tent from Artur's brother, some foldable chairs and a table, and lots of cooking supplies from Artur's mother. Artur's dad gave us one of his compact digital cameras to replace the one that we'd lost, and he also bought us a Tom Tom GPS! We were absolutely thrilled, and now were completely ready for our camping trip!
We entertained ourselves by setting up the tent in the backyard, and checking to see if the mattress fit inside the tent. We set up our chairs and table and filled the esky with beer, to make it feel authentic. We even considered sleeping outside for the night like little kids.
Crazy Night
We had other plans though for that evening. We were meeting up with some of Artur's high school friends for some drinks. We met them at the infamous 'Tradycja on Impresja' Bar, where they had often met up for drinks in the past. The 'infamous' part of it being how drunk they all got when they got together those other times.
'Beny', who is a judge, and 'Zebrol', who is an interpreter, were already there waiting for us. Soon after, 'Grzala', who is a vet, also joined us. It was one of the greatest moments of the trip for Artur to catch up with his old true friends.
Loren felt a bit out of place at first, as she was the only girl there, and the only one who didn't know anyone else. However, after a few drinks, we were all like old friends. We chatted about doping in sport, the Beijing Olympics, Polish roads, and about our travels.
We started off with a few beers, but then things progressed to 'kamikaze' drinks. 'Kamikaze', is five shots of Chopin blue coloured vodka. Apparently its not as strong as normal vodka, which is why you can have five at a time. We didn't stop at five, and rounds of kamikaze kept being purchased. Loren suggested that we have some food to offset the amount of alchohol that we were drinking, but everyone was too busy drinking to worry about stuff like that.
Soon the alchohol took its toll, and the bar was closing. Loren was already feeling pretty seedy, and had been seeking refuge in the bathroom. She was doing pretty well by the time we left though. Unfortunately the trouble started for Artur as we were driving back to Grzala's house. Poor Zebrol had bravely offered us a ride in his new car, but Artur needed to keep stopping about every hundred metres, for obvious reasons. Eventually we were getting pretty close to the suburb where Grzala lived, so we decided it would be better to walk from there.
Grzala bought a bottle of vodka from a local shop on the way to his place, but on one was left on the drinking battlefield by that point. Artur was a little better while we were walking, but not immensely. It was a long walk, but it was good for sobering up.
We woke up on the sofa the next day in Grzala's living room. Artur's parent's had deduced from a text message that he had sent the night before, that we probably wouldn't make it home that night. It was a very incoherent message, but that in itself spoke volumes.
We met his wife and his daughter, Michaelina, who was very talkative and active. She didn't pick up on the fact that Loren didn't speak Polish, so she chatted away to her for a long time, telling her the names of her toys and other things. Loren could understand a little bit, and found it very amusing.
Grzala had to go to work, but he was fine to go in late, so he dropped us off at the main bridge across the Vistula. We had a refreshing walk back to the house from there, not too long, just right for a hangover. We were impressed at his drinking stamina, and that he was able to go to work after such a big night.
Artur was still feeling sick, so he went to bed to recover. He felt about as sick as he did in India when we had food poisoning, and that's saying something. Although this time, it was of his own actions. Loren recovered quickly and felt fine after a quick nap. Lucky!
To see the photos from the post in slideshow mode, click on on the link below:
Wloclawek pictures
We went for a wander around the city after we got there. We mainly followed the main road, and saw lots and lots of pizza restaurants. There were a lot of people around, even though it was late. We even saw a 'walk through' McDonalds, where you could order from the sidewalk, as well as from inside the restaurant.
The next day, we were served a delicious breakfast in the kitchen, and then we headed out for our sightseeing. We were very excited and a bit sentimental, because Artur's father's parents used to live not far from Vilnius. This was the first time he had returned to the city since he was 10 years old. This city was also implicity connected to the family because Adam Mickiewicz, the famous Polish poet, lived here for a large part of his life. 
The first thing that we chose to visit, was the Cathedral Square, which dominates the Vilnius skyline. The Cathedral was an enormous cream coloured building, with white statues of angels, huge pillars and elaborate carvings. There was also a 57m belfry standing in front of the church.
Inside, the church was decorated in a classical style. The walls were a simple white, and the altarpieces were only coloured in muted tones. The main altar, had some beautiful marble columns surrounding a huge painting.
One interesting feature of the cathedral, was the St Kazimierz Chapel, with its frescos of the life of St Kazimierz. However there was a very famous icon in the church that took most of the attention. It was a piece of cloth that had the face of Jesus on it. It looked as if he had wiped his face on it, and the dirt had left the image of his face.
Next we went to conquer the Gediminas Castle, but we couldn't find a way to get in. We could see the Castle, and that there were a few people on top of it, but the entrance seemed to be closed. There was a vague sign telling us that we needed to enter via the funicular, but we had no idea what that was, and we couldn't see any other entrance. We walked around the hill that the castle was on, but we still had no luck.
We decided to visit the House of Mickiewicz instead. The house was on the small side, but somehow, huge groups of people had managed to wedge themselves inside the building. We found out that it would be quite a while before we could go in, so we decided to see another church in the meantime. 
The church that we saw was a spectacular peach coloured building, with pointed towers in a gothic style. It was really huge, with lots of sections that looked like they had been added on later, but in keeping with the same style. It was probably one of the prettiest churches that we saw in Vilnius.
Inside the church, most of the decorations were wooden. The pews were all made of heavy wood, and the altar stage was covered in pieces of carved wooden furniture. It was pretty inside, but not as spectacular as the building looked from the outside.
As was becoming the trend in Vilnius, we saw about another 3 wedding parties outside taking photos. Loren was happy to stick around outside and admire their pretty dresses.Weddings were absolutely rife throughout this town. It was a Sunday, and it looked like every church in town must have been booked out. This would be a feat of its own, considering how many churches there are in this city. It seemed to have the largest population of churches outside of Rome. 
We made our way back to Mickiewicz's house, and waited out in the courtyard for the tour to finish. Finally we made it inside, and made the most of the still empty rooms to take some photos. We posed with statues of Mickiewicz while we waited for the tour guide and the rest of the crowd to come in.
After a while, Loren got bored, because she couldn't understand the commentary by the guide. So she went off the main street to do some shopping, asking them to fill her in on the best parts later. She managed to walk a long way, in the short time that she had, but she didn't find many stores that sold things with the names 'Gucci', 'Emporio Armani', or 'Coco Chanel' attached.
At the end of the tour, Artur and his parents wrote in the guestbook, and then bought a book about the life of Mickiewicz. The guide was an expert on the topic, and had written the book that they bought. They got them autographed, and addressed to us. 
We all met up again, near the Mickiewicz house, and then got ourselves some ice cream. We decided to try to find the entrance to Gediminas Castle again. This time we approached it from another angle, and instead of an entrance, we found a big white building, which seemed to be a museum. We found out when we arrived there that the funicular was within the walls of this white building. Helpful signage, easy location! Not!
We found the mysterious funicular, which turned out to be like an uphill tram, to assist people to get up the 48m hill to the castle. We were impressed with the view from the hill when we got to the top, but then we realised that we'd get even better ones if we climbed the tower.
There were a few exhibits on display inside the tower, but we were more interested in getting to the top. Once we got up there, we spent a long time just staring out at all the churches that dotted the skyline. There seemed to be as many churches as houses!
We wandered through the other ruins of the castle, but the tower was the most intact part remaining. There were a few other sections with buildings, but we were only allowed to walk around them, not inside.
The third was the Holy Trinity Church, which was not in great condition, and the last was the St Kazimierz Church. St Kazimierz is the patron saint of Vilnius, so you might have recalled that his name has come up a few times so far. This church was apparently the oldest of Vilnius' baroque masterpieces (1604-1615).
We saw several more wedding parties outside these churches, a second baptism and even a funeral. We saw a restaurant setting up for wedding reception as well. Obviously weddings are regular and big business in this town.
We walked all the way up to the Gates of Dawn, which are the only section of the city walls' five original gates that still remain intact. The Gate houses a chapel containing a black and gold icon of the Virgin Mary. This icon is one of the holiest in Polish Catholicism, and it is known to have caused miracles.
After our healthy dose of churches for the day, we decided to sit down for lunch in the restaurant that was setting up for the wedding reception. They offered Zeppeliny, or Kartacze, which are a Lithuanian specialty that was brought to Poland. This is the blimp shaped potato and meat that we had in Gdansk and Bialowieza. We were all big fans of them, so we all ordered the same thing.
We wandered over the bridge which leads to Uzupis, and noticed that there were hundreds of locks attached to it. We had seen this at a few places in other countries, and the idea is that you and your partner put a lock on the bridge symbolising your love, and then throw away the key together. Quite romantic :)
Speaking of romance, there were a lot more weddings to be seen on our way to this area too. One of the guests or bridesmaids had chosen her own dress, and it seemed like she was really trying to outshine the bride. She was wearing a pink coloured dress with a hoop skirt, like you would have on a wedding dress! I'm surprised she didn't get sent home to change!
As we wandered into Uzupis, we saw a couple of cool looking pubs and bars, and then it just became like a normal suburb again. We reached the main square, which had a statue high on a column. The statue was of the Angel of Uzupis, which is the symbol or mascot of the community.
It was quite a comical constitution. Some of the points seemed to make a lot of sense, but others were kind of weird, and you wondered why they had been included. Some of the points were:
There were also some big images of a hand on the wall, probably another symbol of Uzupis. We saw a few couples taking photos there in their wedding attire. We indulged ourselves and took some too.
The waiter spoke Polish which was very helpful, and we absolutely loved our food. So it was a good choice of place. During the meal, someone came around selling roses, so Artur decided to buy one for Loren, because he thought she looked so pretty all dressed up for the evening.
After dinner, Artur's parents headed back to the hotel. We decided to go out and explore the Old Town by night instead. First we found a pretty outdoor eating and drinking area. It was quite large, and had lots of little candlelit tables. The candles were really cool, as they had two layers of glass around the tea light candles. The inner layer had a logo on it that created a shadow on the outer layer of glass. It made a cool, spooky looking shadow that bobbed up and down with the candle light.
Next we headed to a busy bar in the main square. We had a few cocktails there, which were lovely. Artur asked for a 'white russian', which is a cocktail of milk and kahlua. They just thought he was really weird, and brough him a glass of milk, and a shot of kahlua. As the night progressed, we decided to order a special board of five different Lithuanian shots. They weren't very big, but some of them had a really sweet and nice flavour.
On our way home, we saw lots more bucks nights and hens nights in progress. Including a group of girls dressed up in white outfits with little hats, like naughty nurses or something like that.
The next morning, before we left, we decided to do some souvenir shopping. We stopped at the main street in the old town, where they had a little market. We couldn't find much that we liked though. Most things seemed to over-the-top or kitschy. In the end, we found a cool souvenir shop that had some funny t-shirts. Artur bought one with some medieval Lithuanian men holding shields. On each of the shield they had pictures of what they represented. One had a picture of a jug of beer, another had a picture of a beautiful woman, and the other had a big plate of food. Loren found a ring that caught her fancy. It was turquoise, with a rectangle of silver sitting around the stone. We saw some cool paintings on display in the market, but we didn't want to end up with a picture of the Old Town from every place that we visited, so we decided to leave them there. 
We arrived in Riga, miraculously finding our way without any GPS, and only an internet printout of instructions of how to get to our hotel. We drove the wrong way down a one way street at one point, but nevertheless, Artur's navigation was successful. Our hotel was pretty basic, but it was located not too far from the city centre and the old town.
We decided to go for a walk around town, looking for a restaurant or cafe where we could have a drink. Unfortunately, nothing seemed to be open. We found one coffee place, but they were closing just as we got there, so they only offered takeaway. We decided to keep looking, and we ended up on a street filled with casinos, bars and nightclubs, the only things that were still open at this time.
We found a fancy looking yuppie bar, which was better than a club, so we went inside. Our travel clothing and Artur's parents didn't really match the clientele that they seemed to be aiming for, but they served us anyway. A funny show on MTV was playing, called 'Strutter'. It was a funny, arrogant guy giving his opinion on lots of different things. It was muted, but there were a lot of captions that popped up, that helped us to figure out what was going on.
After our drinks, Artur's parents headed back to the hotel, and we decided to keep having a look around the city. We walked down one of the main streets, but we got bored quickly and headed back to the hotel. It's a miracle any of us survived the walk to and from the hotel, as the drivers in Riga were absolutely insane! They sped along the city streets like they were on a racetrack. This was one of the few cities where we didn't walk across the road if the light was red; to do so here would be suicidal.
Finally we made it into the old town, and decided to have a look at the St Peter's gothic cathedral. We were quite surprised by the shocking customer service by the people in Riga, not just in this church, but at every other place we went to that day. People act like they are doing you a favour when they sell you a ticket, and they generally have a sour disposition and bad attitude.
After some negotiation, we got our tickets for the tower of the cathedral. Thankfully this one had a lift, so it wasn't as hard as the last time in Tallinn. We enjoyed the view from the tower here as well, but the old town here was a lot more spread out, so it was less eye catching. After Tallinn, anything we saw would have to be fairly miraculous to top the view that we saw there.
The over the river was pretty, and there were a lot of modern buildings dotting the horizon. One building looked exactly like the Palac Kultury i Nauki in Warsaw, but it was smaller. No doubt another gift from Stalin. Another building looked like a modernised, sleek version of the Tour Eiffel.
Down in the church, we were surprised to see black speakers sticking out above many of the seats, and also old fashioned TV screens. They must be used to help people to see what's happening during the services, but we'd never seen anything like it in an old church before. It didn't quite fit in with decor. 
Finally with our guides, we made our way around the museum. There were recordings for everything, but you could skip parts if you wanted to move faster. We were fascinated by everything that we were hearing on the audioguide, so we tried to listen to everything. We weren't planning to spend very long there, but we kept calling Artur's parents to let them know that we'd be there for a little longer, and a little longer.
The museum was about the Russian occupation and takeover of Latvia. It described the gradual loss of power and independance of the people and government. It also documented the atrocities that the Soviets commited against the people of Latvia. It spoke about all the people who went missing, the hundreds of people who were resettled to camps in Russia, where they were forced to accept the Soviet ideologies and way of life. The idea was to take away the people's sense of nationalism, and to draw them into the United Socialist Soviet Republic.
The museum was very moving, and you began to understand what it was like to be taken over by Russia and forced to forget that your country ever existed. There were many people who refused to accept this fate, and joined resistance movements. Many people died in combat, and others were sought out and taken away to Russian camps.
Next we went to see the Dome Square, because we could hear music coming from there. We saw a huge stage set up there. The canopy over it was covered in flowers, artistically spread from the stage upwards. On the stage itself was an orchestra, and in front of it were lots of dancers in couples. The dancers were dressed in colourful traditional outfits, with wreaths of flowers around the girls heads. The dances were joyful and the music was exciting. There were tiered stands of seats set up for people to watch from, but they were so full that people were packed into the square standing and sitting in front of them, to watch.
We were all caught up in the excitement, so we pushed our way through the crowd, so that we could see the dancing. It finished just as we got there though, so we sat down on the ground, waiting for them to come back again. There were a few musical items first, but eventually the dancers came out and performed.
We were very impressed at how many young people were involved. You could see just how much pride people have in their traditions and their culture. Their patriotism seems to have been increased significantly by the times of oppression.
The Cathedral was the largest church in the Baltic region, and has a 6768 pipe organ, which was the biggest in the world when it was completed in 1884. 
Next we visited the House of Blackheads, which sounds like a girls worst skincare nightmare. We tried to get in, but they told us to come back in an hour. We did so, and then were told by someone else that no one was allowed in. Eventually we convinced them that we'd been told to come back at this time, and they directed us to the ticket office in the giftshop. We came inside, but were told that we could only see the ground floor and the gallery on the top floor.
In the basement, we saw the foundations of the building, and the rustic brick walls. They had some little rooms down there. with artifacts from the early times in Riga. There was a room set out with merchant's weighing equipment, chests for storage and lots of other little artifacts.
There were a lot of old sculptures on display as well. Some had been damaged at some point, with limbs missing, but they were still really beautiful.
We went to the top floor to see the gallery. It was a display of paintings from one artist. Each of the painting had simple names like, 'Peace', 'Sunshine', 'Passion'. The paintings were very large, and quite abstract when you looked at them from up close, but when viewed as a whole, you could see shapes forming amongst the wild colour.
The main ballroom or hall that we walked into was spectacular. It had a shiny wooden floor, walls covered in paintings in gilded frames, and intricately detailed wallpaper. The ceiling was decorated with frescoes, and the areas around the frescoes were filled with stately patterns and fine details. Enormous chandeliers filled the air and beautifully shaped couches were placed around the walls. A grand piano stood in one corner, with a velvet cover over it that matched the curtains.
As we left the room, we saw a suit of armour that was placed in a wall display, as though protecting the impressive ballroom. There were also busts lining the walls of the stairs, looking down over everyone who passed through.
One cabinet displayed what looked like ornate wooden boxes for holding playing cards. Most were painted with a portrait, probably of the person who used to own them. Others were just simple, but made of beautiful materials, or decorated only with a checkered print like those on Scottish kilts.
The way the restaurant worked, was that you paid for everything that you chose, but you had a big range of food to choose from. If you wanted salad, you filled your plate at the salad bar, and they would weigh it to decide how much it was worth. Next you would go to the cooked dishes and grill section, and ask for whatever caught your fancy - each dish had a set price. Then you could choose cold drinks, juice, and pick up a desert if you wanted. Then at the end you showed your selection to the cashier, and paid accordingly.
On our way back, we ran into a man selling paintings, who had a Polish flag hanging from his easel. We ended up talking to him for a while, about what it was like to live in Latvia, and about his work. He spoke Polish, but he didn't have a Polish accent. We found out that he was of Polish descent, but his family had actually lived in Riga for the last two centuries. He must either be very proud of his heritage, or just know that he would get a lot of Polish customers because of his language skills.
The first one that we found was the Three Sisters, which were three very tall buildings all in a row. They apparently belonged to three sisters, but that could just be a story made up to entertain tourists. The houses were very pretty and worth seeing though.
Just when we were about to give up, we saw the Cat House. It was such a cool building, Loren absolutely loved it. The roof of the building had metal silhouettes of cats standing on each of its corners. The cats had a kind of French black cat look to them, with their backs arched in a cartoon like fashion. They were such a great feature. 
We loved our painting even more once we saw the real building. We found the angle from which the painting would have been done. It looked slightly different in real life, as the painting had a magical, surreal feel to it. The buildings and shapes were interpreted as the artist saw them, not in an architecturally detailed, photo-style way.
Around the outside of the square, there were tall, old buildings, lining the enormous square like walls. Most of them had been turned into shops or restaurants. Dotted all around the square, you could see beer gardens with hundreds of people chilling out in the shade of big umbrellas. It was probably the prettiest place in the whole of the Old Town.
Before we left the Old Town, we found a notebook for Artur, who had been looking for one for quite a while. He needed it for writing notes in about our trip. We were so thrilled when we found a leather bound notebook with the name Riga and a picture of a church in the Old Town indented into it. It was very olde world, and excellent quality.
