- USA
- Ireland
- France
- Belgium
- Back in France
- May 30, 2005Mexican Princesses
- May 31, 2005Versaille
- June 1, 2005Last Day in Paris
- June 2, 2005Coast of Marseille
- May 3, 2005Callanques of Marseille
- June 4, 2005Leaving Marseille
- June 5, 2005Busted Ankle
- June 6, 2005Healing in St. Raphael
- June 7, 2005Bongos on the Beach
- June 8, 2005Goodbye, St. Raphael - Hello Cannes
- June 9, 2005Antibes Daytrip
- June 10, 2005Chilling in Cannes
- June 11, 2005To Nice with the Finns
- Monaco
- Switzerland
- Germany
- Austria
- Hungary
- Poland Fun
- June 29, 2005Zakopane
- June 30, 2005Hiking in the Tatry Mountains
- July 1, 2005Trail of Wooden Architecture
- July 2, 2005Krakow Jazz Festival
- July 3, 2005Kazimierz
- July 4, 2005Goral Burger
- July 5, 2005Ciupagi
- July 6, 2005Czestochowa
- July 7, 2005Trainhopping
- July 8, 2005Happy Birthday Mom!!!
- July 9, 2005Happy Birthday Jack
- July 10, 2005Banana Riding
- July 11, 2005First Russian Embassy Visit
- Poland Family
- July 12, 2005Family, at Last
- July 13, 2005Mom's Schoolfriends
- July 14, 2005Muddy Ponds
- July 15, 2005Partying in Poznan
- July 16, 2005A Relaxing Day
- July 17, 2005Sheeshah Bar
- July 18, 2005Five Souvereign Lands
- July 19, 2005The Good News
- July 20, 2005Another Family Function
- July 21, 2005Just Chilling
- July 22, 2005The Best Bike Ever
- July 23, 2005Looking for a Home by the Baltic Sea
- July 24, 2005Copernicus and the Boyscouts
- July 25, 2005Visas are Set to Go
- July 26, 2005Luxury
- July 27, 2005A Day at Work
- Russia
- July 28, 2005Back in St. P Looking for 1UP
- July 29, 2005Peter's Pimpin' Palace and the Neverending Nights
- July 30, 2005Big Bad Moscow
- July 31, 2005Beating Birches
- August 1, 2005Off to Siberia
- August 2, 2005Drinking with the Guards
- August 3, 2005Big, Rolling Trans-Siberian Party
- August 4, 2005Pack up, Only Six Hours Left
- August 5, 2005Irkutsk
- August 6, 2005Swimming in Lake Baikal
- August 7, 2005Drenched
- August 8, 2005Partying with Uzbeks
- August 9, 2005I Love You Omul, I Heart Baikal
- August 10, 2005Pushed out of Russia
- Mongolia
- China
- August 26, 2005Chasing Buses
- August 27, 2005Looking for the Opera
- August 28, 2005Sleeping on a Wall
- August 29, 2005Trying to Find the Opera Once Again
- August 30, 2005Forbidden City and Searching for the Opera
- August 31, 2005The Opera Sucks
- September 1, 2005Hutongs and Strange Food
- September 2, 2005The Peking Ducks Incident
- September 3, 2005Beijing Shopping
- September 4, 2005The Dirt Market and Tiger Penis Vodka
- September 5, 2005Temples, Temples, and More Temples
- September 6, 2005The Amazing Summer Palace
- September 7, 2005Goodbye Asia
- Back in the USA
World Trip
Trainhopping
I got up really early this morning and headed off to see the Madonna. Once again, words fail me. The chapel and the churches and the whole cloister ground is really something one has to experience themselves, even purely from the cultural perspective is you are not religious.
Later in the morning I headed to the train station to catch a train for Warsaw. Ticket in hand, I waited for the train to arrive. it arrived a few minutes early, which is quite unusual for Polish trains. I confirmed that this was the right train with two girls also heading the same way and we all got on. The crackly announcer voice confirmed this by saying something barely discernable about Warsaw. It took off immediately. Something did not feel right. The trains never leave early, and this one did by about five minutes. It also did not feel like an express train. It had a shoddier than usual interior more characteristic of local trains. After twenty seconds of nervous deliberation the three of us came to a conclusion that this was not the train for Warsaw. We considered hopping out a window, but they were too small. The emergency brake seemed like a plausible option. By a stroke of luck, it stopped after going a few hundred feet all on its own, and we were still within sight of the platform. We tugged at the door, which did not want to open, and somehow managed to pry it. We got out onto the train tracks, crossed a few sets, and crawled onto the platform just as the real Warsaw train was pulling up on the opposite track.
Got to Warsaw and got in touch with Asia (not like the continent but like "ah-sha") who was letting me stay at her apartment. I had a few hours to kill before she got out of work, so I ate a late lunch and started my visa process.
I was hoping for smooth sailing by simply walking into an Orbis travel agency and asking them to take care of the visas for me. No go. They only will do it if you buy a whole vacation package from them, and I have no need for that. So I am going to have to do it the hard way. I found an internet cafe and ordered my invitation with the processing fee (initial bribe). Next in the process is filling out a lengthy application and paying the fee (second bribe, albeit smaller for Polish passport holders than American ones) for obtaining the visa. Hopefully I will not have to do any intermediate bribing for expediting, smoothing over wrinkles such as not having a return ticket or booked accommodations. If luck has its way, in no time I will be paying the final bribe for an OVIR registration shortly after my arrival in St. Petersburg.
Asia picked me up and dropped me off at her apartment. We went shopping and hung out for a while. Eventually she headed home and I have a normal place to stay a night. No need to share a room with 15 other people. No need to knock on the bathroom door to make sure no one else is using it. I took the longest bath ever and now am going to sleep to prepare for the weekend.
