Ticket to Ride

Hey hey hey! Miss me? Don't answer that. I am sure you have enjoyed the break from my pestering to read my blog. Well I am back! With a vengeance! I have a lot to cover. So I will split it up in a couple of posts. We just got back from our 10 day vacation. We managed to go to Latvia, Lithuania, Sweden, Finland, and Estonia. As you can imagine, it was very busy. And most of our transportation was at night so we didn't get a lot of sleep. But it was totally worth it. Today I will talk about Latvia and Lithuania. 

First up....Riga, Latvia. We took a 14 hour train ride to get there At night. Now this ain't my first rodeo. I am accustomed to the sleeper trains. I know what to expect. There isn't much that would surprise me. Some one could get murdered and I would just say "welp, we ARE on a sleeper train." And roll over and go back to sleep. I felt bad this time around. Normally I get a really noisy bunk mate. A snorer, a chomper, a pooper, a crier, something of the sort. But this time I was the loud one. I got really sick before we left so all night I was coughing and breathing really heavily and sniffling and sneezing. My apologies to my compartment mates. I'm glad you didn't murder me. I'm talking to you, guy with the gold chain and hairy chest. 

Throughout the night on the train they wake you up to get your passports sorted out, being that we are crossing the border. They took our passports and documents and a couple of hours later brought them all back. Except for mine. The lady looked at me and gestured "one moment" (because no body speaks English in Russia). So I waited. And waited. And waited some more. Until she came back with three other government official looking fellows. They had my passport and they kept looking at my picture then at me. Back and forth. I should mention my passport picture was taken a year and a half ago. When I had long dark hair and bangs. Apparently it doesn't look at all like me. Because I had this problem in Asia as well. But I never had to have three face specialists caucus together to determine whether or not the person lounging in the bunk is the same on the passport. That was a first. Finally one said it was me and they all agreed. Dodged a bullet there. Little did they now I actually tortured and left for dead that person in the picture and stole their identity. MUHUWAHAHAHAHAHHHH!

We arrived in Latvia early in the morning. I mentioned I was ill. The night before and all throughout Latvia I was slipping in and out of consciousness. I was soo sick and just in a daze. I have impeccable timing when it comes to getting sick. It always has to be right before a vacation. But no matter. I still made the most of it. 

We saw some truly amazing things in Riga. Here we have St. Peter's Cathedral and the view from it's tower. It's the tallest cathedral in Riga. 

Our hostel was awesome. The people there were so friendly. We went on a walking tour as hostel. Loved it. And it wouldn't be a Marci experience if some random person in the group didn't make fun of me. Our tour guide mentioned something about Christmas so I uttered an "Aw!" because who doesn't love Christmas. This woman turned around and was crackin up. She kind of smacked my arm and then mimicked me. Thanks lady. I know I am retarded. Step off! I love Christmas okay? Even just roaming the streets we saw incredible structures. Breath taking. 

Jealous? You should be. That night we went back to our hostel to crash. The good and bad thing about hostels is you typically have roommates. This can either be a great way to meet people or you could get stuck with the roommate that stumbles in the room at 3 AM, wasted out of his mind, speaking at full volume, knocking against the lockers, freaking out because he can't find his...."personal items." Or his pants. He's a winner. This went on for a full two hours. That guy knows how to make friends. No matter. That's what my best friend is for....my ipod touch. What better way to spend your time laying awake while there is a psycho drunk Australian in your room then to crush Glen's high score on bejeweled. Take that Glen. 

The next day we did one of my favorite things on the whole vacation. We went to the Ethnographic Open-Air Museum. It was so cool! It was in the middle of the woods, and it was this little village, houses from the olden day. All the workers were dressed in the clothing from that time period. I love me some history. Plus being in nature is my most favorite thing in the world. Once again, it wouldn't be a Marci experience if I didn't break some kind of social norm. We were strolling about and I spotted a tree perfect for climbing. So of course I took the opportunity to hop in it. I think that's the normal thing to do. I am not just going to pass up a perfectly good climbing tree. T'would be idiotic! So I got in the tree and one thing led to another and me and Courtney engaged in a battle between me, the tree nymph, and her, the brave warrior on the ground. 

We were having a jolly good time when we hear some babbling in the distance. It was really distracting my defense moves. Turns out it was a Latvian worker. She was yelling. At me. Cool it lady. Can't you see I am in the middle of defending my tree from this warrior? Some people just can't enjoy a good battle when they see one. So what did we do? We ran away without looking back. We could still hear her yelling when we were down the road a bit. Woops. 

Also on that day, Syd, Court, Katie and I "locked our love" on a bridge. A common trend over here is for married couples to engrave their names on a lock, lock it on a bridge, and throw the key in the water. So we did just that. I precious moment indeed. Don't think I am into that girly business. Because I am not. Not once not never. 

That night we had the pleasure of meeting some people from our hostel. Here you have Szymon from Poland (pronounced Simon like Simon Says!)

We love Szymon!! He is such an awesome guy :) Next, on the left we've got Stephan and on the right Nick, both from Germany. 

Both very nice gentlemen. Next we've got Courtney's faaaaavoorite. They will get married some day. 

Okay not really. This guy was Weirdo McCreepgee. He's from France. We just call him Christopher Lloyd. Doesn't he look like him?? It's uncanny. Okay first of all, this guy is from France and doesn't know what a freakin poodle is. There's a red flag right there. Idiot. Second, he was way too obsessed with my hair. Hands off bro. This hair is far too glorious for your bony fingers. Thirdly, leave Courtney alone! Sheesh! He's got a sweet spirit (that line is for you Justine) but man, he was weird. 

The best part of all of Latvia was Szymon took us on a little tour of Old Town at night. We walked the streets to important monuments and such. There wasn't a soul out. It was like we were the only people on the planet. Magical. That moment will forever be in my memory. Sadly, we had to say goodbye to our new friends and the great town of Riga. You will all be missed. But it wasn't too sad because we were onto our next adventure......LITHUANIA!!

We left for Lithuania early early early in the morning. By bus. A very nice bus. Better than the train actually. When we got to Vilnius, it was raining. Hard. And it stayed that way for the majority of the time there. But a little rain hasn't stopped me before. There is too much to see, so little time! Once again, while roaming the streets you see so many amazing things. 

While walking around the planets a lined and we bumped into some of our roommates from Latvia! What are the odds. We stopped at chatted for a bit, but while we were walking away we realized their story didn't match up...they had said that they arrived in Lithuania last night and had just woken up.....but that they were on their way to check into their hostel.....it doesn't make sense I tell you! The only logical explanation is that they murdered someone. We're onto you Sasha and Roan!! You can't hide from me!! I know everythiiiiiing! 

My favorite thing that I saw in Lithuania was the Hill of Castles (suggested by Szymon. Thank you sir). It was very Shutter-Island-Esq. It was raining...there were hundreds of crows lurking about....it was old spooky castles, perfect setting for a horror movie. WHICH we filmed a bit of. We're going to make millions. I will say this. I am not the killer. Not this time....not this time...

One last thing. We found a poster for a Missing Person. I guess we shouldn't be making a joke of this but here I go. It was describing this man, but it wasn't quite translated correctly. Or maybe it was and they really meant what they wrote. One of the defining characteristics was and I quote "He hasn't got one tooth." Now does this mean, he doesn't have any teeth, he's all gums? Or he is missing one tooth? What does this mean?? Then it goes on "Probably he doesn't have any documents." Like probably....we're not totally sure...this guy is kind of an idiot so he probably wouldn't have any of his documents. And then it said something like "He may not have him memory." He has amnesia? Or is memory something that belongs to him, like a pet, or a prostitute? So many questions!!! We got a pretty good laugh at that poster. Hope you get found dude!

And thus concludes the first part of our adventure. Stay tuned for Sweden, Finland, and Estonia. Peace and Love :)