Going Home Eve

I've got that strange knotted feeling in my stomach again, caused by impending one-way flight. Tomorrow I will be hopping on a flight from Munich to Heathrow and am really struggling to process the fact that in just over 24 hours I will be back in the UK, with no set date for when I will leave again. I don't know quite what I'm feeling.

There's pressure to make the last couple of days amazing; expectations that are not always lived up to. Routine has continued as routine does. Everything is just as normal until I go to my room to fetch something and then remember it's somewhere in the depths of my suitcase.

The transition days are always the worst. I have been drifting around the house, with that unsettled feeling that prevents me from doing anything worthwhile with my time. It seems that everything can be prefixed by 'the last'. The last time in the cable car. The last visit to the Chiemsee. The last maths tutoring with T. It's all very difficult to comprehend.

Anyway. Enough of my confused ramblings. This is it: the last sentence of my last blog post from Germany... for a while at least.

Climbing the Kampenwand

Well I've been meaning to press 'publish' on this for ages but have had zero time (as per usual), due to a combination of dresses to be made, approximately 1000 maths workbooks to drag T through and preparing for a drive to Italy. The norm.

***

Yesterday I climbed a mountain. Not a psychological mountain, an actual literal mountain. It's not a mountain you'll have heard of; by Alp standards it's nothing special but at 1669m it is considerably higher than anything Great Britain has to offer... did I mention that it's the one I live next to?!

And so the hike to the top of the Kampenwand begin. It was lovely an sunny, not stupidly busy and the rest of the family were all out and about doing their own thing. The path sets off in open fields with views of Hohenaschau Castle, then winds into woodland. It's steep in places but nothing to worry about. Emerging, 2 hours later, on to the plateau there are stunning views of the Chiemsee and quite a quantity of cowbell-wearing-cows. There were places to stop and get food or drink en route but with a supply of water and cereal bars what more did I need?!

I decided to walk to the Eastern summit. Walk being a slightly inaccurate description. I'll go with scramble in future. The path was steep and rocky, with far too much loose rock for my liking but I continued, after all there were plenty of other people scrambling. The paths wove through the rocky outcrop, including sections with staples and hand rails so you didn't fall.

This would be the path

The view from the summit was amazing. The Chiemsee in one direction and the Central Alps in the other.

Chiemsee

Alps

On the way down I took a wrong turn. Actually it was the person in front of me who took a wrong turn and I stupidly followed. The path was very very steep, not really I path anymore. It was becoming more and more like rock climbing, only without a rope. Hmm. At last I was down the rocky section and onto a steep gravel path... which suddenly stopped. There was no sign of the person who had been in front of me. Deep breath. Check phone: no signal. Great. My options were either to walk straight through the vegetation and hope that a path appeared or climb back up.

It was just as steep as it looks.

I climbed back up. I was at full reach, desperately clinging on, but determined to get to the top. And then I saw the wonderful sight of other people: I was back on the main path. 

East summit

After all that excitement I got the cable car down, happily walking in through the exit and skipping the queue... it helps when you live with the owners!

The last month and a bit

This is me attempting to summarise what I have done over the last few weeks. It doesn't go into much detail but hopefully it fills in all the gaps so I can return to more regular blogging. Warning: there's a bit of a photo overload (and I was really selective and everything).

In amongst the normal routine of homework helping, English tutoring and German learning the family and I went on holiday to Lucerne. The drive itself was exciting, through the Alps, through Liechtenstein and into Switzerland (incidentally country 22 of my year abroad!). Our first full day in Lucerne was spent at the Stanserhorn, a mountain which five of us climbed. The path was very steep, zigzagging under the cable car. There were not a lot of other people walking, but there were plenty of cows. In any case, the view from the top was pretty impressive: mountains and Lake Lucerne. The German for Lake Lucerne is Vierwaldstättersee which really confused me. We got the cable car back down the mountain (the family have a bit of a thing for cable cars) but this was no ordinary cable car, this was an open top cable car.

After an evening watching Germany v. Portugal in an Irish bar in Switzerland (okay) we had a relaxed day wandering in Lucerne. Such a pretty place.

The Sonnenalm (family owned restaurant up the Kampenwand) had a big event for the Summer solstice which happened to coincide with Germany v. Ghana. We decorated the cable cars in preparation and then headed up the mountain to help out. I ended up in charge of the bar (!!!) which was interesting, exhausting and entertaining in equal measures.

I went to a McBusted concert. Enough said.

At the beginning of July the family (and by that I mean my actual, real, British family) and I went to California. There were spectacular vistas aplenty, some memorable meals and a bear spotting! It was wonderful to spend two full weeks with my family, having not seen them for that long since last August.

I had a couple more weeks aupairing, which included the end of term for C, V and T. Then on Friday evening I flew back to London. So it was actually Saturday by the time I arrived so there was very little sleep before setting of to Chris and Rachel's wedding. I lived with Rachel for first and second year of university, and was determined to attend her wedding despite being in the wrong country as per usual. The day was wonderful and beautiful and perfect. I am so so happy that I was able to be a part of it.

And now we're back to the present. This week is youth week at the Chiemsee Yacht Club so C, V and T are sailing all week. When the weather is good I go along too for a swim and a read (although the water is freezing) and when the weather is not so good I stay at home.

Long time no see

Sorry about that. I guess aupairing is more hectic than I anticipated leaving me not much time to write. Even so, it's been well over a month now which is pretty bad. I'm going to try to ease myself back into blogging gently. I miss writing about what I've been up to and without this record I'll probably forget what I've done.

As an aupair there is very little time to yourself. It is truly like being part of a family again, but one you can't get annoyed at! Fortunately there is no need to be annoyed as the family is lovely. The daily activities vary. There's the constant homework help, grammar learning and project planning duties but then there's the holiday to Lucerne, working behind the bar at the family-owned restaurant and being the car park attendant... not what I expected to be doing this Summer!

Sometimes being an aupair is really difficult but sometimes it looks like this.

So the photo makes me look like I'm super organised, starting on the reading for my final year at uni. It's actually the first act of the first play for the first module.

A day at the Chiemsee

The Chiemsee is a big lake not far from Ashau im Chiemgau. V and C had sailing training this week, and on one of the days (the one with particularly stunning weather) the rest of us went along too. T and I spent the day playing in the water, practicing maths and relaxing. Later on K and E came to join us, rowing out into the middle of the lake. It is a beautiful place: wonderfully clear water in a mountainous landscape. The only thing I don't like is the underwater vegetation... as a child I absolutely detested seaweed (there are photos of me in the sea on holiday looking very unhappy as seaweed has just washed into me...).  So I don't particularly enjoy swimming through lake-weeds. But far away from the shore the water is far too deep and you can swim without the threat of weeds. I surprised myself by bravely/recklessly hopping off the edge of the rowing boat and swimming back to the pier! It was slightly further than expected but I did it!

One more photo... a view from our table in a restaurant (or should I say sitting out in the restaurant). Either way is was stunning... if oppressively hot.

Settling in

Greetings from Aschau im Chiemgau (why always the long place names?!). I have been here for exactly one week and am slowly beginning to feel more at home in my new surroundings. The surroundings, by the way, are stunning. The Chiemgau is a region in southern Bavaria, in the foothills of the Alps. I happen to live next door to the Kampenwandseilbahn (cable car), which goes up to the Kampenwand, one of the highest mountains in the region. There's also the beautiful Chiemsee, a lake which I have briefly seen when we transported the boat there...

Day to day, I just get involved in whatever the children are doing, be it playing games or marshalling cars in the car park for the cable car. I practise English with V, help T with homework, Maths and German and generally help out when I can. So far so good.

The weather is hot. So so hot. I probably (definitely) feel it more than the rest of the family, being British and all that. I just want to sit and read... although if it's reading in German that's not such a bad thing. Everywhere here looks so pretty, all mountainous and exciting. It's certainly very different to home.

It's all change

Mum came over to Germany last week, to cheer me up after leaving school and to help me get my ridiculous amounts of luggage home. We had a lovely day in Bad Salzdetfurth and Hildesheim together, admiring the summer markets (like Christmas markets but with normal wine instead of mulled wine). I finally found the pretty bits of Hildesheim... shame it was the day before leaving!

Hildesheim

In the evening we had just enough time to do my favourite walk in Badse. It wouldn't have been right to leave without walking it one last time.

Bad Salzdetfurth

My landlady kindly gave us a lift to the station (so. much. luggage.) but we ended up in a bit of a rush so I didn't really have time to feel sad about leaving Badse. Mum and I were staying in a hotel in Hannover for the night so looked ridiculous checking in for one night with 6 bags. Hmph. And we had a lot of fun navigating the various trains.

Checked in and with one bag each it was then time to have a wander in Hannover. I assumed the role of tour guide, showing Mum the main sights. The Rathaus is still my favourite but it was nice to revisit everywhere else. In the evening we went to the NDR 2 Plaza Festival in Hannover. We missed the first few acts (intentionally) but saw Amy Macdonald and the Sportfreunde Stiller. I obviously enjoyed it... Mum says she did... In any case it was a brilliant way to spend the final night of my year abroad, singing along to Ein Kompliment and being one of very few people in the audience who could understand Amy! Apparently there were over 20 000 people there!

Amy Macdonald // Sportfreunde Stiller

Last day of my year abroad. Waaah. But at least it was a good one, relaxing with Mum in Hannover. We had Kaffee und Kuchen for breakfast and another wander in Hannover, particularly enjoying the Markthalle (an amazing indoor market). In typical year abroad fashion time flew and all to soon it was time to head back to the hotel and pick up the luggage. Now experts on taking suitcases on escalators, we navigated the underground relatively easily and made it (exhausted) to the hotel. Home time. We flew to Heathrow, were collected by Dad and arrived at unchanged Fetcham. Surreal.

Hannover Rathaus

Leaving Bad Salzdetfurth could have been a depressing and somewhat traumatic experience. I have completely fallen in love with it. But it wasn't, having Mum there made such a difference to leaving and the two days in Hannover felt more like a holiday than the end of a year abroad.

However, just because this is the official end of my year abroad doesn't mean my time in Germany is over. In fact, I am sitting in Germany typing this. In a very pretty Bavarian village called Aschau im Chiemgau to be precise. I will be living here for the next three months as an aupair. Photos to follow...

"Are we allowed to hug you?"

My time working at IGS Bad Salzdetfurth is officially over. I cannot believe it. Nine months have absolutely flown by. I am sad to leave everyone behind, but it's much better that I'm sad about leaving because I've had such a lovely year than relieved that it's all over!

Today has been wonderful but strange. It began with a surprise leaving breakfast with 5c, complete with balloons and different types of rolls. I then had two free lessons before my final ever lesson at IGS Bad Salzdetfurth: 5b. I got to sit in the special chair (let's call it a throne) and we played loads of games, had amazing cake the pupils had baked and stayed in through break time. Upon leaving the classroom I discovered 5a waiting for me (my last lesson with them was on Monday but they didn't know/forgot I was leaving) with cards and chocolates. Awww. Just when I thought it was home time I was persuaded to watch the cup song and a dance performed by members of 5c. And then I got a hug overload.

And then it was over. I waited around at school to say goodbye Martin and the other teachers, before walking home trying desperately to protect my pressies from the torrential rain.

Language assistanting has been an amazing opportunity. Yes there have been moments of 'mehhh, I really don't want to go to school today' but there have been so many positive moments. When you finally convince pupils that they can do the exercise and they can do English. When they say 'hi' in the corridor and ask 'how are you?'. So what if the conversation stops there because they can't remember any more English. They are trying.

Today made me realise that my time here has been appreciated. I actually believe the pupils when they say they'll miss me. They have already tried talking me into coming back to visit, or to come on their school trips or just to live in Badse and stay at IGS for ever and ever. We shall see.

Sunday

The number of blog posts saved as drafts is rapidly increasing as I near the end of my time in Bad Salzdetfurth. With under a week to go I am reluctant to sit in my flat and type when I could be walking  and enjoying my surroundings. I'm also generally less talkative and more emotional so the blogging isn't exactly coming naturally.

It is currently Sunday evening at bedtime minus one hour. But this is no ordinary Sunday evening; this is the Sunday evening before my last week of working at IGS Bad Salzdetfurth. It is impossible to describe how I am feeling right now. I cannot believe I am so close to the end of my year abroad. Part of me is happy, proud that I have made it to the end of my contract having enjoyed language assistant-ing. Happy to be going home. But I am sad to be leaving behind this wonderful place and the people that I've met. Over the next few days I will be saying so many goodbyes, almost all of them to people I will never see again. And that's strange.

As you can probably tell I'm struggling to transpose my feelings into words. I guess I'm just not ready to leave yet.

Stuck in Sarajevo

Despite having earmarked this weekend as our last chance to travel together months ago, Katherine and I only finalised travel plans six days in advance. After the astonishingly successful trip Vilnius, Riga, Tallinn and Helsinki we decided that we were ready for one last ambitious travel plan. The start point: Eindhoven early on Friday morning.

Katherine, Matt and I were still recovering from the early start as we walked out of Belgrade airport. Still feeling slightly dazed we got on the A1 airport shuttle bus, operating between airport and city centre. More and more people crammed onto the bus, which pulled away from the terminal with great difficulty. It proceeded to stall, then sound like it was going to combust on the hill start. And then it hit: we were in Serbia. The overcrowded and underpowered vehicle somehow managed to transport us through countryside and suburbs into Belgrade. We were deposited at the bus station, where our first task was to book a ticket for the night bus out of Belgrade. You can't buy the tickets online, but after walking the length of the bus station a couple of times we found the departures board.

I was under the impression that Serbian was written using both the Latin and Cyrillic alphabet. Unfortunately the information at the bus station was only in Cyrillic so we ended up going along to the ticket office with the name of our destination written down and reverted to the 'point, gesture and look hopeful' tactic. This actually worked, and we were soon the proud owners of a ticket from Београд to Источно Сарајево.

Ticket out secured, it was time to relax and enjoy our day in Belgrade. Our first destination was Kalemegdan/Belgrade Fortress. There are towers, walls, bridges and a stunning view over the confluence of the River Danube and the River Sava, where the blue water of the Danube and brown water of the Sava flow alongside each other without mixing. The pobednik victory statue looks out over the confluence, commemorating victories in the Balkan Wars and World War I.

Kalemegdan // Pobednik

Moving on from Kalemegdan we found the Studentski Trg/Student Square before realising how hungry we were. I bravely tried the minced meat and onion steak which was actually not bad at all. Then it was back to the sightseeing, which improved drastically when we found a decent map at tourist info. Upon seeing that there were pictures on the map, Matt took over and became the 'knowledgable', enthusiastic tour guide, taking us along Knez Mihailova Street and pointing out various important buildings along the way. Eventually we reached Hram Svetog Sava/the Cathedral of St. Sava. I'm not going to pretend that we knew this at the time, but the cathedral is actually the largest Orthodox church in the world. Now I'm pleased we made the extra effort to walk there! The church is still under construction, with work having been interrupted by numerous wars since planning began in 1895, so although it looks finished from the outside the inside is completely undecorated. The unfinished church was even used as a parking lot by the occupying German Army and later the Red Army!

Then it was back towards the fortress, via Crkva Svetog Marka (St. Mark's Church) and a couple of other squares (Trg Republike, Trg Nikola Pašić). Trg (square) is such a good word.

Hram Svetog Sava // Crkva Svetog Marka // Skadarlija 

Skadarlija is the Bohemian Quarter of Belgrade, which I thought sounded quite interesting. In honesty, it was a little underwhelming although I did enjoy the pictures of zebras drawn on the roads in place of zebra crossings! We decided to return to Kalemegdan to watch the sunset sitting on the fortress walls. It was still so warm as we sat outside and mentally prepared ourselves for the night bus.

Our day in Belgrade was almost over, so we headed back to the bus station for our 22:30 bus. But before then it was time to negotiate the unexpected squat toilets and get our Serbian Dinar (£1 is 141 RSD) exchanged for Convertible Mark (£1 is 2.39 BAM). Two fantastic currencies right there.

And then it was night bus time. Oh the night bus. I still don't like them. And I was nervous about crossing the border between Serbia and Bosnia & Herzegovina in the middle of the night. Regardless, the night bus had to be conquered so we hopped on and did our very best to grab a bit of sleep, which was difficult as the bus was packed and stopped far too frequently. We arrived at border control at 2am. First you have Serbian border control, where all the passports are taken away to be checked before you are allowed to leave the country. The passports are returned and you then drive through no man's land. There's fencing and stray dogs and a river and a ramp and then you arrive at Bosnia & Herzegovina border control. The passports are collected and checked, some more thoroughly than others (unsurprisingly our passports were the 'exciting' ones), then taken away to be stamped. Another passport stamp! Relieved that we had been allowed into Bosnia & Herzegovina I went back to sleep.

We pulled into Istočno Sarajevo at 6am. There is only one bus from Serbia which arrives in Sarajevo Central Bus Station, with all the others arriving in Istočno Sarajevo (Sarajevo East) which is in the so-called 'Bosnian Serb Republic'. It's then a matter of catching the trolleybus to central Sarajevo. One very rickety trolleybus ride later we were in the city centre, a couple of minutes from the Latin Bridge. This is where Franz Ferdinand was assassinated, producing a sequence of events which led to the start  of World War I.

Given the lack of map, it was a true exploration of Sarajevo. The architecture is so varied, from the grand Austro-Hungarian buildings to the Ottoman area to the Yugoslav tower blocks. I can't think of anywhere else where there is this level of variety in such a small area. One minute you are wandering through the Gazi Huzrev-beg Mosque, the next admiring the Katedrala Srca Isusova/Sacred Heart Cathedral.

Eternal flame // Sarajevo City Hall // Katedrala Srca Isusova // Latin Bridge

The highlight was Bascarsija (the Turkish Market), located right in the middle of Stari Grad (the Old Town).

Stari Grad

Of course Sarajevo's turbulent past is inescapable. There are 'traditional' memorials such as the Eternal flame, dedicated to the victims of World War II. But there are also powerful, less formal reminders. Sarajevo Roses commemorate the Siege of Sarajevo and are found all over the city. These 'roses' are in fact scars formed in concrete by exploding mortar shells which have been filled with red resin. And there are bullet holes everywhere.

Sarajevo is a beautifully diverse city. It is very much an East-meets-West city, with minarets alongside Austro-Hungarian streets, set against a backdrop of snowcapped mountains. There was so much that we didn't get to see; definitely one to go back to.

Sarajevo

After our flying tour of Sarajevo it was time to catch a bus to Dubrovnik. According to the internet this should not have been a problem but Sarajevo Central Bus Station disagreed. And so we were faced with a dilemma: no buses to Dubrovnik for the rest of the day (Saturday) but our flight home leaving there on Sunday morning. But next door to the bus station was the train station, so maybe that would help. That would be a resounding no. There are eight trains a day from Sarajevo, none of which were remotely helpful. We were stuck in Sarajevo.

Katherine, Matt and I were never going to give up easily so it was back to the bus station to formulate a plan. We eventually settled on getting a bus to Mostar (about halfway between Sarajevo and Dubrovnik) hoping that there would be a bus or train from there. The journey through Bosnia & Herzegovina was interesting in itself. It was so, so different with people labouring in the fields and half-finished houses dotted around. It was a stunning, mountainous landscape with emerald green rivers. Seeing it from the bus is possibly the best way to enjoy the scenery as the land mines have never been cleared.

A couple of hours later we arrived in Mostar. We soon discovered that there were no trains or buses from here to Dubrovnik either, so resigned ourselves to the fact that we would be taking an international taxi. That wasn't going to stop us enjoying Mostar, although the hot weather tried its best. 

Mostar // Old Bazar Kujundziluk

Mostar was heavily bombed and under siege during the Bosnian War and there are bullet holes and destroyed buildings everywhere. That is until you approach Stari Most (the Old Bridge), a high arched bridge over the emerald green River Neretva. It is a rebuild, having been destroyed in the siege of 1993, but is absolutely stunning. A compellingly beautiful view.

Stari Most

We walked over Stari Most to the Old Bazar Kujundziluk, a narrow cobbled street packed with shops selling textiles, ceramics and metalwork. It was reminiscent of the Sarajevo Turkish Quarter, only this time we were seeing the bazar when it was bustling with people.

It was then time to return to the bus station and attempt to get a taxi to Dubrovnik. It was a remarkable success and we agreed 80€ for the journey which was pretty good value for a 2.5 hour journey that included negotiating the border crossing back into the EU! The roads were 'interesting', the scenery gorgeous and we made it to Dubrovnik in the early evening. Such a relief. And then we realised that we'd been dropped off a very long way from the city centre... time for a walk.

Dubrovnik

I am not going to go into much detail when it comes to Dubrovnik. We had very little time there, even less in daylight and it deserves far more than that. I can confirm that the old town is beautiful, gorgeous stone buildings and a delightfully polished road! We had a nice meal out, went for cocktails and wandered around the city into the early hours. All this wandering meant that we overslept and had a panicked journey to the airport but it all worked out fine.

So now I'm back in Germany. The weekend was a fabulous way to end the 'random city travel' of my year abroad. The first 24 hours went swimmingly, the second 24 not so much but it was absolutely amazing. And without the bus problems we'd never have gone to Mostar, which for me was the surprise star of the trip. Who'd have thought that the country I most want to go back to after the year abroad is over would be Bosnia & Herzegovina?!

*Seeing as this is my last year abroad adventure with Katherine I'd like to say a little thank you. We have been to some ridiculous, surreal and wonderful places over the past few months, and she has tolerated my sarcasm, enthusiasm and insatiable desire for walking throughout (apart from the time she sat on a bench in Stockholm and refused to move so I went for a walk by myself). It's been incredible.*

A night at the Bloscars

A while ago the lovely readers of A Lucy in Germany voted for me in the National UK Blog Awards 2014. Somehow you lot managed to get my blog in the top ten, making me a finalist in the Young Persons Blog category. At the time I presumed I would not be attending the ceremony, given that I'd be in the wrong country. However, after a chance conversation with my mentor teacher I was given three days off and told to go to the awards and see my family while I was at it. This was too good an offer to refuse.

I landed in London on Thursday evening and went to the awards on Friday evening. My wonderfully sparkly dress and I did an excellent job of blending in with the commuters on the tube... hah. Armed with practical shoes and a map (the best sort of accessories) I found the venue: the Grange at St. Paul's, a rather posh 5 star hotel exceedingly close to St. Paul's Cathedral. There was champagne and nibbles for the sophisticated, popcorn and candyfloss for the overexcitable and a room full of interesting people to talk to. I spent most of the evening with some lovely travel bloggers, so now want to go travelling more than ever.

After an introduction to the Bloscars (that's the Oscars of the blogging world) and a welcome from the event organisers it was time to announce the winners category by category. I didn't win, but then I never expected to. I never expected to be a finalist and the standard of the other blogs was so high.

In any case the evening wasn't about the winning. It was about recognising all the amazing blogs out there. And seeing A Lucy in Germany amongst them was an awesome feeling.

So congratulations to everyone who was involved in the National UK Blog Awards 2014. It was an amazing thing to be part of.

"Most loved British biscuits"

I was in Rewe, happily browsing the chocolate and biscuits aisle when something unexpected caught my eye. A box of McVitie's digestive biscuits. I promptly got all over-excited at the presence of a British product in my resolutely German supermarket. I didn't intend to buy them until I read the box, featuring some helpful serving suggestions.

"Enjoy them... at an English tea ceremony"

Fabulous. I bought them just for that.

It's the little things

Sometimes you get so caught up in seeing as many new places as possible that you forget to enjoy home. Over the past eight and a half months I have been to some amazing places, but my favourite is still Bad Salzdetfurth. Regardless of where I'm returning from, the moment I step off the train at Solebad and begin the walk to my flat I feel happy.

I finally remembered to capture some of the little things that make me smile. There always seems to be a reason to decorate here. At the moment it's springtime and Easter-ey. 

There are probably other places that have a similar love of seasonal decorations, but I haven't found one yet. I'd like to think it's something I will do in the future.

Nothing good ever ends in 5

So I lied when saying I'd be back on Monday to continue the story of the Baltics. In truth home was just far too exciting and I never got the chance to sit down and blog. But I'm now back in Bad Salzdetfurth. The tea is poured, the window is open and I can hear the brass band concert in the Kurpark from my desk. Not bad really.

The bus from Tallinn to Riga was the nicest bus ever. If you ever get offered a journey with LuxExpress go for it. There's wifi, a free coffee machine and so much legroom (to the point that I couldn't kick the seat in front!). I enjoy the process of travelling, so was perfectly happy to sit on a bus for four hours watching the scenery. The bus whizzed through the Estonian and Latvian countryside, offering glimpses of lakes and sea, plenty of forest and interesting 'normal' houses. It's always interesting to see how other areas of a country differ to its capital city. Gone was the interesting architecture and cobbled streets, in their place wooden huts and farming. As we approached Riga the cobbles returned, wrecking havoc on the coffee machine; plastic spoons everywhere! Coffee machine aside, our arrival in Riga was serene. The hostel was easy to find, and within half an hour we were back out for a rucksack-less wander in Riga.

The bus route had made Riga seem like quite a big city but our half hour walk suggested otherwise. We wandered to Rātslaukums Square (the Town Square featuring the House of Blackheads), Līvu Square and Dome Square and the streets in between. After walking in a circle, we decided it was time to sit down so found a spot in Dome Square. Here we were approached by a guy holding a bottle of coke. He didn't want to leave his coke unattended by his motorbike, instead wanting us to look after it for him. We all looked very confused (because this is not normal) which he interpreted as us not having understood him. So he then made motorbike noises and gestured at us for a while. He was particularly insistent that it was a 2 litre bottle of coke. Eventually we 'understood' and accepted the bottle while he rushed off to do something... we presumed go to the shop. However, he never came back. At midnight we left the bottle of coke behind his motorbike and went back to the hostel. Bizarre.

The following day was our chance to explore Riga. Methodically, we started with the sights furthest from the centre so saw the Freedom Monument and Riga's Nativity of Christ Cathedral, the biggest Orthodox church in the city. Riga is famous for its Art Nouveau architecture, numerous examples of which can be seen on Alberta ilea and Elizabetes iela.

The weather was gorgeous, which sounds lovely until you remember that we were carrying or wearing everything we'd brought with us and that we had packed for Helsinki temperatures. So wearing far too many layers we walked (slowly) back to the old town. Here we seized the chance to go up a tower. The tower of St Peter's Church to be precise. The panorama platforms were a little overcrowded and we had to fight for our places in the lift but we did get the views over the red-roofed old town and River Daugava as promised.

Rucksacks are deceptively heavy so we had a coffee and pastries in a typically cute coffee shop for a much needed sit-down-bag-off and look at the map to see what we hadn't seen yet. Time to see the castle, or what you can see of it anyway. It's under reconstruction until 2016! Pft. The tour ended with visiting the Three Brothers, a group of residential buildings and the Powder Tower, so called because it was used to store gunpowder. This meant it was time for food, which we found in Līvu Square. Potato pancakes with bacon and sour cream to eat and a pina colada to drink, sitting outside in the sunshine. Bliss.

Riga bus station is nice and central so it was a short walk back, and after successfully getting three of us through the turnstile to the toilets simultaneously so we only had to pay once we found our next bus. Oh heck. This was not a beautiful LuxExpress bus, this was a minibus. For four hours. The bus ride was nothing like as comfortable but it was equally interesting. The roads were deserted and all you could see was farmland, with slightly-falling-apart buildings dotting the landscape. We arrived in Vilnius as darkness fell and made our way to our hotel. A boutique hotel nonetheless.

The hotel was only a short walk from the hotel to the city centre through the Gates of Dawn to Rotušė (Town Hall Square). We passed the Church of St Theresa, a stunning baroque church which had a small crowd of people standing outside. The church doors were wide open while Mass was going on, and we soon joined the crowd standing outside. Continuing our walk we found Vilnius Cathedral, from which Mass was being broadcasted.

On the way back to the hostel the clocks struck midnight. Bells pealed all over the city. It was Easter Sunday.

Daytime again and after breakfasting on hot chocolate and apple strudel it was time to do some sightseeing. First stop was the St Anne and Bernadine Church Ensemble, then onwards and upwards to Gediminas' Tower, situated on top of a hill overlooking Vilnius city centre. We spent ages sitting on the wall admiring the view and enjoying the sunshine.

A walk along the River Vilnia led us to Užupio - a state within a state. It has its own president, anthem and constitution. The constitution includes things like 'everyone shall remember their name' and 'a cat is not obliged to love its owner but must help in times of need'. Briefly consulting the map, we discovered that we were pretty much finished, so we went and fabulous milkshakes sitting on Vokiečių gatvė. There was plenty of time to wander in the tiny cobbled streets, back along Pilies gatvė and through the university area.

Concerned that things would close early on Easter Sunday, we had tea early at a restaurant in Town Hall Square. Despite having a table that was far too small for three people, we bravely ordered three meals with the intention of sharing them. The food in question: chicken kiev, potato pancakes and ravioli with sour cream and bacon. The waitress thought we were crazy as we passed bits of food from plate to plate but it was delicious. So delicious that we ordered hot chocolate and chocolate cake for pudding, one between three...

With all of the 'serious' sightseeing out of the way, it was time for the supermarket challenge. Katherine and I like to leave each country we visit with a complete set of coins for its currency. Emma was with us so had no choice but to get involved. The currency of Lithuania is litas, with £1 equal to 4.2 Lt. One litas is divided into 100 centu. So we wanted 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 centu and 1, 2, 5 litas coins. Each. However, there is only so much small change you can gradually accumulate, so this is where the supermarket challenge comes in. All you have to buy the cheapest product to get the coins you are missing. Menthol tissues and milka biscuits. Marmalade cubes. Crisps. Because nothing ended in 5. It doesn't matter what you buy as long as you complete the set. After going round the supermarket multiple times and with only a few weird looks from the cashiers we succeeded.

I thought it would be lovely to climb back up to Gediminas' Tower and watch sunset over the city. We bravely navigated the cobbled path up and clambered onto the wall.

All was well until security came along and told everyone (it wasn't just us) to get down and walked us down the path. Hmph. Instead we sat in Cathedral Square eating the surprisingly tasty marmalade cubes.

Two nights in the same hotel! Didn't see that one coming did you?! Anyway, Easter Monday was our final day in the Baltics. We didn't have much time and were happy that we'd seen enough of Vilnius so found a pancake place and sat outside for an extended breakfast. We wondered why the waitress looked surprised when we ordered six pancakes each, but as soon as we saw the pancakes we knew why: they were huge. So much pancake. As in, so much pancake that we each ate four and took two for lunch! But hey, I did not feel hungry for the rest of the day.

Happy and full of pancake we strolled back to the bus station. Emma got a bus to Prague. Katherine and I got the airport bus, flew to Bremen and then headed home. The Baltic extravaganza (definitely deserving of the word extravaganza) is over.

Perfection in a phrase: ankle support

The Easter holidays have been a blur. A wonderful, exciting and exhausting blur. And given my love of travel it only seemed right to finish off the holidays in style. This particular adventure had been in the works for quite a while, and after reading you will understand why plenty of planning was required. Did I mention that it involved four capital cities in three days...

The alarm went off  4:45. Urgh. Just urgh. But somehow I got up and off, even remembering my passport as I set off to the train station again. A while later I arrived in Dortmund (anyone would think I’m obsessed with the place given the number of times I’ve been). I found Katherine and together we found the airport and our flight to Vilnius. As you do. WizzAir (my favourite airline, not just because it amuses me that I have a MyWizz account) safely deposited us in Lithuania, where we successfully organised currency (Litas), procured a map and found a bus to the city. So by found a bus to the city I mean literally walked out of the airport building and onto the nearest bus...  it worked.

Vilnius made a good first impression; sunny and pretty. There are about a million churches and far too many squares but it was a nice city centre. We had a brief wander around before finding food, and then cake because it is always time for cake. Cutting the cake in half with a piece of cardboard was an excellent idea. As the sun began to set it was time to head back to the bus station. Yes that would be the bus station, no hostel for us tonight. Instead a night bus to Estonia. The bus was remarkably comfy and mercifully warm (shoes and socks off for sleeping!) so considering my bed was moving it was a good nights sleep.

In Tallinn we began the standard procedure of working out how to get from the bus station to the city centre. The answer: follow the tramlines. We had a couple of hours to explore downtown Tallinn which was just as pretty as I’d expected. There is something special about a city wander in the early morning, before everyone else is out and about. Anyway, before too long it was time to find the ferry terminal. You know, the place ferries go from. Because the normal response to a flight and night bus is to get a ferry. A mere two hours later we arrived in Helsinki and caught a tram from the ferry terminal to the city centre.

Let the sightseeing commence. First stop Kauppatori (the market square). Directly on the sea front, the square (more like rectangle) is full of stalls selling food, textiles and souvenirs. It seemed like a lovely, albeit windy, place to eat lunch. So after meeting Emma that's exactly what we did: Baltic herring steak and salmon with fried potatoes for three. Then back on a boat from Kauppatori to an island called Suomenlinna (or as we tended to call it semolina). Suomenlinna is a sea fortress off the coast of Helsinki, consisting of multiple tiny islands connected by bridges. It is a very interesting place, having been used by Sweden, Russia and Finland in defence over the years. We walked 'the blue route', taking in the main features from the main quay in the North to King's Gate in the South of the fortress via the Church and Kustaanmiekka earthworks. The terrain was not exactly ideal; probably the worst cobbles I have ever walked on. This was particularly unfortunate considering that we had just over an hour to walk the fortress... with the recommended visit time being 2 to 4 hours! Poor feet.

Back in mainland Helsinki we headed to the Uspensky Cathedral then Senate Square and Cathedral. Now what? Another walk, past Parliament towards the Olympic station. Just because it is a fantastic name I'm going to mention that it was by a lake called Töölönlahti Tölöviken... look at the number of umlauts! Anyway, where was I... the Olympic Stadium. Attached to the stadium is a viewing tower, promising impressive views over the Helsinki. And we all know how much I love climbing towers. The view was pretty good, bringing home how much water there is in and around Helsinki.

We made the most of our travel card, hopping on and off trams as we pootled back towards the very centre, with a final few minutes by the cathedral and in the very chilly and windy Kauppatori before returning to the very terminal. Yep, we did a day trip to Helsinki. We grabbed food from Hesburger on our way, which I certainly do not recommend, and then discovered that the ferry was absolutely heaving. Therefore we ended up sitting on the floor in a corridor, where we were treated to a mini guitar concert... for two hours.

Whilst the ferry might not have been the most enjoyable two hours of my life, it did successfully get us back to Tallinn. We even knew where the hostel was, so wasted no time at all in dumping our rucksacks (amazing feeling) and heading out for a nighttime explore of Tallinn. We'd done well with the hostel selecting so were staying at the edge of the old town so were straight out on to winding old streets and yet more cobbles. The walk in the vague area of the Town Hall Square, then over towards St. Olav's Church which was at one point thought to be the tallest building in the world. Things might have changed but St. Olav's still dominates the Tallinn skyline.

The best thing about a night bus/night train, aside from the obvious travel benefit, is how well you sleep the following night. That morning in Tallinn, we woke up ready to do some serious sightseeing. But first breakfast. During our walk the previous evening we had identified a suitable place to breakfast: an awesome coffee shop right in the centre with a teacup ferris wheel. Yes people, a teacup ferris wheel. Breakfasted, we began with Freedom Square, with the Monument to the War of Independence (1918-1920) and then headed up to Toompea. The Old Town is divided into the Lower Town and Toompea hill, so it was literally heading up. There are various impressive buildings, including Parliament (complete with tower) and the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, a Russian orthodox church complete with onion domes. Unfortunately we couldn't go into any churches because it was Good Friday. The route back into the Lower Town took is along Lühike Jalg, a steep narrow road lined with galleries.

There was plenty of time to wander around the Lower Town, over towards St. Olav's again and Fat Margaret Tower. After searching for ages, we finally found a tower unaffected by Good Friday opening times. Even better, it happened to be a way onto the city walls.

Food was found in the main square and we sat outside because it was sunny and lovely. I was brave, ordering traditional Estonian sausages with mashed potato and onion marmalade and was pleasantly surprised! And just like that our time in Tallinn was nearly over. We began the walk back to the station, adopting the 'follow the tram lines' method once more, but got distracted by a cake shop (standard). Five minutes later we were sitting in Tammsaare Park consuming cake (mine was of the blackcurrant and chocolate ganache variety). And then it really was time to head back to the station.

Congratulations on reading the first half of the Baltic extravaganza. It's a bit of a mammoth story so I'll be back on Monday with the second instalment!