Backpacking

Me and my trusty sidekick Long Strides Hengel are now nearing the end of our journey through the Baltics. So to close this chapter of our trip, a few highlights from Helsinki to Vilnius, followed by some photos:

1. Arriving in Helsinki to the quiet sounds of people going about their business and choosing not to make inappropriate amounts of noise. I walked around Helsinki with my arms stretched out to my side the first few days - a luxury after a month in China.

2. Watching Finish monster band 'Lordi' win Eurovision while in Tallinn, Estonia. 'Hard Rock Hallelujah' echoed throughout old town Tallinn after this history making night.

3. Tallinn itself was a highlight. The old town surrounded by walls was pretty special. I can be seen in Tallinn's main square below.

4. I fired a gun! Yeaaahhhhhh! It wasn't just any gun either. Me, Hengel and our English travelling buddy, Pete, all fired three bullets out of an AK-47 in an old soviet bunker in Riga. The noise the thing made was unbelievable. We weren't supposed to take photos but I did get one in. See below.

5. Orange Bar, Riga, Estonia. I was given this tip by brother Ed, and it turned out to be a real winner. Me, Long Strides and Pete ended up here every night because it was just better than everywhere else. We even had a lock-in one night. The photo below is mainly for Ed.

6. Riga. I put Tallinn in here so I better put in Riga. Great place. Best city of the Baltics. Below: Riga from above.

7. Bobsled track. Not anywhere near as great as it could have been. In winter you can go down this track in a bobsled with the Latvian bobsled team. In May you have to walk down it in the rain throwing water bottles down the track. Still fun.

8. Hill of Crosses, Lithuania. An unbelievable number of crosses layed out over two Hills to commemorate Lithuanians killed or deported to Siberia over the last century. These Baltic states have been screwed over the past one hundred years.

And another one from the hill of crosses. Culture points must be maxed out by now...

9. Vilnius. Maybe not as good as the other two cities but still has its own charm. Haven't found great nightlife here yet but there is always tonight.

And some more photos......

Every Finn needs a pair of these

Dreaming of the Greek Isles

Biking in Helsinki is the way to go. Free bikes that you can drop off and pick up wherever you go. Shame that they're a little fruity.

Our Baltic travelling partner, Geordie Pete, sharing a beer with Long Strides in a German beer hall, Estonian Style. Beers served by wenches taste better.

Me in Riga.

We visited the former KGB prison yesterday. Pretty scary stuff. The soviets were a bunch of #$@&%!!!!

Celebrating the annual day of the Kankle in Vilnius

There is a small area of Vilnius which has declared itself a seperate republic to Lithuania and has it's own constitution. My favourite is 'everyone has the right to look after the dog until one of them dies'.

In Ye Olde times, all prisoners were this excited at getting the chance to have cabbages thown at them.

A nice castle we visited today. Extremely Ye Olde.

In Ye Olde times, all photo galleries would finish with a photo of a chump.

Sorry it's long. Thought I'd do the lot in one go. Love to all. We shall be in touch again during the next and most exciting part of our journey. Thanks to the guys who sent photos of the Greece game too. Looked bloody great. Shame to miss it. We will endevour to repeat the performance when we see the 25er in action in a few days time.

Melon

Ahoy there all,

Our last entry from Espanola before we embark on the Partner trip and the madness that is the World Cup. The 25er edges closer day by day...

Brief highlights
- Ordering a round of beers at a pub that was pumping like nothing I´ve seen at 6am. Even weirder, this felt entirely appropriate. (Needless to say and true to form I washed up pretty hard though)
- The riot police turning up while we were celebrating with the Barcelona fans after the big win
- Seeing a team of ten year olds playing for Barcelona junior FC outside the Nou Camp throw tantrums (kicking bins, throwing boots) after losing 1-0 (we watched a whole half, it was quality)
- Our current hostel. Remember the tourists who turned up to steal our rooms just as people went home from St. Mary´s after they finished exams, we hated them. Now in Barcelona, we have morphed into those people- this college is brand new and has a pool though, sweet... Although we feel like sellouts and are so far out of the city, it´s hilarious because it´s so weird

Now to the good stuff


Yes in Spain Ricky has been made the patron saint of comedy (For ´What do you think of that? What? Lick It!´ and his Office dance)

The coolest dog ever. We sent it to Tommo but decided you should all share the goodness

Sorry couldn´t pick up a literal Spanish translation a la Pood, but we enjoyed this (going out to Melon for his efforts in Beijing)

On our tour of the Nou Camp, we came across one big fucker

Morto

Here are a bunch of photos that aren't of anything in particular but just a few funny signs (that everyone loves). Please do not take offence or think any lower of me than you already do.

For all the soccer fans out there, you can come to Latvia to dine at Drogas. For the non soccer fans, Drogas is the affectionate name given to an English Premier League player Didier Drogba.

This just in, on closer inspection I think Drogas is actually a cosmetics store

Choad Cannon on the Swedish Sea Fort off the coast of Helsinki

Hehe, it says 'tit' and 'anus'. Sorry the immaturity will cease soon

Walking around Tallinn I found these reenactment nerds doing what they do best, going to town on each other with plastic swords

Not the best image but you can see the packet in white that says 'Assa Mix' (For Thommo)

Some sort of souvineer shop, mainly because I thought the word 'pood' was funny sounding

More 'pood' but naughtier

The crowning glory. After reading about it in Lonely Planet I knew my mission in Estonia was to find this place