The Trip so Far

So far I must say this trip has been a bit more grueling that I had expected. This could just be first week adjustments, or the fact the bag weighs in at 14.7kg, and I plan on getting that down soon. I have some old Dutch Guilders and Spanish coins in my bag that I am taking to the central bank to convert into Euros. I have to exchange the Guilders before Jan 1, 2007, so this was my only chance to take them with me. I think when I get in the groove of things, it should be easier, and for sure the pace of 6 countries in just 10 days so far will slow down. So far the travels were like this

Trip 1. British Airways Flight. JFK to LHR, then LHR to HEL. Cost $0, 32500 Frequent Flier miles. Easiest part of journey, my first ever flight on British Airways and for coach class I was impressed for sure.

Trip 2. Tallink Ferry. Helsinki to Tallinn, Estonia. Cost 25Euro. Length 3hrs. Overall an ok ride, the boat was impressive with shopping areas, food, gambling, drinking. But since I did not have a place for bag storage I just stayed in one area.

Trip 3. Bus from Tallinn to Riga, Latvia. Cost 200EEK approx $16USD. Length 6hrs. Should have been a 4hr troip on the express bus, but I had to take the local as the express was sold out, I learned my lesson about buying tickets in advance from this. The bus was nice, a nice modern bus, with bathroom, very comfortable for sure.

Trip 4. Bus from Riga to Vilnius, Lithuania. Cost 7LVL, approx $14USD. Length 4Hrs. Perfect trip, not too long, bus was crowded towards the end and some people had to stand up, but again a nice modern bus.

Trip 5. Bus from Vilnius to Kaunas, Lithuania. Cost 16LTL, approx $5USD. Length 2hrs. trip from hell, on a small minivan, crowded, no baggage storage, no bathroom. While it was cheap, next time I have to ask to make sure I get on the larger bus.

Trip 6. WizzAir flight from Kaunas to Warsaw, Poland. Cost .01 Euro, well actually 23EUR after all the fees and taxes. This was booked in advance from home during a promotion where flights were 1 euro cent. Then they hit you with 3EUR credit card fees, and 20 in taxes. so total cost was really 23EUR. Still a bargin, as the busride is 7hrs and actually more expensive. Length was 45 minutes, the plane basically went up and then back down.

Trip 7. GermanWings flight from Warsaw to Cologne, Germany. Cost 38EUR. Length 2hrs. This was also bought in advance, cost was 10EUR and then after taxes and fees total came to 38EUR. About 50 bucks and a great deal, considering by train/bus this is a 15hr ride, and I have no plans to do that length of trip anytime soon. Plane ride was again easy.

I have a map of the trip up for you struggling with your geography , you have to goto GetJealous.com website and search for my map its the same name of this website. I'm am trying to link it, but right now using a German version of Internet Explorer and now idea how to see the source. How I wish for Mozilla, having my own laptop would probably make it easier, but then that is extra weight and worry, so I'll just do the best I can now.. 100MB of pictures uploaded today, check out the link over on the sidebar. I'm off to a Soccer BBQ in the park, and might even try to find the USA team Hotel as they are staying here in Essen.