Tag: travel log

Aug.11, 2001

10:00 Waiting on tour to begin. Lots of rushing. Maybe they should post boarding times.

10:20 Thomas is our guide and the swordsman is our bus driver. We will drive for hours.

12:05 Malbork Castle. Gothic != Medieval. Hey. You can buy weapons here. Hot dogs.

15:05 Cole slaw. Meat wrap for lunch. Where can I get Polish sausage?

This was one of the more surreal days of the vacation. We were in Poland visiting Gdansk. Our tour guide was a nice fellow. He took us to Malbork Castle home of some Teutonic Knights. It was interesting, but I not as cool as I would’ve thought. We had a lunch which it seemed that only I liked. It was a mash up of beef and pork flattened and rolled into a wrap with a side of some grain that I don’t know what it was. During lunch an elderly gentleman kept complaining about not getting a kielbasa. I wanted to tell him to just go to the snack shack in front of the castle and get yourself one. Walter could’ve continued his great Red Pulser Tour 2001 here by doing just that.

Anyway, we ended up shopping for amber in Gdansk wandering around looking for kielbasa. On the bus ride home, Thomas tells us the horrific story of his mother’s survival from the Nazi concentration camps. I think we gave him a big tip.

Aug. 11, 2001

anna_yau@hotmail.com

03:00 Met Estella, Betsy, Kyle tonight @ the disco. Fun. Threw down w/Gerry.

Um. Why’d I write Anna’s email address on this thing? (Sorry for the spam, Anna.) I think I paid the exorbitant price to use their slow ass internet connection to email her telling her what a cool, fun time this has been. Estella? Betsy? Which one was the cute one? Damn, Gerry where’s my wing man!

Aug. 10, 2001

22:00 Has been a while since I filled this out. Yesterday, the Hermitage. Why come all this way for a few Impressionist paintings? At least, we saw some Rembrandts. Last night, craps with beautiful girls. Trying desperately to meet them, but being Asian, they travel in packs. This morning went to Tallinn, Estonia. Girls just as beautiful in Russia, but seem more clean. Our guide was sexy Anna. A real woman. Lame American come-ons. Tonight more gambling. Losing in five minutes @ roulette.

Hmm. I didn’t journal too much about Tallinn, Estonia. Amazing place. Loved the fact that the Finns and Swedes go there for the cheap liquor. Anna. Sexy, Anna. How did we get this pretty girl to be our tour guide? Did I put a move on her? No. I just asked her a question. She had the funniest excuse to not vote for the inclusion into the European Union. They didn’t allow her to park in their parking lot. Amazing. Tallinn.

Aug. 9 2001

13:20 Going the the Hermitage. Tamarra. Helen. Vladimir. No flash photography. Hermitage — a place of solitude. Catherine II. 1764.

16:25 Done with the Hermitage. Saw French Impressionists? Winter Palace. Bye St. Petersburg.

The Hermitage was cool. My brother said it was filled with minor works. I think it had some good stuff. I remember Rembrandt’s Prodigal Son, which we had seen in our 10th grade art appreciation class.

More about the first time in St. Petersburg, Russia. We had visited the Palace Catherine the Great. It was huge. We had lunch in touristy restaurant. They had vodka. I sat next to an elderly lady who challenged me to keep up with her. The vodka had a funny after taste. The old lady got me drunk. The food was strange. I had fun.

Aug. 8, 2001

10:00 Waiting for St. Petersburg. Looks like the Russians won’t let us in. Looking over the passenger list. It looks like Napolean waiting to conquer St. Petersburg. Hitler trying to conquer Stalingrad. We may not be successful.

10:15 We’re cleared to have an excursion in Russia. I hope I make it back.

11:00 Anatoly and Micah as our guides.

16:00 Back in St. Petersburg from Pushkin. Drunk from vodka. Got me a bottle.

17:40 St. Isaac’s cathedral. “All roads lead to vendor.” Thad dude was right. There are the most beautiful girls here.

17:57 Strike by the sea pilot’s union kept us in bay this morning. Welcome to Western economic difficulties.

More to say later…

Aug.7, 2001

08:30 Helsinki. My stomach aches from breakfast. Oh! Kaisa. Going to the fortress of Finland.

11:45 Coming back from the fortress on a ferry. Ghosts stories to tell. Dark tunnels. Granite walls. I wonder if you can ride a mountain bike through there?

13:00 Fast, fast, fast food. Stomach churning. Burgers by some brown brothers is good.

13:25 Going back into Helsinki. Tour of the city. What’s her name? Tuija. Arne are our guides. 5 million people. 500,00 in the city.

15:00 Rock Church. Looks like the Planet of the Apes church. Blasted out of rock.

21:05 After dinner walk and wrote some email for outragous prices. Still feel fat.

Helsinki, Finland. Very neet place. Land of Linux. In fact the tour guide pointed out Linus Torvalds house or the house he had lived in as a child. They are really proud of him there. The city is small. The island fortress was cool. The Finns call there homeland Suomi. I want to go back.

Aug. 6, 2001

01:00 We are losers!! Hot chicks. We are losers. At the Disco. Old man at the disco.

07:50 Woke up early for tour of Stockholm. Breakfast. Wait for tour to start.

08:00 Viking greet us on shore. Note next time Walter take axe. Nynashamn w/Avia our tour guide. Uva is our bus driver and he’s a viking.

15:10 Gerry is late. Gustav built this town of Stockholm. Visited Valhalla.

16:00 Goodbye, Sweden.

Stockholm, Sweden was cool and grey. The port of Nynashamn on the Baltic was very pretty. Situated in a calm bay, it looked like a dock on a lake.

Aug. 5, 2001

15:20 Woke up @ 11:00. Breakfast. Now wandering the ship looking for things to do.

17:45 Getting dressed. Lots of wrinkles. Am I wearing something good for formal?

This must be the day we spent on board at sea. Also, the formal Captain’s Dinner occured that evening. On a cruise, there is usually nothing to do but eat, since the food is free. It’s the drinks that cost something, even the drinks at the casino.

Aug. 4, 2001

07:30 Free porn in the morning. Got to get up.

08:25 Breakfast. Check in.

09:00 Copenhagen City Tour. Winnie is our guide. Christian is our driver.

10:30 Palace of the Queen. Beautiful wood floors. I wonder if Pergo makes them. Sleepy.

Saw the famous little mermaid on this tour. My brother started his hot dogs of the world tour with a red pulsa in the park.