Long Way Round

One of my favorite TV documentaries is called "Long Way Round" which stars actors and best friends Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman. They decided that they were going to ride their motorcycles around the world beginning in London, England...traveling east through Europe and Asia...flying in to Alaska and the final destination being New York City. A film crew accompanied them and there's a lot of great footage of their travels. It was a pretty incredible roadtrip complete with all the unexpected things that always seem to happen. I highly recommend watching it.
When you watch something like this, it makes you want to travel and see the world too.
Well, I guess you could say that I'm getting my own little/short version of the "Long Way Round." This afternoon, I'm leaving on a motorcycle tour of Switzerland and I am stoked! Someone was kind enough to lend us a Harley Davidson with all the trimmings...i.e. matching leather outfits, gloves, helmuts, boots and back packs. Yes, I will be sure to post the poser pictures.
I've ridden a motorcycle before, but not a Harley. There will be 3 of us, a couple motorcycles and the open road. Wahoo. Adventure awaits...

Cherry Picking

To earn some extra cash, I went cherry picking out in the swiss countryside. I had no idea that cherry picking could be so much fun! I was there all day and had a blast picking cherries and taking in the incredible beauty of the swiss countryside. It was so peaceful. Afterwards, we were each given a box of cherries to take home.

As usual, I took a short video of the view. I wish you were here to see it for yourself:

Castle Ruins

I took a short hike up to Homburg...an old castle that once was.


This was the view at the beginning. Can you believe it? It really feels like a dream here sometimes.












After about a 10 minute hike from that point, the castle is visible.






















When I read about the all the earthquakes, fires and wars this castle has survived, I'm surprised there's even anything left standing.














Once you walk through the main entrance, this is what you see.





As you can see, there are no more floors.









...but you can always count on a long winding staircase to the top.













Old church bells rang off in the distance. It was the perfect summer day.







When there's no one else around...it feels like the castle is your own little getaway.


















The view is amazing:



On our way back, we ran into some noisy sheep:

Basel

Last week, I enjoyed a liesurely stroll through the city of Basel. I live in Liestal which isn't too far away. I'd venture to say that Liestal is to Basel what Gresham is to Portland. It was fun to walk around and take in some of the sights. I took more pictures:




This was taken from the highest point in Basel.











Yours truly.








This is the oldest cafe in Basel and was originally started by some jewish people before they were driven out during WWII times.
The cafe has some excellent chocolate cake and tea.








Wherever you go in Europe, no matter the size of the town, you can be sure that the church building will always be outstanding.
















I met the guys who's been the caretaker to this church for over 10 years. They've been working on restoring it for a long time. He knows every nook and cranny of this church. He showed me that two people can stand on opposite ends of the big doorframe and whisper things to one another. It's crazy, but you're able to hear what the other is saying. There are also some secret passages too. I love being able to find out about things like this!







I took a couple other shots:

Showtime

After a week of new friends, great conversations, interesting experiences and endless sights, we were finally gearing up for the big show.




Setting up the stage.













Hanging up balloons.














People begin arriving.











And so we begin....









I played some music.













Some members of the band, Meglomania, also played. And out of no where, we had some fire performers come out.















Bryan had a successful unveiling of his sculpture.

It was a fantastic night where music, art and culture collided....proving to be one unforgettable evening.

The Lithuanian people were attentive and enthusiastic. We all had a great time together!

Dancing

Next Year, Vilnius will be the European Capital of Culture in 2009. Understandably so. There is so much culture here. Music fills the streets as well as contemporary art in unexpected places. There is also dancing. One evening, the gallery we were at had a night of dance performances. It all started off relatively normal.

There were flamenco dancers:




A Justin Timberlake dancer:




A ballet dancer:




Then came the next, uh, dancer. This was some sort of interpretive dance about the raw human struggle.

So this guy comes out hidden beneath a fur jacket, blowing feathers and has a saw tied around his ankle. Here are a couple more pics:





At times, he looked like something out of the movie The Exorcist.










Didn't know quite what to make of it. At on point, he started waving the saw around in the air like a lasso. Since I was at the very front, I backed up a little bit because he got really close.
His performance lasted 20-25 minutes.












Here's a video of the craziness:

The Food

Most of the food I had in Vilnius is great. If you're interested in eating food, though, you have to make sure that you order before 10pm. There were a couple times where we'd be working late and when we went to have a late dinner, the waiter would tell us, "Sorry, our kitchen closes at 10pm. All we have available are drinks or dessert." At first, we thought this was just for one particular restaurant...but then we went to another restaurant after that and were told pretty much the same thing...except that all the appetizers were still available. Since the menu was all in Lithuanian and none of us had a clue what the appetizers were, we decided to be adventurous and order every appetizer on the menu. It was funny to see the look on the waitress' face.
So...the appetizers eventually all came and they were so good! The restaurant we were at was called Boheme and I highly recommend it.



The ambience is great too. A couple days later we went back and got to have a full meal there. I ordered some meat! It was tasty. :)












There was a wine bar there too. I love the old time feel of it.








Another great restaurant to go to is the Uzupio Klasika. This is a great place for a romantic dinner for two.










You can get your own private dining room....








...with the option of dim lighting.

wahoo.







The food, drink and dessert were amazing!

Vilnius - Part 3

There are more than 40 churches in Vilnius. No matter where you are in this city, you're bound to see a church. Some have been restored while others are in the process or are waiting to be restored. Because of Soviet and Russian occupation, some of these churches were used for all sorts of different things like grain stores, galleries, atheist museums or even prisons.
Visiting some of these churches totally enthralled me. They are haunted with history but have maintained such a sacred air about them.
I took so many pictures that it's really hard to narrow it down.


This is St. Anne's Church






























A view up into the tower.












The Vilnius Cathedral is one of Vinius' main attractions.

















I took a couple short videos to give you an idea:










The Jesuit Church of St. Casimir














While I was visiting this particular church, I noticed that they were about to have a concert there in 15 minutes. So I took a seat and waited for it to begin.
It was a women's ensemble. Sometimes, they were so in sync together that it sounded like one voice singing instead of an ensemble. The acoustics in this church were amazing and their voices were ethereal.
As usual, I took a short video:

Vilnius - Part 2

This castle is known as Gediminas' Castle and is considered a symbol of Vilnius. It was built at the beginning of the 14th century and has endured several wars. After surviving WWII, it was restored and is now a museum.





There wasn't too much inside that interested me.








I was more interested in climbing to the top of the castle to take in the the incredible panoramic view of the city. Too bad I don't have a panoramic setting on my camera, but you get the gist.

This is the view of old town Vilnius:


This is the view of modern day Vilnius:









This is main street.










One thing I've always enjoyed are the street musicians:

Vilnius - Part 1

Thought I'd show you around some other parts of Vilnius.


Here is the hostel we stayed in. It was great! The beds were comfortable, the showers were fine and there was complimentary breakfast every morning.






I would walk by this angel statue everyday when I was heading down to the gallery.















The weather here reminded me so much of Portland. A lot of the time it was so sporadic and couldn't make up its mind...rain, sun, rain, wind, sun, rain and so forth.
When the sun was out, though, it was fantastic!








I took this picture because Lithuanians are pretty serious about their alcohol.
I'll never forget walking down main street and hearing someone say to someone else, "Stop your bitching and just start drinking!"







The cemetaries here are pretty raw and unkept. It's strange how something so full of death can look so serene and pretty.








These two buildings were a dormitary for needy Jews until 1941. They were evacuated by the German Natzis to the ghetto and were slaughtered in Ponar. About 400 Jews were murdered in this very place and were buried here in holes in the ground. 80 children were taken to one of the basements and were thrown into fires. Being here was a very sobering experience for me. And the thing that blew my mind was that this was not just an isolated incident in Lithuania. Things like this happened again and again all across Europe.






Capturing an artist in the moment. I love this picture.















A Baltic Festival was happening at the same time that we were there. There was a lot of eating, drinking, dancing and merriment.
Shortly after I took this clip people started dancing. I joined in the fun of course. :)







Taking a walk through the city streets at night.

Holy Matrimony, Batman!

Getting married in Vilnius, is a very popular thing to do...especially on the weekends in the summertime. I don't think I've ever seen as many brides as often as I did while I was there. At first I started keeping a tally...then it got so ridiculous, I started taking pictures. I saw some of the ugliest wedding dresses I have ever seen...and bridesmaid dresses as well. Or maybe the most diplomatic way to put it is that I saw wedding dresses there that just weren't my style. heh. Not all of them were that bad.
All in all, I probably saw about 30-35 brides. I took pictures of about 10 of them just to prove the craziness. So, in no particular order, I give you some of the brides of Vilnius:






































































































































One of the most common wedding traditions in Vilnius is for the bride and groom to purchase a lock and have it engraved with their names and wedding date. After the ceremony, they take the lock and attach it to the railing of a bridge as a seal of their love and commitment.







The bridge railing here are covered with locks.

Life at Uzupis

Everyday, I would walk down from our hostel to the Uzupis Area and everyday I would be greeted by the same old man who would tell me stories about the KGB and Russian mafia. Back in the day, Vilnius was where the main KGB headquarters used to be when Lithuania was occupied by the Russians. Some of that history still lingers and there are hints of the Russian mafia around here. It really can boggle your mind sometimes.
There's another old man I saw around here and there that I dubbed as the Lithuanian Godfather. He had the same husky sounding voice as Marlon Brando except just with a Lithuanian accent. It cracked me up!
Throughout the entire week, I met people from all over the world. There were artists from Russia, Finland and Georgia (not the u.s. state)...I met tourists passing through from the UK, Italy, Japan and many more. There was such a diversity and it was great!


Local musicians would come and visit us every now and then. We had some really fun jam sessions.


















Here's Bryan drawing a crowd with his art. The lady in the pink shirt is a very well known Lithuanian architect that he was working with to make a particular art piece.

Uzupis

The history of the underground art community here is pretty interesting. There is a part of Vilnius where there were many abandoned buildings. The government has no record of who specifically they used to belong to because of everything that happened in WWII. What is known, however, is that this area of Vilnius was occupied by the Jews before they were driven out and taken to concentration camps by the Nazis. Over time, artists began living in these buildings. Here, they could have some place to live for free while they worked on their art. Eventually, the government caught wind of it and they were able to come to some sort of agreement about the space. One of the buildings was turned into a gallery and the area is known now officially as the Uzupis Art Incubator.





When you're here and you're looking at these buildings, it feels like you're back in WWII times. Sometimes this place seemed so surreal, I felt like I was on a movie set or something along those lines.







































An example of how art can capture history.























Every corner you turn is just another picture waiting to be taken. No matter how many times I passed a certain spot, I would always find something new that I missed before. There was always something interesting to look at. The discovery never stopped.
























The gallery was right along the river as well. Someone there liked to make stone formations and decorate them with all different types of flowers. Everywhere you'd go, there's always something to see.

Lithuania

Continuing on our journey, here we are passing the Lithuanian border. There was no border patrol at all. It was empty. No Lithuanian stamp in my passport for me.

After driving for quite sometime, we pulled over at a rest area for a quick break. We had just tuned into a Lithuanian radio station which seemed to be primarily dance music. Here are my new friends bustin' some moves. If you hear laughing in the background, that's me. I was highly entertained.

Finally, after driving about 24 hours or so in a 2 day period, we made it to our destination.

Welcome to Vilnius...the capital of Lithuania.

Welcome to Poland

I loved the countryside in Poland. It was extremely beautiful and the perfect day for a drive. There were 5 of us traveling altogether. While I was driving on this particular leg of the journey, someone took out their acoustic guitar and just started playing quietly. No one talked. The music was the perfect accompaniment to the scenery. It was very serene and will stay with me for a long time.




Eventually, we pulled over and decided to have a picnic. It was just right for one.









It's been a while since I've had a picnic. With a view like this, who wouldn't want to have a picnic?










After a tiring 14 hour drive, we made it to Torun, Poland and stayed with some artist friends. I was fortunate enough to be able to walk into some of the old town parts of Torun. It felt like something out of movie....like you were transported back in time.














This is front gate to to old town Torun.














I love the way this city was lit. You're captivated and instantly become trigger happy with the camera.

















As I was walking, I noticed a crowd had gathered around this fountain. As it turns out, every night people come to see the fountain display along with the accompanying light show as they listen to music recordings by local Polish composers being played in the background. The fountain and lights are coordinated to play along with the different dynamics of the music.
I took a short video of it:



It was great. Sometimes people would just go hang out in the fountain while others would run around in it trying to see how long they could go with out getting sprayed by water. Of course when you're watching all of this, it can be quite compelling. Does it come as any surprise to you that I decided to join in the fun? I don't know if I'll ever be back in Poland again, but I do know that if I didn't run in the fountain, I would always wish that I had. So...I ran into it...laughed...ran some more...and I didn't get sprayed with water. That's because I'm quick like a ninja!




We stayed on the second floor in the building furthest to the left. I soon discovered that where we were used to be a jewish neighborhood before the jews were driven out in WWII.
You can feel the history here.








Next stop: Lithuania

I'm Back!

After an intense whirlwind of a trip to Lithuania, I got back into Switzerland late last night. There are so many things to post about and so many pictures to show.

Stay tuned.

Don't Do It!

So I was doing some banking online when I notice a $72 charge. After some investigating, I discovered that the charge was accrued when I made a quick call from a pay phone using my credit card at the Frankfurt International Airport in Germany when I was about to fly into Switzerland. I had to make the call to inform about my flight delay. The call was less than 10 minutes. I had no idea it was going to cost me $72! So, I learned my lesson and thought I'd share with you so you don't make the same mistake and suffer the same misfortune. heh.

In other news, we made it to Lithuania and it is seriously a photographer's dream here. There are so many things to take pictures of and there's so much history here. Wish you were to see it all!
I'll have to post pictures when I get back. Things are going really well, though.

My time is limited so I have to go. Thanks to everyone who's been keeping in touch! It's always great to hear from you! :)

Lithuania or Bust!

I leave for Lithuania in a couple hours!
My internet access will be limited, but I will try and post something as soon as I can.
Wahoo!

Happy Canada Day!

Wahoo.

:)