The Baltics, Spain and France

In March I went to California to see my parents and catch up with some old friends. I did mostly nothing but few days of sun and surf. It was fantastic losing myself surfing in the pacific again. I did a lot of eating (primarily steaks -sushi- seafood) and spent many days soaking in the jacuzzi.





It was a shock seeing just how many fat people are walking around! Wow…… I forgot what obesity looks like (so few people are really fat in Europe). Need to stay away from fast food.... It changes you.!!!!!!!




After returning to London in April I was homeless for about 3 weeks. Had a few good friends to stay with while searching for a new place. It was very difficult to find good accommodation.

I moved to a cool part of London in the south-west (near Hammersmith). Mostly an Ozzie and kiwi area.

Then I flew to Southern France to meet my brother on beach near Perpigan. I really love this part of the world. The French-Spanish border is paradise in Europe. It's in between the beach and the mountains bordering Andorra with a slow, freindly and relaxed life-style to compliment its beautiful surroundings.

In May, I spent a few days in Basque country. This time I got a real look inside it’s people and culture. Very different from the usual stop I did in st Sebestian in 2001- for tapas and surf and Pamplona's running of the bulls.

I visited my Basque friend Ibon (that I met in Miami ). We went to a few (rico bars)- which is where the basque seperatists or sympathizers go to meet,plan, drink etc… You see a lot political images and slogans on the walls somtimes with fotos of the people from that village who are serving time in prison) with collection plates for their families). This is a place were few Spanish people experience or go to. Nevertheless it was very interesting to see.

Basque countryside is very green (forests, vegetaion etc…) and surrounded by hills and mountain peaks. It’s was interesting to go to the smaller more isolated villages were only Basque is spoken. The mentality and culture in these towns are very different. Many people don’t even speak Spanish at all.




Co-incidently it was the bachlor party for 2 of Ibon’s good friends. So after getting to know his little town and going to a Party/festival in a nearby town we drove several hours to another village called Ordunia to a big festival taking place the 7 and 8th. Since it was also a bachelor party we were all extremely motivated, dressed up and crazier than usual. We were drunk by 1130am Saturday and stayed drunk, as the drinking never really stopped until 7am on Sunday.

In Spain (and Basque country) almost every town has a festival/party several times a year. Some are more famous like the running of the bulls in Pamplona-(san fermine) or the tomatina near valencia . But especially in the north people come from all the surrounding towns and cities go to take part in an these endless pub crawls- hopping from one bar to the next, drinking and socialising till the following day. The Food and fiesta is especially known to be very good in the north.

In June, I went back to the baltics. The summertime even brings out a few occasional smiles which you won’t see in the winter. I skipped Estonia this time and went south to Lithuania after visiting my friends in Latvia .

Latvia

Riga is still by far the centre of the Baltic world with its large variety of restaurants, bars, clubs, music, museums. It’s rich mix of architectural styles from several periods of German, Swedish the Soviets influence is fascinating. The city is breath-takingly beautiful. It also has some stunning women. Some of the best dressed in Europe.



We had quite an international gathering of friends for liene’s Uni. Graduation. France/Italy/Holland/Germany/Finland/Denmark etc.. All of us flew in for this weekend. We went to the usual local hangouts of our Latvian friends . The lido which I like to eat a lot– I had many many steaks there… Also passed through the beaches of Jurmala near Riga and Liepajala near Lithuania to get some sun.



Lithuania

Similar in many ways to Latvia, but with a few more poles and far fewer Russians. It's a Catholic country like Poland unlike its Lutheran neighbours to the north. The people seemed a bit friendlier when it came to making conversation and wearing a few more smiles. They are also a lot taller, hence good basketball players.

I started out in Palanga (a coastal resort) a place I would usually avoid but being the only real outsider aside from locals and neighbouring poles/lats was nice. From Klaipeda I took a ferry and went down the spit (to nida)- a strip of land of which half belongs to Russia, but without a visa could not go any further.

Vilnius

Is much more spread out then Riga making the historic centre very large. It feels more used or run down but still has amazing architecture and beauty in its streets, plazas and buildings.



The character of the city is actually very apparent. It also has fewer blondes then the Baltic coastline but still amazingly fit women.

Unlike the scandanavians - the midsummers festival here is more of a get-a-way to the woods in search of special blooming flower, then a big party . Vilnius was quite empty in the end. But we made our own fiesta…



Before WW II Vilnius was known as the Jerusalem of the north since half of the city was populated by Jews- although no longer the case in many parts of the city you can still see their cultural and architectural influences.

Lithuanians love nature- especially flowers (as do the lats)and have an abundance of amber aside from having one of the highest suicide rates in the world. I still find them slightly a bit happier than their neighbours to the north.

These Baltic cultures are very hard to understand even after my 2nd trip. They seem very friendly but so reserved/distant that it is hard to get inside to really understand them. I think the soviet presence will take some time to leave.

You can see it in the generation gap. The parents still seem like they just stepped out of the soviet period, at least their clothes would attest to this. They still have some years until they catch up to western europe, but the younger generation is making it happen.

Overall had a great time with friends old and new.