So I’m sitting here in cold, snowy, Calgary Alberta.
And I have the itchiest feet ever (don’t be gross, I’m speaking figuratively).
Problem is, I’m in the middle of school. Again. And though I know it’s a temporary grounding (it really does feel a bit like my parents grounding me in 10th grade), it’s hard to stay in one place for such a long time. Which is why reminiscing about my latest adventures keeps me sane. I’m currently watching season 1 of Departures, which also helps me keep sane? No, no it doesn’t. It makes me want to get up and leave SO BAD. But I can’t. School is necessary before I can take that next international step. So I’m here… at least until the third week of April. What happens after that………. is anyone’s guess!
I digress (I always digress).
Since my day-to-day life right now is about as exciting as finding old nacho chips under your couch cushion, let’s talk about my bus trip to Poland. Because Poland, for me, was one of the most unexpected gems I’ve ever happened upon. It’s also where I happened to go after Lithuania, which I believe is the last place I blogged about. I’m also reminded of it because I take the bus every second day here in Calgary and I’m sorry to say, but it’s slightly less eventful.
So I will transcribe some notes from my pen-and-paper journal so we can re-live some adventure, yes?
Booya.
“Hi. Me again (I feel like a twelve-year old writing in her Dear Diary in this old pink journal. Whatever. Laptops don’t belong on all adventures). Okay. So I’m on the bus from Vilnius to Warsaw. It’s supposed to take 7 hours. And it’s an Ecolines bus because it’s the cheapest I could find. Which… probably… has something to do with how catching the bus was so much less than straight-forward that I’m actually surprised I’m on it. Not only was it not in the birth (is that what bus docks are called? Births? Bus birth? That sounds weird. It’s probably berth. Still sounds weird) that it was supposed to be in, but it wasn’t even in the berth it wasn’t supposed to be in. It wasn’t anywhere. It wasn’t anywhere near the train station at all. This bus, with its yellow body and obnoxious red advertisements sprawled all over it, was a good 90 minutes away. Ya, it was 90 minutes late. Which increased my “did I miss the bus?!” anxiety to exactly unreasonable.
But, alas. It came. And I got on, immediately noting the lack of washrooms. For a person like me with a bladder like a pea, I’m pretty sure I sighed a deep, disgruntled sigh.
I’ve been on the bus for thirty minutes and I already recognize this will be an exercise in abdominal torture. Oh well. When in Eastern Europe?
The Polish stewardess (is that what you call them when they’re stewards of the bus variety?) asks for my passport.
‘Oh! Canadian! We don’t get many Canadians here. And none traveling alone…. (pause) What are you doing here?’
‘Just traveling, actually.’
Blank stare. And then, ‘For how long?’
‘I don’t know really, I’m… jobless and homeless.’
She looks at me as though there’s something seriously wrong with me. Smacks her lips. ‘You are confirmed crazy.’ I suppress a giggle.
She looks down at my passport. ‘You’re so young!’
Suddenly cognizant of the fact that I’m not wearing makeup, haven’t showered in days – let alone wrestled a comb through my hair – and probably look closer to 80 than 28, I keep my head down, ‘Nah, getting old…’
She must have scrutinized my passport a little closer here, because there’s a pause and then, ‘you’re the same age as me!’ Oops. Did I offend her? (I’m good at offending strangers). We laugh a bit – yes, awkward laugh – and then she says to me, quite seriously, ‘I would be afraid to travel alone. Aren’t you afraid?’
I look around me and am reminded that I really am traveling alone from Lithuania to Poland, without a plan of any kind. A little stupid, probably. But I can’t help but smile. Isn’t this what living is all about? I shake my head, beaming.
So the bus is full and I have a neighbour to my right. He’s young-ish (younger than me, anyway), and he’s talkative like you wouldn’t believe. Very nice dude, actually. Born, raised, and currently living in the Polish countryside. We went through all of each others’ photos for the first hour of the trip. He’s just come from Kaunas in Lithuania (where Raminta, my awesome couchsurfing-host from my time in Vilnius is originally from). He says all the Lithuanian girls would call him “Leki” because he’s Polish. I don’t know what that means.
After a couple hours of chatting, and mid-sentence, Leki suddenly exclaims, ‘Oh! We’re in Poland now.’
I look out the window. It’s dark. All I can see is my reflection, staring back at me. How does he know we’re in Poland? I must have grunted ‘huh?’, or something, because Leki goes on to explain.
‘The roads are terrible now. Can you feel how bumpy it is? All of a sudden, like that? We must be in Poland. The roads here are no good.’
We laugh, (somewhat less) awkwardly, and continue to chat about all sorts of interesting things as this bright yellow bus jolts, jerks, rattles and shakes its way through the Polish night.”
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this convo with a stewardess on the bus was…so POLISH (I know what I am saying I’m Polish as well, haha).
are you sure that Ecolines are the cheapest bus line going from Warsaw to Vilnius? I took Simple Bus in December and I was sure they have the lowest fares…and the fastest wifi:-)
…last but not least, I’m sort of happy you liked my country:-)
Ha ha… so the conversation is exceptionally Polish eh? That’s too funny. :) Nope, I’m not sure Ecolines are the cheapest – just the cheapest I could find. I’ll be sure to check out Simple Bus next time I’m over there! Thanks for the tip:). And yes, I love your country. It’s beautiful – and so unique! Hey, do you know why the Lithuanians would call my Polish friend “Leki”? What does that mean? :) Thanks for your comment!
I want to send you an award for most helpful innteret writer.
(Paperback) This is a cute, short book that is fun and my 5-year old granddaughter loved it. she already knows olivia from other books, but will enjoy starting to read with a favorite.
Hello there!
Getting back to my previous post, the bus line is called Simple Express, not Simple Bus (meh, I was tired ir sth). Check it when you are back to Pribaltica region, it’s an Estonian company and they have a lot of routes in Eastern Europe. They go even from Berlin to Tallin, no idea how much time that takes:P I went to Vilnius with them .Now planning a Warsaw-Riga trip and according to their website the round-trip cost 50 euro.
Leki? Leki means medicins in Polish but I guess it was rather something in Lithuanian. I know that Lenkija means Poland ans I believe that Lenkas is a Polish person. Maybe that’s the answer?;-)
Hey Vagablond! I love reading your blogs, huge fan (even though I still haven’t read most of them)! One day soon I’m gonna start to travel, something I’ve always wanted to do. I really admire and appreciate people like you who go out there, get lost and experience the world for what it truly is. I wanted to ask, have you ever been to Egypt before? If not it is definitely a country to check out (despite the recent turn of events with the revolution and all). I’ve lived there myself for 9 years and can confidently say I have yet to explore 90 % of it!
I love you. You make me feel less like a vagabond and more like a vagabrunette. Let’s fricken adventure already.
Great story! Love this!
Hi
well, like most girls, you have a great story-telling ability, usually extracting fun or detail from things we, male, just don’t notice or don’t actually care (like the description of the nachos on the couch). Women are great at that, but that comes at a price, that is why they are so unstable, because they are overly sensitive to everything. But that is fine, that is female nature, and we, straight men (could there be any other kind of men?), like women the way they are.
As a communist opposed to capitalistic fly philosophy, I often ride the bus and the train, and living in Baltics, I know the area quite well, I would say. I also do it because I often engage in conversation with passengers and I love it. You were unaware of how valuable was to be in the company of the people of Poland or Lithuania, we are all so beautiful, blue eyed and our skin is not just white, it is white like alabaster, and the people from the upper Baltics, have a set of values, that rubbish Westerners, the jiggaboo country scum US and Western Europe and most of Canada, can’t even understand. I have the uttermost contempt towards the ignorant pro-abortion, pro-fag, anglosaxons of Western countries.
I take that bus about once a month, many buses from Ecolines, Luxusexpress etc, and each and every single one of the has a closet, a WC, when it deals with international trips, it is the regulation and common sense too. So honestly, you travel a lot but I get a feeling, that due to lack of culture, of languages, of intelligent planning, you end up either going through an ordeal for not peeing when you had the toilet underneath, or sleep at the airport. In one word, you are not enjoying your trip because you don’t know how to solve things smartly. I speak 8 languages and I have been everywhere in Europe, including all of the countries of Eastern Europe and I managed to enjoy the adventure without ending up rough living, as you do.
The Ecoline bus from Vilinius leaves from where it has always left, from the Coach station, right opposite the Panorama hotel, and the station has been there since I can remember, and that is quite a lot of years.
Were that not good enough, there is an additional ride you could, and probably should have chosen, Luxusexpress leaves at 14:45 and gets you in Varsaw in a shorter time, it makes less stopovers.
If you knew your way around, you could have found, absolutely perfect hotels, with your toilet in your room (not in the general corridor) for these prices: Varsaw 20 Euros, Berlin 36 (4 beds room just for you), Paris 37, Kiev a fully equipped modern apartment in downtown with Internet wifi and ceramic kitchen for 35 Euros, Barcelona for 29. I am a communist but that does not mean I like sleeping in the train station main lounge. I dont use Western chain hotels I don’t choose those who are published on booking.com or trip advisor, that is how I can enjoy a quiet hotel, with high ceiling rooms for peanuts and I am not bothered by the sight of ignorant Westerners who pay up to 100 Euros or more for a 3 star hotel in Europe.
My advice, and believe me, intelligent people follow my advices, is that you do a complete reset of your Western mentality and start setting your mind towards planning the way the locals (from wherever you go) would do, and do it with intelligence instead of being biased by your capitalist underdeveloped Western world confined frame. You did not grasp the best of your trip in the Baltics, because you did not even bother to understand its history and what defines the values, the culture, the present of the people living there.
best regards
Feliks, wow, thanks for your comment! I appreciate all your advice on “perfect” hotels, but that’s not at all what I was looking for. The experience I gained and much of the reason I love the Baltics so much is because I made it a point to stay with locals (couchsurfing) and I wouldn’t trade that for the world! Sorry if I came across as abrasive.. or ignorant. Not at all my intention!
tnx so much good website u have