Jewish Museum in Riga

Back in Riga, I went to check out the Jewish Museum. My grandfather Shalom was born in Latvia so I thought it would be interesting. Just as I got there, a group of elderly Israelis was getting a tour so I tagged along. A Latvian guide would speak in English, and then the Israeli tour guide would translate to Hebrew, so I got to hear everything twice. I learned that my grandfather's village - Valdemārpils - was over half Jewish. When my grandfather left Latvia for Israel in the 1930's there were about 100,000 Jews in Latvia. Only about 1000 survied the Holocaust. In the museum there were posters from the 1930's in Yiddish advocating aliyah (emmigration to Israel). Turned out to be a pretty good time to leave.

Viljandi Folk Music Festival and Tartu

I got a ride to Viljandi, Estonia for the folk festival. We camped out for the weekend in a friend's parents' backyard. The folk music was actually pretty good, though I discovered that I definately do not like gypsy music. After the festival, we tried unsuccessfuly to hitchhike to Tartu, and luckily got a ride from a friend of a friend. I crashed at my friend's place in Tartu and hung out in the city for a day. Tartu is Estonia's college town. Because school is out the city had a very lazy feel, which fine with me after camping out for the weekend. After a day of seeing the town, I hopped on the bus back to Riga.

Viljandi Folk Music Festival in Estonia

I'm back in Tallinn to catch a ride to the Viljandi Folk Music Festival. It's one of the biggest folk festivals in Estonia. I'll write about it when I get back on Monday.

Pics!

Nag and you shall receive

http://picasaweb.google.com/hauserns/

Day in Riga, Latvia

The next day in Riga, I make friends with two French girls from Toulouse who are staying in my dorm room and we're off to explore the town. We start off with the Museum of the Occupation of Latvia. After WWI Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania all declared independence from the Russian Empire, taking advantage of the chaos surrounding the Communist Revolution. The Baltic states enjoy independence until 1940 when the Soviets invade during WWII at the “request” of puppet Baltic governments. Latvians endure a “Year of Horror” until they are “liberated” by the Nazis, who turn out to be no better than the Soviets. Out of the over 100,000 Latvian Jews, only 1000 survived the Nazi occupation of Latvia. My grandfather Shalom left Latvia in the 1930's, which is why I'm alive today. After the Nazis are defeated by the Soviet Union, the Western World talks big and does nothing as the Soviet Union permanently annexes Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. After decades of Soviet oppression, the three Baltic states finally declare independence in 1991 as the Soviet Union dissolved.




We then head off to the Market to get some food. Turns out its strictly a fish market. The French girls are loving it and pick up heaps of smoked fish while I do my best of retain consciousness among the fish stench. We sit down to eat and after some peer pressure I try some fish and find that it's actually pretty good. They were a little embarrassed about their stereotypical French fish-eating but I confessed to them that I had eaten McDonalds the night before (it was the only thing open late at night dammit!)





We do some more sightseeing until we take a break for some really good Latvian beer. A few drinks turns into a night out at the discotheque with a bunch of people from the hostel.

Positivus AB mustic festival in Salacgrīva, Latvia

We park at the festival grounds, set up our tents, and have a few drinks before we head off for the music stages. Travis was REALLY good. I tried to introduce crowd surfing to Latvia. Unsuccessfully. Ouch. Either Latvia just isn't ready or I'm too fat. The next day we hung out at the beach and went for a swim and then saw a bunch of bands including Fatboy Slim and British Sea Power. The festival was really well run - only complaint was 7 port-o-potties for thousands of people. Shudder.

The next day my Estonian friends headed back to Tallinn and I found of group of Latvians who offered to drive me back to Riga. They needed someone to drive to town to pick up some food, but they were all drunk. I was sober (it was noon) so I offered to drive. I got in their van, but soon realized that it was a manual car (duh, I'm in Europe) so I explained I couldn't drive. No problem, they'll teach me! Yeah, right. Ok fine. After a few embarrassing stalls I'm off down to road to town. Every time my car stalled they explain to confused onlookers that they're teaching an American to drive stick and everyone had a pretty good laugh about it. We spend the rest of the day on the beach and take off just before a hurricane-like storm.

I get dropped off at Riga which is swarming with heavy metal fans who had just left the Metallica concert. I had really wanted to go but couldn't get back to Latvia in time. I make my way to my hostel and crash.

Driving Through Latvia

I get up in my hostel in Riga, Latvia and meet up with my Estonian friends. We go shopping and I pick up an budget tent. We drive to Sigulda, Latvia which was once home to the ancient Liv people. There is a cool 800 year old castle called Turaida Castle meaning "Garden of Tur". Tur is an ancient Liv God similar to the Scandinavian "Thor". We see a cool sculpture garden and go on some hikes through the woods. We visit the Gutmanis Cave which has 500 year old graffiti proving that it's the oldest tourist attraction in Latvia. The cave is a landmark in the legend of Turaida Rose - Latvia's Romeo and Juliet-like national tale.



Eventually we decide we need to find a place to camp for the night. We found a map in Sigulda which seemed to indicate a camping ground by the Amata river. So we drive off and after some U-turns and sketchy dirt roads we find a really beautiful camping ground right on the river. My budget tents turns out to be really nice except its hot yellow tarp has super insect-attracting powers and soon enough I have an insect zoo exhibit in my tent. Even though it had been raining we managed to get a fire going for a good 20 minutes. In the morning we had a quick swim in the hypothermia-inducing river and take off for Cesis, Latvia. In Cesis we visit a monument to Estonian fighters who came to help Latvians fend off Germanic forces after the end of WWI. We meet up with a few more Estonians for a picnic in the park and then head off to Salacgrīva, Latvia for the 2-day Positivus AB festival.

On the road to Riga, Latvia

I get picked up by my two Estonian friends and we're off driving to Riga. The Estonian countryside is beautiful, but very similar to what you'd see outside Washington, DC. We arrive in Riga, and I drop my stuff off at my hostel and we go straight to the Bjork concert. I also pick up tickets for Positivus AB. Bjork kicks ass - she's truly an amazing musician and really hot. After the concert I walk through old town Riga to my hostel. I'm exhausted, and it's almost midnight. I haven't really slept in a week and all I want is a good night's sleep.




Disclaimer: The rest of this entry has nothing really to do with Riga, only backpacking, and may not be suitable for my mom.

As I approach my $9 a night hostel, I can already hear people yelling from the street. Oh God. I get let in and as I walk towards the "concierge" I see the hostel bar is a raging sausage fest packed with English, Irish, Aussies, and Kiwis - probably all here via easyJet or Ryanair for cheap beer. As I check in, I'm offered a free beer (Bonus! The beer's $3 value means my stay is now $6 for the night). The bartender then tells me about Riga as she serves drinks, while the bar back attempts to stock the beers faster than people order them. I think this drinking club has a hostel problem.

Um, can I sleep please? I'm shown upstairs to my 14 person dorm room, but its full, so I get reassigned to the 8 person room (Privacy Bonus!) It's hard to describe the room, but think frat house at the end of the semester. Only top bunks are left so I grab one. I go to the bathroom to wash my hands, and instantly contract three strains of herpes. But you really can't beat $6 a night...

Toughing it in Tallinn

So Im in Tallinn, Estonia - my first stop in Eastern Europe. Most of you are probably imagining I'm in some kind of Borat-like backwater, with horse-pulled cars and proud award-winning prostitutes. Well, turns out that's Romania (where Borat was actually filmed and a later stop on my trip.) In reality, Estonia is a modern first-world country. Home of Skype and Kazaa, Estonia has thrown off its former Soviet shackles and readily embraced the western world. Since Estonia joined the EU, money has been pouring in, with economic growth at an unsustainable 10%. (US growth is currently at 0.5% and that's above previous expectations.) In other worlds, Tallinn is a comfortable, safe, first-world capital. It also lacks all the crazy third-world atmosphere of anything-can-happen. People here actually respect pedestrian traffic lights. No cars in sight - the road is 10 feet wide - and they stand their patiently waiting their turn. The Israeli in me could not comprehend this bizarre phenomenon.



Well anyway, I had an amazing time here, thanks to Leeza's friends. But now its time to move on. In a few minutes a couple that Leeza's friends introduced me to is picking me up for a ride to Riga, Latvia for a Bjork concert. (Mom, relax they're cool. I promise. I don't care what Nava said. Ill call or email when I get there.) Then we're driving all over Latvia and ending up at Positivus AB - a two day music festival in Latvia headlined by Fatboy Slim. I need to pick up a tent first though.

My hostel in Tallinn is also amazing. Its a crazy bohemian place with awesome people from all over the world. The most interesting is an Argentinian middle-aged shaman who travels the world to dispense his medicines and lead healing sessions. Dude has some insane stories. The hostel is expensive at $20 a night for a dorm with 7 other people. Riga will be $9 a night for a 14 person dorm - more reasonable. Sleep not included.

Im 27

Crime in London

When you're in a big city, you expect crime. Well London's no different. But London has got a menace it can't seem to shake - Knife Violence! From headlines in the newspapers such as "Road Rage Knife Killing" and a sign in someone's window that said "Put Down Your Knives", you know London's got a serious problem on it's hands. Maybe the UK needs the equivalent of the US Brady Bill with waiting periods for knife purchases and restrictions on the sale of knives with non-kitchen related uses. I can't even remember the last time I heard about knife violence in Washington, DC. Well, no one ever said backpacking was safe.

Saturday night out in London

We started off with a comedy club. Apparently Americans are fat and stupid. But Australians will screw anything that moves and Jersey in the UK (as opposed to the 'New' version) is dirty (coincidence?). Next we go to a club and later we sit outside at a bar as I convince my new Algerian friend that true democracy in the USA can happen with Barack Obama. We decide to go home but as we walk we see a bunch of people hanging out outside an apartment. We sneak in and it turns out to be an insane illegal electronic music house party. Its a beautiful 3 story flat with DJs on rotation on the 2nd floor. We make ourselves some mixed drinks in the kitchen and hear some awesome beatboxing from Killa Kella and more dance music. Apparently this party was called Berwickstock 08. Around 4am I pick up a disco ball and start a game of passing it around the party. Eventually the ball hits the ground and explodes converting into a comfortable disco hat. Great for pictures! The party gets busted around 5 by the local Counselman so we take off - wearing the disco hat of course. We walk around London and see big Ben and the Thames River - its beautiful in the morning sans the hordes of tourists. We wait till 730 for the tube to open and head home.

British Museum in London

Ah the British museum - the largest collection of stolen goods in the world. The British scoured the world for local priceless natural treasures and jacked them. Is your treasure attached to a building? No problem mate - we'll hack it off and take it anyway! Admittedly it is pretty cool that you can see treasures from all over the world without leaving a building. Friezes from the parthenon, Egyptian mummies, and assyrian man-horses are some of the coolest. And it reminds you that the sun never set on the British empire. Are you a foreign government with the quaint notion that your national treasures should reside in your own country? We regret to inform you that we can take better care
of your artifacts than you can. Besides we're facilitating cross-cultural understanding. But we'll be sure to get back to you when we give a bloody damn what you think. Cheers!

London, Day 1

I'm officially a tourist. Today I visited Trafalgar Square, Big Ben, and Westminster Abby.

On the tube home a missionary, bible in hand, was singing about Jesus and was actually pretty good. He got REALLY into it - he was on his knees singing 'i fuckin love you Jesus'. Straight up Wedding Singer. On my way out I told him 'I'm Jewish but that's some good stuff' which seemed to make him pretty happy.

off i go

What the hell am I doing? I'm randomly flying to London by myself for no reason. Such a weird feeling.

Got to my gate an hour early and passed out. When I boarded the flight attendant welcomed me with 'Hi Mr. Sleepy' and then joked with her friend about it. On the flight I opened up going away cards I got from my dog Max (he's gifted) and my sister Hagar. Hagar - your card was great thanks so much! Then I went on to read some of Kundera's 'The Joke' and my Lonely Planet Eastern Europe book to try and stay one country ahead. Made it to my friends place in London, time to crash. Seriously what am I doing?

Finished Packing

So it's just past 3:30 AM and I've finally finished packing. Getting my packing done ahead of time would have been very un-Nir. I need to leave for the airport at 6:00 AM so I figure I have plenty of time to mess around and set up a blog.

My first stop will be London, and then I fly off to Estonia on Monday. After that I'll play it by ear. I'd write something interesting, but I'm pretty delirious at this point.