23 November 2003 ---JOURNAL ENTRY TWENTY-NINE---
First, I'm listening to the Rams-Cardinals game on the radio, some internet website. I'm very happy. It's Sunday night, 11:39pm, probably going to bed in a bit but I wanted to break some stuff down.
I'm going to a friend's wedding in the Ukraine in June. Yes, the Ukraine, can you believe it? It's not your normal vacation destination but Gregg is a good friend and I'm honored to celebrate his special day with him. That's part of growing up, huh, when I decided that I COULDN'T go to Helsinki in March AND to Gregg's wedding in June. There just wasn't going to be the money to do it so I made the decision. I'm going to Ukraine.
So I felt all growed up (slang doesn't translate well in type!) making this decision and I started to look at the Ukraine, where we're going, what I'll be doing and all that and then I had an idea. We live in a modern age. There are airlines going all directions. Perhaps, perhaps and then bam!
I found a flight from Kiev, Ukraine to Tallinn, Estonia for 75euros. It is now possible to do both trips! Here's the scheduled itinerary as of now. I'll fly to Dnepropetrovs'k, Ukraine on June 3rd, stay there until the evening of the 6th where I plan to take a night train to Kiev, arriving about eight in the morning. My flight to Tallinn leaves at 11am. I can do both. I'm quite ecstatic, so much so I won't use any exclamation marks at the end of this sentence. Well, maybe this one though!
After getting to Tallinn, I should have about 10-12 days (depending on how many beers I drink and meals I eat out here in Germany, less equals more days on vacation!)to get from Tallinn, Estonia to Vilinius, Lithuania. In between will be either visits to Saarameeaa Island or the town of Tartu, both in Estonia and then on to Riga, Latvia. I have approximately 3-4 days in each country of the Baltic States, so I'll do an overnight trip from Riga maybe to Bauska before continuing onto Vilinius. My last stop will probably be Kaunas, Lithuania before I take a "grunted 24-hour" bus home to Freiburg. I'm still looking for a flight from Vilinius to Frankfurt but prices aren't looking good.
This will be my birthday present to myself next year. I will be turning 30, something I'm pretty sure only happens once a lifetime and thought that this would be a perfect way to celebrate life. By the way, celebrating life is something I feel strongly about. Okay, it's 11:53pm now, I'm pooped, I want to blob out while listening to this Rams game and slowly collect myself for another week of teaching. adios!
