Category Archives: Europe
Raganu Kalnas: The Hill of Witches
Halfway down the Curonian Spit, on the Lithuanian side, sits a densely wood pine forest which holds many secrets deep inside its shaded borders. As needle and pine cone litter the wooded paths, so to do the intricately hand-carved statues of beasts and nymphs, gnomes and ogres, dragons and witches, kings and queens, that stand […]
Elysium in January: A Layover in Iceland and The Blue Lagoon
The sky was dark, and had been for some time, but it was only 5 p.m. and we were heading toward blissful tranquility, the Blue Lagoon. Tom, Abby, and I had been in a car for eight hours, trying to fit as much of Iceland in 24 hours as we possibly could. They had met […]
The Deteriorating Ruins of Soviet Might: Hara Submarine Base, Estonia
Resting against the deep azure waters of the Gulf of Finland, the Hara Submarine Base slowly crumbles, as the gentle waters lap against its concrete foundations, eroding away a little bit of cement with each passing wave. Today, these monolithic structures jut out of the cold waters of this gulf as a reminder of Soviet […]
The Wolf’s Lair: The Crumbling Remains of Hitler’s Stronghold in Poland
Tom and I sat in the Vilnius airport, staring at the small screen on my iPhone, as Safari sluggishly loaded a map from our location to Gierloz, Poland. After idle conversation, the map eventually informed us of our journey, and we were pleased to find that only 150 miles, and no more than three hours […]
The Curonian Spit: A Bit of Land Shared by Two Nations
As the three of us walked along the Curonian Spit, facing west out across the white capped sea, the soft white sand sinking under our feet with each footfall, we inspected the shoreline for pebbles and rocks that we understood to resemble amber. We inspected rocks of all sizes, small and large, oblong and […]
Hill of Crosses: Lithuanian Defiance in the Face of Oppression
I am not religious by any means, and if you think this post will be a theological discussion, then I am sure you can find another site on the internet which will pander to your ecclesiastic proclivities. Instead, this is about my travel to this historical site, and the significance this location played in Lithuanian nationalistic […]
The Majestic City of Riga: A Hidden Gem of Europe
Travel on the Cheap: The Baltic States
It was serendipitous that three months ago, when I began planning my trip to Europe, the euro had decided to plunge, almost equaling the American dollar. Couple this with the cheap cost of living in the Baltic states, and you have the makings of a great trip to see old Europe. Although it is nice […]