Now for something completely different

A special treat for all of you dedicated readers. No litany of side effects this week, no complaints about rashes or discussions on my bathroom habits (though this will factor in to the story I am about to tell). Instead I am going to post an entry from my travel journal. As you know I am currently traveling through the Baltics right now. The trip is going well in terms of the business aspect. It hasn’t been without its challenges however, but I have gotten through them and did not hop a plane home as I would have liked to do after yesterday.

Greetings from Tallinn – that’s in Estonia in case you were wondering. It’s my 3rd country in 4 days – 4th country if you count my 4 hour layover in Frankfurt, Germany on Sunday morning. This was the 2nd time I had a lengthy layover in Frankfurt airport on a Sunday morning. The last time was 1991 when I was enroute to Russia for Spring Break. Back then I (along with Heather and another friend) spent the whole layover (it seemed like 7 hours, but I can’t recall exactly how long it was) watching the departure board flip as flights took off. (think Wheel of Fortune before they went modern) When we got there, our flight to Russia was not on even on the board (and this board could list about 100 flights – told you it was a long layover). The reason I digress to this story is that I wanted to report that the same board is still there!! Guess it works better than any modern technology. Anyway, this time my flight was on the board, albeit about ½ down the list. I found other ways to occupy my time rather than watching the board – ate some breakfast, found a comfy lounge chair and walked around. I caught my flight to Riga without any problems.

Riga is a very interesting city – I was able to explore a bit on Sunday afternoon while the sun was shining. I took some pictures which I will try to link here later. Having not slept since Friday night (it now being Sunday evening) I figured I would crash hard. Oops – forgot about that jetlag stuff. I slept great for about 3 hours, then wide awake and playing solitaire for the next 3 hours. Back to sleep for a little while so I was slightly rested for my meetings. Work stuff was good. Busy, interesting, yada yada…Fast forward to Monday night.

The local publisher is putting the magazine to bed (going to the print house) so they are all tied up with that and don’t have time to entertain me. I don’t mind – figure I will eat a light dinner (having had a huge Latvian lunch – yummy picture lots of meat and horseradish), read my book and mind my own business in the hotel bar. All was going well until I turned around to glare at the obnoxious man behind me. Oops again – my mistake. I made eye contact and next thing I know he and his companion are forcing me to join them. We make some small talk (he is Swedish and his much quieter and nicer friend is Lithuanian). I am polite for a little while, but for some reason every time the Swede wants to make a point, he hits me. I have a black and blue on my arm to prove it. Once the conversation progresses to his view of homosexuality I am finally able to escape having lost about 45 minutes that I will never get back. I run as fast as I can back to my room. I have to get up at 4:30 to catch my flight to Vilnius, Lithuania, and I am looking forward to a bit more sleep. Now the story gets funny….

I fell asleep around 11pm (had to pack, shower, etc…so that I can get up, get dressed and leave). I set 3 alarms – 1 with hotel reception, 1 on the TV, and 1 on my cell phone. I’m always afraid of oversleeping and missing my flight. I wake up for a typical bathroom trip around 1AM. This isn’t unusual and I do my usual routine of not actually opening my eyes and doing everything by feel for fear of actually waking up. It was no use - I don’t fall back asleep this night! I try and try without success. I won’t take anything to help me because I can’t risk sleeping through my alarms so I read, play solitaire, go online, etc. I’m dressed and ready to go by 5AM and .in a cab enroute to the airport by 5:10. I’m first in line for check in as the airport isn’t yet fully awake. I go through security, set off all the alarms, and practically get strip searched. (Note to self, new shoes are NOT airport friendly). I spend my last 5 Latvian lats on chocolate bar and water. This will later prove to be the smartest thing I did all day.

I go to the gate and see the sign that says boarding is at 6:30AM. By 6:15 I am still the only person at the gate. I begin to wonder if I going to be alone on the plane. I make a bathroom stop and when I come out about a dozen people have shown up for the flight. We get on the bus, drive to our plane (seats about 30) and I soon realize that am alone in the front of the plane. I have about 12 seats to myself. The flight attendants do the usual spiel and I close my eyes and hope to sleep on the 55 minute flight to Vilnius. After about 10 minutes the pilot announces that there is some engine trouble and we’ll be delayed. I notice that every time they turn the engines on only 1 of the 2 propellers starts spinning. This can’t be good. 20 minutes later they have us “temporarily” deboard the plane. We sit in the bus and look at our plane. I notice they take the luggage out from underneath. OK, there are lots of other planes on the tarmac; they’ll just shift us to one of those. Nope, the Air Baltic rep boards the bus and says, “flight cancelled – go see ticket counter for refund.” No big deal to me, I’ll take the next flight. Oh, there isn’t another flight today. Hmm…this could be a problem.

Back in the terminal, we must re-clear customs because we had already been marked as departing the country and even though we never actually left. I am apparently the only non-European Union resident on the flight, so I have to traipse all around the airport with the customs agent to get my passport stamped for re-entry into Latvia. Once I am allowed back in, I realize I have no idea how to get to Lithuania and the travel department who booked my ticket last month no longer exists. I see a bunch of the people from my flight at the Air Baltic counter and manage to find the 1 who speaks English. He tells me that they are going to provide a bus to take us to Vilnius. It’ll be here in 5 minutes and should take about 3 hours. After about 20 minutes we finally convince Air Baltic to give us some food vouchers since most of us had planned on getting breakfast in Vilnius and now it looks like we won’t be there until lunch. They give us each a voucher good for 2 lats. I have spent the last of my local currency on a chocolate bar so I have to make my 2 lats stretch.

As I’m standing in line at the buffet figuring out how much I could get for 2 lats, I realize that I am about to go on a 3 hour bus ride and I don’t know what the bathroom facilities will be like. Eating a big meal suddenly doesn’t seem like a good idea. I play it safe and have orange juice and cereal and give my coffee, which they made me take to bring my full bill up to 2 lats, to someone else. After another 45 minutes the bus arrives. It’s a small thing, seats about 15. Our numbers have dwindled to 9 hearty souls who have to get to Vilnius that day. I settle into my seat, pop on the iPod, close the eyes and am ready to drift in and out of consciousness as we drive. It was a good idea, but not going to happen. I remember, a little too late, that I get car (specifically bus, ask anyone who went to Ireland with me) sick. I can’t handle any seat but the front seat. Guess where I’m sitting? Not the front seat. I move forward on the bus, but it doesn’t seem to make a difference. Fortunately with my eyes shut, it’s not as bad. This just means I don’t get to see any of the Latvian or Lithuanian countryside. I never actually fall asleep though because it seemed to me that the road we were traveling on was not paved. It certainly was one of the bumpiest rides I’ve ever taken. I’m grateful to have my water and chocolate bar to soothe my stomach. But I don’t want to eat/drink too much not knowing if the bus is going to stop for a potty break.

We cross into Lithuania and once again my passport is the one that holds us all up. Not long, but enough that it’s noticeable. Soon enough I’m stamped and approved and we are on our way to Vilnius. After another hour the driver miraculously stops at a rest stop. I have my iPod on so don’t really know if he was asked to stop or how this comes about, but soon enough the 6 women on the bus are forming a “queue” for the ladies room. Everyone buys some food and drink, but I am lacking in Lithuanian currency and not knowing how far the next bathroom is, so I refrain. Besides I still have my duty free chocolate bar to eat. (Not to mention the codeine and DTO to keep it with me for awhile).

We are soon back on the road and finally, it appears we are on highway, or at least a paved road. No more kidney rattling roads – thank heavens! I am able to keep my eyes open for small pockets of time (thanks to the drugs in my system I assume) and the countryside, well it looks a lot like countryside in rural Massachusetts, or New Jersey or just about anywhere there are cows, fields, trees, and the occasional horse. Really nothing that screamed out “You are in the Baltic Region of Europe”. Not sure what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn’t a view that looked like Route 2 in MA.

Two more hours to Vilnius according to the driver, but judging from the previous time conceptions I am expecting 3 or more hours. There are times we are speeding along and suddenly the car in front of us stops – I still haven’t figured out why – maybe the driver saw something I couldn’t see. I seem to be the only one on the bus who will actually be on time for my meeting in Vilnius. Mine was set for 3pm and if all goes well, I should be at my hotel by 3. However this means the 5-6 free hours I was expecting to have for work, and more importantly sight seeing in Vilnius are now dwindling. I begin to rationalize and consider the bus ride between Riga and Vilnius, my “mental souvenir”. Oh yea, there’s a picture I’m drawing in my head, but not one I will share with anyone.

Well, I’m pleasantly surprise to discover that the bus driver was right and we pull into Vilnius at 2pm – 4 hours after we left Riga and 6 hours after we were supposed to get there. I get dropped off at the airport, find my way to my hotel, have time to log on, check email, and then get a call from Bronius that he is in the lobby. I am glad that I made it here before him – if only just barely. I tell him about the bus ride and he laughs – apparently it is a joke with Air Baltic that their planes do not work a good portion of the time. I’ll keep this in mind with my next trip! The rest of the afternoon/evening pass quickly with work related activities – and a very delicious dinner that more than made up for my chocolate bar lunch. I got back to my hotel with enough time to shower, answer email, and pack up for my next 4:45 AM wake up call and airport experience. (Actually I slept till 5AM, and my flight between Vilnius and Tallinn went off just fine – but I will still chalk up the previous 24 hours to “experience”).

And now, it is the end of the day in Estonia – my day has been uneventful and I am grateful. I am looking forward to a solid night’s sleep and one that lasts past 5AM.

Hope you all enjoyed this little escape from the mundane!!

Posted by jean at October 19, 2005 04:22 PM