Country #55 - Moldova

The Mixup

After a short flight from Ukraine, I landed in Chișinău, Moldova. It took me a while to find the taxi stand in the airport but I eventually did. The driver still overcharged me by about two dollars but after my day I was in no mood to haggle. It was a twenty-minute drive into the city where I was dropped off at Zentrum Hotel. While checking in it was realized that my booking was never made at the hotel even though I had corresponded with them about a sponsorship and that they were fully booked. I had been dreading this for a while and knew it had to happen eventually. Zentrum and its staff, though, were fantastic throughout the entire situation. Special thanks to Lupa at the front desk who worked this all out!

They rebooked me at the Jolly Alon hotel which was very nice. I was still able to tour Zentrum which is such a cool little hotel in the heart of Chișinău. It has a modern yet chic feel to it and I hope to stay with them if I ever make it back to Chișinău! I cannot thank them enough for all of their help throughout the ordeal. My new hotel was fantastic and they provided for everything, including dinner which was much appreciated after a very long day.

I wish I had more time to see Moldova but once again the flights just don’t work. Everyone that I met, though, was so kind throughout my time here and I found that many people spoke English which was very helpful. I have a very early morning flight to Bucharest, Romania, and I can feel that I am starting to catch a cold (no thanks to the smoky Ukraine airport) so these four hours of sleep are going to be much needed but also not enough. This region of Eastern Europe (Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova) has been filled with confusion - it was a weird day for sure and I am definitely glad that it’s over and happy to be headed to Bucharest, Romania tomorrow.

55 countries down, 141 to go.

To learn more about Zentrum click here.

Country #54 - Ukraine

The Signatures

I arrived in Ukraine only to realize that I had to change airports. If I knew this at some point I had completely forgotten. Luckily, I had five hours between flights and the fifty-minute drive was only a ten dollar Uber, so no harm no foul. I’m not going to lie, I didn’t have a great five hours in the Ukraine. I transferred from IEV to KBP airport within Kiev, and things were fine until my arrival at KBP. In an attempt to find my second witness signature I was turned down rudely by two airport employees. I was also told I needed to pay $55 for my luggage. All within about five minutes so while I realize it doesn’t sound like much it was not ideal.

Thankfully it got better quickly. The third airline employee was so sweet and a willing witness! She asked me to send more information about my trip to her email and was so interested in everything. That immediately made things better. Then I decided to just take my bag onboard. I only tried to check it because of misinformation online. Ukraine Airlines supposedly only allows one carry on, but they also allow a personal item. The check-in agent said I was overweight, but since I already had my printed boarding pass I just went on through security and basically ignored him. This works sometimes (basically anytime you are allowed only one hand luggage bag and you find in the fine print that you can also have a personal item i.e. a small backpack) but not others (never with EasyJet, WizzAir, etc.).

After arriving at my gate I became annoyed with Ukraine once again. The airport is obviously non-smoking but the smoke from the smoking rooms wafted throughout the entire airport. My head has hurt and my nose has been irritated ever since. Also, the power went out in the airport and I have no idea what that was about. Other than one friendly encounter (thank you again for making my day better, kind gate agent!) I was not treated very well and the smoke was just a nuisance. I’m sure there are nice parts of Ukraine but I, unfortunately, did not see them on my trip.

54 countries down, 142 to go.

Country #53 - Belarus

The Airport

This morning I woke up at 6:00am, headed to the business center at Vilnius Grand Hotel to print out my upcoming plane tickets, and then took a (super expensive) taxi to the Vilnius, Lithuania airport. The Uber to the hotel was only fourteen euro but there were none available on the way back so I had to pay more than twice as much (thirty euro) for a taxi. I arrived at the airport only to stand in a five-person line for over twenty minutes. I don’t know what the deal was but the first person in line was having all sorts of trouble taking up nineteen of those minutes. After checking in I headed to my gate. Unfortunately, I had to go through passport control. This isn’t a huge deal I am just sad to leave the Schengen Zone.

The strangest thing happened on the plane. I had a business class seat? I still have no idea how. I checked-in online ahead of time and picked my seat on the third row, nothing special. When I got on the plane, though, it was in business. My guess is that since it is only a thirty-minute flight that they treat every seat on the plane all as all the same. Good incentive to always remember to check-in online when it’s an option!

After the incredibly short flight, I landed in Minsk, Belarus. If you’re wondering why I flew instead of, say, taking a train or bus, it’s because U.S. citizens (and many others) can only enter Minsk visa-free if flying to and from Minsk Airport. The immigration lady did not speak English so she had to use the floating translator (lady walking around helping English speakers) to clarify that I wasn’t just transiting because I had to check my bag through (I don’t normally check my bag but I had to when flying Belavia but it was free so I had no problems with it). I also wanted my passport stamp but I was going to stick with the legitimate reason.

After getting my bag I walked around the airport for a short bit, took a few pictures, found witnesses to sign (this was a little difficult but I found two English speakers from Vilnius on my flight), and made a new friend. Olga was a very kind woman who asked if I needed help when I was walking around aimlessly looking for my check-in counter. The departures sign was very confusing, but she had figured it out and helped me as well. Olga was born in Russia but has lived in the UK for the last over twenty years. So her accent was super interesting but you could definitely hear both! We realized that, contrary to what the departures sign led you to believe, check-in gates would only open two hours in advance. This left us with over thirty minutes of waiting. I was flying to Kiev, Ukraine, and she was flying to Moscow, but our flights left within ten minutes of each other. We spent that thirty minutes talking and I really enjoyed getting to know her!

After saying goodbye and checking in I went through security where I then had Burger King for lunch. Lame, I know, but it was legitimately the only restaurant in my terminal. The exciting part was being able to try the unique foods that ours at home don’t serve. In particular, I had the cheese medallions that were basically fried cheese and I also tried the cheese sauce and the garlic sauce for my boring fries and chicken fingers.

I then headed to my boarding gate to sit for an hour before heading to Kiev, Ukraine. It was a very short visit to Minsk, Belarus. I definitely thought of the Friends reference while I was here if you were curious on why you might have heard of Minsk on a tv show (when Phoebe’s scientist boyfriend David moves to Minsk FYI). I wish that I would have had more time to spend in Minsk, but it was so incredibly cold that right now that it would have been too freezing to see anything anyways. I was treated kindly by everyone I met, though, and definitely had a good few hours in Minsk!

53 countries down, 143 to go.

Country #52 - Lithuania

The Cold and The Rain

I slept so poorly last night - I don’t know if it was due to jet lag or what, but I fell asleep accidentally at 9:00pm, woke up at 1:00am, and never went back to sleep. So it’s definitely going to be an exhausting day today no matter what! I left Tallinn, Estonia early (around 6:30am) and took an Uber from Go Hotel Shnelli to the airport. My driver was nice and we had a good conversation for so early in the morning. I arrived at the airport and was to my gate within a matter of minutes. I am going to miss the Schengen Zone when I am no longer in Europe! The airport was really cute and is considered a very comfy airport - in fact, it was recently ranked the third best in Europe and I believe it. I grabbed a croissant for breakfast and enjoyed the non-stressful airport environment that is sadly so hard to find.

I had an uneventful flight to Vilnius, Lithuania where I then took an Uber to my hotel, Vilnius Grand Resort. The Uber was a little on the expensive side and I had to wait a bit for it to arrive. The price was only high, though, because Vilnius Grand Resort is outside of the heart of Vilnius. It truly is grand from the moment you arrive; in fact, it takes up an entire exit outside of the city! The imposing entrance leads to a welcoming front desk where I was given details about the hotel, a map and directions for Vilnius, and had all of my questions answered as well.

I was already loving the hotel but my room was the icing on top of the cake: it was beautiful and with an amazing view over the entire property! The room was grand as the name implies - it was very large with a giant bathroom, and had a balcony overlooking the entire resort. I wish the weather had been nicer to enjoy the outside areas of the resort, but maybe next time! I cannot thank Vilnius Grand Resort enough for sponsoring this night of my trip! The entire property was beautiful and the only downside to the entire stay was the distance from the city - but they even helped with that with the free shuttle!

I took the shuttle around 12:30 to the heart of Vilnius. I walked to eat lunch at Boom Burgers Lithuania which had an awesome lunch special of a burger and fries for six euro and it was a really good burger too! And there was aioli sauce so I was definitely pleased. After lunch, I started my day walking around town, which I quickly realized how cold it would be. It was freezing (real feel was about 33 degrees Fahrenheit) and a drizzle lasted throughout the day. I seem to have this thing where I am really good at visiting traditionally cold countries when it is very cold and I seem to be keeping that up on this trip (it’s definitely not intentional but it always seems to work out that way).

My first stop was the Vilnius Cathedral. It was rather plain inside but the outside had columns that made for a unique look for a traditional cathedral. From there I walked next door to the Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania which was supposed to be open but was unfortunately closed. My next stop was Gediminas Castle Tower which was quite the hike but definitely worth it. They are working on the funicular so the only option was to climb the hill. The path is cobblestones and I definitely took my time walking both up and down in the rain. At the top is the tower that you can go in. There is a tiny museum and you can climb up to the top (this climb actually wasn’t that bad). For only two euros for a student ticket, it was a bargain and a warm break from the freezing rain. From the top of the tower, you have an excellent view out over the entire city.

My next stop was Bernardine Church. I intended to go to St. Anne's Church as well but it was closed. However, it’s a unique church architecturally so I was glad to be able to at least see it from the outside. Bernardine Church was very pretty and well worth the stop. To be fair, though, at this point I would have loved anything that was not outdoors. From Bernardine I walked to Literatai Street which was really cool. It’s just a small street but it has been turned into a permanent outdoor art exhibit. Art pieces related to literature line the street and it was really interesting and something quite different. I recommend it for sure, and it definitely doesn’t take much time as it is just walking along a street. Next, I walked to the Užupis area. I was (and still am) pretty confused by it. Supposedly it is a region that is independent but isn’t really. Everything that I read described it as a uniquely happy and cheerful area but perhaps the rain was getting them down as well? If nothing else the streets were beautiful similar to Vilnius as a whole.

I then spent a little time just walking around Senamiestis (Old Town) on my way to Gates of Dawn. Gates of Dawn is really quite unique. I don’t know how to describe it other than it is a gate (the only original one in the city that is still standing) but with huge religious importance. It looks sort of like a chapel above the street, and a former Pope prayed in it. After a quick stop, I then walked back to the shuttle stop which was a long way from where I was. Like, over thirty minutes. In the freezing wind and rain. Once I made it to the stop I was a few minutes early and found a place to grab some hot chocolate and sit for a minute.

On the ride back I think I even fell asleep I was so exhausted. I worked on planning for a little while and then fell asleep relatively early. But still not early enough considering my 6:00am wake-up time. I have really enjoyed all of my time in the Baltic States (Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania) and I cannot recommend them enough. Each one is very unique, very welcoming, part of the EU (honestly I didn’t know this), and they feel like charming European countries without the scores of tourists. I had a great time in each despite the cold weather and would love to visit again in the future!

52 countries down, 144 to go.

To learn more about Vilnius Grand Resort click here.

Country #51 - Estonia

The Old Town

I woke up relatively early today especially after how long it took me to fall asleep last night. I was able to eat a good, big breakfast at Go Hotel Shnelli before setting out for the day in Tallinn, Estonia. I started the day by walking straight uphill to the Toompea area of Tallinn. Toompea is elevated over the rest of the Old Town and is home to some beautiful churches and views. I went to St. Mary’s Cathedral first. It was unique because the inside was covered with different coats of arms. The climb to the top was closed due to the rain, but that was okay with me because it helped me to decide which church to climb up (you can also climb up St. Olaf’s church which is what I did).

I then made my way to Alexander Nevsky Cathedral which is more of a traditional Russian style church, and afterwards, I made my way to the two viewing platforms on Toompea, Patkuli and Kohtuotsa. By the time I got to Kohtuotsa I was pretty freezing as the viewpoint attracted a lot of wind.

I then my way down into the heart of the Old Town. The entire Old Town, including Toompea, is stunning and it is amazing that it survived WWII so well. I walked first to Town Hall Square which includes, obviously, Town Hall. The Town Hall is a castle-like structure and the rest of the buildings on the square are unique and colorful. From there I made my way to St. Olaf’s Church where I had a workout climbing to the top of the tower. It was really steep and once on top it was now really windy and pouring rain. However, the climb was totally worth it for the views out of Tallinn!

After arriving back on the ground (completely out of breath) and visiting the actual St. Olaf’s Church I made my way to Viru Square and Gate via St. Catherine’s passage. St. Catherine’s passage is a cute, but tiny, street that runs through a few of the Old Town streets. My walk led me past a really cool design store where I somehow only managed to make one purchase (Scandinavian branded design stores are a weakness). New luggage tag in tow (yes I know I’m lame but it is a really cool tag) I walked past the Viru Gate and into Viru Square. I had planned on taking the tram to the Kumu Art Museum but there were no ticket machines in sight. Instead, I called an Uber because they are so cheap here. Like ten minutes is under $5 it’s so nice. Also weirdly enough my driver was American which was pretty bizarre.

I arrived at Kumu and was immediately impressed with the modern building’s design. The first floor of Kumu featured the Estonian national collection, the second floor features works since WWI, and the final floor was an exhibit on travel which I, of course, found cool. It took me about two hours to do the entire museum but I really enjoyed my time there and definitely recommend it. By the time that I left it was raining even harder and the sun had started to go down. I took a quick walk through Kadroig Park right outside and then called an Uber to take me to

Balti Jaama Turg, a new market that my hotel had recommended. By the time I got there, though, nothing was open so I walked around the Telliskivi area my driver had recommended to a cute area where the restaurants were formed completely of boxcars and other train cars. It was really unique and I ended up finding a crepe and waffles place called Margot. I had a Cadbury Creme Egg hot chocolate, a yummy pizza crepe, and a half order of a caramel butterscotch waffle served with ice cream that was so good.

After dinner, I called my mom on the short walk back to Go Hotel Shnelli. I am so tired after a full day on little sleep and I’m going to try and get to sleep early before an early morning so I can make the most out of my day in Vilnius, Lithuania!

51 countries down, 145 to go.

To learn more about Go Hotel Shnelli click here.