Day 24: “Je me souviens” – Auschwitz Concentration Camp

(Him: Charlie)

I never really understood why Quebec has “Je me souviens” as the province’s motto, until today. At Auschwitz, “Je me souviens” is the reason why this camp still exists and is being preserved. Built by the Nazi Germany, Auschwitz was the world’s largest concentration and extermination camp, in which over 1 million people perished during WWII.

The visit to Auschwitz was intense and depressing. Not only the museum shows prisoner’s inhumane living and working environment, it also displayed mountains of victim’s suitcases, shoes and even hair. No words can describe how terrible the crime was committed by Nazi Germany. When the evidence is right here in front of you, the impact of the war becomes so real, and you would realize that nothing is worth destroying lives.

I have a proposition, maybe the next UN Security Council meeting should be held at Auschwitz, and invitation should specifically be extended to people such as Bashar al-Assad, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and Benjamin Netanyahu. I bet these people have sat in their office for so long that they forget the cruelty of wars!

We shall remember that WWII started only because one group thought they were better than others.

"The one who does not remember history is bound to live through it again" – George Santayana.

Day 23: Intense history reminder in Krakow, Poland

(Him: Charlie)

As it turned out, Krakow is a bit of a letdown, architecture-wise. It is supposed to have the most beautiful structures in Poland, but I am disappointed. Compared to the other cities we went to, buildings in Krakow are not as colourful and are more run-down. However, the visit to Krakow is still very worth it, notfor buildings, but for intense history. Krakow was one of the epic centres of war crime during WWII. Not only there was Jewish ghetto, lots of torture and murders, the infamous Auschwitz is just 40km outside of Krakow. Subsequent to the war, the once shriving Jewish community in Krakow became a ghost town. And at the latest check, there are only 97 Jewish remaining.

On the second day in Krakow, we visited Schindler’s Factory. Famed by Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List, which was shot in Krakow, the factory is a major tourist attraction (maybe tourist attraction isn’t the right word, but you know what I mean). Today, the factory has been turned into a museum that showcases the tragic history of Krakow during WWII.

For those who have seen the movie, unfortunately, I have to ruin the heroic story depicted by Steven Spielberg. The fact is, Schindler was a rather sly business man, who took advantage of the war and cheap labour to make money. Although his factory was sheltering the Jewish people, he wasn’t the one who prepared the list (at least not single handedly). However, nonetheless, he still played a critical role in saving the 1100 Jews.

Day 21: We like Poland!

(Him: Charlie)

After 3 cities in Poland (Warsaw, Gdansk, and Wroclaw), we can comfortably say that we are really enjoying Poland! This country has so much to offer – from deep history for those who wish to look back in time, to a variety of landscape for outdoorsy enthusiasts, to great food for those with savory taste buds. These days, Poland is also busy prepping for Euro 2012 (you can even feel the excitement in the air!!).

I cannot stress enough that the buildings in all three cities we’ve been are gorgeous. I just don’t get tired looking at those colourful buildings. Although I don’t recognize the architectural significance (I can’t even tell the difference between Baroque, Classical and Renaissance styles), I can still appreciate the delicate ornaments and sculptures on those buildings.

As we approach Krakow on a bus, we are looking forward to another satisfying stay at this former capital of Poland. It is supposed to have the most amazing architectural buildings in the whole Poland.

Interesting fact of Vodka:

Polish claimed that Vodka was first made in Poland, while the Russians also make the claim. During the communist period, Vodka was pretty much the only drink available, and it led to a lot of social problems. In the post-communist era, beer and wine became the elegant and social drinks. However, Vodka is making a comeback these days, as Polish once embrace Vodka and feel proud about this traditional drink.

Day 19: Expectation exceeded in Warsaw, Poland

(Him: Charlie)

After 4 days in Gdansk, a laid-back coastal town of Poland, we are on the move again. We are heading south to Wroclaw on the southwest. Over the last 4 days, we were essentially catching our breaths and recovering from the exhausting traveling in the first two weeks of the trip. At the peak of the frenzy, we traversed through 6 cities in 48 hrs. St. Petersburg – Helsinki – Tallinn – Riga – Vilnius, and then Warsaw. At that point, we were so thirst of some relaxation at the coast that we zipped through Warsaw in less than 24 hrs.

Poland is a country with profound history, which for the most part, is quite depressing. It is a country literally emerged from debris and ashes. A lot of cities were almost completely destroyed during WW II. Take Warsaw as an example, the city was over 80% flattened by both Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia, so almost everything in its old town was reconstructed.

Before we got to Warsaw, we didn’t think highly about it. People keep saying Warsaw is not as pretty as Krakow and that it is not worth visiting. However, I don’t think that’s true. Jo and I actually enjoyed Warsaw. I am particularly amazed by the reconstruction of its old town. All the buildings so really nicely rebuilt and the sculptures and ornaments were so meticulously and carefully crafted that they can easily rival Riga and Tallinn. In fact, the reconstruction was so impressive that UNESCO designed the old town as a historical site!! Ironically, the reconstruction was credited to the communist regime. If a democratic government was in charge after the war, the rebuilt efforts may not have been so dedicated.

************************************************************************************** In Warsaw, the Uprising Museum is not to be missed. The museum was founded to commemorate the patriotic Polish fighters during WWII against Germany (they had a brief uprising against German occupation, but it ended tragically of course). For visitors like us, it was a history review of how brutal the ruthless the war was. The museum details the sequence of tragic events that Poland suffered, including the double occupation from German and Russia. On the other hand, the museum also showed us how dirty and despicable that the Soviet government was at the time. Yes, the Soviet Government! I used to think Germany was the culprit of Poland’s devastation, but as it turned out, Soviet Russia played a major role too! Here’s the part of history that I didn’t know before:

After Germany invaded Austria, before it started invading Poland, the Soviet and German governments held a secret meeting and reached a pact over the occupation of Poland. Shortly after Germany started attacking Poland from the west, the Soviet followed on the east side and bombed Warsaw. Subsequent to that, Poland was divided in two halves. Later on in the war, Russia joined the rest of the world to fight the Nazis. Towards the tail end of the war, Roosevelt, Churchill and Stallin had a meeting to discuss the world order in the post-war era (without participation from other European countries of course!). Due to an advantageous position that the Russian had, it eventually overtook most of Eastern Europe under its wing, which later became the Eastern Bloc. Poor Poland, when they welcomed Red Army in January 1945 for the liberation, little did they know that the “liberation” eventually lasted well over four decades!!

Day 15: My Gadgets And Me

(Her: Joanna)

Things have drastically changed from my first backpacking trip in 2005, my trip to South America in 2008 and this trip in 2012. It hits me when I saw almost everyone in the common area doing their thing with a laptop or a smartphone at Oki Doki Hostel in Warsaw. No one talk to each other! “Back in the days” in 2005, hostels don’t usually have internet for you to use for free or even purchase, let alone Wi-Fi. If you were in the common room, there’s no better thing to do than chatting with people from different places and hang out. Nowadays, whenever people have down time, instead, they pull out their computer or smartphone, which unintentionally send out a signal of “do not talk to me”. I’m equally guilty of doing the same thing during this trip.

On a backpacking trip, if you choose to stay at a hostel, you should take advantage of meeting different people instead of hiding behind your computer or smartphone screen that you can do at home anyways.
The world has changed so much in this short 7 years. Has the advancement of technologies really improve how well we communicate? At work or school (the serious stuff), I think it has but for personal communication, I’m not so sure. I’m sure a lot of folks my age or younger have BBM, What’s App, MSN or SMS their friends or roommates or folks in the same room as them instead of opening our mouth to talk to them.

Just before I left, I got this anxiety of life without a cell phone and DATA (serious anxiety...lol). Thought I would get a break from my gadget leech for 6 months without my iPhone and Blackberry but no! Charlie and I are on the computer or WiFi with our iPod all the time during our down time. We seems to forget how to move on with our life with out gadgets. Sadly, I can't get away from this addiction.

Day 12: St. Petersburg - Mixed feeling towards Russians

(Him: Charlie)

Just wrapped up a 3-day excursion to St. Petersburg, Russia. The palaces, churches, and monuments in St. Petersburg are truly magnificent, especially Peterhof! I heard about the amazing architectures in the city, but I was still blown away when seeing these marvelous structures in real life.

However, what really caught my attention was the people. I think any travelers who visited St. Petersburg (or maybe the entire Russia) would agree that people seem to be quite rude! Sorry, there is no better way to say this. From metro ticket office, to bus far collector, to book store cashier, all of these people, who carry image of their nation, seemingly could not care less about tourists (or maybe other Russian fellows as well). Inevitably, topics among backpackers at the hostel usually evolve around poor attitude of Russians and the bizarre experience in pubic space. A classic example goes like this:

[As I checked out post cards at the book store]

Charlie: do you have any stamps?

Casher: “uh ah” [with head shaking and eyes looking down]

Charlie: where can I find stamps then?

Cashier: Post office… [impatient face started to show, but I was the only customer at the counter]

I was afraid she would eat me alive if I kept on asking. I guess I would have to figure out where stamps are myself. Damn! How hard is it to be a little more helpful?!? To that question, most backpackers (and even people from the neighbouring Baltic states) would say, “Well, it’s Russia.” Man, it is ashamed that a country carries this unfriendly image – it’s really unwelcoming!

So is this really what Russians are like? I may agree if I didn’t know any local Russian, but meeting Svetlana changed my perception.

Thanks to my co-worker, Marina K-K, Joanna and I had the honour to meet Svetlana (aka Sveta/sweety) in St. Petersburg. Sveta is a real sweetie. This proud St. Petersburgist insisted that we should pack 6 days of activities in our 3-day stay, personally guided us in the leg-breaking 4-hour Hermitage visit, and took us on a scenic bike ride, in which we coasted along river banks and among gorgeous palaces and churches. Without Sveta’s hospitality, my experience in St. Petersburg would not have been so nice.

Like other Russian, Sveta doesn’t smile very easily and often seems to be worried about something. However, this cannot conceal her kindness. Her warm hearted hospitality has melted our hearts and we are convinced that Russians are not like what they appear to be!

Travel info: For those who are interested in visiting St. Petersburg, you have the choices of a 72-hour visa-free visit if you take the ferry (St. Peters Line) from Helsinki, Finland or a 24-hour visa free visit if you take the ferry from Tallinn, Estonia. Personally, a 24-hour visit to St. Petersburg is far from enough because there are too much to see in the City.

Day 9: My brief (5-hr) experience in Helsinki

(Him: Charlie)

"Oh man! Helsinki is freezing! It was sunny and warm a couple hours ago in Tallinn! I’m glad that we are only here for a few hours!"

My first impression of Helsinki is, let’s say, not so impressive. Things are ridiculously pricy and the weather is brutally cold (in May!).

However, by the second hour of our visit in Helsinki, we began to scratch the surface. We began to get to know this funky, vibrant and creative city!

First off, Helsinki is the World Design Capital of 2012. The City organized a lot of activities that showcase designs in many aspects. In general, creativity is ubiquitous – even the McDonald’s restaurant incorporates specially decorated interior and funky looking furnitures.

("Shopping carts" and "aisles" of linen products in a small H&M store.)

Perhaps because of the World Design Capital designation, Helsinki is featured in the May issue of Monocle. After reading the interview with Helsinki’s mayor, I have become deeply moved by the high quality of life in this City. According to Mayor Jussi Pajunen, his tenure in the last 7 years has focused on making Helsinki “fund and functional”. Fun and functional indeed… From World Design Capital to creating an air transit hub linking the world (in fact, Helsinki airport guarantees 35 min transit time), every achievement points towards a bright and prosperous city. The mayor emphasizes the strength of Helsinki is that everyone wants to get involved in making the City a better place. Hard to believe, but it’s not hard to find out why. When the City encourages residents to host dinners for members in the community, instead of worrying about feeding less fortunate people below the poverty line, and when the City is on track to building one sauna facility for every 3 households, instead of worrying about meeting affordable housing needs, the City is on to something great! If the residents are well taken care of, naturally, they would care for others and a strong sense of community would start to form.

To me, this high quality of life makes Helsinki one of the most livable cities, leaving the rest of world catching from behind.

Day 8: Detour to Tallinn, Estonia

(Him: Charlie)

After the first stop in Eastern Europe, we decided to deviate from our original plan already. The visit in the next few days fully exemplifies the essence of backpacking – instead of traveling south, we took a detour up north to Estonia. We came here because we decided visit St. Petersburg via Helsinki, Finland. This would allow us to stay there for 3 days without needing a visa.

So Estonia it is!! I’ve always wanted to visit Estonia, for a peculiar reason – the name sounds pretty. In fact, there are two places in the world that I’d visit just for their names. One is Estonia, and the other is Buenos Aires. The visit to Buenos Aires was very satisfying, so let’s see what Estonia has to offer.

The bus journey from Riga to Tallinn is 4.5 hrs. About 1.5 hrs into the ride, we entered Estonia. Before this trip, I knew nothing about Estonia. My wild guess would be it’s the same as other Baltic states such as Latvia and Lithuania. However, this was later proven wrong. My first impression upon entering Estonia was it’s a very neat country. Roads and streets are well maintained. There are even bike lanes. The Soviet influence here is not as apparent as in Latvia. The buildings and the City design actually feel like north Europe. One noticeable difference though – Estonians are not as tall as Latvians.

Like Riga, Tallinn also has a famous tourist attraction – it’s old town, a medieval city surrounded by stone walls and towers. Although the old town is impressive, it is so concentrated with medieval buildings that it has become a giant tourist trap. I’d say, other than a few residential buildings and some diplomatic offices, the majority of the area is occupied by restaurants and souvenir shops.

As I was about to regret the visit in Tallinn (due to overly touristy areas), a walking tour changed my mind. The walking tour was guided by a 22-year-old Estonian girl, Hailey, who was very energetic and funny. During the over 2-hour tour, I learned a lot about Estonia, from history, to politics, to economy.

As it turned out, throughout the history of Estonia, it has always been ruled by one of its neighbouring superpowers, Russia, Germany, Sweden, and even Lithuania. The only independence they gained was a brief period 1918-1939, and the last 21 years, since the collapse of the Soviet Union. It’s pathetic that they just celebrated their longest independence ever!

Estonia’s history is quite sad and despair because, to many people and countries, sovereignty is paramount. However, Hailey didn’t seem to upset when speaking about this seemingly shameful history. Instead, she would emphasize on Estonians are better in dancing and singing rather than fighting! Her cheerful attitude and the constant sarcasm about Estonian politics suddenly garnered my utmost respect, not just to her, but the entire Estonia – the country has gone through tough times for as far as you can look back in tie, but in order to survive, they must have been extremely optimistic and adaptive. This is sad, but it nonetheless deserves my full respect!

Another fact I’ve learned about Estonia is that it actually associates itself closer to Finland than the other Baltic states, thanks to a long, good standing relationship with Finland. Today, Estonia is a shriving country. Its residents are enjoying a fast pace growth in economy, especially in the IT industry (did you know Skype started up first in Tallinn, and it still has an enviable headquarter here?)

Day 7: Our starting point – Riga, Latvia.

(Him: Charlie)

Without knowing anything about Latvia previously, I had no expectation from this country. We picked here as the starting point because it happens to be a north point of Eastern Europe.

The only two things I knew about Latvia are that it’s a former Soviet Union country and it has beautiful architectures. These two pieces of knowledge were quickly verified as we travelled from the airport to the City’s old town. Concrete block buildings from the Soviet era dotted the City’s outskirt landscape. Many of these buildings are either on the verge of crumbling or even abandoned. As we entered the old town area, the first thing we noticed was the cobbled streets. And then a feast of stunningly beautiful Baroque style structures came into our eyes. Most of the buildings have been carefully preserved or restored. The ornaments or sculptures on the building exterior are so delicately crafted that, even with high expectations, I still kept wandering the streets in awe.

The 3-day stay in Riga was quite enjoyable. The quality of life in Riga can be summed up by the very high HDI by UNDP. From what I can see, the City/country has well established infrastructures, roads, water systems, public transportation, etc. People are well educated - most people speak both Latvian and Russian, while many can speak or understand English.

For those who are planning to visit Latvia, I would add one more activity to your to-do list – people watching. Latvians are quite often slim, tall, and well dressed. I’m not talking just about girls, but guys too. It’s a treat walking down the streets that are filled with eye candies. At that point, keeping your head up and focusing on architectures could become a chore!

Other notable observations:

·         Latvian Lats is among the most expensive currencies in the world - $1CAD can only exchange 0.5Ls. However, things are not too expensive compared to Canada or western Europe.

Day 3: Slowing settling in to the traveling mode

(Him: Charlie)
Started the day by setting a slow pace for today – had dim sum in Brooklyn, read newspaper, strolled in the neighbourhood, and bought some grocery as well. Jo said this is like retirement life/activities. Well, so retirement = being less sensible to time? I guess when people work a whole life dreaming for a better retirement life, they’d better understand what it really is. Maybe "retirement" is just a mental state, and can be enjoyed once in a while even before the age 65?

To save money, we decided to take a long public transit journey to JFK. The bus-then-subway route took us almost 1.5 hours to get there, but it was quite an enjoyable ride on a Sunday afternoon. We have to admire NYC’s enormous size – we didn’t even make it out of Brooklyn for the entire journey! I bet suburb people rarely visit Manhattan much because it’s just takes too long to get there.

The journey from JFK to Riga had a transit point in Dusseldorf. The carrier for the first leg was Air Berlin. I mentioned this airline because I am very impressed with their service!

Starting from its logo - red/white lower case letter “airberlin” carries a subtle and practical tone, kind of matches the German style. In contrary to airlines in North America, the service provided by Air Berlin was impeccable. First off, it’s been a long while since I received an air travel kit, but sure enough, one was waiting for me right in my seat. Pleasant surprise… Secondly, throughout the 8-hour journey, in addition to hot meals, they served plenty of fluid, including complimentary alcoholic drinks. They even handed out hot towels in the morning to freshen up sleepy passengers. Another thing that I noticed was the ambient temperature in the cabin, which is a stark contrast to other airlines that give you hyperthermia.

Well fed, well hydrated, and well rested customers = happy customers. Unfortunately, these seemingly basic customer requirements are quite often unfulfilled among North American airliners, and quality customer service is even elusive at best. The irony is that all the “cost cutting” measures didn’t really give them a financial advantage. Time to rethink business focus?

Day 2: Highline Park – An abandoned track that elevates New York

(Him: Charlie)


Although I am here mostly to see my cousin, there is one attraction in New York that I am determined to visit the Highline Park – an elevated railway track that was abandoned several decades ago and subsequently revitalized and transformed by local community. The area along the track is now a splendid urban park filled with flowers and plants. Today, this abandoned track elevates the life of New Yorkers, both literally and figuratively. The park is so elegantly designed that adjacent buildings start to opening up terraces that oversee the park. Highline Park

I heard about this park about a year ago from Monocle and was impressed by the successful transformation. Now that I am seeing it with my own eyes, I can feel the serenity the park brings to this bustling metropolitan. In a way, it is ironic that the railway track, which used to symbolize the industrial and commercial life in the area, is now offering a piece of mind-soothing nature to the local residents!

Day 1: Toronto to New York Bus Journey

(Him: Charlie) 


The day is here even before I’m ready! In the last 48 hours, I was running around like a chicken with the head cut off. Everything was done too last minute (I have to admit)! In hindsight, I should have left work 1 day earlier. Oh well… Let the adventure begin!

Contrary to most people think, our trip actually starts with a bus journey – we are taking a bus from Toronto to New York because A, I want to visit my cousin before I leave North America, B, the flight from New York is substantially cheaper than that from TO. Due to my unpleasant experience with Mega Bus last year, I decided to take Greyhound this time. However, it wasn’t any better. First there was delay due to overbooking and then there was no wifi onboard. I used to think bus journeys in North America should be better than South America, but after these two trips, I have learned not to expect anything high from our bus companies. Another interesting encounter was border crossing. I would strongly advice against the idea of taking buses to Buffalo for cheap flights, unless you have a ton of time to kill. Firstly, buses, just like other vehicles, are subject to severe delay at the border, depending on traffic. Secondly, since the entire bus must be offloaded to go through custom, just like at the airport, the wait time is hardly predictable. OK, enough complaints on Day 1.

Prologue

Here it is. Charlie and Joanna are on the move! We are making the biggest lift shift in recent years – not only will we take a leap of faith and try to develop our new careers in Hong Kong, but we will also kick that off with a Euro-Asia backpacking trip. What would the life be like with 6-month on the road and unknown number of years in Hong Kong? We don’t know, but we shall find out. Life could be rough and stressful (that’s actually true wherever we are), but we also believe that life should be rewarding at the same time! The irony is that we enjoy not knowing what lies ahead of us, until we explore it. “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” — Mark Twain Starting on May 4, 2012, we will start our backpacking journey, through eastern Europe, Middle East, Central Asia, and then finally China and Hong Kong. Let a different life begin!