Warsaw to Vilnius (9/14/19)
Travel day get pumped yeehaw! The international train network stops at Warsaw so further travel to the north or east will be by bus, which was my method for getting to Vilnius, Lithuania. I left an hour early this morning to make sure I found my pickup spot in time, which was definitely the right choice as it took me 45 minutes, two maps, the station help desk, and a fellow passenger to navigate my way to a small side street near the main station and down two stops. Hopefully my future bus travel will go smoother, but I made it and that’s what matters!
I talked briefly with a guy named Alex who was in Warsaw on business from southern China. He was very interested in my travel plans for China and encouraged me to spend time in the rural areas, but warned I might have trouble finding people who speak English, which I figure is part of the adventure! Once the bus pulled out he went to sleep and I spent the next eight hours killing time. I got carsick around hour six which made for a rather unpleasant time near the end but I survived. The scenery was pretty much exclusively forests of tall, skinny evergreens and farmland. Which reminded me a lot of northern Wisconsin, just with more signs in Russian. (I assume its Russian from the alphabet but I don’t actually know).
After arriving in Vilnius and stumbling off the bus I found my way to my hostel downtown. Its got some pretty bad bathrooms that smell but its not terrible all in all, especially for 10 euros a night. They even have a little standing piano on the top floor that I twiddled around on for a little bit. It’s totally out of tune and riddled with dead keys, but that just makes it more fun to play! A guy came up while I was plinking away and we chatted about appreciating music and encouraging new players not to be afraid of making mistakes. He left with a complement on my sight reading skills - ouch! I wasn’t sight reading I’m just way out of practice and can’t actually see the keys since its hella dark in the room lol. I finished off my remaining walnut cream-cheese pasta from last night and passed out early from a long day of sitting still on a bus.
