For a small little country at the bottom of the world we sure know how to make our mark in the big smoke. For most people in New Zealand Waitangi day is a nothing more than a day off. Being away from your country however seems to make the event somewhat more significant. To celebrate this historic day generations of young kiwi's have established the now famous Waitangi Day Circle Line Pub Crawl.
In short the Waitangi Day Circle Line Pub Crawl takes all that is kiwi and throws it onto an underground train line. At every stop there is a mass exodus of kiwi's dressed in everything you can imagine who charge straight to the nearest watering whole. Some simple rules like any good court session include no hanging on or sitting down in the train and no catching other train lines that run along the same track, just the circle line.
For those who have never been to London believe me when I say that you would be shocked at how many Kiwi's are here and it seems that every single one takes part. After about five stops the train stations that are built for the staggering nine million people in London all close due to the shear number of party hard kiwi's. Once at Parliment square everybody has had a full day pub crawl and the shirts come off for the traditional Haka. It is quite a spectacle to see so many friends so far from home!!!!!!
Julie and I have been keeping extremely busy. After shaking of the chaos of Waitangi day weekend we went abroad for the first of many Europe missions to come this year. We decided to go somewhere cheap and crazy and Lithuania fitted the bill nicely. This is not a typical winter destination as it is located in Eastern Europe in the Baltics boardering Poland, Estoia, Latvia and Russia therefore extremely cold at this time of year. Thats were the crazy bit came in.
We landed in Villnius where we were greeted with -10 celcius combined with a wind that burnt any bare skin. We tried to catch the bus from the airport but it was possibly too late at night and definately too cold so we jumped in a taxi. I am pretty sure we got ripped of but it was one of those very few times that being thrifty, as I am well known for, went straight out the window.
We woke early to a pristine day, put on all the clothes we owned and headed out into the freezing cold. There were no tourists, no locals and not even any stray dogs. For Europe this is pretty unreal. We trudged through the ice and snow to catch a bus to a small town 40 mins out of Vilnius called Trakai. I can see why people in Scandanavian and Baltic countries are so good at rally driving. It didn't even seem like there way any thick ice and snow was on the road.
Trakai was amazing with its derilict charm. Located on a small peninslar between two frozen lakes and surrounded by a pine forest. At the end of the peninsular was an amazing castle. The town was run down and the local accomodation looked very poor considering the winter temperature, but it was located in such an amazing place.
Back in Vilnius that night we headed out for a local feed of pigs ears and chicken stomachs mmmm mmmmmmmmm, certainly tastier than it sounds. Unfortunately I didnt come across the local delicacy of beaver stew but think the above was enough interesting meat to keep me happy.
The next day was warmer as it was snowing a blizard. We charged around the small quaint cobbled stoned city which is a listed world heritage site until we found a Russian market. Despite the blizard it was business as usual. The powder snow buried most of the merchanise but the market was still packed with locals buying produce. I managed to find a perfect fur hat to keep my cold ears warm, most people that wear them in Lithuania have an average age of 80 but I am convinced I can start a trend.
In the small amount of time we had we were also able to visit the old KGB prison which dated back to the Soviet rule over Lithuania. The place was horrible. The smell of death filled the air. I am not sure whether this was all in our heads or not but walking into a small room that was used as a gas chamber made us feel physically sick. More than a thousand people were killed in the prison for defiance of the comunist Soviet rule of the time.
We now have one weekend off until we catch a train to Belgium for some more action packed good times.
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