Notre petit periple debute bien. On a bien pris nos marques dans le rythme du voyage. Nous sommes clairement hors saison : les musees et auberges de jeunesse sont quasi deserts !
La surprise du chef: Lundi soir, Marion et moi nous avons joue un bon petit moment aux petites voitures avec Kuba, le fils de nos hotes couchsurfers a Varsovie. Inattendu !
La lecon de la semaine: Voyager a travers l'Europe de l Est pour pas cher ? Reponse : Lux Express. Ceci n'est pas une pub, juste notre experience. Pour moins de 20 euros pour Berlin-Varsovie ou Varsovie-Vilnius, on s attendait a un confort minimal. On a en fait trouve un bus quasi neuf, de larges sieges inclinables, un ecran avec films, musique, suivi GPS. Un bon plan donc !
Le highlight meteo: il semblerait que l'Europe de l'Est vive un hiver historique : toujours pas de neige et des temperatures entre +5 et 10 degres depuis debut janvier, soit plus de 10 degres au-dessus des normales...
Jb
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Since our first stop, we have been well into the old sovietic sphere of influence. After Berlin, our exploration of Warsaw and Vilnius led us invariably to these 50 years of Russian domination. It is especially the case in Warsaw that has been almost totally wiped out during WWII, and thus reconstructed for a large part under the communist regime. This morning, our visit of the Museum of genocide victims in Vilnius taught us about the terrifying story of Lithuania, invaded by Russia, then Germany and Russia again. The basement of the museum, an old KGB jail for political prisoners, is really scary...
Our little trip is on good tracks. We are now used to the "traveler's pace". January is definitely low season here: museums and youth hostels are almost empty!
Big surprise: On Monday night, we found ourselves playing with cars with our new little friend, Kuba, who was the 4-year old son of our couch-surfing hosts in Warsaw. Totally unexpected!
Big lesson: Travelling across Eastern Europe on a shoestring? The answer is: Lux Express. This is no ad, simply our experience. For less than 20 euros Berlin-Warsaw or Warsaw-Vilnius, we really expected minimal service. In fact, the busses were almost new, seats are large and comfortable, and we had a screen to watch movies, listen to music and track the bus real-time. Who'd want more?
Weather highlight: It seems that Eastern Europe is experiencing a record-breaking winter: still no snow and temps between +5 and +10 degrees C since early January, i.e. more than 10 degrees above average...
Jb