old riga

some additions when Riga was part of the USSR, not Latvia.

Stalin's Birthday Cake looks pretty similar to the Culture Institute in Warsaw. Andy and I paid our 2 lat a piece and were personally led by an old Latvian man (who spoke no English but claimed to love America, although he only knew about George Bush) up several elevators and staircases to the outdoor platform. With the doormat shoved in the door to keep it open, he told us to close the door when we were done and left us alone (mind you, this was in broken Russian and German with Andy interpreting). The wind off the river was freezing, but there was an amazing view and we were completely alone.

HUGE market spilling out of 4 hangars. Much like in communist times, everyone sold the same things: cheap clothes, dense dark bread (this stuff is crazy, it will last for 3 weeks in the open), honey, pastries, and Baltic amber.

Train station just south of the Old Town.

Not sure what this building was, but it was certainly hideous.

Typical Social Realist statue in front of the Museum of the Occupation (in an old Communist government building).


Two communist strong holds in a predominantly art nouveau neighborhood.

riga, latvia

riga was much more interesting than tallinn.









1: an old university, stepped steeples like this were also really popular in poland. 2: new and old in old town. 3: house of the blackheads. 4: most squares in the old town now have outdoor cafes. 5: i squealed so loudly when i saw this dog that he lunged at me. it was love at first sight, but the owner didn't get it and took the dog away from me. 6: orthodox. 7: squat. 8: my little pony in the gardens at the western border of the old town. 9: i saw a few wooden horses like this while driving through latvia and lithuania, but i couldn't figure out their significance. they reminded me of deborah butterfield's horse sculptures though.

tallinn, estonia

the only way to make a trip to the baltics affordable was to fly from warsaw to helsinki and take a ferry over to tallinn, then work our way back down to poland from there. what we hadn't planned on was just how expensive finland was. to save some money, we decided to skip the hostel and instead spent the night on benches outside the ferry terminal.

it wasn't all that bad because the sun never fully set (this picture was probably taken around 3 am.) but it was damn cold. and there was an annoying seagull pushing around an empty beer can for about two hours.

first day in tallinn. the old town is 'picturesque' but not very exciting if you've seen the castle thing before.

still light out at midnight.


all the baltic countries had different personalities; estonia was very scandinavian.

a days worth of food and another lesson in frugality.

we should have been looking for the controversial soviet statue, but sadly, it was in the suburbs, inaccessible to us. so instead, we slept in parks.

starting up again

it's been awhile. the end of our trip was very hectic. we ended up in new york without internet (but with nick and kayt, who are better anyway) for two weeks, and the following month in the bay area was a lost cause as far as accomplishing anything. then andy had to prepare for stanford and i had to prepare for san diego while my parents prepared the house to move. but i've finally settled into my new apartment in hillcrest, and my neighbor's open wireless network has a strong connection, so i promise to stop abandoning this blog and to post the rest of the photos from europe and new york soon. promise.

Warszawa, Poland

after the ghetto uprising and the warsaw uprising, the city was practically leveled. elsewhere in europe, this may have been a great opportunity to re-build a modern, attractive capital; in poland, hideous cemet-block housing was the solution.










1: the culture forum (aka stalin's birthday cake) 2: communist statue (similar to one in budapest's statue park) 3: andy and the pink reindeer 4: puzzling crosswalks 5/6: bridge across the vistula river 7: textile factory converted into artist workshops, galleries, and a cafe-bar with boiler left intact 8/9: modern mall beside the central train station 10: escalators in the mall

Oświęcim -I and -II

Everyone is familiar with Auschwitz-I (commonly referred to as just Auschwitz) and Auschwitz-II (known as Birkenau). We took a day out from our Krakow adventures to pay respect (?) and witness the horror. The exhibits were appropriately disturbing, but as always the experience was marred by disrespectful, rude tourists who simply point and click (in prohibited areas, mind you) without giving the subject matter (a roof full of human hair or the burners connected to the gas chambers, for example) a moments contemplation. You can't help but wonder if they are really learning anything from the visit.

"Work Makes Free" at the entrance of Auschwitz.

Guard House.

Barracks.

Partially reconstructed Crematoria.

Entrance to Birkenau (Auschwitz-II).

Train tracks leading to the platform where incoming prisoners were divided into potential workers and those to be killed immediately.

Dumping grounds for ashes from the crematoria.

Kraków, Poland

Krakow seemed like a minor stop-off to visit the larger Warsaw and the Auschwitz concentration camp. Coming from Prague, we didn't expect much from Krakow, but the city was surprisingly lively and entertaining.

Just south of the old town was Wawel Castle, which was rather mundane except for the spires.


Krakow takes pride in its Catholic tradition: nuns still wear the habit and Pope John Paul II was from Krakow. It never occurred to me before that his apology for the Church's role in the Holocaust may have been influenced by his vicinity to Auschwitz and the obvious impact among Krakow's Jewish population.

In the old Jewish district of Kazimierz only 6,000 of the 60-80,000 survived. After a long period of neglect during Communism, the area has been revived by the young and hip: relaxed bars, trendy clubs, and ethno-fusion restaurants. Someone went around the neighborhood drawing ghosts in chalk, it is the only clue of Kazimierz' history.

Another remnant in Kazimierz: an old synagogue.

Krakow's old town is surrounded by an expansive park where the moat and city wall used to be. We managed to borrow bikes for free from our hostel and spent the day exploring the Platz and outer areas of the city.

For lunch we went to a Milk Bar. After the fall of communism, local governments subsidize these old city cafeterias to provide inexpensive food for workers in all the major cities of Poland.

We were hoping for something along the lines of A Clockwork Orange... it ended up being more like a cafeteria. But the food was fresh and made on-site every day, and although Polish food is traditionally greasy and heavy, it tasted soooo good. The bike ride after wasn't so fun.


We didn't stop to take photos often, but the outer areas of Krakow were quite interesting.

Andy trying to fix the rickety old bikes. The hostel workers were amazed we made it back alive with the bikes still intact; but they were free, we weren't complainin'.