Category: Travel

We arrived with Jake to our apartment in Medellin on Tuesday 8^th of May at about 2am. The first thing we did was going for a short walk with our host to get to know the neighbourhood and to find a place with food which was 5 min walk away. During that short walk we were stopped suddenly by two patrols of Police – two men were on the motorbike and the other 2 came by car. They searched us thoroughly first and started to ask questions later. I can say we had a proper welcome. In total we had about 500 dollars in cash on us, so on the way back the patrol in a car decided to stop us and search for something again (illegal substances..?)

On Tuesday evening I met with a girl and took Jake with me to have some food together. Later I invited her to our apartment. 3 of us talked and danced salsa, but later when I wanted to stay with her alone Jake got upset. He went to the bar downstairs for a couple of drinks and met a nice waitress there while waiting for me. To cheer him up a little 3 of us went to a salsa club. On the way back home 2 of us met 3 girls which were ‘for sale’ and I negotiated price 120 000 COP (about $40) for 3 of them to make Jake happy, but he said he is too drunk and wants to go to sleep.  OK.

Next day, on Wednesday, I arranged a dinner for us at 4pm with two Colombian women. One was a food quality controller & the other a teacher at the university. I wanted to meet local people to get to know more about the place which we were visiting and this time I managed to invite two girls, so Jake didn’t feel lonely. Unfortunately after a dinner and some good time together one needed to leave back to work, so just the teacher stayed. Jake was ‘lonely’ again, but still 3 of us went to play bowling which was really cool.  In the end 2 of us came back home and the teacher went to prepare herself for the next day at the university. Then Jake told me that he wants to go out, get drunk, meet a girl in the club and that he doesn’t want to go for dinners any more. He seemed frustrated, so OK. Let’s get drunk and go to the club and drink more there. We had already in our apartment one big bottle of Aguardiente and another big bottle of rum ‘Medellin 8’ which were local specials. We drank a lot of rum while listening to the music and talking. We left our apartment about 1:30am and by the time we managed to finish one drink in a local bar it was already closing and as we were already drunk random things begun to happen.

I told Jake the name of the place which we should go to, but he started to talk to 2 Israeli boys at the table next to us. They said they go to Palmaia, so he wanted to go together. They needed though to go back to the apartment before going there, so I asked a girl which was working in the bar if it’s a good place and she said we can go with her there, she has got her taxi driver which is coming and she left only for a moment upstairs to get her stuff. In the same moment the bouncer approached us telling we need to leave as they are closed. We went out and it was raining, so we stood next to the door under the little roof like the most of people who were left there. Jake suggested going home to pick up more money for the night. I told him we have absolutely enough and we shouldn’t walk in that rain. In that moment 3 other girls approached us offering us a drink, they had 3 glasses and a bottle of rum. I hesitantly took a small sip and asked Jake to take care about me as I wasn’t sure what was inside the drink. They were going to the same club as Jake wanted, so we went together as their taxi driver was coming. As soon as we entered the club they ordered a bottle of rum to our table and they waiter came to me asking to pay for it. I didn’t pay as they even didn’t ask me what I want to drink. I told Jake what happened and that I was leaving the table, because I don’t like it. When I came back to him he was still with them by the other table and a bottle of alcohol was there ready for them. I looked at him, he just said – it’s ok. He looked happy, so I told him again to don’t drink with them and left to dance and meet other people. At some point while dancing with a girl I left her to buy a drink for myself and while walking some English girl told me – mate, are you doing that on purpose? You know that ‘the girl’ is a man?. At this point I realized that it’s about time to go home. I told Jake that we go and he took 3 girls with whom we came with. I told him I am super drunk. He said to the taxi driver the exact address of our apartment (normally we say only the neighbourhood), so he stopped almost directly in front of our place of course taking the small round trip to get there. When we get of the taxi I asked Jake again if he’s ok, because I knew I may fall asleep soon. He just looked at me, but didn’t answer, so I slapped his face to hear an answer ‘yeah’. He looked like a zombie a bit, but he was walking straight, so I was just thinking we’re drunk. Before we entered the building I told them to open their bags to check if they don’t have any arms. They did as asked. I went upstairs to clean an apartment a bit and mainly to hide my friend’s laptop which cost $1500. One of them wanted to help me, but I pushed her outside and did it alone. I couldn’t leave my travel buddy outside, so I let them come in after a short moment. When we sat down one started to open our cupboard. I didn’t know if Jake told her to do that, but something was wrong. I was very drunk, so I asked Jake for his mobile and WhatsApp of our host and wrote him to take care about our apartment as we have guests. Actually I don’t know to who I’ve sent a message, because I didn’t have his number in my phone, so needed to trust Jake that he gave me the correct phone number. Jake was sitting in the bed, later went to the kitchen, then came back, so I was thinking that he is ok as I was fucked, so was difficult for me to control the situation. They offered me our orange juice to drink, but I still didn’t trust drinks they made. I refused. Two of them lied down in my bed with the purpose to sleep, so I lied down too. As I expected it just took a few moments for me to fall asleep. I remember that one of them stood up and was trying to pour an orange juice from her mouth to mine. I closed my mouth as I didn’t want it, but after she tried to do that twice I fell asleep instantly. I woke up in the morning. Jake was sleeping in the other bed and of course all our electronic equipment, cash from the pockets and cards were gone, they took even a big bottle of Aguardiente and rum Medellin 8. I wasn’t surprised, because of that so many times I told Jake to don’t drink with them. He fully woke up after about 35 hours, so the next day in the evening. He didn’t remember anything…

Moral of the story: if you want to feel safe you need to take care about yourself. You can’t count on others to think for you.

My plane was delayed almost an hour, so I arrived late. It was about 9pm at Chopin airport. I made a call to my gilfriend, but a my friends knew I’m coming to Warsaw they started to call me and insist I come to them. Finally I told them I’ll come late as I wanted to finish the conversation on the phone, so some of them said they won’t be able to meet, because they know me and are aware that it would take a long time before I finish and arrive to the centre. Continue reading “Warszawa, one evening with friends” →

The most beautiful days of this year. I spent them with Naya. We talked, laughed, cooked, slept, etc. I haven’t been smiling and laughing so much like during those days for a long time. That girl is a big smile factory. I love to spend time with her, though sometimes we don’t get on very well… then storm begins. Continue reading “Granada, next two days” →

The plane arrived very late, but I still managed to use the metro which runs until 1am what my friend told me. Two changes of lines were necessary , but finally I arrived without disruptions and with help of people I found a street which was only two crossroads away from metro station. I’ve heard the music of the guitar and people singing and laughing above, so I knew I’m in the right place. They were having a party! Continue reading “Madrid, Spain, short visit” →

Amsterdam is a very popular city in Europe because of its vivid life. Here is a great mixture of people with various backgrounds living together. Amsterdam, but not only, is one of the most popular places where Polish people decide to work too. For a long time this place was on my list places to visit, but as its weather i similar to English I constantly postponed my trip in time.

Finally with a small help of my acquaintance, who I haven’t seen for about 7 years, I started to plan and organize the trip. She recommended me that place – she lives in Holland – and I made her promise that when I come we’ll try to meet. Now I’m on a plane to Brussels Charleroi from where I will get to Amsterdam.

After arrival I noticed many military people walking around and I was a bit lost in the place where all names of places were in a strangely written language. I went outside to get some fresh air and look around as it was a sunny day. When I tried to reenter the building I was told that only passengers are allowed to pass!! I was cut off of the information desk and Internet in some completely new place:/

Luckily I managed to convince the security guards with big arms to let me pass. I organized my trip by train and set off. First nice thing was that taxi drivers were collecting people and organizing group transport to the Charleroi train station which cost less than a bus ride 🙂

Lithuania is another country that I didn’t plan to go to. However there was an opportunity and in my opinion opportunities are to be used. My friend Samil needed to go to Kaunas to do some documents and offered me to go with him. I was reluctant to that idea as Lithuania in my imagination was nothing special, so I didn’t buy a ticket straight away with him and I wasn’t sure which day h is going.

One Monday afternoon I was walking through the city and I met him on his way back home. It was about 4pm in the afternoon, so he finished early that day. He said he is going to travel to Kaunas at 8pm and would be cool if I join him. I like to travel and see new places, see how people live in different countries, admire architecture, so it didn’t take long to convince me. I just needed to check my budget, before making final decision.

As I had some spare funds, the ticket have been bought and At 8pm we were travelling to Warsaw by train where was waiting for us bus to go directly to Kaunas. I didn’t sleep as I fancied to watch a movie.

We arrived in early hours of the day, so we had a walk. After that we went to the dormitory where lived friend of Samil, his ex roommate. We chilled there and went to do some bureaucracy work. Papers, photos, signatures and finally all has been done.

for a dinner we went to an Italian restaurant. We had a soup, I’ve forgotten its name, but it was a red tomato soup with pieces of chicken breast in it. I liked a lot pizza. Especially the dough which I tried for the first time prepared that way. I think it was Neapolitan way. It was thick and fluffy and tasty!

After some more of walking it was time to have a nap. When we woke up we went to the shopping centre which was the main place of amusement for local people. I tried some more of local food bought in the supermarket which was shown to me by my friend who studied in this city and it was time to go back.

It was only one day in Kaunas, but I liked it. The city is very simple and is located at the  confluence of the two largest Lithuanian rivers, the Nemunas and the Neris. It doesn’t have so many bridges. All buildings are build in old fashioned style, but they are well preserved and create pleasant environment. While there I felt like I traveled in time 🙂

It was just before Easter when I realized I hadn’t planned nothing for Easter time and I know that in Siedlce is not much to do in that period of time. Everyone in Poland prepares food which will be eaten later with the family. There is always a lot o food. More than anyone is able to eat, but an Easter is a day when a big part of the family sits by a big table for few hours eating and very often drinking until the evening.

I wasn’t going to spend my day like that. As I had some spare time on hand I wanted to do something unusual. I asked my friend who is on Erasmus in Warsaw what is she going to do those days. She shared with me some of her ideas and as I liked the cost of travel to Budapest and as I’ve wanted to see that city since the day I rejected an opportunity to work there there wasn’t much to think about. I decided to buy my ticket regardless of that if my friend is going or not. I would be there 🙂

This time I traveled from Warsaw with company called PolskiBUS. It is very popular among Polish people. The bus took me directly from Warsaw to Budapest. Unfortunately the trip was very long which I expected. What I didn’t expect was an almost 2h delay and that there on’t be music or movies on board. Ecolines spoiled me. haha

I planned a very short stay there, so directly after my arrival I headed to some place with food and drinks 🙂 I arrived about 11pm, so the night had already started. I headed next to some clubs which were not far from the centre. They were a typical tourist attraction. The places were typically English. At least half of the people there were from England. It was ok and I stayed till the morning, but I’m sure somewhere in that city are places that have more locals than tourists. I will need to visit them next time.

Next day was to relax and see some of the city. I contacted with my friend Gabor who had an idea to go to baths which he discovered recently in his neighbourhood. I couldn’t say NO on my relax day. We spent there a couple of hours with some other friend of his. Thermal baths outdoors and indoors made magic to our bodies. In between we visited saunas. Finnish sauna and steam sauna were our favourites.

Thank’s to courtesy of Gabor I had an opportunity to have a tasty dinner in some local place. We went to his place to have some Palinka after that. It was a very good afternoon. There were still some sightseeing to do, so we headed to the centre and then on the other side of the river. Here in Budapest they have a Danube river separating the city in two. One side is called Buda and the other Pest. Actually it became a single city on 17th of November 1873 with the unification of Buda and Óbuda on the west bank, with Pest on the east bank.

From the hill we were able to see a beautiful panorama of the city. I was happy I arrived here and it was great that my friend had some time to spend with me. Thanks to that I was able to get to know more about the Budapest. It was good to see him too. Next place where we would be able to meet would be probably Ibiza.

My friend went to celebrate his name day with his girlfriend and I had few hours more to spend in the city. I loved it bridges too. I find it very relaxing to have a stroll through the bridge. There are 12 of them in Budapest with the most famous the Chain Bridge. I liked a lot Liberty Bridge.