Tartu is the second biggest town in Estonia. And Estonia is one of the Baltic States and is located between Finland, Russia and Latvia. Tartu is basically a nice student town with 100k inhabitants. I'm not one of those 100k. The students, all 20k (or something) are extra. There's no sea nor ocean nearby, no great mountains, even the weather is like everywhere else in Estonia (shit autumn weather 12months a year). Doesn't sound like much, does it? But it does - if a town doesn't have any o... read more

I remember the first time I heard about United States of America. I was just couple of years old, most common travel locations I was aware of were Finland and Germany. Me being Estonian myself, I guess that explains it. Besides, when you're just a little child, you don't really know too many countries anyhow. And when I did discover the States, it wasn't because of anything related to travel, rather I had just found out I have an aunt there. I actually knew about Germany for the exact same reaso... read more

Traveling is an essential part of life. If you think it isn't, it usually means you haven't really traveled at all and most likely have no idea what you are talking about. If you've traveled too much already, that could explain it, at least a bit. So far I have traveled in Europe - mainly in France, a bit in Italy, Spain, Portugal, Germany...and so on. But I have thought of going in other directions as well. Mexico is one country I'd really love to go to. No big cities, just some small nice ... read more

I’ll always look back upon my time in Rio fondly. We met some brilliant people and lived, at least for a short while, in a hedonistic haze of cocktail consumption, frenzied football matches and trips up a hill to see the big guy. Then there was that fateful night that made me want to stay forever (or at least until the tourist visa expired), the night of the Lapa Street Party. We had been happy to stay put in the hostel bar for our first few nights in Rio. Our Hostel of choice was Mellow Yel... read more

So I was in my motel room in Amsterdam, Watching Forest Gump with Dutch subtitles... ....and I swear... when someone called Forest Gump a "loser," the word that popped up in the subtitle was........... "shlemiel." Yes........due to the large Jewish presence here since the 1400s.......Yiddish words are part of Dutch. Yesterday I saw a restaurant sign saying "restaurant Schimuck." I saw a boat with a star of David on it and asked the guy if they were Jewish..... He said no.... read more

I spent 5 weeks in Israel for my 8th trip there. My brother has lived there since 1986. I would like to report that Israelis are understandably in a "siege mentality." Their farmers' livestock are being stolen by the Arabs and Bedouins, and Israeli law does not allow them to defend themselves against the theft. Israelis cant wear Jewish symbols or head coverings WITHIN Israel in certain areas without Harassment or physical attack in their own country, by Arabs. If Israel atte... read more

Lots of jokes about camels and their arab owners and the camels peckers. One joke starts like this.......... ...........an arab is riding his camel and the camel stops. The arab says "why won't you walk?" The camel says........"Not until you give me a blow job. So the arab blows him and the camel walks. 10 minutes later the camel stops. The arab asks why he wont walk The camel demands another blow job. The arab complies. Then the listener to the joke says........"s... read more

Now this was hilarious.................I am sitting at an outdoor cafe in Holon/ Avi's place and I meet these old codger dudes from Azerbaijan.....a muslim country. Where? Try Turkey and go to the south east............ One guy is about 65....has half his teeth. Tanned and hardly speaks Hebrew though he has been in Israel for 5 years. The other has alcohol tremors and had half his teeth which are dentures......... The third is about 35 and served in the Israeli army and speaks Hebre... read more

Today I ran out of Anti-diarrhoea pills.............now I am up shit's creek without a paddle. When we were in the desert with Moses for 40 years, diarrhoea was so easy to deal with.....you just squatted and "shitted". Nobody gave a shit really. And peaking of shit..........this Israeli dude smoked a bong in the same room with my suitcase.......... ..............now I am worried that my suitcase will cause the drug sniffing dogs to go ballistic........... In Israel.......it may be... read more

Friday morning with Charlie in the old city of Jerusalem. Charlie and I drove from his town, Kfar Adumim, to the old city this morning, Friday. Walked in the Jaffa gate to the Jewish quarter. I found the "rivka" jewellery store with the same nice Jewish gentleman with Kipah. He's several generations in Jerusalem. Bought things for family and friends. Walked to the western wall. Went inside where about 200 men were praying. Photos were allowed although a chassid complained... read more

My great contribution to the Jewish State is............ ..........when I pee........I don't flush..........to save water. Perhaps this will help save Israel..................and will hasten the coming of the Messiah.... read more

When I was at the museum of the ghetto fighters, a group of female soldiers took a tour. Two female sergeants stood apart while the privates sat separately. Some wore sandals.......others, shoes. Nothing fancy for obvious reasons. I saw perhaps some irony in being in Israel and seeing sabra female soldiers who had no experience of Diaspora anti-semitism / diaspora mentality/ fears and norms.....trying to understand the ghetto experience and constant fears of the ghetto life. Perhap... read more

There is a more chaotic, take the law into your own hands here in Israel. I recall getting my camera stolen by the teen next door in an apartment. I called my Israel friend Avi and told him that i knew the kid in the next apartment had taken it. He said not to call the police but simply to knock on the door and when they open the door, go inside and look for it. That would not fly in the US. In the USA your home is your castle. Your property is sacro-sanct. Anyone who forces entr... read more

I went to the first museum in the world related to the holocaust....the museum of the ghetto resistance fighters. Memorable story by a polish Jew. At age 13 her mother, during German occupation...took her to a polish family and got her work there. The family asked her to take the cows to pasture but she had no experience with cows and was afraid of them but she managed with the help of a boy in the fields. She was asked by the family if she was Jewish. She acted insulted and claim... read more

Joys and sorrows of Israel. Israel spends about 20% of its GNP on defence. USA spends about 3 to 5%. No choice. At the Canadian-Israeli Sport Center in Metula, north Israel, I went downstairs to the bowling area. It was a riot to watch these religious Israeli kids, somewith long earlocks...payesses...trying to bowl. They were totally untaught. Holding the ball wrong....bowling it wrong etc. Sometimes 3 of them would be at the line goofing off together. At times, I offered... read more

What is that? I ask again, what the heck was that? I was just sitting in my favorite cafeteria called Le Colbert, it's on Rue Belgique, when a man with a little boy passed by. "They are christians, they don't like you" - that's what the man said to the little boy when they were just passing me. Obviously they must have been muslims. The father, uncle, friend or whoever the man was to the boy must have been a muslim extremist...or just a moron. I really don't know what to say about him, other th... read more

More things you don't see in the USA that you see in Israel........... a guy shopping in the supermarket with a pistol in his belt. guys hitch hiking with machine guns/ M-16s dogs walking in the city........alone people yelling at cops and gesturing aggressively *********************************************************************************** The Land of Milk and Honey.................is giving me gas. *******************************************************************************... read more

Why? I guess the main thing is....or at least one of the main things is the fact that I'm travelling alone and not really looking for company. I actually like it by myself. Sure, sometimes meeting new people is great, can't argue with that, but when you're travelling alone, it gives you something. Can't even say what, but it does give you something. And I like beer. Even though while at home, I don't drink alone, except for some casual beers next do lunch...or instead of it, while travelling ... read more

Its' 8pm, why am I in this pub, Akathor again? Is it fairly "cheap" beer for another hour? Are the nice looking waitresses that attract me? Is it the non-horrible-sounding live music? Or is it the crowd in the hundred tables around me that makes me wanna come back here? Because the place is so big, the service isn't always the fastest, but at the same time, usually nothing to complain about either. You don't get the attention might want to get and what you do get in smaller bar and pubs. It'... read more

It's 3 hours later and I'm back in Nice. It's not that Antibes wasn't nice, it really was, and the beach ni Juan le Pins was great, it even had sand. But the warmth is really starting to get to me, I could use a few rainy days, and I'd be back to my normal mode. After I had arrived in Antibes, I decided to go to the beach. Well, half an hour later I was in a beach, except that it wasn't the beach of Antibes but rather the beach of Juan le Pins. But that's okay, from what I've heard, this is ... read more

So there I was, I had just finished my morning ritual - big coffee in a small cafeteria with a great bartender, walking towards the hotel (well, 20 meters away) when I saw the hotel manager. He asked me what I was going to do today - I said no idea. He suggested I'd go to Antibes, a town nearby on the coast with allegedly beautiful beaches. He shared my opinion (taken from air and one beer near the train station during heavy rain couple of years ago) on Cannes - nice city but ... not good enough... read more

Without knowing what to do really, I decided to walk around the Nice again, found a 4.50 half a litre bear in the port area, enjoyed the sun near the Nice port and did nothing. I guess that's what a real vacation should look like for a normal person. Drank some beer again, can't do without it, talked to the hotel manager I'm in - Hotel Darcy...the 40 euro not so good hotel. But it just got better, for me anyway. Not the room, or anything else like that. But, as I'm working on my vacation as ... read more

Ice hockey: Israeli team with Canadians and Americans and Canadian refs, and a Russian announcer..................now I am really confused. So I make this beautiful trip from Carmiel in the Nortwest of Israel to Metula, the farthest north place in Israel........ I find this cute bed and breakfast right at the border (I drove along the barbed wire fence). A guest, American lady who made Aliya with her 11 year old son from Manhattan, tells me that the Jewish World Championship Ice Hockey... read more

At least that's what they say. And they are right. If you do ask, the answer can be either yes or no. If you do not ask, the answer by default is no. Ask even if the potential for failure is 99%...if you ask, you still have a better chance of getting the answer "yes" than without asking. And if they say no, it's normal. I asked for a wireless password of this bar, Akathor, from my waitress, he said probably not, but I can ask the boss who's currently in the bar. I went to the bar about 15 mi... read more

It's 7pm, I'm sitting near the beach in a bar called Akathor, drinking happy hour beer (EUR 3.70 for half a litre, ain't bad considering the normal prices) and huh, beer is good, again. I did go to the beach as intended, the whole 45 minutes, just can't stay doing nothing for so long time at once. Even moving around without any purpose is better for me, so ... usually I do. Went shopping, just to get some cheap clean clothes. I did. Now I'm in the happy hour bar, Akathor, been here couple ... read more

Here I am, back in Nice, last night had to go for a 60 euro not so good hotel. It's high season and my kind of travelling isn't the easiest. Right now it's 11am, I have got myself another hotel for 42.50...it's located near the bars I found wireless so I'll see if I have it in my room as well later, would be great, haven't seen the room yet, it's available in about 2 hours. I decided to finally go to the beach today, bought myself a small mattress for 2 euros. If you see prices like 15 euros ... read more

When I sat down in the bus which wasn't supposed to go to St. Raphael but rather some place called Les Arcs I kind of thought it must be a place nearby, a place near the coast. I wasn't right. Or well, 30 minute drive between the mountains from the coast into the mainland isn't too far, yes, but it's still a totally different place. At least there was a train station so I wasn't too worried. However, I was out of cigarettes and I didn't find any tobacco shops in the train station...so I deci... read more

So there I was, with great intentions to stay the night in Saint-maximine, sunbath a bit and enjoy myself in any other way possible, but it disn't really work out like that. The first small disapointment was the tourism office or actually their gift to me. I went there, asked for a map with hotels on it, and boy, did I get one. It was more of a small book. Lots of information about the hotels and so on, but the disapointing part came when I checked the prices....well, at first I thought it l... read more

Well, in all honesty, for most people but me, it really would be just a bit too fast. On Thursday I was in Milan, same night in Ventimiglia, next early morning (Friday) Nice, today St. Raphael and now Sainte-Maxime. That is pretty fast isn't it, you can't really see much during the time. But for me, it's perfect, that's the reason I don't like the travel packages, they usually expect me to stay put in one town. Not really for me, even though I should try that out some day as well. I like moving ... read more

I'm here, I actually sticked to my impulsive plan and arrived Sainte-Maxime like I had planned to. Well, yes, the plan was born about 5 hours ago, but still. Plan nevertheless. One point for me. So far the town looks nice...okay okay, I've only seen the small bus station and a bar I'm sitting in right now (and the 50 meters between the two) but looks good! Even though...I'm starting to remember that maybe this town didn't have sandy beaches either, but rather small rocks compared to nice's b... read more

So yesterday I was thinking of renting an apartment in Nice for a week or two and now I'm on a train towards St. Raphael in order to take a bus from there and go to Saint-Maxime. Nice is great, I really like the city, but I'm not terribly fond of the beach there, instead of sand they have a rocky beach area. So I was looking for some nice beaches nearby and found Antibes (quite near to Nice), Saint-Maxime, Le Lavandou, Hyeres. Ah yes, I also found a 65 euro plane ticket to Biarritz on 15... read more

I am writing from Carmiel, a newish town in the mountains 45 minutes east of Haifa. From my friend's balcony, I see an arab town and can hear the beautiful muslim call to prayer. If we were in Syria..........they would not allow a jewish call to prayer from loud speakers. I was reading the instructions for my friends anti-depressant medication. The instructions are in Hebrew, English and Arabic. Think about it................. It is standard for instructions and traffic signs t... read more

1) Israeli guy taking a lead on the sidewalk, about 3 feet from the curb. He faces away but pees none the less. I was driving by with avi driving and I said to the guy who peed.... "Sir, you can't pee like that on the sidewalk in America." I said it with a smile and he smiled back and kept walking. Avi laughed. 2) 2 handles/buttons on each toilet. One for pee and a little flush one for poop and a big flush..........only in Israel ! 3) Arguing with major use of hands. Talking ... read more

From the Land of Milk and Honey.......and acid reflux. So I see this arab guy, about 20, selling kites near my brother's neighbourhood in Kfar Adumim. I stop and say "Salam Aleikem." He asks me if I speak Arabic or Hebrew. I say Hebrew. I ask him how much the kites are. He says 80 shekels (20 bucks for the big one and 15 for the little one. We haggle. He tries to sell me both for a hundred. I end up offering $20 American cash for both. He accepts but wants 5 more sh... read more

I was just thinking what to do next or how long will my trip turn out to be. When you have skipped two nights then it really feels like you have been travelling for a week already..even though in theory it's just my second day. Considering my budget, which isn't the to great, and my spending power (which unfortunately is great) then I'll probably be around for another 7-10 days. But I'm thinking of renting an apartment for a week. It all depend on a price of course, but if I could get a nice stu... read more

I arrived in Nice around 6am and decided I'd try to find myself a hotel. I've been here before so I knew where to look. However, unfortunately, pretty much all hotels I checked were either full or way too expensive. Considering I hadn't slept for 48 hours, I really needed a sleep and a shower. Before I finally managed to find a hotel for myself, I managed to sit down in a already familiar bar and order couple of coffees. And what do you know - the first place I sat down in, the fourth wireless I... read more

I arrived in Ventimiglia (or French version VentiMille) 1.07am, last train to or from the station until 5am. So I had couple of hours there. Even though all the bars, cafes and shops were closed, there was a man in between the standing trains...selling snacks, drinks and beer. What a great idea! Of course I had one...and a few more. Fortunately I wasn't the only one waiting in the station, lots of sleeping people in there, even one father with his two children, seemed to be from USA. I was... read more

I walked around Milan the whole day, had couple of beers, couldn't really decide where to go or what to do next. The whole day I tried to check the train ticket machines but oh boy where there ques. Just terrible. And I thought I'd be polite enough not to spend half an hour searching for tickets, checking for prices, while others are waiting. And the lines in the trenitalia offices were even longer. And as a finally saw, I can't buy a ticket from Milan to Nice from the machine...so I did the nex... read more

I've always felt that Milan is just a city to travel through, I still believe that. The last hour I just walked around in hopes to find something I'd like to see..well, I didn't. Of course, I went in a random direction, then turned to some random direction and...well, now I'm just sitting down, drinking beer in a terrace of one bar called Carpe Diem (Catch the day). My next stop will probably be back to Milan Central Station where I'll try to decide where to go next. Don't really feel like stayi... read more

Here I am, in Riga (Latvia) airport. It's 5.21am and I arrived here more than half and hour ago. Why is it so that transportation arrives earlier than it should only when you don't really need it...or would rather prefer couple of hour delay? I guess that's where Murphy's laws pop in. While I was still waiting for the bus in Pärnu, after I had had couple of beers in my brother's place, I realized once again (yeah, I tend to discover some things way too often, again) that I really shouldn't ha... read more

I bought my plane ticket from Riga to Milan on Monday. Unfortunately I couldn't find any great buses to Riga, so even thought my plane leaves at 11.40am, I'll be hopping on a bus 2.20am, arriving in Riga around 3 hours later and then will have something like 6 hours of time to do nothing. Well...that's what you get if you buy as cheap flight tickets as possible. Ryanair - right now though, even their cheap wasn't too cheap. Cost me around 100 EUR. For Ryanair it's not cheap. But one way or an... read more

I have finally achieved the status of an accepted guy in Israel. I was called a "son of a bitch" yesterday. Now I can relax and feel at home here. I am proud of myself. I was driving around with my best buddy Avi Babyiof, with his work putting in closets in peoples homes and he delivered some materials to an industrial area.....someone he knew. These guys are all tough dudes...working class Israelis....macho fearless tough guys. So Avi got into an argument with the guys over a ... read more

Sitting with a bunch of Israelis, drinking coffee, beer and smoking cigarettes .... never been with so many people who smoke........shmucks. Just tonight I sat listening to a 90 minute conversation about the price of underwear. Some guy had some new undies in his car and people at the table were picking out undies and paying the guy 12 shekels (3 bucks) per undie. Only in Israel could you have a 90 minute discussion of the price of undies. All with chain smokers. In the backgrou... read more

The water level in Israel is extremely low. Most water comes from the sea of Galilea and it is below the "red line" now. They drew a new red line below it...which is crazy. Israelis are allowed to water their plants/outdoor irrigation/hose system 3 times per week from about 2am to 2:30 am. If the situation gets worse they may have to bring in water in barges from Turkey. Ironic that a Muslim country would help Israel through such a crisis.... read more

I am staying in a beautiful neighbourhood outside Jerusalem in the west bank. It is on the edge of a canyon like grand canyon, except smaller. To the north east is Jericho, which I can't go to because with Israeli license plates, I would be dragged out and killed. The desert air is pleasant. It is very hot during the day and the night breeze is cool. Stars appear so close that you can touch them.... read more

It's that time of year again. Decided to go travelling in July, gave away my apartment for the month and thought I'd start searching for good flight deals with some low cost airlines again. But I've got to admit, things doesn't seem as promising as I hoped they would be. Sure, I can find great last minute travel packages but I'm not much into them. I'd just like to buy a one way flight to some place with good weather, nice people and a sea or an ocean nearby. Tomorrow would be great. But... ... read more

Traveling is fun. Or interesting. Or a survival trip. By the end of the day, the way I see it, independent of what it is, as long as the destination and the trip isn’t boring, it’s always worthwhile. Each of us is different – our personalities are different, our interests, our way of living, expectations. I hate people saying you should do that or you shouldn’t do that. Usually, the only thing someone can say about most of the issues is how they feel about it or how it turned out for THEM. T... read more

Hmm, great title. Unfortunately I don’t really know about any myths. But I know about the impression Morocco might leave. It might leave the impression that everyone are using drugs, everyone are selling drugs, everyone are drinking, everyone are trying to rip you off, everyone are trying to sell you something, all Moroccan men are spending their days in the cafeterias in the streets, the police is corrupt, people are dirty, there’s disease everywhere, there’s lots of poor people and so on. W... read more

If you came to me and asked how were the prices in Morocco I’d need to answer „It depends”. I wouldn’t be lying and I wouldn’t be avoiding your question. Because it really does depend on a lot of factors. When in other just a bit more civilized countries there are usually just more expensive towns and less expensive towns, more expensive restaurants and less expensive restaurants then in Morocco there are more variables. If you’re from United States you can expect to pay a lot more for the simpl... read more

I don’t know if you should go to Morocco if you wanted to have a holiday full of different great food. But then again, I wouldn’t send you to any country under these circumstances – I’d just suggest you to go shopping in the supermarket. INTEXT But the food in Morocco is good. I won’t even talk about the salads and drinks you can get before you start eating your main course – in most cases they are good but I’d still go with French food instead. Some most traditional foods in Morocco are ... read more