18 | Sorry for the Unplanned Hiatus

Hello all! I apologize for going off the grid for two weeks, but I'm back! Macy arrived in Warsaw on April 27 for a fun weekend visit. We had a good time seeing all of the main tourist-y sites and enjoying the greenery in the city. She left on April 30, and then I left for Vilnius, Lithuania on May 2.

This was my first true solo trip of the semester (and perhaps the only one), and I really enjoyed the freedom to make my own decisions and not feel pressured to do anything from eating out for every meal to going to sites I don't care about. Also, Riga and Vilnius are fairly small (as compared to Paris or London), so I was really able to see the main sites in one day and then just enjoy the city the second. I also took a day trip to Sigulda, Latvia, which was beautiful! Taking the train from Riga to Sigulda is the easiest way to be able to enter Gauja National Park.

I took a cable car across the river valley to the opposite mountain.

Then got to walk down a billion wooden stairs to the valley floor.

I then had to walk through the forest and back up the mountain to the old town fortress.

So, I got home from my trip on Monday, May 7 and immediately had to get back to my schoolwork, because I had a presentation the next day (it was finished don't worry). I would say that my partner and I pretty much killed it, though, because usually the professor asks a bunch of random and mildly snarky questions, but she didn't with us.

After my full day of classes on Tuesday and my morning Wednesday class, the most anticipated thing of the semester happened. Mr. Eli Lind arrived in Warsaw, Poland! After 22 hours of plane rides and layovers, he is finally here. So far when we have eaten out, we have eaten Asian food twice and Middle Eastern once. Today is the day for Polish food! We will finally see if Eli has been making culturally accurate bigos. Also, he plans to try Flaczki (a Polish stomach soup) and cold borscht. So apparently we are just having different stews and soups all day. I hope to sneak some pierogi between all of the liquid meals.
Last night we went out to hot pot with some friends!

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