Swedish Nerd Vs. The World

The capitals of Austria and Slovakia are so close to each other that it took just an hour to get from Vienna to Bratislava by bus when my friend Erik and I had been visiting Austria for a couple of days. Now it was time to enjoy the poor side of the border and it's weird how two cities that are so close to each other can be like night and day. I just hoped our visit wouldn't turn out as bad as in the horror movie Hostel which is said to take place in Slovakia. We arrived in the autumn and it was raining down on the gray foundation that is the worn down suburbs of Bratislava. My first impression was horrible and I wished we had stayed in the grand and beautiful Vienna instead. Then I quickly understood that it was a big difference between the suburbs of Bratislava where the bus station was located and the city center. When we arrived at the boat hotel on the river Danube that floats through the city, it felt like coming home for me. I had seen the river floating through many...

My birthday was coming up so I thought, why not go to a poor country like Lithuania and then to Ukraine, where there's a war going on, to celebrate it with an old friend that I almost don't see anymore since we live in separate parts of Sweden? I don't think my brain function as others but hey my friend Erik was up for it and so we paid some cents (plus taxes) to fly to Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. We left a rainy day in Malmö, Sweden for a damn hot summer's day in Vilnius and the first thing I noticed was the perfect panorama view from the hotel over the city. I was excited to explore the city even though I had little hope for it, and I took Erik for a guided tour since I knew some places I wanted to see. First we went to the statue of the American artist Frank Zappa, and the first thing that comes to mind is why is there a statue of him in Lithuania? The Lithuanians were desperate to mark the end of communism and statues of people like Lenin and Ma...