Europe – White Rabbit Peaks

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Amsterdam. Netherlands

May 23, 2025

by wpRaghav Europe

Amsterdam. Netherlands

The city of Awe, Shock and Beauty all in one sentence. It will keep you coming back over and over again.

Captains Log Day 4 – 27/12/15 4:29pm. Royal Air Maroc.

Amsterdamage Proceedings have been complete. The captains 4th return to the city once again proved why it would not be his last (I love this place!). Reaching Holland on Christmas Day meant Santa had delivered and the Captain had been a very bad boy in the year

Like every new recruit Admiral Akbar has survived, although the culture shock has her still stuck in awe of the progressive nature of the country.

Due to the lost day in Qatar, the Captain and Admiral derived a pact, a treaty of sorts, and vowed to use every second of the time we had in Amsterdam. With that in mind upon our arrival into the country the exit procedures were swift and stealthy, like a fine tuned Dutch Ninja. We quickly left the airport, buying train tickets for a train that was in 180 seconds – we just made it, and with that started our approach to the city.

Like previous log entries, the marvels of the land can not be disclosed or described in these logs, due to many reasons, some of which the reader of this blog will know. However, this adult Disney land is full of mystery and intrigue that could be discussed with the captain over a bottle of Rum (in other words this is PG rated, the R18 version is available over a drink)

We arrived at our centrally located hotel – only to find the size of the room did not even permit both our large suitcases! Shoe box (or rather ClogBox) room, had a bed and a toilet with barely enough room to access either or. We quickly maneuvered our luggage, changed and moved. Our first few venues fall into the categories covered under the NDA therefore can not be disclosed in this forum, but shortly after and feeling slightly dizzy, we walked around admiring the beautiful architecture the city had to offer. Even after 4 times, this city still blows my mind – something that you would not see anywhere in the world. Speaking of which we also dropped into FEBO, a fast food chain in Holland that involved cooks cooking the foodies and placing it in a vending machine style wall – see other Amsterdam logs for more FEBO details.

Stumbling around ended when we decided it was time to go the Heineken experience. This worried the Admiral as she was not a beer fan. She had arrived the Bethlehem of it and she was about to see the Birth of beer on Christmas. Romantic aint it?
To the Admiral’s surprise, she not only enjoyed the experience but even had 2 glasses of the golden elixir (which she did not completely enjoy). The beer theme park was a Dutch Duffland without the Duff oompa loompas. We left with smiles resembling the Heineken smiling ‘e’s.

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With some Mega munchies we headed to the famous Frites shop (Chips with Mayo) walking (stumbling) along in the cold snowy city. the Admiral had the chance to taste the Frietz the captain had been raving about for a while – Chips in a Cone with Mayo – These Dutch know how to live.

Munching on our chips and stopping to have some “coffee” we walked to the to the Sex museum, only to find it was closed for Christmas – who would have thought.
Keeping with the theme and craving some more giggles and adventure we walked towards the Red light district. This is where the Admiral was left in awe (shocked) and the term window shopping had changed forever. We walked around viewing the goods, unfortunately the captain was not allowed to sample. It took some time for the Admiral to come to terms with what she had witnessed and a philosophical debate ensued… it was a long walk home…

Our last day in Amsterdam had begun, we had until 1 pm to venture before we had to head to the airport and not risk missing our flight again.
A quick breakfast of boiled eggs and cold meats and we were off – our mission was to view the Van Gogh museum before we left the country.

We got to the museum in high spirts and after a wait, which to the admiral seemed forever (was 10 minutes) we got in. the second time in the museum and the wow factor does not cease, we walked around for a while reading the story and admiring the “Brushstrokes” of our man VG. We started running late, this only resulted in the admiral running around like a squirrel and popping her head to see the paintings like a Meerkat, jumping in front of serious art enthusiasts “hey, hey look at this! its Potato eaters!”. With time running into minus 15 minutes we rushed to the station, grabbing some take aways and souvenirs.

Checking in, with enough time to spare we spent the last few hours reminiscing how beautiful the experience was, and vowing to return.

Getting ready to Morroc N Roll!

Amsterdam – The city of Awe, Shock and Beauty all in one sentence. It will keep you coming back over and over again.

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Prague. Czech Republic

May 23, 2025

by wpRaghav Europe

Prague. Czech Republic

City of silent beauty by day and blaring madness by night.

Captains Log Day 3 – 05/01/147:43pm. Location: Flight EZY3808.

The last 34 hours have been the most intense I have ever faced. I sit on the plane and try to recall the blur.. I struggle. I have resorted to using the photographic evidence that resides on my phone. I piece together the events that took place. As I do this my hand shakes, my teeth jitter and my heart skips a beat. I don’t know if it’s exhaustion, sleep deprivation the several litres of Czech energy drink coursing through my veins. A cocktail of the above is the means to my madness. It feels like days since I have slept and weeks have passed since I left home…

To summerise the points for my followers I will recap some of the events, skipping on the detail (as most of it is a blank to me) and try correlate the events with the images I post.

– Sight seeing on steroids as my Co-Captain and I clocked up 14 hours of walking. As we sit we can see our leg muscles twitch. Prague is the most beautiful city one could ever imagine. It’s magical.

– Places visited include:

The largest Castle in the world (72,000 mtrs sqrd) built in 870AD and is significantly larger than Mickies castle in Disneyland.

King Charles Bridge, Prague Old town, A Czech version of the eifel tower (1/5th of the size) but higher than the real one (figure that one out)

Climbing 306 steps to reach one of the highest points in Prague

Morror Maze

Wax house

Monastery with a brewery which uses a recipe that has not changed since 1237 AD .

Oldest operational hospital in the world – 1230AD

Einsteins favorite Cafe

– Avrill patting a horse

– Eating Trdlo (Google time)

– Meeting Orndrej our local hero that showed us how to play Czech style. #recommended

– Consuming pre-drinks with enough energy drinks to power an continent abs enough vodka to drown Putin.

– Clubbing with locals in a hidden club that you enter via a courtyard and go up 2 floors to get to.

– Dancing to the Sunrise

– Getting to the hotel 3 hours before check out.

– Typical Bonfires in the room ( this is becoming a tradition)

– Flooding the bathroom and ‘dampening’ up the room (Several puddles on the carpet)

– Fillng 16 kilos on cabin baggage and stealthily getting on the plane

– Finally a Side Note Co-captain believes his Skull is fractured.

An incident involving a lamp being thrown at his forehead had lead to some detrimental damage to his skull. More on this as news breaks….assuming it could be a painful bruise.

As this plane reaches the Amsterdam runway, we say goodbye to a beautiful, culturally enriched picturesque city that turns from Jekyll to Hyde as the sun sets and the Czech’s come out to play.

PRAGUE: City of silent beauty by day and blaring madness by night.

Amsterdam. Netherlands

May 23, 2025

by wpRaghav Europe

Amsterdam. Netherlands

The City lost in a Haze.

Captains Log Day 7 – 09/01/14 Location: Flight EZY4568.

AmsterDamage Procedure complete

I have survived a week – I don’t use the word ‘Survive’ in any loose sense. Amsterdam has not only lived up to the expectations it has managed to blow them away, like a puff of smoke leaving a corner coffee shop.

The city is chilled – where everyone seems not to care about the things that keep them up at night. This may be because any form of intoxication is readily available, think any drug in existence and you’ll find it at your local convenience outlet, beside the crisps and the milk. Cigarettes are considered contraband as opposed to the herbs.

Aside from the many things I cant remember – this city is the city where I had my first Beer– and that too at the root – The ‘Heineken’ Factory.

We visited la museum erotica – in English – the Sex Museum. A very interesting place and one that needs to been seen and experienced. We encountered some Dutch delicacies – including but not limited to some great food – the winner from the lot would be the Dutch Donughts – amazing!

And what AmsterDamage tour could be complete without walking down the Red light Strip – I have to admit some of the most beautiful girls in the world.

Eating and Drinking needs to be balanced out with some daily exercise – When the sun sets the tourists come out – they play hard. Once we completed the Laundry we hit the town -The 3 night bender has a heap of blanks. We both Captains sit here and discuss the events that occurred over the three night period and decide that due to the incriminating nature of these nights we can only disclose events on a case by case basis – but for the log these nights involved, pirate boarding a large boat, being told by locals to “Go Home Please”, Meeting the worlds most high Cat, filling the bathtub with vomit, having a argument with a hobo, Doing a Pub crawl with a bunch of Americans that will never Forget Australia – all for the wrong reasons. Being called a knt by the eftpos machine and Leigh being Robbed at Knife point – loosing his cards and his Money.

Amsterdam has been a crazy blur to which our stomach churns as we say goodbye.

AMSTERDAM: The City lost in a Haze.

Krakow. Poland

May 23, 2025

by wpRaghav Europe

Krakow. Poland

The city of lost smiles.

Captains Log Day 14 – 16/01/14 1:23pm. Location: District 6, Budapest.

Breaking routine posts I will start this log entry with details from the end of Krakow rather than the start.

I also write this log from a different location as my regular logs. In the past are traditionally written and posted from a higher altitude, generally typed up on the flight. The reason for this discrepancy was because I was incapitated on the flight. A 6:30 am flight and our last night in Krakow could only mean one thing – sleep was for the weak hearted.

Being extremely hungover we hit the bars one final time, one thing led to another, shots, vodka doubles, uni bars, stroking furry walls… We found ourselves at 3:30 AM throwing Maccerz nuggets at a police van, soft serve ice cream at the castle walls and a terrible tasting Cranberry pie at a tree. Paranoid we would miss our flight we quickly had our final Zapienkanka (Possibly the best Street food ever!) @david whilst directing a random to the binand encouraging him to pee in it, stating that’s how locals do it.

In our final hours we unleashed final havoc on the city.

Then headed to the Airport, in which our straight faces and red eyes were mistaken for exhaustion. We stumbled to the gate and took shifts of passing out. Finally we boarded and slept once again on the flight. Since this flight route to Budapest had a 1 hour layover we had to get off and change at Berlin. We awoke again blood shot eyed and dehydrated and boarded the next flight. I think my Co-Captain and I have come to the consensus that this journey was possibly the most tough and painful we had ever faced, simply due to us being very drunk and the lack of any sleep.

Now rewind a bit to the days that proceeded in Kraków.

This city for me resembled a ancient historical gem that had been chipped away at by atrocities over the years but still had a glimmer of shine, after a short time you can see how much the city has to offer, both historically and with the amazing student population that reside there.

Starting off with the Salt Mines my Co-Captain and I went 365 meters underground to visit one of the oldest operational Salt Mines in the world. The mine was mind blowing. Carvings and salt structures detailed and articulate, all cut out of salt blocks mined. The mines also housing the biggest underground church in the world…

The place was breathtaking.

We then visited possibly the most depressing places in the world the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. A place where 1.3 million people were executed. I don’t want to say too much about the gas chambers, crametoriams or the cell blocks since it unsettles me thinking about it. Walking through the environment and the details learnt from the tour can send chills down anyone’s back. The 6 hour tour we heard enough to make us physically sick. We returned home feeling somber and upset. This place is NOT for the weak hearted.

Following our tour we needed to change our moods and we headed out to join the Krawkow Crawl! To me I think this was one of the best crawls I have been to! This majorly has to do with the fact that the guys that run it are friends and just get really into it! A group of 3 guys just out having fun with randoms (sounds familiar?) The night was one of the best nights out. Might have to do with the shot platter, the epic 4 clubs we hit up, placing bets with randoms on who can make the bar tender smile, making some life long friends, and ending up on one of the clubs websites!

We leave Poland to head to the next student Party city Hungary we be hungry for your vodka. Ready or not Here we come!

KRAKOW: The city of lost smiles.

Berlin. Germany

May 23, 2025

by wpRaghav Europe

Berlin. Germany

The Broken City where the music never stops.

Captains Log Day 10 – 12/01/145:49pm. Location: Flight AB8900

A Mashup of events has started to occur, a continuum of things have happened, the timeline is starting to resemble Mums spaghetti. Sitting on a twin propeller plane once again I try use technology to aid me piece together Das Germany.

Berlin. The Wall. The History. The most Hardcore clubbing scene in the world.

This city is a contrast of Modern vs. Historical, Old vs New, Staple vs Random with an emphasis on how these can work synchronously. The architecture gives you a deep feeling of admiration and overwhelms, whilst the modern art and ‘funkiness’ of the city gives a Melbourne feel. What ties this all together is the dark history and a repressed past (at one point 70% of the city was non existent due to bombings) – a war torn country which has been cut deep every time it starts to heal.

Visiting attractions like the Brandenburg gate, the Bundstag and Alexanderplatz highlight the sheer size and amazing architecture of this city, at that point my Co-Captain pats another horse.

The historical eye openers such as Checkpoint Charlie gave a depressing look into the war time atrocities it endured.

Then Night falls and the echos of drum and bass music whistle through the entire city, although no long lines or flashy clubs can be seen. We are to later discover that this is due to pop up clubs, places that are something different by day and when the sun goes down they metamorphosis into something where wild things live.

At the top of this entertainment food chain is the Berghain. A 24 hour Club that is set up in a abandoned power station.

Known as one of the best clubs in Europe – This is a Gay Club where the most imaginative things can happen, whether it’s men requesting to watch you while you pee or the mysterious ‘Dark Rooms’ which we don’t speak about. Unfortunately/ fortunately we had been knocked back from this venue. We carried on heading to find Matrix Club, after a sneaky abs messy pre drink session, everything became game. Many friends from around the world were made. The club had 3 dance floors one of which are covered by a CoCaptains sea sickness. With a heap of missing scenes life went on. Painfully… After a blur of a night out it and a long recovery including sleeping till 5pm it was time to make the most of our final night. Shuddering we had our first few drinks. This the turns into a game of ‘let’s work down the cocktail list’ 12 cocktails later things are on heat again! What follows includes finding 2 random locals, making friends, following them to a random Salsa club, a bus ride 30 minutes out of the city… 4 Dance floors, double shots, dancing on broken glass, borderline punch-on and a heap of dancing later – 6 am struck n we decided to leave.. We head to a bakery and decide bread is the cure to a ailment we don’t yet know – a sneaky 6 am beer goes down like a bag full of stones. Check out was a mere 4 hours away… We crawled into bed. It was time to leave Berlin. Red eyes we cleaned the room. It was time to say goodbye to a city with so much and so much lost.

BERLIN: The Broken City where the music never stops.

Budapest. Hungary

May 23, 2025

by wpRaghav Europe

Budapest. Hungary

City of Bars, Baths and Battle scars.

Captains Log Day 20 – 20/01/14 7:43pm. Location: Senator Apartments Ukraine.

We have beaten Budapest, however not without the city winning a few battles. Nothing less could have been expected from a city which has the most number of bars per capita the world, one every 10 meters #alarmbells.

This city in Hungary will hold a special place in my memory and my heart, along side the hospital and the doctor that treated me for my collapsed lung. Being admitted to the hospital after I felt a tight chest, coughing, sore throat and blood in my phlegm. Not to worry, A few hours and a few doses of drugs I was off again hitting the bars – the resistance to the city continued.

This could of been the karmic revenge to the previous night in which my Co-Captain and I made an American on the pub crawl only make it to the second bar before passing out and vomiting (dropping vodka shots in his beers #neknomination), making the pubcrawl host pass out in his hallway, cutting the bartenders hand enough for it to be bandage and hanging out with a guy that looked like David Guetta -See if you can spot him.

In any case post hospital visit i was dosed up and ready to take on day 2 in Budapest. I was able to join my Co-Captain manage to break into Buda – Castle and explore the places that I am pretty sure were restricted. The amazing buildings did not cease to amaze with the Church in the rocks, Heros Square, Chain Bridge, Liberty statue and Fisherman’s bastion. We even made a pit stop to the local markets as both of us were fighting Scurvy and craving fruits.

Sights had been seen and apples had been eaten, now began the second rendezvous, as we followed up a hospital visit with a counter attack on the bars. We headed out again. This time local style, drinking Pelenca, a local Hungarian Fruit Brandy ranging from 40% to 70% alcohol content. We visited Ruin bars, these are huge bars set up in ruined buildings.

One of which was “Instant” a 26 room maze and 6 Dance floors. Soon we made random friends and together took on a local at fooseball and beat him which really seemed to enrage the local. Laughing and having shots I soon lost my Co-Captain, who was on his own mission to survive. We reunited in the room hours later, when he arrived and scared the living daylights out of me and reduced my life span by 5 years. We exchanged stories, including him meeting locals that took him to a shut bar and drank every Hungarian shot on the menu to celebrate the 30th Birthday of a friend. He explained this as he went and passed out in the wardrobe (we both are unclear on why he slept there – one of life’s mysteries).

Our last night in the mighty Budapest we went caught up with the new friends we had made and went to Budapest Trap. Basically a place where you get locked in a room with clues and we have 1 hour to escape, solving puzzles and piecing together clues! We escaped and had a blast.

Exausted we made our way to one of Budapests many fascinating Mineral baths. On the way in which we almost died by a guy testing out Tokyo drift style of driving and almost drifting over us, once the stress levels had been restored the baths were such a relaxing experience with 35 different mineral baths including, the outdoor baths temperatures at 37 degrees whilst the outside air temperature a mere 1 degrees. Also being the place where Hitler had bathed years ago. On the way to the baths we were able to make new Canadian and American friends including a guy named Mr Joe Murphy. Feeling rejuvenated we braced ourselves for our last battle before the flight. Thinking it will be an early night we headed out… Only to return 2 hours prior to checkout. A Nana nap n off to the Airport we went! Feeling the wounds of battle sting we boarded the flight, saying bye to a tough opponent.

BUDAPEST: City of Bars, Baths and Battle scars.

Kiev. Ukraine

May 22, 2025

by wpRaghav Europe

Kiev. Ukraine

The City Torn for Freedom.

Captains Log Day 24 – 24/01/14 5:34pm. Location: Conti hotel Vilunius.

Once again we challenged time and reached the airport 4 minutes before check in closed. I guess the act of rebellion we had witnessed on the streets over the few days settled in our hearts, or it could simply be the bottles of vodka we drank till 3am the night before.

Kiev felt like a forgotten city, in which when you walk the streets talk to you, the grandeur and the historical significance of the city yells messages that only your eyes can hear. The beauty lay in the churches and the castles of this magnificent place.

This is the first city my Co-Captain and I arrived which was covered in snow. The temperature dipped to minus 20 degrees during the night, safe to say our drinks were kept cold.

We arrived at possibly the worst time to visit. The streets filled with rioters and civil tensions at peak. My Co-Captain and I had to explore. We walked the streets which to our amazement were barricaded everywhere by protestors to keep the Military out. There were people everywhere, some on the barricade out posts, preparing food and supplies in tents and others simply chopping wood for fire, they all had tasks in this revolution. We walked to a point and stood there, after 5 minutes of standing there a local asked us where we were from, a conversation ensued, in the end we discovered we had been loitering at the area which was most prone to Military attack! It was then very kind of him to take us to where the actual fighting had been occurring.

At this point we saw things that resembled a movie, Molotov cocktails being thrown, fireworks being shot at police, raging citizens, fire, chanting and finally Tear Gas being unleashed. We carried on observing. I joined the chanting. We saw the home made catapult brought in, that thing was insane. It was fun and games till the Tear Gas hit, after coughing our lungs out we decided to head back home.

What surprised us was that aside from these crazy protests it was business as usual, you could walk the streets safely and go about your daily activities, people were even carrying batons and baseball bats in shopping centres. A fascinating sight. However a heap of places had been shut due to this. We carried on and bought rabbit skin hats (haters going to hate) and fit in with the locals.

The following day we visited one of the scariest places in the world. The Chernobyl Nuclear plant. Words can not describe the utter eeriness of this place. As you walked around the abandoned town (previously home to 50k people) you could see how lives were shattered when they had been given 2 hours to evacuate never to see the homes again.

We had several radiation checks throughout the tour to ensure our radiation levels were safe and asked not to touch anything (which I admittedly broke several times). My Co-Captain also decided is a good idea to pee on the plant which I didn’t disagree with. We left this place which now had urine on it, deeply disturbed and decided to head out later.

That day happened to be the first day the law was going in action. It was also the independence day. People were going crazy. 3 protesters have been shot and 2 NBC reporters have been shot at point blank range. It was crazy the streets were filled with people. Even the bus didn’t drop us home. Reception has told us not to go out anywhere.

As an executive decision and it being our last night in Ukraine we decided against common advice. My Co-Captain started getting ready and I went to get cash out. As I walked to the ATM I heard a gun shot. I hurried back to find out another protestor had been killed. Fearing death the executive decision was reconsidered and revised.

KIEV: The City Torn for Freedom

Vilnius. Lithuania

May 22, 2025

by wpRaghav Europe

Vilnius. Lithuania

The city of Mystery.

Captains Log Day 26 – 26/01/14 4:58pm. Location: 11 Miesnieku Iela Riga.

Vilunius. Im sure most people reading this would have no idea where Vilunius is. In fact as my Co-Captain and I disembarked our vessel we both looked at each other going ‘What the hell are we doing here?’ – Vilunius is the capital of Lithuania – once again the question still stands ‘What the hell are we doing here?’

Upon leaving the place a heap of that was answered as both my Co-Captain and I proceeded to wage another war with the country, and paint the town. The color I chose was a tinge of vomit.

Before I get into the fun details. This city was beautiful. A small town, overflowing with history. Picturesque with modern culture seeping in, visible through the primo restaurants across old town and branded stores with the likes of Burberry and Hugo, lining up the streets. The churches and the castle were breathtaking.

A fun fact: By the end of the fourteenth century, Lithuania was the largest country in Europe. Also beards freeze in minus 15 degrees with icicles forming shortly after.

After our Sight seeing and fact finding adventure it was time to execute plan: Vilunius nightlife.

We started Pre-Drinks shortly after. Watching fat pizza we have our last drinks, just then there is a knock on the door. It’s someone who has the wrong room, as typical Aussie hospitality goes its only reasonable to invite this parched young chap into the room for vodka. He sits n we chat n drink.

It’s not long after that the bottle is gone and I’m feeling like Charlie Sheen. We farewell our new friend and leave the room to head to the club and I think after the 22nd or 23rd step my first projectile vomit makes a appearance. This continues with 7 more occurrences before I make it to the club. The canvas had begun to be stained.

The club was epic with the most beautiful of girls. I don’t recall the next 5 hours but I know a heap of drinks were bought, a few more vomits and I later found out from my Co-Captain that I was on the podium with the pole and a heap of Lithuanians video taping (next youtube sensation?). I recall meeting am top UK Chick who was down for a holiday, a new friend had been made. I then called the DJ down for a drink and saying to him “In Australia we skull”, I skulled my drink, looked down and threw up on his feet. He was not impressed and walked away with a sad look on his face.

This proceeded by me wanting to sit in a private area and the occupant not too happy with that decision. A bouncer was called and as he pushed me I yelled “Do you know who I am!!! I’ll sue you! Don’t touch me!” I was then lifted by the collar and physically thrown out. I must admit this is a first for me. I thought it only happened in movies. Obviously not.

I left the club and got lost along the way. Very drunk, Exausted and cold I decided to have a nap at the park. I assure you it’s not the wisest idea at minus 16 degrees. I slept for about 2 hours and awoke when the sun was coming up. I had a series of missed calls n messages from the Co-Captain. Stumbling and Freezing, I waddled looking for our hotel. Falling over a few times before I found it. Upstairs I went n found my Co-Captain assuming I had died.

After a tough sleep , bruised palms and the worst hangover it was time to say goodbye to Lithuania.

VILUNIUS: The city of Mystery

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Riga. Latvia

May 22, 2025

by wpRaghav Europe

Riga. Latvia

The City resembling an ancient Bendigo.

Captains Log Day 28 – 28/01/14 5:58pm. Location: 5b Aia, Estonia.

Riga. Once again I don’t doubt the minds wondering as to where this is. Riga is the capital of Latvia and another notch on our Baltic States counter. Fun fact: Riga is the biggest city in the Baltic states and also has the world record of having the most intoxicated person (2012) ever with a blood alcohol level of 0.889. Little did I know when we arrived I was soon to be challenging this record without knowing it.

My initial thoughts of this being the city that Dr Doom was falsified, as some research revealed that he was from a fictional country called Latvieria and not Latvia. It was at first very hard to contain my disappointment. With defiant thoughts on my mind and looking for the non existent Dr Doom castle we explored the city of Riga. We noticed the similarities it had with Vilunius and more importantly the differences. The city was larger and although the architecture was very similar, the city felt as if it had a different character to it, including a large business district in New Town. Since it was a small town there were only a few select places to visit.

We arrived at our room which was a 2 bedroom apartment. Both myself and my Co-Captain were astonished at how large this apartment was. We had hired this place from Air BnB, a website that let’s you hire furnished residences from people that are out of town. The place was massive. We walked around exploring and came across one locked door at the end of the apartment, my Co-Captain was convinced that this was an evil door that had crazy things inside. I laughed it off.

After dinner, began pre-drinks and on this night I could see a fire in my Co-Captains eyes! This to any one that knows him not only spells trouble but shouts it out at the top of its lungs. Starting with a 700 ml bottle of Vodka the challenge had been set that we finish the bottle in 4 sips. Bang! Challenge had started and after the half way mark of the bottle delirium had begin to set in. Not long after the 4th sip was hitting the back of my throat. I gagged and some of it with popcorn chucks came back into the glass. This did not impress my Co-Captain, who preceded to take the glass and sieve the chunks so I could finish my drink (that’s what friends are for)

In a turn of events I don’t actually recall and in the words of Benicio Del Toro “When the white rabbit peaks, would you be so kind as to throw this tape recorder into the bathtub with me?” – Fear and Loathing Las Vegas. I thought I could fly and I jumped off the window sill.

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In my flapping arm motion shattering the roof tile, landing to a rain of plaster. Looking around the room there was plaster dust and crap everywhere! The room had been trashed. Since the stress was going to bring us down we decided to leave it and worry about this in the morning. Time was running short and we had to hit the town. Since it was Aussie day we headed to the Aussie pub which had died down, after a couple of drinks and chats with the locals (a few more lil vomits here n there around town) we headed to another bar in which we were joined by a group of girls, that only had the intention to rob us. This was clear from when we mentioned we were from Australia they released a lil squeal. They took us to a bar in which we bought the most expensive drinks ever 5 drinks for 67 euro! We we able to pick up on the intentions and bailed like Speedy Gonzalez on Speed. Returning home slightly more sober but still drunk we looked at the damage and thought we will deal with it tomorrow. We ate our take away Maccerz and threw nuggets in the roof cavity, then off to bed we went.

What happened at 8:30am the following morning changed me n lessened my life by a few years, I can say honestly have never been that scared. I opened my eye and saw someone standing over me!! The person was standing there and walked away, as I twitched…. I was in a different room to Avrill as soon as he walked away, I yelled “avi avi!” Thinking the person i saw with one half shut eye could be him….I then ran to my Co-Captains room and he was in bed.. I yelled saying “someone is in the house!” At first he woke up shocked and said “Your tripping!” But then he heard the footsteps and we noticed the house lights had been switched off! We moved everything into the bedroom part of the house n locked it. I later got a message from the owner stating “what happened? Drugs?” Indicating he had seen the plaster shrapnel everywhere!

We slept, with me waking up every 5 minutes Freaked. Waking up we cleaned up. The door was Evil. We now assume it led to the owners apartment.

We replaced the roof tile with another one we “found” in the building and the place.

After the events of the previous night we decided to catch up with some new friends we had made n went for drinks at a awsome Cuban bar. Live music and great conversation. Ending our eventful stay in Riga

RIGA: The City resembling an ancient Bendigo

Tallinn. Estonia

May 22, 2025

by wpRaghav Europe

Tallinn. Estonia

City of Shots and Shambles.

Captains Log Day 30 – 30/01/14 4:38pm. Location: Ivalo, Finland.

We have survived our Baltic region adventure, crossing off our last Baltic country – Estonia. We visited the capital of Estonia – Tallinn.

This city once again shares a similar architecture and style as the pervious city’s visited (Villinuis and Riga) however, what differentiates Tallinn, is vibe and the people. Now for political reasons I can’t disclose the details and which is the better Baltic city, but I can say Tallinn has a distinct feeling to it.

Fun Fact: In Medieval times Tallinn’s city gates were firmly shut each evening at 9 pm. Anyone wandering the streets after that hour without a good reason was taken to jail. Both my Co-Captain and I are very glad that ain’t the case for now, 9 pm is generally our lunch time.

After our usual exploration phase (which basically means getting lost n walking around for hours taking heaps of photos) we got back to our apartment (Air bnb once again), we did our laundry n brainstormed a Game plan for the city. Once again My Co-Captain and I went with Plan A. Pres then head out to some bars etc. The Apartment we resided in was next to a Remi supermarket, where which we collected supplies for the night. We both felt a lil off vodka after vour previous endevours, so our poison for the night was Gin and tonic with cucumber and lime. Since we felt a lil peckish and the apartment had a oven we decided to bake chips n garlic bread, we built our munchies and it worked out well. Omnomnom

We polished a 700 ml bottle of Gin off and dried our cloths in the sauna, whilst watching demons and Angels (the only English thing on tv).

Deciding to head out we walked the dead streets (since it was a Monday) we managed to find a club/ pub that was open till late (no 9 pm curfew). Feeling loosey goosey we left the apartment. 12 steps out I let my gut loose on the Tallin footpath n kept walking… This is now a habit for me. “Chunder in everumy country!”

Most things seemed shut until we cane across a shooters bar.

We carried on inside and witnessed madness. Locals buying shots like water. 10 shot platters being served to groups and to individuals. My Co-Captain and I witnessed a local guy buying a 5 shot platter drinking these alone in the corner n going up to buy more. It was mind boggling and it seemed that everyone was doing this. We joined in the fun. It was not long after that I felt like attacking the walls again Wth my inners and we decided to leave. Our friend ordered 5 more shots.

The next morning started off with more exploring and was followed by my Co-Captain and I stalking some randoms locals and tailgating them into a dungeon bar under the walls of the city. I had my second beer. It just happened to be for breakfast… We backed this up with a meal called Linner – which is our only meal for the day, something not only common but rather or routine for the last 30 days. We had Linner visiting possibly the worst Asian restaurant in the world. The food can be described by the color Grey.

As the tempreture dropped to minus 17 my Co-Captain and I decided to go to a indoor swimming pool (totally random) and went for a dip and a long spa session. Once again feeling loosey goosey albeit in a different way my Co-Captain and I headed to a Jazz bar.

The bar was amazing, live music and a chilled out happening crowd. We ordered the a jug of the manliest cocktail ‘the classical lady’ and yes guys it was Pink! Having a few jugs of that and ‘borrowing’ the light fixtures we headed home with 3 hours remaining till we had to be up to leave to our next destination (plenty of time to sleep)

Although a relatively tame encounter Tallinn had offered a definitely memorable one.

TALLINN: City of Shots and Shambles