A small Danish detour

I sat a bit restlessly on the couch and played with Google Maps because of boredom. It had been my plan to go to Nice in France from March to June and work, so that I could improve my French. Unfortunately (or luckily!?) I did not get any of the jobs for which I had applied, and I had now given up all hopes on my French plans, both in life and chess. New ideas were starting to knock on my door instead, and suddenly I realised: “I should go alone on a backpacking trip to the Baltic countries!” I eagerly told my plans to Nils, my father and some of my friends, who all seemed a little baffled and confused by my sudden urge to go to the Baltics, about which I knew nothing at all. Nils mostly worried that it would not be safe for me to go alone, but he did not have the time to join me. I called Rasmus Thøgersen, my loyal traveling partner from our trip to India, who promised to protect me in a case of emergency… by running away. Anyhow, the conversation went:

Ellen: “Will you join me on a backpacker trip to the Baltic countries!?!?”
Rasmus: ”Why would I ever go there???”

I told him to call me, if he changed his mind. I had already booked and planned everything.

I will see you at “Jimmy Jumps House”
I arrived in Vilnius in Lithuania around 3 o’clock on the 1^st of March. I stepped out of the airport, looked around, and jumped on the first bus in sight, since every sign was written in Lithuanian.

Me: “Do you go to the city centre?” Chauffeur: “Yes, yes”.

It did not go to the city centre… but a bit of walking never hurt anybody, and thanks to my GPS, I found the hostel “Jimmy Jumps House,” where Rasmus was currently staying. How would you describe this youth hostel, definitely designed to scare away anyone above the age of 30? It is hidden in a backyard in a very dubious alley. The only way to get in is to already know the password, or to be lucky that someone with a password needs to get in through the giant metal door at the same time.

When you walk the stairs, the walls are covered with various paintings made by backpackers throughout the years, and a broad spectrum of light chains hanging from the ceiling. When I checked in, I was asked to always leave my shoes before entering the reception, that the breakfast only consisted of 2 freshly-made waffles, and that my “room” was a 8-bed dorm which I had to share with 7 boys.

I took a deep breath and thought to myself: “this is nice, it is healthy to get out of your comfort zone… in every possible direction at once!”

The two other hostels where we stayed in Riga and Tallinn; “the Naughty Squirrel” and “the Knights House” shared the same vision. I must say that it was a really pleasant experience to stay in these youth hostels. You really get the chance to socialize with other young backpackers, and both Rasmus and I grabbed the opportunity and talked to as many people as possible from all over the world. The fact that I hardly got any sleep for 10 days, I consider a decent sacrifice.

A Dane, an Englishman, an American and a German went to a bar…
For some reason, everyone that travels seems to be a native English speaker. The first 5 persons we meet were from the following countries: America, England and Australia. Rasmus and I agreed that that was a bit sad, as Danes are known for bragging about their English abilities, and this company made it rather difficult.
The first night, when we were ready to get out and see the town at night, the party got mixed a little and now more resembled one of those jokes starting with: “A Dane, an Englishman, an American and a German went to a bar…” and the night kind of evolved like one of the jokes would have. At least I found it extremely funny when Tom the Englishman (leader of our “pub-crawl”) got so drunk that he followed a different group of people he did not know and lost all track of us after our first bar stop, or when the Australian girl, Sara, ate her burger upside down. Most of the people do not fit the stereotypes, but sometimes I wonder; does anyone ever look at me and think: “that is so typically Danish”. Maybe they did, when I tried to translate a self-made joke from Danish to English. Or that is perhaps more typical me?

“It is funny how Tom’s name is Tom, when he is so drunk!” and that is funny because “tom” in Danish means “empty” and “drunk” in Danish is called “fuld,” which also means “full.”

Both Pedro the Portuguese and Sara from the land down under laughed, and I do not think it was only out of pity. They are both really sweet people and they got the love story of the century.

The show must go on!
Rasmus and I were sitting on the bus between Vilnius and Riga, when suddenly Jesper Thybo wrote a message:

“We are in Jurmala and are going to play a strong blitz-tournament. Come!”

Rasmus looked at me, with a hint of chess thirst in his eyes:

“Do you want to play blitz?”

A couple of days before we left for our trip, I actually talked to Jesper, and we both realized we were going to be near each other by coincidence. Even then we considered visiting, because Jesper was playing for his IM-norm, and a whole group of Danish players and coaches would be there. We had not discussed it further but in the bus we understood, that:

1. Jesper had made his norm and the main tournament was finished (congratulations Jesper on your second IM-norm!)
2. Tonight they were playing a very strong blitz-tournament, and by coincidence we would actually be able to make it to the playing hall on time
3. Party spirit was in the air.

It took 5 seconds to find a train between Riga and Jurmala (I know Jakob Vang Glud suggested Taxi, but we tried to keep our detour in the backpacker spirit) and then we decided to go and party… I mean play some chess!
20 minutes before the start of the round, Rasmus and I walked through the door with our big backpacks, slightly dirty clothes and full fighting spirit. The round was of course 30 minutes delayed, but that gave us some time to chat with our Danish friends and make sure that we at least had a free bed to sleep in that night.
There is a lot that can be said about that night but sometimes it is better not to. Rasmus made a good effort both on and outside the board, I on the other hand need to improve everything; chess abilities, wingman skills, dance moves, you name it. I met some new people though and learned that some friends you can always count on… like my tequila buddy!
The next “morning” (after a very slow start) I finally found Rasmus and we decided to leave for Riga. The trip was made in silence until we found our hostel “the Naughty Squirrel” where a young woman received us in the reception. She insisted that we should have a welcome shot of Balsam and for the first time that day, both mine and Rasmus’ voices were strong and clear:

“NO, THANK YOU!”

Chess is a universal language, but it is better to communicate in English
The nice thing about chess is that it can be played anywhere, and suddenly a tournament just appears where you happen to be. You can almost always choose to play and meet some new chess players, if you want to. The great thing about backpacking is that you have to sleep at a place, no matter where you go. You are almost forced to meet other people, since the main point of the youth hostels are the common rooms, which are never empty. Seeing the world is one thing, talking to people from around the world makes traveling the best thing…

Unless you try to speak in French, then you just realize your French is hopeless.

To be continued!