Posted on:
2009 12 29
I had idea to write this entry after reading some comments about vacation trips. There are some people who work year after year and they never leave home or their country just because they think that traveling will cost them a fortune. It doesn't. What you need basically is a strong wish, some patience and courage to dare. We live in the time when possibilities are endless, travels are cheap ... [more]
Posted on:
2009 12 25
Happy holidays to everyone reading this blog, or if you got here by terrible accident :) I hope everyone will have some travel plans for next year and they will come true!
Posted on:
2009 12 20
This time I will present you national treasure of Montenegro – “Niksicko Tamno” beer. Tamno means dark, and so it is, but thought it has 6.2% alcohol it’s still mild and really tasty. I recall that one of our hosts in Serbia offered us Niksicko beer (from plastic 1.5 l bottle) and I have to say I was quite surprised that it was especially tasty beer! Usually plastic bottles ... [more]
Posted on:
2009 12 02
Trip to Bremen was extraordinary short - together with my wife we stayed in Bremen only for three days. Short stay indeed, but time was well spent. This trip was somewhat spontaneous - I got ticket from Ryanair almost accidentally during one of their extreme low price sales. Price was so tempting that I got 3 return trips - considering November being busy month for me - I got 3 trips for the first ... [more]
Posted on:
2009 11 21
Yesterday we got back from Germany - Bremen, we have been there only for a couple of days but I have to say - very well spent days in the beautiful old town, old Schnoor quarter and we even got a tour in Bremen Haake-Beck's ... [more]
Posted on:
2009 11 12
Entering Bosnia perhaps was most complicated one. Customs officer took our passports, pointed to park our car on the side of the road and told to us wait. We waited for some time, while other cars passed through and we were only ones stopped at the border. I have to say this was a bit disturbing at least. I guess this was just because visitors from our country were rare sight. Officer returned after ... [more]
Posted on:
2009 11 08
Finally, third and the almost last part of our 2009 trip comes in written form!

If you still remember (strangely) Part II ended at the Serbian border. Before going to Serbia, I tried to gather as much information as possible because even it's not that far, it's not very popular tourist destination. Even if I heard about Balkans mostly good things, there were few issues with local police, ... [more]
Posted on:
2009 10 28
Today I'll write about something not exactly related to beer and not exactly about traveling to places, but it has something to do with travels. In fact, I think I will use from time to time while traveling. I'm talking about Aiptek camcorder AHD 100C. I know it has been around ... [more]
Posted on:
2009 10 22
Strangely, not with this beer. This picture was proudly taken on our wedding few days ago! Thanks to my ex-girlfriend (now wife :)) for putting up with me and my attraction to beer :)

In case you are wondering, the beer in this picture is one of my favorites Russian brand, Baltika Nr. 5. And just in the background you can glorious town hall of Kaunas - city where ... [more]
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2009 10 13
During my trip to Serbia I got my hands on few beer cans which I proudly brought home. This time I will review one special beer - Beer Fest!

This can is more like business card for beer fest (You can read about it more here.), which takes place annually in capital of Serbia, Belgrade. It lasts for ... [more]
Posted on:
2009 10 08
This one of the few beer cans I bought because of packaging. Don't get me wrong - it is not spectacular, on the contrary, it is quite bad. It looks like someone with not very stunning Photoshop skills had some fun with this can. With the Photoshop, I mean.

I guess "Wojak" in Polish language means "soldier" and this can even looks like it is supposed to be in every ... [more]
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2009 10 05
If you never had a reason to travel to Hungary here is one - for the beer! Perhaps more obvious one would be for the vine, as Hungary is famous producer of that, but I never imagined that country with such passion for vine, would have superb beer as well!

Without any doubt I can say that this is one of the finest beer bands I ever tasted. It is mild, for the first time I could ... [more]
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2009 09 25
Been quite busy past few days, finally got some free time - I'll post a couple of entries before big one about Serbia.

This one is about Ted Simon's book "Jupiter's Travels". First time I heard about that watching Evan McGregor's and Charley Boorman's trip "Long Way Round" (have you seen it? Perhaps it deserves another post too) then a friend of mine happened to have this ... [more]
Posted on:
2009 09 16
Day 4: was marked by a lot of walking - Gabor, our Hungarian couchsurfing host, took us to the Gyongyos center and old town, where we a bit cheated local museum's ticket office with our "crazy Lithuanian student cards" (actually that was certificate from my work with my photo on it), visited highest place in Hungary. Good thing is that you can reach it by car (first and only time in our trip when we ... [more]
Posted on:
2009 09 14
Since I have some free time - some changes to the site that I wanted to make long time ago:
• In "My travels" you will find separate tab "beertest" - I hope to write few of these pretty soon.
• "New comments" - here last comment made on the site will show up.
Also few tweaks here and there. New material coming soon ;)
Posted on:
2009 09 05
Day 1: Start of our journey was marked nothing unexceptional, even we managed to get up early and on time, somehow we managed to be half an hour late to leave on schedule. Let me introduce our crew - me, my girlfriend Asta and of course our car - nearly 15 years old VW Golf, who is somewhat character itself.

We left home around 8 o'clock in the morning - few hours boring road and ... [more]
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2009 09 02
Today I accidentally stumbled into Ryanair's website - and I have to say it was a pleasant surprise, I didn't plan to but I got plane tickets to Germany for free (in fact, not one but 3 of them, for different times also return ones.)

If you have some time, in October-November you can visit UK, Germany, Norway, Lithuania and many other countries for free! Really! Also - offer is valid for 2 days only, and with no checked in luggage.
Posted on:
2009 09 01
While everyone is waiting (of course!) patiently while I will compile looong tale about our adventures near Adriatic sea, I have short snack for you, dear reader :)

One spicy snack, I should say. I wrote about it few entries ago, but now I have the red devil in the flesh! Tadaaaaa! I reveal to you Hungarian ... [more]
Posted on:
2009 08 27
We just came back 6 hours ago or so and still living in travel moods. I have to say, the trip was nothing but amazing! And most thanks goes to great people we met through couchsurfing and spectacular scenery of former Yugoslavia countries. After impressions settles down a bit, expect detailed report!
Posted on:
2009 08 19
Hello everyone or anyone, who accidentally checked for updates. After some time we finally got to place which has Internet.

And we are in Serbia, not Slovakia, so don't look at the country name to your left. I have to say - so far so good, we conquered Rysy summit in Slovakia (I think this was first time I REALLY felt my limits), had a blast in Hungary, and entered to Serbia few hours ago. ... [more]
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2009 08 14
This is just a quick note to everyone who will read this and who will not read this but stumble here accidentaly. Hello frieds, goodbeye enemies - early tomorrow we (statement "we" includes - me, BeerTourist, my girflriend, and third company member is our super LPG charged 15 year old German car) set the course for adventure :)

We are not sure how long the trip will last (wow, that sounds ... [more]
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2009 08 11
One of Lithuanian unique views is the Hill Of Crosses. Basically it is what it's name says - a hill with lots (over 55000 estimated) crucifixes. They vary in size, color, material and condition making a strange chaos.

History of this hill is said to have beginning in late 19th century and as part of silent resistance to Soviet Union, crosses appeared nearly in geometrical ... [more]
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2009 08 09
Quite a few times from fellow travelers, neighbors and relatives we hear about "the beautiful palace in Rundale, Latvia". And one day we thought so, "oh yeah, they say Rundale is nice, it would be a nice day trip". As the palace is near the border, it was an easy trip.

Most stunning thins is perhaps situation of the palace. I mean, you ride through the plains, which has occasional ... [more]
Posted on:
2009 08 04
This week we finally (or too early?) started preparations for our trip of the year! Still checking places to see, places so see and places to be :) And this years destination is: SERBIA! I am not sure if we will go more to the south and cross border to Montenegro coast or may be turn west to Bosnia And Herzegovina but one thing for sure - we will definitely (er.. if something like nuclear winter doesn't ... [more]
Posted on:
2009 08 01
I guess sometimes travelers who doesn't live in Europe gets lost with all these country names. And some just never finished geography course perhaps. No, Lithuania is not a country in Africa (I was asked that question once). Yes, in Europe there is Turkey. And Hungary. And is there Molvania?

Right now I have in my hands nearly 200 pages guide to Molvania (OK ... [more]
Posted on:
2009 07 29
It seems I had this picture with beer (errr.. okay, Slovak beer) in Hungary, but haven't written anything about that! I know that's lazy but what can you do... Now here is around 29+ C so I had no choice just sit really still and write all the things I missed or was too lazy to write.

I have visited Hungary in 2008, on the trip together with friends across Eastern Europe, which ... [more]
Posted on:
2009 07 27
Just got back from weekend fishing trip, where we saw lots of fishes (in the water) and we were able to catch a number of them. A one digit number really. So, I decided it was not really worth taking a beer picture.

Anyway, now I am considering an interesting offer - to exchange my bike (Kawasaki ZX6R) to this monster - Honda ... [more]
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2009 07 20
It has been already quite some time when Lithuanian beer company, Ragutis introduced beer named Volfas Engelman. It has become quite popular too, due to heavy media campaign which accented this particular beer as "old and traditional". Some also considered it's design being not bad too - I agree on that. However, this company belongs to Estonian ... [more]
Posted on:
2009 07 19
Finally reworked the comments! No more 4 level high block it used to be, I invite you to try the new system :)! There are still few corners that need polishing, but I'm satisfied with the result. EDIT: IE problems fixed!
Posted on:
2009 07 18
Where was I? Oh, so we were at THAT camping! And next morning we woke up a bit late, thought weather was good, around the mountains we could see dark clouds hanging and it has become clear that we will get some of that rain. A bit after 10 o'clock we finally got on the road. We had the map with all hiking trails, ... [more]
Posted on:
2009 07 17
This time thanks goes to Giedrius aka Grimasa for this photo taken in Italy, Dolomite Alps. Whan cay I say - one can dream to get there, and thank you for sharing this! I think Giedrius would be able to have such blog as this and post perhaps 10 times more these type of pictures but thankfully he does not enter this competition... yet :)
Posted on:
2009 07 16
Hello my dear and daily blog reader! I know it's hard to imagine such things exist(er... I'm talking about daily), but I will apologize to you in any case because you have seen entries from the "Plans" tab vanish and no explanation whatsoever. But wait, there is light at the end of the tunnel! Here is a tale how we tried and nearly defeated highest Tatra mountain summit - [more]
Posted on:
2009 07 12
Still preparing bigger updater for this site, never thought it will take so long. Also I have few thoughts about redesigning blog section, and also the need of few more menu tabs. And still haven't published couple looong stories.. try to do that as soon as possible.
Posted on:
2009 07 10
After couple of mediocre liters of beer I finally came across something more interesting. Somehow I never heard of this beer and never noticed it in local stores - there are lots of beer brands. But thankfully I bought one can of this beer during my last trip!

Karmi beer is the type you will love or hate it. Actually, that is not exactly your common beer, its ... [more]
Posted on:
2009 07 08
Haven't seen this beer until recently - I'm quite positive it was not available last year. Right now there is heavy marketing campaign, which makes this beer more visible compared to other brands (well, except Zywiec). Also, shop had discount on this beer at the time, so I took my chances.

First impression comes from the label. Meanwhile it is not somewhat spectacular, ... [more]
Posted on:
2009 07 07
I think I think should stop writing these "Back from Poland", as it becomes too frequent. After a bit of rest I will try to put my thoughts together and tell the tale about awesome Tatra mountains, creepy camping and few thoughts about Poland in general. But the trip was great!
Posted on:
2009 07 03
Thanks to B&T fan and reader, Agne, who send these pictures. Thanks for sharing them! I sure do envy her the chance to sip beer in Venice, Verona and Paduda :) oh, also meeting Mr Moretti!

Mean while we are preparing our backpacks to Zakopane, where we will set of for the Tatra park. Also, ... [more]
Posted on:
2009 07 01
Continuing my research for decent Polish beers, this time lets put 'Barley Gold' beer for the test. While name is pretty straight forward and without any signs of humbleness, I couldn't say that about beer.

There is somewhat stronger taste, if considering with TAB beer, but cant stand against ... [more]
Posted on:
2009 06 29
Following up my recent post about Poland - time to start testing the beer I brought. This time leave Zywiec, Lech and other Polish trademarks behind, lets try some not so famous brands.

First I started with 'TAB' beer. First thing that interested me was the price. Bought this 0.5 can for ... [more]
Posted on:
2009 06 28
Yesterday I came back from Poland, been there for a couple of days, a pity none B&T pictures taken, as I somehow managed to forgot my camera. Also, been driving for nearly two days, still a bit tired, but I have scouted middle and north region of Poland, from [more]
Posted on:
2009 06 25
Long time ago, Lithuania was famous as Baltic pagan country, chopping Teutonic order knights here and there, later it was first country who separated from Soviet Union (USSR). Later, then talking about Lithuania, for someone who does not know anything about this country, you usually said: "Yes, that's are home of Euroleague basketball champion Zalgiris team" and "oh, and there is lots of ... [more]
Posted on:
2009 06 19
After a bit of silence with no updates, I'm back! Been a bit busy with working, resting and not traveling. Couple of last weeks were truthfully worth few entries in fmylife.com, however, somehow I managed not to write them. I believe most of them came from not drinking enough beer.

But, after this heavy weekend when we beta tested ... [more]
Posted on:
2009 06 12
In eastern Spain, just half an hour (or may be bit more) by train from Valencia, in the valley between mountains situates small town Xàtiva. It was one of our daily train trips - it's great way exploring countries and in Spain, trains are not expensive ... [more]
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2009 06 08
Today, I was stuck by some sort of brightening - Even thought my blog is called beer and travels, actually I wrote more about travels than beer. In fact, I wrote only about travels, hardly mentioning beer anywhere! It's about time to fix this mistake, and here is first short post about beer!

During trip to Italy, I was eager to try some Italian beer, because Italy is known for vines and ... [more]
Posted on:
2009 06 04
Continuing previous topic - few more images. This time they are from Zakopane national park in Poland, which we visited back in 2007 on our way to Prague. Just hour and a bit more, south from Krakow, this park situates in a valley near Tatra mountains ... [more]
Posted on:
2009 06 02
After writing few lengthy posts, I thought - hey, that's enough text for now, I'll let couple of posts speak for themselves, as it is said, a picture is worth a thousand words :) First one is really simple but one of my most favorite pictures, I took one evening (with my cheap old phone), place is Lithuania, near Kaunas.

I'm not even sure why, but even looking at this picture I feel like traveling. And it's NOT the beer :)
Posted on:
2009 06 01
When I was writing that post about Italy earlier, I've expanded a bit too much, when I started to write about trains. Thought it was a bit too much there, I decided to post a separate topic about train travels in Italy.

Before our trip we had to choose which transport will we use while in Italy. It was too cold for bikes, too expensive ... [more]
Posted on:
2009 05 28
Before trip to Italy we studied hard what to see - I mean, Italy itself is absolutely beautiful country, so it's not that hard find what to visit, but the problem is choice. So much of it! Checking area around Lucca (Tuscany) through google maps, we found that rails goes up to the north through Borga, [more]
Posted on:
2009 05 22
We visited London in early autumn, just before rains and bad weather kicks in - perhaps that's why London left a very warm and sunny impression, compared to stories and what I have heard from friends, who were there. A pity our time here was very limited - we stayed just for a couple of days - but hey, it's the thought that counts :)

A bit of counting - journey for two of us cost about 100 ... [more]
Posted on:
2009 05 15
Today I was thinking about our travels and what were the most interesting ones. By interesting I mean these places which leave something behind after you visited them and for a long time. So came to conclusion that one of most interesting and disturbing destinations definitely was Kostinice Ossuary. Perhaps you have heard, read or seen it, but never had a chance to visit it. You should - ... [more]
Posted on:
2009 05 07
Very slowly but surely page is coming to a full-working version. However, around 10-20% is still incomplete. If I'll have enough time I will complete majority of ideas during this month, with few small (I hope :)) holes and bugs left.

Comments added! Stay tuned for more :)
Posted on:
2009 04 28
Sunday we came back from our short ~500 km ride on bikes through Lithuania. We took off not so early, at around 9 am from Kaunas, rode up to the Anyksciai, then down to Puntukas stone, back to the Anyksciai then lost our way and did some offroad (ok, ok, that's a bit exaggerating, we did only 7 km on gravel road) and that was fun! Especially when you ride a super bike :)

At noon ... [more]
Posted on:
2009 04 24
Hi to myself, this is first entry in this blog and I think that means that I am getting somewhere with this. At last! Page is about 50% complete. There are still lots of things to do and I even don't know where to start, feedback is not working, no idea how to put pictures too. Styles are unclear. Oh man... At last there are few sections that work!
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