Cretan Dream

 Hello my dear ones,

Sitting here in a little bit grey and cold Lithuania makes my memories of hot Crete slowly fade away. So I decided to put some words together and write a post about it.

I fell in love with Greece couple years ago but only last year managed to go and see it's biggest island Crete. And to be honest I was a little bit split between my opinion about it. Yes, the land of Crete has the magic in the air. I could then feel this arabic wind passing by that my heart connects with so much! But the touristy side of it really put me off.

However, after my intense summer work only Crete came to my mind when thinking of relaxing getaway. So with my giant military style backpack I headed towards there.

I had a beautiful time on my own. Swimming in the warm Libyan sea, being high on the mountainious landscape, eating ripe and delicious fruit and veg of Crete and of course stuffing my face with my beloved spanakopita.

And then little by little my friends started joining me. First, my dear Anette, then my love Rafael, my brother Mohamed and my new friend Marcelo.

Suddenly we were the pack of 5. 

Of course the dynamics kept changing and sometimes it was challenging but all in all what a beautiful time we had. Spoiled by sunny days and not so friendly wind we played together like little kids. Life is very easy when you have some savings so it felt like a real holiday. 

I am always surrounded by such loving creatures, I really feel extremely grateful for that.

And time passed by. This Cretan dream slowly started to shift into a new energy to move on. The stunning beaches, crystal clear water, welcoming and generous locals, new friends and hitch hiking rides had to come to an end. Like everything in life.

So I booked the tickets towards North and headed to see more of my beloved ones.

But about that, next time post!

Have a beautiful October everyone and till the next post,

Much love,

Ligita

Plakias

Rethymno

Towards the North

Hungry Bellies in Switzerland

Hello again,

So now I am free you will not shut me up :)

For the past week I have changed my environment drastically and went on the train towards the Swiss Alps.

My good friend invited me to cook at the course and it felt too good not to accept it.

It felt strange to be on the road again: the weak shoulders, not ready for the backpack weight, the nose blocked from the 2 months sniffing the fumes of the cars, the eyes still full of glitter.. But an hour or two and I was back in my waters. The waters of unknown.

London felt like a big theatre performance with its always surprising new characters, so many decorations and a lot of drama. It was quite fun to watch it from outside but felt even better once I left.

I have never left UK by train and it felt really amazing. I love train journeys, it is so comfortable to sit and watch the landscapes changing. Just accross the channel and it felt already different. The fields were different, the houses, the structure, the colour of the grass- I knew I entered the land of baguettes.

Paris welcomed me with its rudeness and authority. I felt the dissatisfaction in the air, and countless cops reminded me of the international disease- fear.

Not long I needed to wait and I reached the Swiss land. No trash, no smoke, no joke. 

And then my cooking started. A big big challenge for me- to cook for 50 hungry bellies. It was an amazing experience, a reminder to myself that there is so much space inside me for growing. The appreciation of everybody motivated me and let me really dive into the art of cooking.

I was surrounded by friends and made some new ones. But boy I worked a lot. And it was a real blessing to start the day with morning meditations and chantings together in a big group. It was a pleasure to have that deep sense of tribal belonging.

My time in the mountains flew by and not long after I found myself back in the land of gods. 

I am washing all my sweat away in the sea of Libya and once again starting an affair with my beloved Crete. 

If you are around, let me know, you'll find me mostly in the water these days.

With love and hot wind,

Ligita

Observations by The Sea

Hello my dear friends,

It's been such a long long time since I sat down and put some of my thoughts on this imaginary paper. Life has been very busy and very stressful lately and I could not find any time. 

So what happened since my last post? Well, I left beautiful Portugal and came all the way towards the north. To the country of royal accents, milk in their teas and the weather that makes everybody complain about it. Yes, good old England. 

But this time I didn't come to explore beautiful countryside or visit my beloved friends around, no, this time I came to do something completely random. I came to earn some dollars while doing temporary tattoos, mostly on sugar hyped kids, nervous teenagers and some not so funny adults.

I spent 2 months in the greek winter like weather, pushing the trolley day in and out, spreading glitter all around like some fairy who has no idea about the planet destruction. I spent my days on the street, watching, observing those crazy holidaymakers and trying to grasp what makes people do things. It felt like anthropology degree, just more real, more into your face.

It was hard, I know, I told you already but let me complain a little bit more.

You know that I love UK. I have many friends here and I spent big part of my travelling life living all around. I have a lot of admiration for this so welcoming so diverse nation. However, this summer I saw the destructive part of us, the so called clever apes. I saw that there is so much control, so much anger and aggression. The place where I lived itself had a feel of no hope. And covered in all the artificial amusement it let us all forget that deep inside it us not the stuff we need but the kindness to each other, the joy, the belonging, you know, the big words.

Living on of the street of Skegness with desperate people sinking their sadness in drugs, alcohol or abusement makes me really appreciate my own state. My own personal tools that let me navigate through my life in lows or highs.

It's funny how such place numbs you too, and suddenly the aggressive verbal fight outside of your house becomes just a normal background sound.

Luckily I was not alone to experience and see all this, my dear beautiful boyfriend Rafael was doing exactly the same. It felt like we were two soldiers going through a fight, sometimes in between ourselves but mostly against this desperation. And when it was all over, what a pride I felt. What a companion I got by my side.

This job brought me a love feeling towards children, something I have never felt before (no, I am not pregnant:) ). I could see their innocence, so fragile and already broken by their verbally abusing pushy and shouting parents. I saw in some of their eyes how happy they can be just enjoying a simply small bit of paint and glitter on their skin. And this used to make my days.

Money is earnt, massive bag packed, the insights slowly coming and all this experience slowly digested what's next I hear you asking. 

Time to run away to the mountains and cook some vegan food. Enjoy the traffic, drug dealer free environment.

Switzerland, I'm coming.

With love and a bit of complaints,

Ligita