We found some nifty street art in all the Baltic states. Although in Helsinki we only found a panda. Related Images:
Archive for September, 2018
20 September 2018
Baltic beauty
Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Photos
Four countries in two weeks. These are our best snaps from Finland (Helsinki), Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania… Related Images:
20 September 2018
Baltic – done
8 September 2018 Our flight home wasn’t until 7pm (actually not until 7:50pm but let’s ignore that bit of bad book-keeping that led to yet another hour loitering around Vilnius’ very boring airport), so we still had most of a day available! We did toy with the idea of sweltering in and out of the » » »
20 September 2018
Vilnius Exploration Day
7 September 2018 Our last full day was Vilnius Exploration Day. And we explored hard! We started with cake, the breakfast of champions. Then we went for a ramble around the old town, taking in the cathedral, the ducal palace, some fine baroque architecture and many, many churches. I really like the old Basilian church » » »
20 September 2018
Bomb shelter
6 September 2018 I’m really tickled by our bomb shelter apartment in Vilnius. It has perhaps the most grotty entrance to a deluxe apartment that you could imagine. The street door is covered in graffiti, and the walls of the building are crumbling. Inside the door is a hallway and stairwell of crumbling concrete with » » »
17 September 2018
Flat Baltic
5 September 2018 In the fifteenth century, at the height of its power, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania held the largest territory in Europe. For a couple of hundred years this little country was one of the big players on the European stage. That’s good going. Our first couple of hours driving through the north » » »
17 September 2018
Rural Latvia
4 September 2018 So we have a speeding ticket. Well, our car rental guy did warn us about the cameras. But I’m at a loss as to how to avoid a ticket, when the signs coming in and out of villages and towns are so… absent. I’ve spent the day trying to very carefully obey » » »
17 September 2018
Art Nouveau
3 September Let me show you the Party Bike. This is a nonsensical thing. Basically, up to ten people sit around a bar on wheels and provide pedal power to move it. The driver steers it. Everyone drinks lots of alcohol. There are special holes cut in the bar to put your drink in so » » »
17 September 2018
Sigulda to Riga
2 September 2018 So of course we visited Sigulda on the day of a massive nationwide cycling event to be held in the little town. Which meant that after visiting the castle and Krimulda, it then took fifteen minutes to get out of the car park as the whole race cycled past, and then we » » »
17 September 2018
Canoedeling
1 September 2018 Today we had a lovely day in Gauja National Park. We started mega-early, before breakfast, with a walk at 7am. Over the hill beyond the apple orchard there’s a wood-cloaked valley where the Amata River flows, and there’s a good trail right along its length. So we tramped through sunny woodlands with » » »
17 September 2018
Neither here nor there
31 August 2018 A stroll around Tartu in the morning confirmed my hunch: that it is perfectly amiable but not very interesting. So we drove on south, heading for our second Baltic state, Latvia. We stopped along the way in a couple of little towns and villages mentioned in our Lonely Planet, but there really » » »
17 September 2018
Soomaa miserable
30 August 2018 Not all forest walks are created equal. Leaving Tallinn to head for Estonia’s second city, Tartu, we stopped en route at Soomaa National Park, a land of rivers and bogs. In spite of the heavy clouds we decided on two walks, and started with the forest walk along the banks of a » » »
17 September 2018
Lahemaa – wood, coast and bog
29 August 2018 We have a car. Exploring! We’ve gone to explore Lahemaa National Park. While driving there we’ve passed plenty of road signs that remind me to mention how charming the Estonian language is. We drove past Balti Spoon. Also Koogi, Vikipalu and Kaberneeme. And in Estonian “shop” is “pood”. There are so many » » »
17 September 2018
Tallinn exploration
28 August 2018 Our lodgings are right in the very heart of the old town, an apartment up two flights of stairs and decorated in a shabby Moroccan style. It’s big and well equipped but just a tad irritating in a couple of ways. The tiny wash basin in the bathroom and the loo in » » »
17 September 2018
Bye Helsinki, Hi Tallinn!
27 August 2018 Time to say farewell to Finland and head over the gulf to Tallinn in Estonia. But this morning we had a few hours left for another stroll, this one around Helsinki’s “Design District”. I must admit, the uber-cool Scandinavian design shops were a bit thin on the ground. Grasping just a bit, » » »
17 September 2018
Suomenlinna
26 August 2018 Today we visited Suomenlinna, a cluster of little islands that were fortified in the 18th century to protect Helsinki from attack. Ambling around this mixture of old red brick barracks, hefty stone fortifications, and trees and grassy slopes is very pleasant, with the sea usually visible on one side or the other. » » »
17 September 2018
Heading for the Baltic
25 August 2018 It’s very civilised to wake up in an airport hotel, clean your teeth, and then zip up your luggage and walk out into the check-in hall. Have breakfast, get on the plane. No bleary-eyed wake up at 4am with a double alarm clock for safety, no last minute “did we forget anything?” » » »