Tallinn (Estonia), Riga (Latvia), Vilnius (Lithuania) and Krakow (Poland) - lots of history and the tale of a man who once loved his wife so much he almost told her …
We arrive back in Helsinki and take another ferry, this time a 2 hour ride to Tallinn, Estonia. The ferry is luxurious but very expensive, 46 euros each for a 2 hour trip. When we are clearing immigration back into Finland there’s an incident as some Chinese tourists can’t wait behind the yellow line, the immigration guys are really fed up and talk to us about how bad it is. In the queue we also meet a very nice Mexican lady and her son (who lives in Finland), as we keep bumping into each other, we decide to swap details and practice our Spanish a bit. After arriving in Tallinn we find the Center Hotel, basic but nice with breakfast included and well located with blazing WIFI. We dump our bags and go to the old town for a nice lunch and a couple of fabulous beers at the oldest pub in town. Then off for a bit of sightseeing in the lovely old town but it doesn’t last very long as it soon starts to rain. So we pack up for the day as tomorrow the weather is meant to be better.
We wake up, have breakfast and buy our bus tickets for Riga for the following day. Now it’s time for the free walking tour. Walking tours are usually very entertaining and informative but this one is fantastic. The guide, a law student, tells us a lot about the culture and history of Estonia with anecdotes and irony, do not miss this tour if you are in town. So for 2 hours we walk around the main sights and learn a lot about this country and its people. We learn that Estonia has the highest suicide rate in the world and also learn about their history of several occupations and invasions, from the Soviets to the Nazis and lots more in between. He tells us many stories, like, there is no culture of customer service, the interactions are very dry (yes, we’ve noticed that), people are very distant and social interactions are full of long silences, even birthday parties. He even tells us a funny anecdote/legend about a man who loved his wife so much that he almost told her. Yes, we feel we definitely understand Estonians much better now, btw there are only just over 1 million of them.
From Estonia, we take a nice 4 hour bus to Riga, Latvia and check in at the Knight’s Court Hotel, nice , big rooms for 25 euros. We go out for lunch at a Lido (a restaurant chain serving good, hot Latvian food, with a set price menu, 4.50 euros). We then go sightseeing in the lovely Old Town. The Old town is much bigger than Tallinn with amazing architecture and charming churches and cobblestone lanes. The city is large but with not so many people. As the weather turns wet and windy, we make our way back to the room for a bit of rest. The following morning, we visit the city markets and at 11am we do the Free Walking Tour. Though not as fun and informative as the one in Tallinn, we manage to learn a lot about Latvian history and culture. We learn about their several occupations, yeah, again the Soviets, the Germans, the Scandinavians, etc, about their independence process, including the incredible “Baltic Way”, when 2 million people across the Baltics held hands from Vilnius to Tallinn,, forming a human chain protesting the Soviet occupation. We then have lunch at the Pelmeni Xpress, hot dumplings with cold beer?, yes, please. We then go for a walk through the park, see the “freedom monument” and walk around the Art Noveau district, before heading back to the hotel. Day 3 in Riga is just chilling. We are woken up at 5 in the morning by a very weird noise, we open the door and the hotel cat comes into our room and leaves again. After a while we realize he wants to go out and has been scratching at our door to get us to let him out the front door, it’s hilarious or maybe we’re just half asleep and didn’t know how to react. We go for a long walk to earn our calories ending with a fabulous lunch at the legendary Folk-klub, absolutely fantastic beer, ambiance and food, highly recommended! Then a bit more walking around and admiring the fabulous architecture of this city, the buildings in this city are amazing, make sure you wonder outside the old town, totally worth it!
Next day, after another 4 hour bus ride, we arrive in Vilnius, Lithuania. We go straight to the train station to buy our tickets to Poland then head off to try some Kachiapuri (a Georgian dish, kind of pizza bread filled with cheese and vegetables) for lunch. Then we take a taxi to the Alzana Apartments, leave our bags and go sightseeing. The apartments are OK but for some reason, lots of the accommodation in this region don’t really believe in curtains, so once again it’s bare glass windows! We go sightseeing and again, not lots of people, it’s a nice city with wide parks and avenues ending in a lovely old town. We go sightseeing again on day 2 and do OK in the morning. We also try to do the Free Walking Tour but the rain doesn’t help it. To be honest, the tour guide wasn’t helping either, using expressions “it was like, what???”, so, we count our blessings, head to an Indian vegetarian restaurant for lunch, grab a couple of Chilean wines from the “IKI” supermarket and head back to the apartment.
After another very comfortable 5 hour train ride, we arrive in Krakow, Poland. We get off the train and straight away, we know we’re going to love it, and so we do! There is an open air cinema just facing the train station and the city is pumping! The hotel Appena Hostel and Apartments, 30 euros, is fabulous value for money and walking distance to both the train station and the Old Town. The city is at the same time, very chilled and vibrant. We go out sightseeing, it’s easy o navigate and the Old Town is absolutely adorable! It’s a gorgeous city, with so much charm and history. Again we try the walking tour but the rain scares us off. We have breakfast at a great, cheap place, 2 euros for 3 scrambled eggs, bacon, bread and a big mug of coffee. They also offers any drink for 1 euro and any finger food (tapas style) for 2 euros, what’s not to like? We also have lunch at a traditional milk bar, I have dumplings and Paul has pork chops, it’s supposed to be an authentic experience but it became kind off very touristy, no locals to be seen. Well, we just love walking around this enchanting Old City which really comes alive on the Sunday. On our last day, we visit the Schindler’s Factory Museum, don’t miss it if you are around, a very moving and sobering experience. Ciao, beautiful Krakow!
