I fly to Eastern Europe via Moscow, Russia so I get to spend a bit of time in the airport. Now to make a gross generalization of Russia based on my experience with the woman at the ticket counter: the Russians seem to be direct, unemotional, and lets say...not outwardly or obviously friendly? "Wait here." is the stone cold response I get when I hand the ticket woman my voucher. No smile, no please, no thank you. Ok, not everyone in Russia is like this, but I will not be able to confirm that on this trip.
The airlines also loses my bag for the first time on my trip somewhere between New Delhi, Moscow, and Tallinn. This is normally just an inconvenience, but when your bag contains all of your worldly possessions it is a bigger problem. It's like a moving truck that suddenly goes missing with all your possessions. Kind of a big deal! The man at the lost baggage counter says it will probably be in later in the evening or tomorrow. Later at my hostel, I get an Estonian guy to call the airport and ask in Estonian where the bag is. At some point late in the night, after I arrive home from the bars, my bag is waiting for me by the front desk. Crisis averted.
Yes, Estonia is a Country! Tallinn, Estonia April 25,26,27 2012
I'm not sure what I expected of Estonia before I arrived; maybe a rougher version of western European counties with notes of Russian influenced architecture and culture. What I found was nothing of the kind. Estonia is beautiful and peacefully European city. Compared to India, it's a near Utopia of clean streets, drinkable water, beautiful women, nice restaurants, hot showers, comfortable mattresses, and free flowing beer. In fact, I was almost bored at first because I felt more at home than I've felt in the last 5 months. People actually wait for the sign to cross the streets (even when no cars are coming), throw trash in the bins, and I don't have to worry about getting Malaria, Denugue fever or some other wicked illness.
- I see a grandmother riding a scooter down the street. I'm not talking about one of those motorized ones; it was like the ones kids play with. Awesome.
- I eat elk soup and elk pies at an authentic (read: mid evil looking) restaurant/bar under the town hall in the center of town.
- You can shoot AK-47s, pump action shotguns, Tommy guns, and automatic pistols for a small fee.
- I went to a grocery store for the first time in 5 months and wander around for what seems like hours. There are so many options!
- I take a free city tour lead by local Estonian girl. I learn that Estonia has been taken over many times by the Russians and Germans. Her self-depicting humor (or country-deprecating) is entertaining. Estonia might not have had an army but I see why others wanted to take it over. Afterwards I hang out with a German, a Spaniard, and a Chinese girl over beers. I met them on the tour. This happens all the time.
- The hostel I stay in is run by a bunch of Australian guys who have a penchant for partying. I probably had a total of 3 beers in all of India. Here, I had three beers in the first hour of checking into the hostel.
- The hostel has a no Facebook policy in affect after 7:30 pm. If you are caught checking it you have to lay on the floor while the bartender mixes a shot of mustard, vinegar, vodka, and cherry juice. You have to take it without objection. It's amazing how many times people check Facebook a day. Yes, I did have the pleasure of seeing someone break the rule.
- I eat at a pancake place called the Kompressor. I had no idea you could have pancakes with things like salami and cheese. Delicious.
- I see a fire dancer after getting out of the bars and see girls with red, green, pink, and yellow hair while walking down the street.
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| Sunset |
Beautiful Women Abound, Riga, Latvia April 28, 29, 30 2012
Riga, the captial of Latvia is another beautiful city with a fairly large "old town". Many of the countries have restored buildings and streets to look like they did in the past. Riga, like Tallinn has a lot of outdoor beer gardens and restaurants which are perfect for the early summer/late spring weather. After a long, cold winter there's nothing better than going out, sitting in the sun, and enjoying a beer with friends with a nice breeze blowing. Reminds me of living in downtown Annapolis. You also know this feeling though...unless you grow up in a place without winter.
In Riga, musicians are sprinkled around the town playing the flute, hammed dulcimer(this thing), guitar, violins, and other instruments. It adds a cool vibe to the old town part of the city. I stop and listen to some of them as I explore.
- I go to a Latvian Ballet one night. Not something I'd do everyday but it is interesting.
- I take the obligatory free city tour given by a local guy with dreads. I ask him at some point how long it took him to grow them; 10 years.
- I walk by an old park square where old men play chess on tables
- Socialize quite a bit in the bars
- Go to an Occupation museum to learn about the German and Russian occupation. The Germans and Russians were some greedy bastards back then.
One morning over tea, I begin to think about a general philosophy of collecting experiences and not things. When you are traveling all you have is whats on your back. You begin to value meeting new people, having interesting conversations, going on new adventures, sharing new foods, seeing new cities, and trying things that aren't normally found at home. I've got a pretty good collection so far.
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| A night On the Town |
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| A gift from Stalin |
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| Girl playing hammered dulcimer |
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| Chess at the park |
Jimmy Jumps is Sweet, Vilnius, Lithuania May 1,2,3 2012
My last stop in the Baltic countries is Lithuania. It has my favorite capital city so far. It is a bit bigger than Tallinn but a bit smaller than Riga.
- The first day out I take the free city tour. These things appear to be exist in every city in Europe so far. These are the best way to spend a couple hours getting to know the city sights. I meet up with an interesting guy; a German educated American who is in a rock band and works in the financial industry. He travels all over the world for work; Iraq included. He knows 5 or 6 languages.
- I meet up with a mix of Australians and Englanders and head out for a night of fun. We joke about the snoring in the room the night before and an angry Russian who obviously didn't have earplugs. A couple of times in the night he got out of bed and started yelling something in Russian. The irony of this is that his yelling woke me up, not the snoring.
- On the last day I take a day trip to Trakia. A castle on an island in the middle of a blue lake is the attraction.
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| Main Square |
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| Street in the artist district |
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| View from a hilltop in a park |
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| Trakia Castle |
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