The Baltic States...
of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania seem as if they would be very similar. They are very close to each other, share a common history and were all part of the USSR.Upon arrival in each of these countries I immediately thought of their similarities to Poland. Each had its run down streets and entire neighborhoods of reinforced concrete panel apartment blocks. However you could also get the sense that each is moving and growing quickly to try and catch up with the rest of the European Union.
Veronika and I first took the ferry from Helsinki to Talinn on Thursday morning. It's a three hour ferry ride across this bit of the Baltic to Talinn on the bigger ferries or one and a half hours by jet ferry. On a budget, we took the slower and cheaper option.
Due to its close proximity to Finland their are a lot of ferries between the two cities bringing a lot of Finnish tourists. Since it is so much cheaper in Estonia there are a lot of them. In general there are a lot of tourists in Talinn as the old town is very picturesque and the harbor is very nearby.
Talinn is/was the home of Skype and there has been much hype around Talinn as a very modern IT city. It is supposed to have one of the most up to date IT infrastructures in Europe but I didn't get the sense of this. It was difficult to find internet cafes which you would think would be everywhere.
The Old Town truly looked like a movie set as everything was perfectly restored even if it seemed void of people. We spent half a day there and we left quickly the next morning as the hostel we stayed at was pretty bad.
We hit the road and drove to Riga, Latvia. Of the three countries, Riga is the biggest city and is a major port. It is very cosmopolitan and has beautiful neighborhoods and streets once you get into the center of town (Like most cities in former communist countries, the suburbs can be pretty grim).
Because of the previous bad night, we decided to stay in the Riga Bed and Breakfast which was slightly more upscale in Riga. It did not disappoint while not hammering our wallets too hard. We were able to eat breakfast across the street at a little bakery as part of staying the night.
Though we only spent half a day in Riga we saw the entirety of the Old Town and some very nice Art Nouveau neighborhoods. On this trip thus far the Riga Old Town is the best that I have seen. It is all very nicely restored and full of activity. One gets the sense that the Old Town is not just a tourist centre but a place that is also lived in.
We were there Friday, September 1st which happened to be the first day of school. Every student was out and about and parties seemed to be happening everywhere you went. We stayed out late listening to music at the centra square. The whole evening was very enjoyable.
The next day, Saturday, we took off to Lithuania. I'll continue next time.
posted by NV @ 9:28 am
1 Comments:
Internet cafes don't work well in Tallinn. Wireless internet does. You can have it in normal cafes - in the open air. As well as in fitness clubs across city. At fuel stations etc. You've got to have own laptop with wireless modem though.
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