Sunday, October 8, 2017

The Baltics: Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia

Just the thought of visiting the Baltic states sent shivers down my spine:-). Tucked far away in the cold northeast corner of Europe, these exotic, unknown little countries are a place that always intrigued me. Knowing that our friend Stefan was joining us made the trip even for exciting!  First occupied by Nazi Germany, then Soviet satellite states, I always wondered what they were like.  Except for a few friends who had visited via cruise ship, I knew no one that had been there.  Even my favorite bloggers had very little to say about these 3 tiny countries.  My Let's Go guide book described each of them as unique, with their own cultures and languages, with a people fierce in their wish for independence, brave for first fighting the Nazi's, and then secretly maintaining their culture despite the efforts of the Soviets.  But their history spans ages beyond these most recent events.  Talinn and Riga were Hanseatic cities.  Each of the countries had been part of various empires for the vast majority of their histories, with Latvia as a free, independent nation for only 38 years as of 2009.  Now, each revels with pride and dignity as independent states.  When visiting, you can sense their desire to remain independent, even with expressing some worry about a growing power of Russia, and questions of NATO support.  Interestingly, our waiter in Talinn said that Estonians relate far more with Finland than with the other two nations, both because of proximity (they are a 2 hour ferry ride from Helsinki) and they share a related language.

As to my impressions of visiting each of these countries:  I am very happy we visited them.  I found them interesting and beautiful, with each country quite distinct.   The level of reconstruction, based on historical records, because of the utter destruction from World War 2, is amazing, and really speaks to their pride and determination to retain their history and culture.  That said, I think 3 days in each was enough.  We only visited Klaipeda in Lithuania (as the ferry from Sweden landed here) for a few hours, and the capitals of Vilnius in Lithuania, Riga and seaside Jurmala in Latvia, and Talinn in Estonia.  On reading guide books, there were other interesting places to visit, but I am not sure they are interesting enough to visit when there is so much of the rest of the world to visit.

Klaipeda Lithuania- we took an over-night ferry from Karlshamn, Sweden to Lithuania.  The ferry was HUGE!  The rooms were small, but amazingly comfortable, even came with a tiny shower.  The dinner buffet was surprisingly good.
The very BEST part of visiting the Baltics was being joined by our friend Stefan!!!!!  Seeing Stefan is always a highlight!

First view of Lithuania

back of ferry with trucks

statue outside the Klaipeda train station


On the river Akmena, just below the old town bridge, is this cool mermaid statue


dragon wall sculpture


Vilnius, capital of Lithuania- 4 hour bus ride from Klaipeda.  Although I liked Vilnius, I found it the least interesting of the 3 capitals we visited.

Vilnius street

The KGB museum- museum of the genocide- meaning the genocide of the Lithuanian people by
first the Nazis then the Soviets
The KGB museum is a definite must when visiting Vilnius, as it chronologically documents first the Nazi, then Soviet occupation of Lithuania.  It is well marked and detailed, so no audio guide is needed.  It is disturbing, though, with the final room being for only those most convicted to seeing the true history of this time period, as it shows films of the murder of people.  I lasted about 5 seconds and left crying.  Actually seeing people killed is the most disturbing thing I have ever seen.

At the start, Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia were allies, with the Baltic's caught in the cross hairs

prison cell in the KGB building

placard of explanation

Memorial to the Soviet occupation

fantastic food fair just outside the old town

St. George was everywhere!

main square of Vilnius

cathedral bell tower

The interior of the Cathedral is amazing- with vast, high ceilings, we felt small before the glory of God

Front of the Cathedral

Cool lightening rod at the peak

with the Cathedral is the Princes palace

Cathedral at night- great lighting


old city gate- one of two still in existence
Gediminas Hill- the defensive tower of Vilnius



View of Vilnius from Gediminas

Cathedral and Princes palace from Gediminas


fantastic craft drink bar- a cheers to a great day in Vilnius!

Riga, Latvia- a 4 hour bus ride from Vilnius.  Riga has a very small old town, very walkable, very cute!  Excellent restaurants!

Cathedral of Riga



The memorial to Latvian Independence!  Extremely tall, so difficult to get a good selfie:-)

top statue of the Memorial for Independence

Base of the memorial for Independence

Everywhere in the old town, you can find the most picturesque views!

cool things to do in Riga

Fantastic stained glass in the Cathedral

Cathedral court yard

We met up with Dave in Riga- he had just returned from St. Petersburg, Russia!

Old aircraft hangers have been repurposed into markets

 Riga has one of the largest collections of Art Nouveau architecture in the world!












Interior of the Cathedral for an organ concert!




Rich in the park



We had drinks at the top of the Radisson Blue hotel!  Views are fantastic!





Jurmala is a small seaside town about 1/2 hour from Riga.  This town is so worth a visit!
St. George statue!

Welcome to Jurmala


Jurmala main street- very cute!

Cathedral Square in Riga

Stefan tells us this sculpture of a donkey, dog, car and rooster are from a German fairytale

The Rifleman- a memorial in Riga that is as controversial as the Confederate monuments in the US.  From World War 1, this monument is to the Latvian's who joined with the Russian army against the Germans.




Talinn, Estonia.  I will say of the 3 capitals, Talinn was our favorite.  It is the largest old town, and the most interesting as there is an upper town, lower town, intact city walls, and 23 remaining towers.
Main Square of the old town

entry towers of the old town

dragon things are everywhere!

Pork Shank for dinner?  With potatoes, saurkraut, soup- it was fantastic!  I won't show the plate after we finished:-)

the night time lighting on the walls was fantastic!

Main square at night- this is the town hall





Plaza of Independence, with the Independence memorial

view of main square from the town hall bell tower


views of the old town from the upper town





Art museum in Kiodrag Palace, Talinn!









Views of the wall!
















Stefan left us after a couple days in Talinn, so we toasted him at sunset


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