Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania

Seeing as I am travelling indefinitely on a one way ticket I have the freedom to visit countries that most short term European travellers consider to be mostly unchartered. Following Stockholm I was not quite sure where I should go. Hence, I googled a map of Europe to determine the neighbouring countries. I discovered that Estonia (a country that I really knew little about) was just a short flight away. Before I came to Europe I thought that I was relatively cluey about the world and the general nature of most countries. Now that I am here I have learnt that I really had, and continue to have absolutely no idea. Estonia, as do the other two Baltic countries, borders upon Russia and therefore was once occupied by the USSR. To me, this signified that it still would have somewhat of a bleak and somber nature; I thought that the place would be overrun with little old crippled women, shuffling along with the produce they harvested from the field with headscarves wrapped around their hair, prematurely grey from a life without packet hair-dye. Admittedly, I was slightly mistaken. Estonia is actually quite a well developed country that ranks highly on the human development index, and although Estonia is only a small country (the population is sitting at about 1.3 million) it seems to be quite the contemporary tourist destination. Tallinn, the capital city was actually packed with snap-happy holiday-goers; Old Town in particular being the focus of many Instagram shots.

Some shots of Tallinn's Old Town. 

Though I thought that not many Australians make it to that particular neck of the woods, I did come across a select few at my hostel who have decided to call Estonia home. I stayed at The Red Emperor (http://www.redemperorhostel.com), a hostel that was actually started up by a bloke from Perth who was entranced by a nation so different to the one in which he was born. I did not even expect to stumble across an Aussie in Estonia; let alone a hostel operated by one and full of a rag-tag bunch of fellow folks from our great southern land. 

Though the medieval charm of Old Town was enchanting I do recommend only spending a few days there; especially if you're on a budget that does not really accommodate eating out and drinking heavily every night. Unless you want to drink beer that is, in which case go and plonk yourself down at The Red Emperor Bar (dangerously adjacent to the hostel) during happy hour and Bob will certainly be your uncle. I spent most of my time in Tallinn (I was there for four nights I believe) pottering about Old Town. I did try a 'traditional' meal of 'mini avenque procedente del Mar Baltico accompañado can queso y por nuesto caracteristo Leib (spiced Baltic spat with cottage cheese and black bread)' and 'frijoles ensalada de jamonal (bean and ham salad)' for a bargain (not) price of £13. Basically I was an idiot tourist who made the mistake of walking into the emptiest place in town, thinking this was the case because it was well after 3pm. In reality, anybody worth their weight in Lonely Planets would have avoided that place just like Joan Rivers does ageing gracefully. Alas, that was me done with Estonian cuisine and I proceeded to prepare my two specialties for dinner: eggs or chicken and vegetables. 

My bargain meal... I think the one on the left was just chopped up ham with a bit of mayo stirred in.  

I had coffee here - it was more appropriately priced.

The only other point of significant interest that I visited in Estonia was Patarei Prison, a seaside military barracks turned prison which operated until circa 2002 (some sources date it's closure as late as 2005). The Prison provides an unperturbed insight into an ex-Soviet prison, with crumpled and torn magazine clippings still adorning the walls and prisoner's boots left lying haphazardly over the floor. I was rather shocked that the prison was allowed to be a tourist attraction in the state that it was in; cracked glass and barbed wire scattered the floor and hung at levels dangerously close to head height. Regardless, it was a glimpse into the deplorable human suffering faced by many at the hands of the Soviet Union that I never would have been exposed to in Australia.

Walking into Patarei Prison.

The small passage where prisoners were occasionally permitted to walk.

The place was left literally untouched.

The sink prisoners had to utilise.

I never thought I would find Cathy Freeman here.

The library.

The hospital. 

One cell was full of rickety beds and boots.

Following my time in Tallinn, I jumped on a bus headed to Riga, the capital city of Latvia. For those of you who know me in person you would have heard of the slight debacle that obstructed my journey and for those of you who do not I will insert a screen shot of the inevitable Facebook status that follows every single embarrassing moment in my life. 

After paying another £20 and waiting for five hours, hungover and greasy-faced, I finally was en-route to Latvia, travelling with Lux Express (http://www.luxexpress.eu/en). Buses are a cheap and efficient way to get from country to country in Europe and I have been using this means of transport frequently. Though the journey is longer than a plane ride (though not that much so when you consider travelling to and from the airport and the fact that you must be there two hours early) however the benefits to your bank account/alcohol budget far outweigh the disadvantages: it cost me just £17 to get from Latvia to Lithuania for example when previously it has cost me more than that to just check my backpack in on a flight. 

Riga was a beautiful city, absolutely stunning. Though it was small and once again I probably would not advise that anybody spend an extended amount of time there I personally had an excellent experience. Some other travellers had told me that they did not enjoy Riga so much, even suggesting that I skip over it and head straight to Vilnius, my next destination. However, seeing as I am a 'funemployed' free agent and came over to Europe with the intention of going everywhere I still decided to give Latvia a chance. I stayed at a Cinnamon Sally (http://www.cinnamonsally.com - free cinnamon rolls and waffles!) and met some fantastic people there; namely D, one of the employees and Tabby, one of the temporary volunteers. Tabby was just one of those people who I clicked with straight away; her birthday is just a day before mine (though because she is from Canada I joke that the North America/Australia time difference means that we were born on the same day), both of us are slightly kooky and we share a mutual appreciation for the concept of subway for salad. Another cool thing about Tabby is the fact that she is actually a really unique person, studying Chinese medicine in China as her selected career. That really is the beauty of travelling, you meet people from all sorts of eclectic and unimaginable walks of life and then sometimes you become fortunate enough that they like you enough to become a part of your life. 

Riga's colourful Old Town.

Sleeping on the job. 

Every street in Riga is this impressive. 

Whilst in Riga I did spend a lot of time poking about on my own. In all three of the Baltic countries I was given a map from the hostel called 'Made by Locals', which points out all necessary landmarks, cheap places to eat and brilliant places to get boozy. Usually as these cities are so small I tackle them on foot and visit all the must sees this way. I also did take a free walking tour of Latvia of the Art Nouveau district, a lavish, mysterious and seductive style of architecture of which forty percent of Riga's buildings are styled. This was fascinating to me, I had no idea that Latvia was a country of such antique architectural opulence. The extent of my knowledge of the country hitherto had come from an episode of Lizzie McQuire when Lizzie got paired with Kate and had to do an assignment on Latvia. However, as previously stated I once again learnt that the country had plenty more than just Alexander Tort to offer; Riga is actually Europe's 2014 Capital of Culture and I must say I got pretty cultural whilst I was there: trying some local delicacy that involved chicken and cheese (I firmly believe that cheese is a food group), sampling a local glass of red and even attending a Latvian folk dancing night. Naturally I danced like a three legged donkey on Prozac but it does not matter, for I can now tell the story of that time I tried Latvian folk dancing in a local Latvian pub in Latvia... Did I mention that I have been to Latvia? 

I went to take a photo of this little dude without giving him money. He was unimpressed.

Riga's Freedom Monument.

A street stall selling homemade dolls.

The 'Blackhead Building'. 

Mixing with the locals at the market.

The final stop on my Baltic shindig was Lithuania, the southern most Baltic country and the only to not trade in Euro, favouring the Lithuanian Lita until January 1st 2015. 

I stayed in a homely little hostel called Home Made House (http://www.hostelworld.com/hosteldetails.php/Home-Made-House/Vilnius/55844) in the capital city, Vilnius. The lovely owner Lena cooked breakfast every day, washed, hung out and folded my washing for me and even took us guests out for drinks in Vilnius on my first night in the city. She was extremely helpful with advising myself and other travellers about our time in Lithuania and also is very well travelled herself, always providing an interesting conversation, usually enjoyed over a glass of Lithuanian red - also provided nightly. 

I spent a lot of my time in Lithuania on foot once again, saving money and hopefully counteracting the amount of things I mindlessly ingest. One thing I did pay for (though it was so cheap, everything in Eastern Europe is) was the Lithuanian Genocide Museum, which displayed the heartbreaking loss of human life experienced under the oppressing regime of the USSR. I think that whilst visiting such countries it is important to dedicate a few hours to paying my respect to the unfathomable and painful history experienced by that nation, but then to also acknowledge and celebrate how the country has since flourished and triumphed over such miserable times. Lithuania is also where I met Robin (my current travel buddy - www.littlebirdinabigworld.com), the only other girl to eventually rock up in my dorm (after my other friends Emily, Brady and Garrett from the US left) which otherwise contained a Javier Bardem lookalike and a plethora of snorers from the world over. We bonded pretty quickly over our love of great television, mild alcoholism and food, sharing an enormous local meal and then going for a walk in attempt to burn the copious amounts of calories we had just consumed. Robin decided to follow me to Poland and now we are sitting on a bus heading to Slovakia together with plans to smash out a few more countries before she heads back to the US. 

A decent Lithuanian feed.

Vilnius Cathedral (it was huge!).

Vilnius University.

Inside Vilnius University's Cathedral (a different cathedral to previously pictured - the city is full of religious buildings). 

Some art being sold in the street which I really liked.

The Gates of Dawn in Vilnius, one of the most religious sites in the world.

Went swimming in Lake Trakai, it's not quite Warnbro beach but it did alright. 

In summation I am extremely glad that I decided to venture into Eastern Europe/AKA the great unknown. Every destination that I visit has something valuable to show even the most seasoned traveller and therefore I will always encourage everybody to take any travel opportunity that comes their way.