I am officially finished with my first semester in Berlin. In between Blocks 1 and 2, I had a five day break and I utilized that time to travel to 3 Baltic countries: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.
My trip began on Friday, September 20. I flew from Tegel in Berlin to Tallinn, Estonia with Airbaltic. I had never heard of Airbaltic before and I had my doubts about this airline but I was fairly impressed. There was no one in the seat beside me so I could spread my legs out a bit more. The flight was under two hours. It was raining when I arrived in Tallinn. I did not feel like figuring out public transport from the airport so I got a very cheap Uber to my Airbnb. The Uber driver told me that the Estonian language is most similar to Finnish and that Estonian has no similarities to its neighboring language, Latvian. I found this extremely interesting. He also told me that a lot of the people in the Baltic countries speak Russian as well. My Airbnb is really nice and right outside of the Old Town. I settled in and went to the grocery store right around the corner from my Airbnb. I found it quite interesting that there was no dialogue between cashier and customer. Some of the people checking out left their headphones on during the whole check out procedure. The whole store was silent and I found it to be just awkward. I got pizza and garlic bread for dinner, although they were certainly not the best I have had. After dinner, I had plans to go and take night pictures of the old town, but as I stepped out of my Airbnb and saw that it was raining hard, I decided to stay in for the night.
Early the next morning, I made breakfast in my Airbnb and walked through the park to the Old Town. Of course it was drizzling, but it was not that bad. I did not even need to use my umbrella. I explored the Old Town for about an hour and a half. The Old Town is surrounded by a very old castle wall. All of the streets are cobblestone and no one was out on the streets this early, meaning I could explore without any interruptions. One of my favorite sites in the Old Town is the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, pictured below. Tallinn also has a ton of street art, especially when you exit the Old Town. The Street Art is very tasteful and very well done, something that most cities do not possess. Tallinn is a very up and coming city in my opinion. They are rebuilding a lot outside of the Old Town. They are also extremely environmentally friendly, which I did not expect them to be.
I checked out of my Airbnb and went to Kadriorg Palace, located in a beautiful park. This was definitely the highlight of my time in Estonia. The palace is very colorful and there are fountains and gardens in the back of the palace. Almost no one was there so I could get some really good photos. Unfortunately, the weather was not very good so there is a grey sky in every photo. I walked a bit more around the park. There were a lot of families out walking around. The park is very well kept and seems to be very kid-friendly. I then walked to the harbor. The smell of the Baltic Sea was actually quite awful. I got to see all the cruise ships at the harbor though. Tourists come by the hundreds every day via cruise ship into Tallinn. There are cruises that include Helsinki, Tallinn, and Saint Petersburg. All three are capital cities that are located right near the sea, forming a perfect travel route for cruise ships.
I will say now, Estonia was my favorite out of the three Baltic countries that I visited. I liked that I did not feel as though I was in a city. Everything that I saw was very beautiful and as I already mentioned, Tallinn feels very up and coming. I could imagine a life in Tallinn.
At 3:00, I had a 4 hour bus ride to Riga, Latvia. I was pleasantly surprised with the bus. I had a ton of leg room, there was no one sitting next to me, and the bus had amazing Wifi. I got a lot done on my phone during this time (sending emails, planning travel, and chatting with friends back home). Before I knew it, the four hours were up. I got off the bus at an earlier stop than what my ticket was for and then only had a four minute walk to my Airbnb. It was actually very hard to find the entrance to the building. I walked past it twice. The inside of the building was very sketchy but the apartment was very tidy and modern. I settled in, went grocery shopping, and made some chicken quesadillas for dinner.
The next morning (Sunday), I woke up and had some eggs for breakfast, showered, and then went exploring in Riga. Of course, it was raining. But I did not let this stop me. My first stop was to the Riga Nativity of Christ Cathedral.
Riga feels very city like. There are cars, buses, and trams buzzing down the streets. However, once you enter the Old Town, it is all winding streets with cobblestones. Even in the city part though, it does not feel as modern as Tallinn. My second stop was the House of the Blackheads. One of the highlights of this entire trip was finding a Buddy Bear in the plaza right in front of the House of the Blackheads. The 2018 World Buddy Bear exhibition was held in Riga. 148 bears were represented and the Riga bear remained in Riga while the other 147 bears are traveling around the world. Since this was also early in the morning, I could get great pictures with no people in them. I then walked to the opera, the art museum, and through a beautiful park.
At lunch time, I went to the train station and took a train to Sigulda where the Gauja National Park is. There are many castles scattered throughout the park and I was very excited to see some of the natural scenery of Lithuania. Honestly, I was very disappointed in this park. The castle that I most wanted to see was encased entirely in scaffolding. The ground was all wet and muddy from all the rain that day. I could not find a proper path into the woods. There were a lot of families out which was nice to see. I only spent about two hours at the park and then took the train back to Riga. During my time in Riga, I did not hear any English. I guess that not many English-speaking tourists visit Latvia.
I woke up at 5:30 on Monday morning so that I had enough time to catch my 7:00 bus to Vilnius, Lithuania. I ate breakfast and left the Airbnb at 6:15 to walk to the bus station. I guess my legs were still asleep during the walk because I tripped over a tram rail line in the middle of the street, belly flopped, and busted my hand open. There was no one around and it was still dark out. I did not want to miss my bus so I got up and kept walking. My hand was bleeding a lot so I got a tissue and just held it on the wound until I got to the bus station. I quickly went to the restroom, washed the cut, and put a Bandaid on it. Thankfully, I carry a little medical kit in my backpack. I still have the cut on my hand that will probably take a while to heal. My knees are a bit bruised and my pants now have a permanent scuff mark on them. My toes hurt a bit as well from the initial contact with the rail line. Overall, I am perfectly fine and this did not interrupt my journey.
I woke up at 5:30 on Monday morning so that I had enough time to catch my 7:00 bus to Vilnius, Lithuania. I at breakfast and left the Airbnb at 6:15 to walk to the bus station. I guess my legs were still asleep during the walk because I tripped over a tram rail line in the middle of the street, belly flopped, and busted my hand open. There was no one around and it was still dark out. I did not want to miss my bus so I got up and kept walking. My hand was bleeding a lot so I got a tissue and just held it on the wound until I got to the bus station. I quickly went to the restroom, washed the cut, and put a Bandaid on it. Thankfully, I carry a little medical kit in my backpack. I still have the cut on my hand that will probably take a while to heal. My knees are a bit bruised and my pants now have a permanent scuff mark on them. My toes hurt a bit as well from the initial contact with the rail line. Overall, I am perfectly fine and this did not interrupt my journey.
The bus from Riga to Vilnius was also 4 hours. Unfortunately, I had someone sitting next to me so this bus ride was not as glamorous. Upon arrival in Vilnius, I went inside the bus station and asked how to get to Trakai Caste, a beautiful castle island not far from from Vilnius. The lady told me which bus to take. In about 40 minutes, I was in Trakai. From the bus station, it was a wonderful 28 minute walk to the castle. The scenery in the town of Trakai and around the castle is beautiful. I walked around the island and around the perimeter of the castle. Then I walked along the shore and got some really good pictures of the castle. I finally had a day with blue skies!
I walked back to the Trakai bus station and took the bus back to Vilnius. By this time, my Airbnb was ready for check in. As usual, I picked a gorgeous Airbnb. I went grocery shopping and then stopped to see a church (pictured below). I was really tired and just wanted to relax so I made dinner and stayed in my Airbnb for the rest of the night. I had pizza again for dinner and was very disappointed. I have to be honest, the frozen pizzas in Europe absolutely suck compared to American frozen pizzas. I really miss a thick crusted American pizza. This pizza in Vilnius had pesto sauce and tomatoes on it which did not make me happy.
My last day of the trip greeted me with a 32 degree morning. I ate a quick breakfast and headed out to explore Vilnius. There were six locations that I desired to visit so I plugged all of them into Google Maps and began my journey. Vilnius did not feel at all like Tallinn or Riga. There was no real city square or touristy spot. Everyone was rushing to school and work and I was casually taking pictures of churches. I felt a bit awkward. The sights that I did see were quite beautiful though. I went back to my Airbnb, checked out, and went to the train station. The train from the main train station to the airport was only 70 cents and only 7 minutes long. I arrived at the airport three hours early because I had already seen everything that I wanted to in Vilnius and did not really have anywhere to go. The flight was perfectly fine (RyanAir). I landed in the other Berlin airport- Schönefeld. It took me a few minutes to figure out where the train station was in proximity to the airport since this was all new to me. The airport is outside of Berlin so I had to buy an extra ticket for public transport. I used two S Bahns to get home and the journey took just over an hour.
My Baltic adventure was pretty great. It was wonderful to get to visit three countries in five days. All of my planning was seamless and the only thing I could have asked for was better weather.