September in the Baltics

A couple of years ago I had the opportunity to travel to the Baltic States, the first significant trip I did solo. Off I went for 2 weeks to make by way though Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The following are some observations:

First off I figured traveling in September would be a perfect since the weather would be reasonable, and the tourist would be few. True, the quaint little city centers were not too crowded with tourists, but I couldn’t have been more wrong about the weather. I should have brought along a mink coat. I froze my ass. I think the Baltics in general are pretty much off the tourist circuit, especially once you stray from the capitals of Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius.

Estonia: First and last stop on my trip, and the most “westernized” it seemed to me. Great historic center and friendly people, but also the most expensive of the three counties. In a strange side strip I traveled out to a city not far from the Russian border called Sillamae, and if someone had told me I was in Estonia I would have been shocked. All signs were in Russian, the people spoke only Russian, the restaurants were Russian, and even the architecture harkened back to the communist concrete blocks that are so precious. Granted Estonia was a Russian territory for a significant portion of the 20th century (as was Latvia and Lithuania), but you would have thought they’d have sworn off all things Russian once freed from the Communist hold.

Latvia: Was it just me or were all the people seriously pissed off? And I guess after spending so many years standing in lines, they refuse to recognize the idea of such civilized things now. Judging by the currency exchange offices on every other corner, I got the impression that tourism was really starting to boom. I went out to a spectacular beach community on the Baltic Sea – Jurmala – and ate some dumplings on the boardwalk. Then on the train ride, with wooden niches for seats back to Riga, I got off at a communist era housing complex, where people gave me a look clearly wondering if I was lost. I wasn’t, but it was somewhat creepy and I only stuck around long enough to grab some architectural photographs.

Lithuania: By far my favorite of the three. Friendly people who were eager to please, and a fairly nonexistent tourism industry. An amazing museum in Vilnius at the former KGB headquarter, containing excellent documentation and a self guided tour of holding cells, torture chambers and the like. There’s also some statue that is a major pilgrimage sight. I also stayed at a great hotel created by converting a convent, and I met a great group of retired teachers from Los Angeles, when I went to visit Grutas Parkas, the property of a wealthy mushroom cultivator who bought up all the communist era statues and created a park to display them – more on this in another post.

The Food: I hope you’re a love of sour cream…and meat. I don’t think “vegetarian” translates over there, and sour cream is an automatic accompaniment to everything. Great dumplings, called pelmeni in Latvia, and also a borsht like soup in Estonia. The beer was awesome.

Travel Details: I traveled all by bus, so there were some long overnight journeys, with lots of stops for border control and passport checks. I did however meet other solo travelers my age on these journeys, so it was always great to spend a few hours talking about our travels and offering up tips. I even let one weary backpacker use my hotel shower, while he had a quick stop in Vilnius before continuing onward. The other fun mode of travel are small mini bus/vans that cram as many people as possible with no a/c and the faint hope that you will arrive in your destination in one piece.