Last few days

A 5-hour train journey south from Tallinn brought us to our final destination, Sigulda, the gateway to the Gauja national park.  It's definitely not FLatvia here, there's even an Olympic bobsleigh track!

Here in Latvia they really celebrate midsummer.  Officially 23rd is midsummer eve and 24th midsummer day - both are public holidays with lots of things shut.  But the evening we arrived (21st) was a big midsummer fete in the (huge) grounds of the castle in the next village, Turaida.  Lots of folky music and dancing, people wearing garlands of flowers, 

and a ritual bonfire as the sun set.

Apparently it had started at 4 o'clock in the morning for sunrise!  We got back exhausted well after midnight.  Paganism is alive and well!!

Next day a super 13km walk in the Gauja valley, 

good views, 

lovely flower meadows and forests but a killer climb back up at the end.

Quiet day today, a visit to Cesis to see the castle(s), both shut.  

But had another lovely walk and a good lunch - ideal.

Back to Rīga tomorrow then early flight Thursday.

More Tallinn pics

The palace 

with stove 

and formal garden 

The Japanese garden 

Seaplane harbour 

Telliviski

Goodbye Estonia

Heading back to Latvia tomorrow for our last few days.  Have had a great time in Tallinn, yesterday at the Kadriorg Gardens+Palace+Art Museum and today at the wonderful Seaplane Harbour Maritime Museum.  

Kadriorg palace was built by Peter the Great for Catherine 1st but apparently she wasn't too impressed - we were!  

Part of the art exhibition was about cleaning and restoring old paintings - really interesting. The gardens are huge and vary from very formal immediately around the palace to nicely wild further away, even a Japanese Garden.

Went to a jazz club in the evening, a big ensemble but they only played for an hour, shame as they were good.

The Seaplane Harbour was a ruin until 2010 but two years later it was rebuilt and houses a brilliant maritime collection - small boats, paintings, even a submarine, 

with bigger ships outside.  

Very well documented, lots of interactive stuff as well.  The building is nearly as interesting as the boats!

Wandered back through bohemian Telliskivi now full of bars, restaurants and huge murals.  

All great, would highly recommend Tallinn.

Tallinn day 1

Lovely weather, beautiful city, everywhere you look there's another pretty building, 

another church (all denominations), 

old walls and turrets.  

Walked the old town, all cobbled streets, 

took nearly all day, just great!

We've rented a flat next to the main market so eating what we can find on the stalls, all very tasty but the cheese is nowhere near as good as at Montréal!

Furthest north - Helsinki

Back in Tallinn now, after two nights in Helsinki.  Had a lovely sunny day there to visit the open air museum at Soerasaari, old houses, barns and farmsteads, beautifully set on a forested island. Very different style from those in the Baltic states.  

Then a stroll around central Helsinki admiring the rather stately buildings and the botanic gardens. 

Not a lot of great interest, even one of the highlights on the "Visit Helsinki" website is a day trip to Tallinn!  Found Helsinki very Scandinavian - expensive and difficult to buy alcohol.  Wouldn't recommend it for a city break but glad we went.

It rained all day when we left, and really surprised how many people were on the ferry, obviously some on a "booze cruise" as midsummer festivities are only a few days away and alcohol is much cheaper in Estonia.

Tartu part 3

Lovely buildings,

and the botanic gardens.

Tartu part 2

Sunday afternoon we strolled around Tartu, via statues, 

the ruined cathedral 

and the superb botanical gardens.

Then the heavens opened and we had the town square in the wet.

A beautiful town, lots of parks and interesting buildings.

Heading further north tomorrow.

Estonia - Tartu part 1

Our buses from Aluksne to the border town of Valka worked fine, then we had a three hour wait for the fast bus to Tartu.  Crossed the border, such as it was, 

to look around the old town on the Estonian side

then stupidly missed the bus!!  Quick  panic, but found a helpful lady who found us two onward local buses so got here two hours late.

A day of rain drove us to the Estonian National Museum - brilliant, spent the whole day there.  

Lots of recent history about how Estonia got to be the way it is with testimony from people who lived through it, descriptions of their lives, just great.  Loads of interactive stuff, mock ups of rooms, huts, tents, a truly amazing place.

Back in "FLatvia" ...

... but not for long.  Had a very nice walk and lunch before leaving Ignalina, first via Utena (great park and tea), then across the border to Daugavpils for one night.  Then northwards again to Aluksne, at one point within sight of the Russian border, big fence topped by razor wire and (empty) watch towers.  A scenic bus ride followed through occasional villages and hamlets, sometimes on dirt roads, a real social service.

Much less English spoken this eastern side of Latvia and Lithuania, but we manage.

Had a "severe weather" warning for this afternoon so set off early for a lovely walk around Aluksne lake, 

past the new castle 

and the old!

But, as someone said, it's a good time to be here, between the snow and the mosquitoes!  And the spring wild flowers are exceptional.

North again tomorrow, into Estonia.

Ignalina bike ride

Lots of lakes,

flowers 

small villages (they sold ice cream here, not in cones but in a waffle folded into a cone!)

and wood carvings.

Lithuania's land of lakes...

... better known as Aukstaitija National Park is in the far northeast, not far from the Russian and Latvian borders.  Had to pass through Vilnius again so ate curries at the same market stall before taking our first train up to Ignalina, 

a lovely small town founded as a station when the St Petersburg to Warsaw railway was built!

Rented two all-terrain e-bikes to cycle 30km around some lakes and through forest - it was surprisingly hilly and sandy, but lovely and almost perfect weather, there were even people swimming in the lakes - not us!  The wild flowers are beautiful - here it's lupin and. cow parsley season, they're everywhere, fields, roadsides, forests.

Weather not so good the next day but had a great walk through local villages

with painted houses - really picturesque.

We only got wet the last couple of kilometres.

Ignalina is a town that is easier to get into than out of - unless you want to go back to Vilnius. We don't , we're heading up the east side of Latvia, so a couple of days of cross-country bussing, hoping they connect, Tallinn in Estonia being the eventual goal.

Furthest south

Now in Druskininka, nearly at the borders of Poland and Belarus.  Stopped in Merkine to walk in the Dzujika national park which was lovely, but less interesting than expected, fairly flat (good!), very wooded and surprisingly sandy.  Continental dunes left after the last ice-age apparently.  

Merkine was also a historic place in Lithuanian history (with its almost obligatory hill fort) but we're now used to the idea that everywhere is!  While waiting for the bus we were with a group of school kids, one 8-year old spoke almost perfect English, said he'd learnt it mostly from films, and he translated for the teachers! (Kid on end left)

Druskininkai is holiday central for Lithuanians and, especially, Poles.  There are spas, a huge Aquapark and a year-round indoor snow slope.  The weather changed so we decided to have a lazy day, getting pampered in the afternoon. 

Well, we are on holiday!  And was it good?  YES!