Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania

22 July: Berlin - Stockholm - Tallinn

Getting the ferry from Stockholm to Tallinn was a good move. Pistol calm water and postcard coastline turned this voyage from an experience into a privilege. Dusk didn't really fall until around 11, and never truly became night. It was amusing too - the Finns (the Finnish, not half of Crowded House) made a bee-line for the onboard supermarket and stocked up on booze, headed to the outdoor decks and cracked on. I was happy to have a smoke and watch the Baltic float by. I shared a cabin with 3 other guys, 2 of whom didn't speak, and the other who was a Finn but lived between his houses in Sweden and Estonia, and whose name and any other details I couldn't decipher.

Tallinn's old town is picturesque enough, if a little too touristy (posed the tourist...). For a capital city, it's tiny. Quite a contrast after Berlin. I had a wander around for a few hours and went to the beach. I met a lesbian couple from Berlin so had a chat with them about where I'd been while I was there. I didn't try and line one up. You know what I'm talking about.

The one place I really wanted to see was the former KGB Headquarters, but I couldn't find it for love nor money. Being what it is, it may have been ironically located, maybe you had to solve a riddle of some kind to work out where it really was. If I come back after Pärnu I'll have another look.

I'm keen to get out of Tallinn before the stag parties arrive for the weekend, so I'm off south.

24 July: Tallinn - Pärnu

I've thought long and hard about it, and I have to say Estonia's got the most beautiful women in any country I've been to. It takes some doing to trump Brazil, Sweden and Ibiza, but Estonia's a match for anywhere.

I took a cab to the bus station and was picked up by the hottest taxi driver I have ever seen. She was a bit like the taxi driver on Pulp Fiction - she drove like a maniac, was exotic, slightly mad and totally fascinating.

A 2 hour bus ride and you're in Pärnu, on the coast of south western Estonia. It's only a small place, but it's said to be the Ibiza of Estonia. People come here from all over the country to party at weekends, and a fine job they do too. It's not the 24/7 mash up that Ibiza can be, but it's great fun and it's been good to get away from the tourist trail and come to meet locals. The beach is a cracker, massive and covered with white sand, and with stunning women everywhere it doesn't take long to get jesters shoes on. I have to fight the urge to sit there taking pictures of all the women, but I've just managed it. Sorry guys.




Posing and beach volleyball are the 2 distinct but very much related pastimes here. They do both well. Estonians are also very friendly and keen to know about other places. It's not as cheap as you might expect, though. The economy's coming along at a fair clip and prices are not actually that much less than London. It's still well worth your while to visit here. I will be a happy man if Latvia's even half this good.

29 July: Pärnu - Riga

You know you're living a good lifestyle if the worst thing that happens to you in a day is being "forced" to spend a few more hours at the beach. But with my intended bus full and no more for 5 hours, that was the tragedy that befell me. I met a local girl who kept me in Estonia for a day longer than anticipated too, again tough luck.

I arrived in Riga in the evening and headed out to get a feel for the city. I got talking to a dude from Stockholm who was touring with his rock band, "My Machete". An entertaining character, 46 going on 16 and still living some semblance of the dream. Being a front man for a rock band, he found it impossible not to try drawing attention to himself. When it got to throwing nuts at people on surrounding tables, I had to split.

Latvia itself is a gem. Riga was founded in 1201 because the Pope reckoned those Baltic heathens could do with some religion. It's endured centuries of occupation and colonisation by, variously, Russia, Germany, Poland and Sweden. It only declared independence in 1991, so like its neighbours it is relatively recently that it became what it is now, and the transition is still happening. Also, like Tallinn and other cities in the region, there is an old and new town. Although pockets of Riga's Old Town are unloved and falling apart, there's still a surprise around every corner. Even the New Town isn't all that new - much of it was taking shape by the 18th century.

The pace of life seems really relaxed, except the maniac drivers screeching around on the cobbled streets. There are a couple of big open squares lined with cafes where you can soak up the evening sun and some cocktails and watch people wind down. This is much more like how I envisaged a Baltic capital would, and should, be.

And we have this week's Tramp of the Week. This was an easy choice, this guy totally means it. There were a couple of other contenders, but I love his style. He could be in the frame for Ace of Tramps, depending on how the competition measures up further south.

awesome.

1 August: Riga - Liepaja

I had a great time in Riga, met some nice folks at the hostel but was looking to get out of Riga for the weekend (again, before the stag parties flooding in) and meet some locals, and Liepaja's been the perfect place to do it. I guess you'd say it's the Latvian equivalent of Pärnu, the difference being everyone I met here is from here and not somewhere else in Latvia. It's got a lively music scene and if I'd been here last weekend I'd have caught the biggest beach party in the Baltics. Even so, I was still lucky and coming here for the weekend was definitely the right move. There was a good beach party on Friday and I met loads of people there who I also caught up with on Saturday night at a couple of clubs. Really sound people. Again, friendly girls and I ended up staying a couple more days.

So tomorrow it's off to Lithuania, again to a smaller beach town before heading to the capital for the weekend. At least that's if I can get the bus. It's only around 100km away but I think getting there can be tricky sometimes. Fingers crossed I make it, but if I don't it's not the end of the world.

3 August: Liapaja - Palanga

I didn't get off to Lithuania for another couple of days. I met up with a guy I'd met over the weekend, a cool guy, and he drove me around the old and new parts of the city giving me a tour which was good of him. The next day I went for a big walk and checked out an old military prison which had been recommended to me by several people. It was originally a hospital on the biggest naval base the Russians had built in the Baltics at the start of the 20th century but there was a riot and the authorities had nowhere to put the offenders, so they converted the hospital into a prison. And through successive periods of Russian and Gernam occupation of Latvia, that's how the place remained. During Nazi times, alleged traitors, deserters and spies were kept there. Periodically, when enough of them had been sentenced to death by courts martial, a group would be made to kneel in the courtyard. Two rows of Nazi soldiers - one standing, the other kneeling - would shoot from 30m. The standing soldiers took the head shot, the kneeling soldiers the chest. After a while they abandoned this practice and simply shot each offender in the back of the head.



The bus to Palanga, when I got it, was easy enough, just an hour or so and literally cheap as chips. The evening sun had resurfaced by the time I got there so the town was busy with people out enjoying it. My hotel was 3km out of town, an an area for camping and chilling, and maybe a touch further away than I'd have planned ideally but still a fantastic setting despite there being nowhere to eat, drink or meet people.



It's Wednesday and I came back into town for breakfast while it was overcast again, not optimistic about the prospect of getting some sun. Early afternoon turned the tables and it turned into a beautiful day, so I rented a bike and rode through a pine forest to my place and the beach. Very, very mellow, and it made staying a little out of the action an unexpected bonus.

7 August: Palanga - Vilnius

Lithuania's capital is stunning. A beautiful old town meets the stylish new, and everywhere you turn there's another scene that takes your breath away.



It has that kind of homely feel that's sometimes found in a country's second city but not its biggest. I was lucky enough to meet a lot of local people and enjoyed hanging out with them. They're fiercely proud of their country in a way I've not encountered so far on this trip. One guy I'd chatted to in the afternoon of the Friday took me to a real locals' bar so I stayed there and watched the opening ceremony of the Olympics. I cheered when Lithuania's team came out and the locals responded by cheering on NZ. I also went to check out the Frank Zappa memorial. He's got nothing to do with Lithuania, but a group of people that totally buzzed off his music got together and made it happen.







There was no way I could not go to Pacha while in Vilnius; it opened here last year. I'd been to a cocktail bar at the top of a hotel with some locals and then on to the club. Unfortunately the clubs here have a "face control" policy so they only let foreigners and only the best looking locals in, so it was less authentic than I wanted. Still, I had fun.



Saturday night I ventured out to another club that had been recommended to me and which doesn't have a face control policy, so it was a lot of fun and again I met some really good people. Another late night so I was feeling the pace by Sunday. I sat in a cafe which is in a sort of open area just off one of the main streets, and was treated to the random sight of about 3 dozen people dancing in the swing/1930's sort of style. It was really cool to see, I have to say. They were so talented. It's not often you get entertainment this random and for free. That night I met up with a friend and we hung out the next day at a really pretty picture-postcard town called Trakai, which is situated on an amazingly calm lake. And then it was off to get the overnight bus to Poland.

The Baltics have been great. Despite the difficult histories of these countries, the people have been cool everywhere I've been and I'd have no hesitation recommending anywhere here. It's a little more expensive than I'd foreseen, and inflation is one of the biggest issues affecting all 3 countries. It's preventing them from adopting the Euro too, and I don't see that changing anytime soon. I haven't been to places where the scenery is overwhelming, though it's been pleasant enough. For me, it's the people that have made the Baltics, and also the mixture of interesting old-old buildings and cities, and the interesting, if kind of harrowing histories and the fact that these countries have only been independent less than 20 years. Next up is Poland, which will be quieter for me as I need to chill for a bit, and I'm looking forward to it.

But first, it's time for Tramp of the Week! This, my friends, is technique.



I felt so bad about taking her picture that I dropped some money in her cup for services she doesn't know she's rendered.

Amsterdam, Hamburg, Berlin

14 July: London - Amsterdam

Amsterdam seemed the ideal place to start this trip, and that's how it turned out. I'd been there a few times before and had some pretty messy weekends there, so I didn't feel the need to go crazy this time. I've had more trips than I care to remember, when I started with a big effort on the first day/night and that set the tone for the rest of the trip. My mind and body can't maintain that level for 3 months, not any more, so I'm looking at a slow start for this one.

One thing that always gets me about Amsterdam is what a sweet place it would be to live. The pace of, and attitude towards, life is relaxed. It's got that "anything goes" outlook, a bit Thailand but without old, fat white men shagging kids. They've just introduced a smoking ban in cafes and bars, including coffee shops. So now, while the rest of the world's authorities check your cigarettes for weed, in Amsterdam they check for tobacco but have no beef with the weed. Beautiful.

16 July: Amsterdam - Hamburg

Hamburg kept the relaxed vibe going for a couple more days. I was staying at Reeperbahn, which is home to what they say is the biggest red light district in Europe. It was pretty lively but I didn't fancy forking out half my travel budget to go and stare at implants. Hamburg was quite pretty, just what you'd expect of an old German city and the kind of place your Mum would like.

When I was working in London recently, I worked near London Bridge so would often see those open top buses ferrying brave and desperate tourists around through driving rain and howling gales. There they'd sit on the open top deck, gritting their teeth as they lined up the next photo in the face of a Force Five. And I'd laugh and mock, safe in the certainty that you'd never get me on one of those. But in Hamburg, I became that guy. It wasn't raining but that's no excuse. To be fair, it was a useful way to get my bearings to be able to have a walk around later. I had a look at the usual stuff but there was one unusual museum in the form of a U Boat. I wasn't sure whether to feel underwhelmed or not - I'd never been on a sub before and the engineering involved to put one of those things together was impressive, but it was made by the Russians in 1976. so was too old to be technologically amazing and too young to have a particularly interesting story.

I saw a great tramp in Hamburg too, sleeping on a bench. He was edgy - a dude who'd made his choice and was sticking by it. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of him. I'd like to have a running "Tramp of the Week" feature, ending with awarding the best one from the whole trip the title "Ace of Tramps". I'm not sure what the tramp scene's like in eastern Europe - watch this space.

Another thing I'll be keeping an eye out for is amusing street signs. This one seemed to give some pretty sensible instructrions. Not sure what the last thing is though?!

18 July: Hamburg - Berlin

I have to say, Berlin's one of the best cities I've been to and I'd happily come again. The first thing that got me about it was the scale of everything. Berlin's spread over an area of 892 square km, and makes use of the space. On street after street you encounter imposing, impressive buildings that leave you in no doubt about Berlin's cultural and historical richness. Berlin's as much a statement as it is a city. Music, art, trade, war - evidence of all the strands which, when woven together, somehow make a city more significant, is all over the place. I'm not really one for churches, and don't see myself going inside many in the next couple of months, but when I look at some in their own right - cosmetically, instead of what they represent - I have to admire them. They're all over Berlin.

I went up the Fernsehturm ("TV Tower") which gives an unrivalled aerial view of the city. From here you could see how abruptly East meets West, and the contrast between the two. It seems incredible that two such differing places can have existed, right next to each other, not even 20 years ago. I get the feeling I'll have a similar sensation in a few countries I visit. The East is grim. Soviet style tower blocks lined up like dominoes, devoid of any colour or expression. Living here during the partition of Berlin must have been intolerable. Dozens of people died trying to break from East to West. One day, I needed to get the U-Bahn (tube/metro) from where I was staying in the East, towards the West side of the city. There was something up with the trains and none were coming, so I took another route on the S-Bahn. No chance of that choice a few years ago.

I nearly became Open Top Bus tourist again, but took it down a peg or two and did a boat trip instead. They gave us some headphones to listen to the blurb about each place we passed, but the English commentary had been done by a dalek, or perhaps Stephen Hawking, so I stuck some music on instead, put my feet up and floated around Berlin. I recommend it. About the only other thing I'd dwell on specifically is Brandenburg Gate. With my limited sense of history I thought it was built as part of the wall, but it's been there a touch longer than that. When you read about it, it reinforces the sensation you get about how long Berlin's been around.

I liked the German word for barbequeing:

And, related to the "amusing signs" I will also keep an eye out for signs that are the same of friends' names. Mina, this one's for you buddy.

You could probably spend a year here and still not fully appreciate what Berlin is, what it's been and what it's given in between. But it's further east I'm really looking, so with a sense of excitement, that's where I'm heading next.