The Baltic states

By Pete
Travel note: putting AUS stickers on a van is absolutely pointless. People see the D on the number plate and are blind to the bloody great AUS sticker right beside it, they still automatically start speaking German and are surprised when we don’t understand. One guy did, in fact, see the sticker and then proceeded to ask us, in German, if we had been to Australia!! Go figure!

I have to admit we were crossing the Gulf of Finland to lands I knew very little about. Though I had never travelled through Scandinavia or the Nordic countries I felt I knew a bit about them, Fjords, Vikings, vodka, reindeer, Santa Claus and dumb songs by Monty Python. My knowledge of the Baltic states was limited to the fact they had been part of the Soviet Union and, after growing unrest and something called Baltic way, finally gained independence in 1991. I certainly wasn’t aware of the secret Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact between the Nazi’s and the soviets to divide their ‘spheres of influence’ over Central Europe, and while I had learnt about the atrocities inflicted by the Nazis I wasn’t aware of those inflicted on their populations by the Communist occupation. This oppression saw approximately one fifth of their population either murdered or sent to Siberian gulags, in towns we had visited only months before, Novosibirsk, Tomsk and Perm. The soviets also ‘encouraged’ hundreds of thousands Russian citizens to immigrate in order to Russify these countries. I vaguely remember the struggle for independence growing through the 80’s and the ‘black ribbon days, that culminated in the Baltic way, a peaceful protest on the 23rd of August 1989 (50th anniversary of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact) that saw approximately two million people join hands to form a human chain spanning 675.5 kilometres from Tallinn in Estonia through Riga in Latvia to Vilnius in Lithuania. The three countries are now proudly independent members of the EU and after financial hardships in the aftermath of the soviet collapse they are now appear to have prosperous future, though the struggle ahead is a little more evident in the rural communities.

We arrived in Tallinn mid afternoon and headed to a marina campsite on the edge of the CBD. Being a Sunday the marina was a hive of activity, yachts and leisure boats coming and going, certainly a camp site with a difference. It was a beautiful, warm, sunny afternoon so we headed into the cobblestoned old town. Having done some research we had compiled a hit list of sights to see, yet walking through the gate in its 15th century defensive wall was a little like walking into a Christmas market, all your plans vanish, you just wander round trying to take it all in.

Luckily the camper was booked in for a service in a few days so there was no need to rush, so we didn’t, I think we actually only ticked off two sites before we succumbed to the sunny afternoon and sat down in an alfresco cafe for a refreshing beer...or two.

We headed back to the van via a large supermarket next door, it had an amazing range and reasonably priced. The penny dropped big supermarket, next to a marina, close to Scandinavia...

We picked up some pork kebabs, chicken teriyaki, lamb sausages and a couple salads, set up the barbie, kicked back and enjoyed the balmy evening with a glass of wine, a bbq buffet and watched the yachts slowly return from their weekend sail or heading off back to Helsinki.... sitting a little lower in the water!

After a lazy start to the next day we strolled along the seafront to a memorial we had spotted from the bus the previous day, it turned out to be a moving memorial to the victims of the soviet terror campaign. The centre piece slices through the earth and slowly leads you up to and an apple grove. Simplicity of design and the symbolism is quite powerful. I couldn’t help note it’s location adjacent to, a now dilapidated, 60’s style monument to soviet power.

We were booked into Ribe that evening, a restaurant known for its Nordic inspired dishes using fresh local ingredients. We headed in a little early to try to tick off a couple more site. Unfortunately as we arrived the heavens opened and we hadn’t bought umbrellas or raincoats. We slowly made our way from the bus stop in the direction of the restaurant dashing between overhangs and Porte Corcheres whenever the rain eased a little.

We arrived slightly sopping at the restaurant earlier than booked but they happily let us dine early. The food was very nice and the service polished yet friendly, not quite fine dining, but several step up from the typical bistro in tourist districts. Bea and I often order something different so we can extend a two course meal into a 4 course mini degustation.

This night I ordered the scallops with a bisque vinaigrette and whitefish roe followed by roasted guinea fowl with mushrooms, raisins and chicory Bea ordered Estonian beef tartare with parsley mayo and pickled mushrooms then lamb with Kolrabi, spinach and lamb tongue. The waitress gave us a smile when she realised that plates were swapped after each course. She also recommended local wines that she, correctly, felt paired nicely with the dishes. A very pleasant evening.

The nice weather had returned the next day so we made a concerted effort to get back on track with our sight seeing, a list that now included the ‘Balti Jaama Turg’ market, new ‘arty hipster’ neighborhood and a vegan chocolate shop that were recommended by the friendly campsite host.
The chocolate shop was obviously the first stop, and despite being vegan the chocolate was amazing, really intense flavors and extremely rich. Next the market with its great range of fresh, non-vegan, produce, we would be back.

The ‘hipster’ neighborhood, a dilapidated warehouse district, backed onto the market so we continued on for a look around. It was quite small and obviously just in its infancy, after a quick look started heading back. I noticed a new building under construction within the warehouses so went to check it out, not that impressive but signs that the area was on the up.

As we headed out again I noticed a large street art piece on a nearby building so we wandered into a large courtyard square, ok maybe the area has a little more happening than you see at first sight. We kept wandering and kept discovering, cafes, galleries, street art, gin distillery (closed damn it) and artisanal ice cream shop (very tasty). Even though the area was being repurposed it had retained its grungy edge rather than being gentrified.

Ok still had that list and we needed to plan and focus...
Alexander Nevski Cathedral, tick
St Nicholas Church, tick
Danish Kings Gardens, tick
Maidens Tower, tick
Toompea Castle, tick
Town Hall Square, tick
Town Hall, tick
St Olaf’s church, tick
Ok now back to the market for the lamb and that shop for the vegan chocolate!
That night I cooked roasted saddle of lamb with wild mushroom purée, garden peas, burnt onion and a red wine jus. Rather tasty I must admit!

The next day was our 6 months anniversary of being on the road!! So we spent it hanging out in a shopping mall while the van was in for its service. With the van service finished and with a brand new set of tires we headed off at 5.45pm and arrived at the small the coastal, resort, town of Parnu around 7.30pm. Bea cooked a celebration dinner of gourmet lamb burgers with goat feta, mushroom purée, tzatziki and grilled halumi... and a bottle of bubbles.

We spent a little time in the morning exploring the town and its, unexpectedly, wide sandy beaches. The weather wasn’t all that conducive to sun baking but I can imagine that during the high season this place would be packed.

Following the coast, crossed into Latvia and arrived in Riga, its capital, at 4.00pm and again headed to a ‘city camp’ (Stallplatz) in a yacht club.

We have been finding these city-camps in all the European cities they are usually set up on large areas of pavement such as yacht club hard stands and exhibition hall car parks, they are a great idea generating income from underutilized space and offering travelers easy access to explore the city.

Riga is a small, attractive, city of around 700,000 people set on the Baltic Sea at the mouth of the River Daugava. It’s medieval old town and beautiful timber buildings have established it, like Tallinn, as a must do stop on the cruise-liner circuit.

We cycled into town the next morning to check it out for ourselves. The old-town has been predominantly pedestrianized making it very pleasant to stroll around enjoying the sites, the Town Hall square, the House of Blackheads, Riga Dome Cathedral and St. Peter’s Cathedral whose spire offers panoramic, though expensive, views do the city. From the old town we continued on our bikes to the Museum of Occupation where we learnt more of the terror inflicted on the population by both the Nazis and the Communists.

In the afternoon we visited their famous city market (yes there is a theme to the places we visit). This extensive market includes 4 vast soviet era halls along with surrounding open air fruit markets with even more stalls selling all kinds of household goods. We grabbed some salmon for dinner, had a guy blend up a couple of custom mix spices for us then headed back to the van.

The next morning we drove to a suburb, adjacent to the old town, famed for its examples of Art Nouveau architecture and even though it is basically just one street, it show cases the growth of the style. We then headed to the old Jewish ghetto, and even though it was Saturday and the museum was closed it was early to think the horrors that started here. Between the ghetto and the central market, even more stalls has been set up for the weekend including a local flea market. I was looking for a cheap knife sharpener, they had everything but.

Before leaving Riga we hit the market one more time to get some ingredients for the following days.
We headed toward Liepaja on the Latvian west coast, Tom Tom knew how to get there, unfortunately, however nobody told her that the intersection she suggested had not been built yet! She quickly recalculated and sent us on 30km detour over corrugated gravel roads that shook the bejeezers out of the van. We finally arrived and camped up in a lovely forested camp near a lake a little out of town.

We continued down the coast through Liepaja, a more industrial harbour town where the recovery from the communist era appeared to be taking a little longer, to Klaipeda in coastal Lithuania.
Klaipieda had in fact been part of Prussia/Germany until the early 20th century when after a short stint as a French protectorate was annexed by Lithuania. After a stroll around the small Germanic town centre we continued on to Kaunas and another city camp.

We rode into town along the river the next morning, locked our bikes near the Kaunas castle ruins and wandered into the old town for a leisurely coffee and pastry, sitting on the sunny sidewalk people watching. Coffee finished we felt it would be appropriate to explore this Hanseatic era area, through the town hall square and Santiago’s park to the newer Freedom avenue. It felt ironic that the old town was full of trendy cafes and young people whereas the newer areas were populated by older generations.

I have been noticing that unlike Western European cities Central and Eastern European cities don’t engage with their rivers. In the west they are celebrated as an important part of the city fabric, they are full of life. In the centre and east, rivers flow through the city but are not engaged by them. I find this unusual and fascinating.
That afternoon we continued the short distance to Vilnius.

We found a wonderful place called City Forest Hostel and camping right on the edge of Vilnius historic centre. It was a cool hostel, with a great outdoor bar and BBQ terrace, that had 4 or 5 spots for campers. Not sure we were their target market!

We strolled into town in the early evening to see what the town was all about and find somewhere for dinner, on the way in we stumbled upon the Bohemian ‘Republic of Uzupis’ and small neighborhood that, until recently, was considered the most dangerous place in Vilnius. It has now become an artist and creative district that has ‘seceded’ from greater Vilnius and even has its own constitution, which has even become an attraction within Uzupis - it reads:

1. Everyone has the right to live by the River Vilnele, and the River Vilnele has the right to flow by everyone.
2. Everyone has the right to hot water, heating in winter and a tiled roof.
3. Everyone has the right to die, but this is not an obligation.
4. Everyone has the right to make mistakes.
5. Everyone has the right to be unique.
6. Everyone has the right to love.
7. Everyone has the right not to be loved, but not necessarily.
8. Everyone has the right to be undistinguished and unknown.
9. Everyone has the right to idle.
10. Everyone has the right to love and take care of the cat.
11. Everyone has the right to look after the dog until one of them dies.
12. A dog has the right to be a dog.
13. A cat is not obliged to love its owner, but must help in time of nee.
14. Sometimes everyone has the right to be unaware of their duties.
15. Everyone has the right to be in doubt, but this is not an obligation.
16. Everyone has the right to be happy.
17. Everyone has the right to be unhappy.
18. Everyone has the right to be silent.
19. Everyone has the right to have faith.
20. No one has the right to violence.
21. Everyone has the right to appreciate their unimportance.
22. No one has the right to have a design on eternity.
23. Everyone has the right to understand.
24. Everyone has the right to understand nothing.
25. Everyone has the right to be of any nationality.
26. Everyone has the right to celebrate or not celebrate their birthday.
27. Everyone shall remember their name.
28. Everyone may share what they possess.
29. No one can share what they do not possess.
30. Everyone has the right to have brothers, sisters and parents.
31. Everyone may be independent.
32. Everyone is responsible for their freedom.
33. Everyone has the right to cry.
34. Everyone has the right to be misunderstood.
35. No one has the right to make another person guilty.
36. Everyone has the right to be individual.
37. Everyone has the right to have no rights.
38. Everyone has the right to not to be afraid.
39. Do not defeat.
40. Do not fight back.
41. Do not surrender.

We found a statue of a mermaid under a bridge then discovered that legend has it that if you find this secret sculpture and stare into her eyes you are destined to stay in Uzupis forever... nah.. we needed dinner. We found a cliche tourist restaurant in the middle of the ‘old town’ serving traditional Lithuanian dishes, and against our better judgement decided to try it. I had quail with buck wheat and pears (allegedly a 17th century recipe) Bea had beaver stew, I never thought I would ever see Bea eating beaver!

We walked back to the hostel through the heart of old town, which was buzzing with people enjoying warm evening strolling or drinking in any of the numerous restaurants and cafes that lined the streets and squares.
Being inland Vilnius is not on the cruise-liner circuit which means the tourists actually engage with the city and its restaurants and cafes more than Tallinn and Riga where after their 6 hours of shore leave they’re back onboard for dinner and onto the next destination. It certainly added to the atmosphere to Vilnius’s heart.

We walked back into town the next morning with a more planned itinerary which included The Gates of Dawn, Gediminas Castle and several of its famous cathedrals along with Palace of Concerts and Sports and of course the Hales Market.

The Palace of Concerts and Sports is a, now dilapidated, monumentally, brutalist soviet era indoor arena, while I cannot speak to its history or the negative cultural connotations that it may have on the Lithuanian people it was somehow sad, from a purely architectural view to see such a great building slowly crumbling.

That afternoon, after swinging through the Hales Market for dinner ingredients we headed off, via decathlon for running shoes, toward Poland.