3,829 kilometres from home...
As always, I start my post by saying that I want to be constant with my publications, even if I know it won't happen. I'm busy in Berlin babies.
Today, actually, I've decided to write because I'm a bit sad. And when I feel like this, my senses become sharper and I express myself much faster and better. Or so it seems to me.
I'm here to tell you about a very cool trip I made two months ago. Time flies. But first I'm going to tell you the reason for my nostalgia: My best friend from Berlin went back to her country, Greece, yesterday. And she was a very important piece for me here. To put you in situation, we started in the company the same day and she was my number 1 support since I arrived in Berlin with NOTHING. No home, no friends, no idea what was going to happen to me in this chaotic city...
Angie has taught me how wonderful Berlin is and how not so wonderful it is to learn German. But thanks to her I know that there is no limit when it comes to learning a new language... knowing 4 perfect ones is not enough.
We have travelled together, in fact it has been 6 months and 5 countries in total. Germany, obviously, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. We have many things in common, but above all our craze for photography and our ability to fly and live day by day in a parallel world.
The trip to the Baltic countries was a trip that we decided to do together, in an improvised and express way.
If there's one thing I love about life in general, it's the thought of the great people you meet as you grow up. There are people who think (my father the first) that I'm not very affectionate, some tell me that Berlin has cooled my heart... and other issues related to coldness that I don't think are so. But when it comes to goodbyes, it's something I haven't quite got over, no. My level of sensitivity rises to a new level. My sensitivity level rises to 78642.
I still remember the drama of returning from my Erasmus, saying goodbye to people I had shared so much with and knew I would probably not see again for many years, or ever. Although to be honest, I have seen quite a few Erasmus-friends since then, much faster than I imagined. Re-encounters in Portugal, Croatia, The Netherlands, Spain, Denmark, Poland 3 times, Germany (Cologne, Berlin) and some others.
Well, what I was going to say. This trip I'm going to tell you about, I had been thinking about it for a long time. While I was on Erasmus in Krakow, I decided, together with other friends, to start organising the famous Baltic Trip for Easter. But for one reason or another, I realised that I couldn't go and my place in the car (out of 5) was left free and a German girl who signed up at the last minute took it. Thanks to the fact that I didn't go, a new couple was created - ta-da! Love was born between the German girl who took my place and a Finnish guy (with whom I am in the photo of the reunion in Copenhagen). And best of all, they are still together. And I love them very much. I feel so good jiii 🙂
I came back from Krakow with the run-run of that trip (Baltic Trip) and being aware of the difficulty of doing it when you are not close to Eastern Europe as the opportunity I had living in Krakow. I tried once again proposing to my parents and my sister to go at Easter last year, but we ended up doing a cruise, also a great plan (another post I have pending).
Finally, this year, at the beginning of March, I had one of those mental crosses that I sometimes get and I booked a flight to Riga. So in a matter of 10 minutes, why think about it? One way to Latvia and back from Lithuania. Three days, two countries, not bad. I just told Angie (my friend who left today) and she didn't hesitate for a second to sign up. That's the attitude 🙂 It wasn't enough to see two countries in three days, we decided to add Tallinn (Estonia) to our tour. Did we survive this crazy trip? I'll tell you now
Day 1: Berlin - Riga
We flew on a Friday morning to Riga from Berlin. The weather forecast was very bad on all 3 days in all 3 countries. What can you expect in the Baltic countries in March? Well, just that.
The truth is that the sun came out when we arrived, although it lasted about 30 minutes. Enough to immortalise the moment. We arrived at the Airbnb where we would stay for 2 nights and we set off, now, in the cold, rain and wind, to go sightseeing. We hadn't looked at anything from Berlin, so we went on an adventure. Here you have a brief description of the things we visited.
What to see in Riga:
City Hall Square (Rātslaukums)
Riga Cathedral (Doma baznīca)
The Three Brothers (Trīs brāļi)
Swedish Gate (Zviedru vārti)
Gunpowder Tower (Pulvertornis)
Art Nouveau Route (Jugendstil)
Riga Castle.
Russian Quarter
Orthodox Cathedral
Top tips: Get lost in the streets and wrap up warm.
The city is beautiful, small, perfect for an Erasmus student and easy to see in a few hours. Walking around and getting lost in the streets is the best thing to do.
In the evening we had dinner in a typical restaurant called Lido and we had one of the most surreal situations of the trip when while we were having dinner with live music, a gentleman subtly approached us to talk and the three of us ended up alone in the restaurant talking about life and the most profound and surreal topics you can imagine. We managed to get away in time to rest and get our strength back for Saturday, which was going to be a long day with an unexpected incident.
Day 2: Riga - Tallinn - Riga
Saturday - When my father reads this he will call me a mental blockhead and rightly so. Our plan was to take a bus at 8am to Tallinn (takes 4 hours) and return in the evening at 7pm. We woke up to Angie's alarm, but by the time I realised it was 5:55 on my watch. I told her, Angie, we made a mistake, it's an hour earlier... we're going to sleep until 7 and from there we'll be able to catch the 8 o'clock bus. It was strange that her watch showed a different time, but with the morning rush we didn't even discuss it. So that's what we did, deluded us. We woke up again at supposedly 6:55, went quietly to the station but with a strange feeling and when we handed in the ticket, the bus lady told us that no, that bus had left an hour ago... It was bloody 9 o'clock!!!!! In Riga it is one hour later than in Berlin or Madrid and we had spent 1 day and a bit on a completely different timetable. Solution? I bought a ticket for the next and last bus which was leaving in 1 minute. While Angie stayed with the conductor so that the bus wouldn't leave. We ended up taking it.
When you make a trip, even if you don't prepare it too much, make sure it's the same time and don't trust your mobile because mine didn't change it automatically. A bus still, but a plane would not have been so funny 🙂
We arrived in Tallinn just before 1 o'clock. It was cold... about -3º to give you an idea, although it was sunny at times. Here is what we did for 7 hours until we took a bus back to Riga.
What to see in Tallinn:
City Wall
Towers and gateway to the Old Town
Town Hall Square or Raekoda Plats
St Catherine's Passage or Katariina käik
Alexander Nevsky Cathedral (my favourite, well worth it)
Toompea Castle and Parliament
Patkuli Viewpoint (also a must-see)
Walk out of the old town until you reach the sea.
Day 3: Riga - Vilnius - Berlin
Sunday - We woke up in Riga, had a quick tour of the city and caught a bus to Vilnius, from where we flew back to Berlin at 9pm.
It was the city we had least expected and it surprised us very positively, in fact it was the only one where we were left wanting more... maybe because we only spent 4 hours. Here is what we did during that time.
What to see in Vilnius:
Town Hall Square
Vilnius Cathedral
Vilnius University
Paraskeva Orthodox Church
Pilies Gatve
Literature Street
Choral Synagogue and Jewish Quarter
Three Crosses Hill
Gedemin Tower
All in all, this trip was a bit crazy as you can see and on Monday in the office our body felt it, but the feeling was incredible. It went by very quickly but at the same time we had time to do a lot of things.
Thinking about it, there are weekends that we waste time doing nothing, and others that give you time to see three cities in three different countries. Although I agree that sometimes doing nothing is also necessary and is the best of pleasures.
I finally got rid of the thing I had with the Baltic countries so 😀 In a few years I would like to repeat it, possibly renting a car to enjoy the surroundings and go from Tallinn to Helsinki and from there to Russia. There it is 😉
So I answer the question of the entry: Is it possible to see Riga, Tallinn and Vilnius in 3 days? YES, IT IS.
Intense, but a trip that was worth it, for the time invested and for the company. And you, would you sacrifice your energy and hours of sleep for such a trip?
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