Index
Day 1 - Flying
Day 2 - Helsinki
Day 3 - to Tallinn
Day 4 - to Riga
Day 5 - to Vilnius
Day 6 - Vilnius
Day 7 - Return
The Baltics
The early morning arrival in Frankfurt (FRA) wasn't great, but at least you get to beat all the lines at passport control. Had plenty of time to kill so walked a ton between the various concourses of Terminal 1, trying to find the best Lufthansa lounge, then realized they were all kinda forgettable at best. Had a quick flight to Helsinki (HEL), then a nice long walk from the airport to the airport's attached train station.
The train ride gave time to appreciate what a nice day it was going to be, and that held true on arrival at Helsinki's central train station, with its glass roof over the tracks yet its historic terminal building directly attached. Kanniston Leipomo may be an ordinary bakery as far as the locals are concerned, but after a full day of airport food it was a delightful snack. Got settled at the hotel, then went exploring at Vanha Kauppahalli, where a collection of seafood, coffee, noodles, and other nom's awaits. Steps away was the Kauppatori central market, a rather modest collection of outdoor (as opposed to indoor) stalls that was probably less tasty, yet I encountered a vendor with a friend who used to work at the same place I did (!) so I ended up ordering from his stall after we had a delightful chat.
Did a bit more exploring afterwards, including the harbor-side outdoor pool and a random sighting of an old C3-chassis Corvette. Unfortunately clouds and a bit of rain decided to show, which sort of cut things a bit short-- the beautiful patchwork of blue and clouds was replaced by a wall of grey, which was decidedly less interesting to photograph!