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
Mornings throughout the whole trip have been pretty nice, and Riga's old town was a very pleasant stroll in the moring. Saw some random owls and cats, made it as far as the Freedom Monument (dedicated to Lativa's independence in 1918-1920) before heading back toward the hotel, including a brief stop for a tasty apple strudel at a bakery called Rigensis.
Drove south towards Lithuania, had yet another barely-there border crossing (Google Maps made a bigger deal about crossing the border than any of the countries themselves did), and hit a big roundabout with artistically styled cows.
Hill of Crosses was a slight detour, but honestly more interesting than yet-another-beach. Barely any crowds at all, yet, still felt like an appropriately solemn place. Even the farmers' fields surrounding the Hill of Crosses fit the mood.
Stopped by some sort of old windmill on the way out. Wasn't worth the detour as the attached museum was closed and hence no one was around to explain the artwork to me (which I did not understand at all...), but was still a change to see another small city (Siauliai) before continuing on to Vilnius. Wrapping up the bulk of the driving for the trip, it was nice to end up on a proper controlled-access freeway the last bit of the trip, as opposed to all the highways that still had only two lanes, random reduced speed limits and whatnot. Something to consider for those roadtripping through the Baltics-- the "highways" you drive on might not meet your expectations as a foreign tourist.
Hit the first real traffic of the trip going into downtown Vilnius at rush hour. Wasn't bad, but after going everywhere at 90km or 100km/h or more, it was a bit of a shock to crawl the last 30 minutes. Unloaded the car and did a quick jaunt down into old town Vilnus for dinner. Meat Lovers Bistro was pretty straightforward and tasty enough, although pretty forgettable overall. Headed back to the hotel for a bit to do some work, then back out for sunset, which wasn't as good as Riga the day before, but still managed a solid bit of color over the Neris River before completely fading into the night.