A fast journey through LITHUANIA, LATVIA and ESTONIA

A fast journey through LITHUANIA, LATVIA and ESTONIA

June 17,2014


June 17

It is four hours on the road before we cross from Poland into Lithuania. The sky shines on us, then rains on us. Trucks travel this road from the north though it is only one lane each way. It must be a main track to Poland. As a curtesy, the truck drivers drive partly on the shoulder where possible, giving room for an unmarked third lane in the center. Unnerving!

Something in the air attacks me as it sometimes does...the left side of my face is plugged...eye, ear, nose and gums! Sneeze and sneeze. Argh!

Lithuania flies a flag of horizontal stripes in yellow, green and red. Attractive and strong. The language has changed so that I cannot guess at the meaning of signs anymore. There are big sized businesses along the road...trucking, warehouses and farm equipment. Farm houses are not new but neat and cared for. Shrubs, birch and farm landscape. Straw is raked to the pleasant shape of stacks to dry. We enter Panevezys. Oh! Its gardens! The little yards are full with lines of veggies, curving walkways bordered in pansies and other spring flowers, cherries just beginning to show, tomatoes growing in carefully constructed plastic sheeted green houses and strawberrries are on their way but not nearly ready for eating. Some of the houses are so small and sweet, built of wood and freshly painted but there are also big new homes.

We park ourselves in a church/school complex. A walk takes us to a large town square with theatre, a government building and a church, then as we turn homeward we come to a dear little orthodox chapel of wood, painted blue and white. The graveyard attached is worth wandering for the illustrated stones of soldiers who were killed in 1955 to 1959, pictures of their young faces looking back at us.



June 18

Hmmm. Do you suppose there has been a time change as we have moved from country to country? A man walks beside the camper and we lean out the window to ask him the local time. Such a nice smile as he pulls out his cell phone to show us. We are an hour behind, our hunch was right. We must make the most of every minute if we want to see the sights and also get into Russia! These green flat Baltic countries of Lithuania and Latvia are so vulnerable. They are free and working to be included fully in the EU, but have yet to qualify for the euro currency. They are following behind Poland, having received independence a little later. Putin's interest in the Ukraine makes them nervous. Are they next?

We are headed to Riga, the capital of Latvia. We need gas. Our credit or debit cards do not work. Their credit card equipment is not up to date. The station owner drives David to the closest ATM. Solved!..for the time being.

In Latvia we are traveling on highway A7, slowly down a little hill into Baiska. This hill is a bit unusual in this mostly flat land...and it makes a cozy entrance.

Historic wood buildings around a square, a small brick home with a flowery window box, a church spire sticking out of the elderberry trees, white with blooms, all add to its coziness. More old wooden homes. Who built them? What were their dreams? How many families have made their lives in each one? And more of the pea-patch lots with their garden cabins. We feel that we must miss Riga to keep a schedule. What a shame. I wanted to take my time through these Baltic countries that I know little about.

The more north we travel, the more evergreen trees, mostly red trunked tall pines interspersed with groves of birch, the bark reminding me of North American Indian canoes.

Now we travel A1, the Gulf of Riga in the Baltic Sea to our left. A few other RV's and campers are sighted today. Perhaps they are Scandinavians exploring to the south. The sea is on one side, lakes on the other. Rolling hills of sand dunes, formed by higher seas of another time, are now covered in grass and pines. Logging and planting of fir trees is also practiced here.

Forests become thicker. There is also more undergrowth. Alder, cedar, beeches, sand and surf. We are in a national park about 20 miles from Estonia. Next town, Salacgriva. Its town decoration is a dead tree, painted orange! Pretty good!

The west coast of these countries (east side of the Baltic Sea) has beautiful long sandy beaches. Across the Sea is Sweden, and its shores are rocky. This area is beautiful in flowering lupine and wild roses...lots of parklands. Aways there are storks pecking at the side of the road...maybe for baby bird food. We drive now on E67 where a road sign tells us to watch for moose. Hedges take the place of fences. David remarks that Estonia looks like N. Minnesota. We have driven through three different languages today, three countries. We have bags and bags of money left from many countries! Dramatic forboding clouds, short spurts of hard rain, strong winds.

We are in Tallin, trying to follow signs to the Helsinki ferry. Yikes, we did something wrong in a roundabout...a loud sharp whistle from a mad man who seems in charge. Point. Point. Point. “Grrrrr. Grrrrr. You cannot come this way!” His eyebrows are joined in the center in a definate V, scowling at the stupid American driver. His pointing finger wiggles back and forth. His few head hairs stand on end, looking electrified! I cannot help laughing. Can it be this serious, I think?

We do make it to the ferry dock to board a ferry leaving for Finland within the hour. Wow! This ferry! Maybe for those of you who have taken cruises, this may seem normall, but it shocked us old hippies. Huge size, totally commercial. Many bars with live music, many restaurants, many tourist shops...selling anything you want. Dance classes. Exercise classes. Floor upon floor upon floor. A zoo! Where can we relax in a quiet spot? We give up the thought and spend the time watching all the crazy activity. As we approch our destination, there are many small islands. We learn that all the Scandinavians on the boat had been on a shopping spree, mostly for beer! One fellow had filled his truck with beer. Others had dollies-full that they walked off the ferry. I guess goods are much cheaper across the water in Estonia.

BUT Helsinki. What a beauty! Monumental older buildings in the best of shape. People speak beautiful English. The city is an example of good choices. It is a pleasure to be here. We have parked at the train station from where we will leave on Friday morning. Let's see what we can find out. The biggest question on our minds is where Daisy can be parked while we are gone. No ideas surface. We need to find an overnight space. It is 11:00 pm and daylight.



June 18

We come up with a plan. We parked last night in a lot by the Olympic Stadium Park. We will stay again tonight and in the morning we will get up at 4:15 am, take the car a short distance to the Crowne Plaza hotel and park it there for three days. From here we will catch a cab to the train station...fast train to St. Petersburg! Now that we have taken care of all the question marks we take a tram to the train station to buy tickets for the HOP ON/OFF bus, then walk toward Senate Square where we should be able to find a spot where the bus will stop for us. Here in the square there is a very big white Lutheran Cathedral. A stunning monument and a tourist goal. On our bus tour, a lovely fast moving city reveals itself. Georgeous clothes are displayed in shop windows. We will be back from Russia to spend time here again, a quest for samples of Finnish design. At nine we pull out the bed. 4:15 am is very very early for us sleepy-heads.