Big Vacation

     The truth is I have been really busy here in Russia and I haven't had much time to post on my blog. I guess I have just been enjoying my last couple of weeks here soaking up the memories. Luckily, I got to spend the past 10 days traveling around Eastern Europe. As a group we were able to go to four different countries and their major cities! We spent time in Helsinki, Finland; Stockholm, Sweden; Riga, Latvia; and Tallinn, Estonia. It was one of the best vacations I have ever been on and I loved seeing the different cities and experiencing the various cultures. Now, let me talk a little bit about what I did in each of the countries. This is pretty much just going to be an overview though, so if you want in depth details, come talk to me in 2 weeks when I get back to the USA and I would love to tell you all about it :)
      The first country that we stopped in was Finland. We spent about a day and a half in Helsinki! Unfortunately, it was raining the whole time we were there and pretty chilly but we still tried to make the best of it. We actually ended up arriving on one of their holidays. Everyone was dressed up in sailor hats and these fancy pants. Apparently, the occasion was to celebrate students so there was a big parade, food, candy, and a ton of families out and about. Most of the places were closed in the city that day because of the holiday but we were planning on going to the Fortress of Suomenlinna. It is located on an island in the Baltic Sea about a 10 minute ferry ride from Helsinki. Even though it was raining and windy we decided to venture out to see the fortress and we weren't disappointed!

The streets of Helsinki. 

The Fortress was very cool. People actually live on the island so there were cute, little colorful houses everywhere. It was very green and open. I enjoyed seeing the spectacular views from the edges of the island. You could see out into the Baltic Sea and some swans even joined us as we were looking out. The rolling hills combined with the old fashioned buildings made it a beautiful scene. There were even hobbit looking houses on the island and a miniature beach that you could walk down to! It rained most of the time we were out there and it was freezing but the breathtaking view made up for the bad weather.

The first building you see at the fortress. 

The view from the edge of the island. 

 The second day in Helsinki we stuck to the center of the city. We explored the various souvenir shops and even went to the market on the pier. I loved looking at all of the locals selling handmade items and apparel. There were also a ton of local people cooking traditional Finnish cuisine that smelt delicious. I was a little scared when I was offered a fried sardine though. I still regret not trying it but it just looked so weird! After walking around the market we went to the main cathedral in Helsinki that overlooks most of the city. It has these huge stairs leading up to it and once you get to the top you can see most of Helsinki. It was a great view. The inside of the cathedral was nice as well, but very simple compared to the Russian churches I have been frequenting for the past 3 months. The rest of the time in the city was spent walking around the streets and exploring different sites and cathedrals that we stumbled upon. My favorite thing about Finland though, was probably the cinnamon rolls we had at our hotel for breakfast! The best cinnamon rolls I have ever had in my life! Finland treated me well and I would love to go back someday.

The main cathedral in Helsinki

Roaming around Finland. 

               The next country that we went to was Sweden. We spent 2 days in Stockholm, which was a good choice because I absolutely adored this city. It is located right on the water and is made up of many islands that are all connected. There are boats everywhere, colored buildings, and flowers. We stayed in a hotel that was right in the center of the city, right next to the Central Station which is one of the happening places in Stockholm. The first day we explored Old Town Stockholm which is called Gamla Stan. It is a compact area that is full of winding streets and colorful alley ways. It definitely reminded me of the typical European pictures you see of the colorful alley ways and I loved that. The buildings were all so old and historical. It helped that local souvenirs were located in most of the shops. Gamla Stan had a charm to it and I plan on going back to it and spending a lot of time there. We also saw the changing of the guards in front of Dottingham Palace on that first day. That was a big event as there were hundreds of people surrounding the guards. They were on horses and trotting around in front of the castle. Not to mention a lot of the guards were playing instruments on the horses. It was like a mini parade that everyone wanted a front row seat to, so I don't have great pictures but the horses were beautiful and the music was great. I also recommend the Nobel Prize Museum to anyone who goes to Stockholm because that was very interesting. We just happened to stumble upon it and go in but it turned out to be a great decision. They had the history of every Nobel Prize winner and backgrounds about each of them. So, if you like history and learning about those prizes it is a very high-tech, modern museum. 

Changing of the guards. 

Gamla Stan (old town Stockholm)

 The second day in Stockholm was spent at the Vasa Museum. This is one of the most popular things to see in Sweden. The museum contains a ship that was lost on the sea floor for 300 years and it was found, excavated, and now sits in a museum. If I am remembering right, I think about 90% of the ship is the original that was found in the ocean.
    Walking around the ship was breathtaking. It is gigantic and the detail that the original builders put into it is impressive. There was a lot of symbolism that went a long with the designs which was very interesting to learn about. Let's just say that the Vasa Museum is defininitely worth  the time it               takes to go through the 6 floors of the museum. It was probably my favorite part of Stockholm!

Flowers outside the Vasa Museum.

A view of the Vasa. 

 The next 3 days of our trip were spent in Riga, Latvia. On the first day there we walked around the city. Riga is a small little city and we were located right in the middle of Old Town where most of the tourist attractions are. Riga was a lot like Stockholm where it had the colorful buildings and precious little alleyways. I absolutely loved walking around and seeing what was down each one. That first day we went to a honey shop that we came upon and it was the best honey I have ever had in my life. The lady that was working there owned the shop and harvested and made all of the honey personally. It was a very cool shop and a lot of the girls bought the delicious honey. That day we also went to a World War II museum which was very informative. The museum was in an old tower that was a circle so the different floors were set up to go in chronological order as you went around the circles. I liked that I was able to see the history of Latvia through out the different wars leading up to World War II and then I was able to see what happened after. I had never realized that a lot of the Baltic states became free countries not that long ago. I realized that when I saw a picture of Bill Clinton signing a paper in the museum.

Stockholm, Sweden

  The next day in Latvia was probably my favorite day of the trip so far. We decided to go to Cesis, which is a small town about 2 hours away from Riga. In this town they have a castle that is from the 15th century that is in ruins. It is the main thing in this little town, and when I say little I definitely mean tiny. It took us about 5 minutes to walk through most of the town. Once we arrived at the castle, the employees gave us a lantern with a lit candle in it, and told us to go and explore. It was awesome because we could go anywhere we wanted to in the ruins and explore all of them. Of course, there were some places that were barred off because of structure issues, but overall we got to walk through and climb through most of the original castle. It was thrilling as we walked up the dark corridors with only the little light from our lanterns! All 8 of us girls also decided to play a game of Sardines in the castle, which was very fun. Even though some of the Brazilian tourists there thought it was weird we were all hiding throughout the castle. Another plus was the grounds surrounding the castle were beautiful. They were a luscious green with yellow dandelions everywhere. Then, on the outside of the castle wall there was a simple little park that had a nice lake with ducks in it. Of course I had to go feed the ducks and we ended up encountering a swan as well. It was a day well spent in Cesis. That night we went to a tavern called Ala. Itis an underground, authentic Latvian pub that was EXCITING! The only light in the place was candles and the wax from all of the candles was on the walls from melting over the years. A great thing as well was that the food was dirt cheap and super delicious. I ordered traditional meatballs that were scrumptious. They came with an interesting sauce that I don't really know how to describe and some sauerkraut. It was an overall mouthwatering meal and the scenery helped for a true Latvian tavern experience.

A view of the honey from the honey shop

A view of the wax from all of the years. 

My authentic Latvian food. 

Me with my lantern in front of the Cesis Castle. 

Some of the landscape surrounding the castle. 

   

  The last day in Riga wasn't too extravagant but we had a good time. It was raining and cold so we tried to stay inside most of the day. A lot of the day was spent walking around to the different cathedrals and going inside of them. Lexi and I also ended up walking around the streets of Riga because we couldn't find one of the churches. It was interesting because they had a bunch of huge, colored snails all around the city. Overall, Latvia was a great country!
       Finally, the last part of our vacation was spent in Estonia in the capital of the country, Tallinn. It is a city located up on the North coast right by the Baltic Sea. Unlike Stockholm and Riga, Tallinn was a medieval city that still had most of the original structures from the city walls upright and functioning. They had turned old city walls into parts of buildings and such. I loved the medieval look of this city. There were also a ton of lookout points in Tallinn that were gorgeous! When you stood on them you could see the whole old town part of the city and luckily again our hotel was located right in the center of the city. Most of our time in Tallinn was spent walking around the city. One of the days we had a local take us around so we learned about all of the history pertaining to different buildings and she took us to the various monuments which was nice because I always enjoy knowing the history behind where I am. The next day we went to the beach, unfortunately there was a rain storm following us throughout vacation and it caught up with us again at the beach but we still got to set foot in the Baltic Sea! It was soooo cold, but we made the best of our beach time by collecting sea glass, walking in the waves, and playing in the sand. There wasn't any sun to soak up though, which would have made it perfect. Our vacation was finished up by souvenir shopping in Old town. I think my favorite part about Tallinn though was this little tavern located in a church that we ate at 3 times! The employees were all dressed up in old medieval clothing and the only light in the restaurant was candle light. Every time we went we ordered a bowl of Elk soup that we got in old ceramic bowls and we had to drink the soup. It was surprisingly delicious and filling. They also sold delicious homemade apple pies that I know I will always dream about! One of the times I was also able to fish a pickle out of a barrel and eat it and I love pickles so that was a fun adventure! Tallinn will always be on the top of the list of most charming cities I have ever been to.

One of the original parts of Tallinn. 

View from one of the lookout points. 

Me at another lookout point. 

                    Hopefully I put enough detail into this post that you were able to get a feel for some of the fun that I experienced over the past 10 days! I know that I will never ever forget the great times I have had. I feel so blessed that I had the opportunity to travel around some of Europe and experience different cultures and come into contact with new people. I definitely had my share of love, laughs, and life. I hope you all have a fantastic day and remember to be positive!

  

Setting foot in the Baltic Sea.