|
|
Post by californian on Sept 21, 2014 16:11:03 GMT
September 21, 2014 Best of Finland, Russia, and the Baltic States, August 30th-September 14th, 2014. The quote at the beginning of the itinerary states: “It’s traveling beyond the expected”, in this case it was for me, didn’t expect the beautiful and friendly people everywhere, the cleanness of the cities, the expensive cars and traffic jams in Moscow, but most of all the honesty of the person who found the very nice Bose headphones and iPad that my daughter left on the train. It was considered lost forever, but she didn’t give up and as soon as she could (needed dear Malcom to accompany her) went to Lost and Found and there it was! She also witnessed someone returning an IPhone at one of the washrooms at GUM. I am sorry to say things like that might not happen in the US? The local guides in St. Petersburg (Deena or Tina) and in Moscow, Viera, were so dear and patient with the many questions we had, it was hard to say good bye to them after three days of almost constant company, especially because they both begged us to come home and please tell people to visit Russia, they understand why tourism is down, many tours are being cancelled and , for what I gathered, they are not happy with Putin. He has a very a high approval rating in the country, I think in the 80’s but not in St. Petersburg or Moscow. Minsk, Belarus, is a beautiful, very clean and modern city, it was bombed to smithereens during WWII, now it has many parks, and wide avenues, most of the buildings are from the soviet era, and is still under a dictatorship, inflation is rampant, interest for buying a home reached 49% at one point, everything costs millions of Belarusian rubles, but people keep their money in euros, exchanging almost every day whatever they need, there are money exchanges everywhere and always with a line of people waiting, very interesting. Almost nobody spoke English, but everyone was very patient with us. Vilnius, Lithuania did not suffer much damage, so most of the medieval walls, churches and buildings survived, Is part the EU now, and soon to adopt the Euro, their money is strong, and not many business accepted euros, I think they are afraid of losing money on the exchange. A Euro is about 3.45 Lithuanian Lita. Not too many people spoke English here either. Riga, Latvia is one of the prettiest cities, also conserving most of the medieval past, and a surprising amount of Art Nouveau buildings, we had a great local guide, a Theologian and Professor, (not to mention very good looking) and he knew the history of each building. The very modern Library opened recently, and a human chain was formed from the old to the new, passing the books by hand, I though this very extraordinary. The currency is the Euro, and most people spoke some English.  Tallinn, Estonia is perhaps the most beautiful of the Baltic Cities, everyone spoke English (the cashier at The Stockman store told us that the weather in Tallinn “ sucks”…)They benefit (?) from the proximity with Helsinki, the Finnish come and buy as much as they can carry with them because is cheaper, some people are happy, others resent it.  Of course Helsinki is a very modern and vibrant city, 95% speak Finnish, 5% speak Swedish, (everything is in both languages) and 100%, I dare say speak English. Our tour started and finished in Helsinki, so more on this later. |
|
|
|
Post by californian on Sept 21, 2014 16:11:23 GMT
Part 1 I left a day earlier, Aug 29th. The day did not start very well for me; my flight was at 6AM, so I had contracted the service of an airport shuttle, which cancelled the pick up, I never got the call they assured me they made, so there I was at 2AM, outside my condo complex, waiting and waiting, finally I called them, and the guy was very apologetic and called a taxi for me, I was pretty upset for a while, but no harm done. My flight had a connection at JFK, with plenty of time, same terminal, easy. Finnair economy class? Not very good, the seats are very hard, I arrived in Helsinki with a back ache (did not help that because of the no wheels carryon Trafalgar policy I took two bags, they were not heavy but after walking and walking I could feel the weight) Arrived at about 8:30 AM, I had no transfer or service waiting for me so I took my time, by the time I arrived at the passport check, there was nobody waiting, I took a cab to the Holiday Inn Centre, very nice hotel, I heard some people complaining about their rooms, but ours was fine, and the location is very good for exploring. My daughter had arrived from Seattle the night before and was out walking. As soon as I rested and unpacked a little we both went out, had a delicious salmon salad at a restaurant called Strindberg, on the Esplanade, near the street market, the Lutheran Church, very busy and lively street. We walked around, did a little bit of shopping at the open market, and later we went for dinner at a steak place called MorriSon, very good, full of locals, just a few blocks from the H. Inn. When returning we saw the Trafalgar poster and pretty soon, our TD, the exceptional Malcolm Macrae saw us and introduced himself, gave us a few tips what to do next day, we were meeting at 6pm, so we had all day.  We ended up going to Suomenlinna Fortress Island, after a perfect breakakfast at Kappeli, also on the Esplanade, this coffee shop has been open since the 1800, and it is just beautiful, please do not miss it if visiting Helsinki. The island fortress is of course full of history, changed hands many times during the wars, and now is a museum and has many arts and crafts shops. We met the group at 6pm, 34 of us, went for an introductory ride, ending in front of the great Lutheran Cathedral with a welcome vodka and a sweet liqueur. Back at the hotel, we had a buffet dinner, I have to say the food was SUPERB everywhere, and so abundant and so many choices! And drinks were also included. Malcolm never skipped an occasion to make us try some new alcoholic beverage, the purpose was to learn to say “cheers” in many languages as possible. Early wake up call next day, quick breakfast and we were on our way to St. Petersburg, we did not have major delays at the border, but it does take some time to get our passports checked and stamped. The roads were good, Malcolm always reminding us that we were leaving a First world country and entering a developing one, it never felt that way, we saw some road construction here and there, but no difference between Finland and Russia. The weather was fine in Helsinki, but as soon as we arrived at the Peter the Great’s Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg, right on the gulf of Finland, we noticed a change, it was much cooler and windy, we met our city guide for the next three days, she was lovely. After visiting the fortress we went into St. Peter and Paul Cathedral, where all the Romanov are buried, including Catherina the Great and the last Tsar Nicholas II and his family, whose rests were brought from the Ural mountains and re-buried in the Cathedral. We continued to drive through St. Petersburg and later that evening we went on a canal cruise (more libations here of course, it was cold, OK?) Here we are, my daughter and I, a little bit cold, but we had blankets and vodka to keep us warm during the canal cruise in St. Petersburg.  The next couple of days in St. Petersburg were busy sightseeing the various Cathedrals, including the Church of the Spilled Blood, built in memory of Alexander II, on the place of his assassination. The weather got much nicer, and pretty soon we enjoyed the “Indian Summer” that part of the world was having. The Hermitage, of course, it was as grandiose as I imagined, the Jordan staircase, I had dreamed of climbing those steps for some time, it was right there, no crowds to speak of; we had a quick lunch (not very good) at the museum cafeteria and started our tour, it lasted over 3 hours, and since it was not crowded, we enjoyed every moment. I had read several times a favorite book: The Madonnas of Leningrad, by Debra Dean, about the Madonnas of course, but many other paintings and sculptures of the Hermitage, as well as the Siege of the city for nearly 900 days, great book to read to learn more about the siege, etc.  After that, to the train station, to catch the train to Moscow, Malcolm had some delicious food delivered for us, kind of Cornish pastry filled with pumpkin and other fillings, very sweet. |
|
|
|
Post by californian on Sept 21, 2014 16:12:07 GMT
Part 2 Moscow, September 3rd-6th After 5 ½ hrs on the Sapsan train, we arrived at the Moscow Oktiabrskaia Station at 6pm, we met the city guide as well as a Trafalgar rep that would do the Belarus Visas for us, we had completed the form and payment on the train ($180.00 for us Americans, we paid the most but we did get a full page sticker on our passport), also included was the mandatory health insurance. . We drove to Red Square, fighting the incredible traffic jams, we had some free time and got dinner, we would meet again with the guide for a tour of 6 of the most decorated metro stations, it had been a long day and we all were tired, but the Radisson Blue Hotel was very nice, and our bags were there already, Martin and the coach had started the night before from St.Petersburg, spending a night on the road. The next morning we left for the city tour, fighting the traffic, and stopping at Red Square again, and the major sites of the city, we saw a lot of wedding parties, and one of the "hidden gems”: a bridge which is visited by the newlyweds, they leave a special decorated lock and throw the key in the river, they are several small trees with these locks, from the distance they look like Christmas trees. It's said that the British Ambassador hung one there when William and Katie got married but nobody has been able to find yet. After that we went inside the Kremlin walls, Putin wasn’t there, otherwise we would have been restricted somewhat, saw his office from far, visited the Cathedral where all the Tsars were crowned, etc and the fabulous treasures inside the Kremlin, no pictures were allowed.  Later that evening was the Circus optional, we didn’t go, but the people that went liked it very much. The “Real Russia “ optional was the next morning, the “Russian Vatican” an Unesco site. The oldest Russian churches are there, about 9 of them, we visited a few, all very historic, very popular, there were a few tourists like us, but the majority were Russians attending services. ![]() In the way there we stopped at a small house and farm attended by the owners, Anatole and his wife, he is very proud of the decorations he makes, out of wood, very colorful, and all over the house and gardens, very interesting. Later , another optional, the Novpdevichy Cemetery, a very popular tourist attraction, Nikita Khrushchev, Raisa Gorbachyova, Boris Yeltsin, and many generals, politicians, artists, etc. are buried there, very pretty park like.  Another optional the same day was the Russian Panorama, this is a 360 degree theatre with scenes of the 1812 Battle of Borodino, and several paintings of Moscow on fire, soldiers, Napoleon and his troops, etc. Very well done. From there to the spectacular Russian Folklore Show, 2 1/2 or 3 hours of absolute perfection, we all loved it and it was not very expensive either, 47 Euros, the Ballet in St. Petersburg was 98 Euros, both shows worth every penny. The next morning, very early we departed for the longest leg of the trip: Moscow-Minsk, about 440 miles, 10-11 hours or so, following Napoleon's route back to France after loosing the war, the site of the 1812 battle in Borodino was just a few miles from the road. We stopped for an included lunch in the Smolensk region, where the WWII massacre, Katyn, took place, the Russians blamed the Germans, until a few years ago when they recognized their participation in it. We had the chance of spending the last rubles, a local vendor sets up a couple of tables with souvenirs, and just waits for us. |
|
|
|
Post by californian on Sept 21, 2014 16:12:21 GMT
Part 3 Belarus Before getting to Minsk, our driver had to take his mandatory break, and we stop at a parking lot in the middle of nowhere but from where we could see a very tall monument on a hill, a few of the group went up, barely having time to go and come back, it is dedicated to the many villagers assassinated by the Germans for helping Jews. Our tour guide told us that every Belarussian had helped at least one Jew survive, her own family included. The book and movie “Defiance” is about this time, when the Germans were pursuing the Jews, and a great many, about 1400, survived in the forests for over 2 years, with the help of the local farmers. Minsk, is the capital and largest city of Belarus, with almost 2 million inhabitants, it was bombed by the Germans, very few building survived, and now is a very modern with wide avenues, parks, buildings and apartments from the soviet era. The hotel “Minsk”, where we stayed, is one of those buildings, although dated by today’s standards, is very elegant, right in the center of town, next to an underground galleria with very nice shops, I bought there my new wheelie carry on. Our city tour took us to the Church of Saints Simon and Helena, beautiful Gothic style, and the “Island of Tears” a monument to the fallen during the ten years war in Afghanistan, and the most touching of all, the statues at the top of the pit where Jews were assassinated, 5000 in one day, the pit remains, and the name of many of the fallen are written among the trees. I will insert a web site, since I haven’t still figure how to post pictures.  www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g294448-d4954593-Reviews-Monument_to_Fallen_Jewish_People_on_March_2_1942-Minsk.htmlThat evening we had the “Be my Guest” dinner, very friendly host, great food, good music,(with mandatory dancing); beautiful full moon coming back to the hotel. Early next day we parted for Vilnius, Lithuania, we spent some time at the border, since we were leaving Belarus and Russia, and entering the EU. |
|
|
|
Post by californian on Sept 21, 2014 16:12:35 GMT
Part 4 Lithuania and Latvia We arrived at the very nice Radisson Blue early afternoon, our room had a great view of the old town and St Peter and Paul Cathedral. We visited this Baroque church, very impressive, and continue a walking tour, going thru the only gate of the medieval wall still standing, we passed by the site of the Vilnius ghettos, there were two, one smaller than the other, the museum now combined with the museum of the soviet occupation. Very nice shops along the way, lots of them dedicated to jewelry made of amber. Started to rain and we sought refuge in a café for a while. Going back to the hotel we were caught in a traffic jam , took long time to get back, some people got off the coach and walked, the hotel was just a few minutes away. Dinner was at the hotel, a buffet with many, many choices, including oysters, other shell fish, all kind of meats, veggies, potatoes, desserts, I think we purchased the wine, don’t remember because many times it was included. The optional tour to Trakai Castle was very good, this is an Unesco site as well, situated in an island, dating from the 1400’s, it contains many artifacts associated with the Grand Duke Gediminas, who preceded the Grand Duke of Lithuania, and people of all the area tribes, it is a museum and for an small fee photographs could be taken inside as well. ![]()   Going back to town, our tour guide told us about the soviet occupation and how she and her family were involved in the struggles for independence during 1990-91, her son was at the site of the shooting when the soviets killed 14 and injuring 700 Lithuanian at the TV Tower , which was used to transmit to the world what was happening. Her son was OK, but she didn’t find out for days. Lithuania is now part of the EU, will start using the Euro next January, and I am sure they are relieved of being independent and leaving their past association with Russia behind. We then drove into Riga, Latvia capital and a gorgeous city, the medieval past well kept, the numerous Art Nouveau buildings just beautiful, we walked and heard the very interesting history from the old association with the Romanoff, the German Merchants, and of course the Nazis and the soviet occupation. Later we had lunch outside the city, at an open air museum: “The Latvian Ethnographic Open-air Museum is one of the oldest open-air museums in Europe. Now its territory covers 87.66 hectares of forest on the banks of Lake Jugla. The museum displays 118 historic buildings from all Latvian regions - Kurzeme, Vidzeme, Zemgale and Latgale dating from the 17th century to the beginning of 1930s” I just copied this instead of trying to describe it myself. We were served a traditional Latvian lunch, good soup, potatoes and pork, apple pie for dessert. That night we had an included dinner at one of the oldest building in town, we walked from the hotel, about 10 min, the streets were full of young people and music. We stopped for a moment at one particularly small “hidden gem”, this was a plaque among the cobblestones, and a pair of feet deepen in cement, I guess, but in bronze, in remembrance of the “Singing Revolution” which started in Tallinn and extended all the way to Lithuania, people holding hands for 600 km, forming a human chain demonstration of unity calling for independence from the Soviet Union. Our driver, Martin participated in this chain “ The Singing Revolution is a commonly used name for events between 1987 and 1991 that led to the restoration of the independence of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.[1][2] The term was coined by an Estonian activist and artist, Heinz Valk, in an article published a week after the June 10–11, 1988, spontaneous mass night-singing demonstrations at the Tallinn Song Festival Grounds.[3] On August 23, 1989, the fiftieth anniversary of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, the People's Fronts of all three Baltic countries held a huge demonstration of unity - the "Baltic Way". A 600 km (373 mi) long human "chain" from Tallinn through Riga to Vilnius was assembled.”  Latvia also belongs to the EU and uses the Euro since January. We left for Tallin, Estonia the next morning. |
|
|
|
Post by californian on Sept 21, 2014 16:12:51 GMT
Part 5, Tallinn and Helsinki Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia with a population of about 500,000 people. Estonia has a 25% of ethnic Russians, most children go to their own schools, but the guide explained to us, that some schools have two teachers, one in each language. Her own child goes to one such school. And she and other mothers are tryng to change things. They have their own newspapers and the only speak Russian, there is some animosity with the Estonian since they refuse to learn their language and adapt to the country, (which I am assuming is what happens in Ukraine) The city sights included a visit to the Estonian Song Festival Grounds, where the “Singing Revolution” started in 1987 and spread over the other Baltic States. It’s a great place for concerts, most of the world famous artists have performed there. Cathedral Hill (Toompea) is the old medieval part of the city, The Orthodox Cathedral Alexander Nevsky is at the top,  The hotel, another Radisson Blue was as nice as the others, within walking distance, some of us came back to have dinner in town. We had a free morning the next day, and at noon we departed for the ferry terminal, the crossing to Helsinki took about two hours, we had another guide waiting for us to take us for a drive and see more of the city, we didn’t go the Church in the Rocks, I had hoped we’d go, but we visited Jean Sibelius Park, the famous Finnish composer. We had the Farewell Dinner at the hotel, the Scandia Marina, another fabulous buffet, like always, farewell dinners are a mixed of happy and sad, we all did enjoy this tour, Malcolm was the best, I am sure we all were very generous with the tips, he earned every cent and more. Helsinki has the easiest airport that I have seen, fully automated, quick security lines and very nice personnel. JFK?? Well, that’s another story…long lines for everything! Luckily I had more than a couple of hours until my next leg home, so, again, I took my time… and another great Trafalgar tour ended. Thank you for your comments and I hope Oz-T does not mind the pictures, I really don’t know why they are so big! |
|
|
|
Post by Boop on Sept 21, 2014 16:42:53 GMT
With or without pictures, I'm enjoying your tale Cali! Yours are always full of so much detail. Happy you got the Bose headphones and Ipad back, unbelievable. I hate to say this too, but it's unlikely you would have got it back in Canada either...had it been left on a train, bus, etc.  |
|
|
|
Post by chech on Sept 21, 2014 17:26:39 GMT
Yeah, that's fabulous. We had the same thing happen in Japan when the woman left her ipad on a park bench and she went back to find a note telling her where she could find it. Pretty awesome.  |
|
|
|
Post by Tulips on Sept 21, 2014 17:52:10 GMT
That's awesome Californian. It's nice to know there are honest people out there.
|
|
|
|
Post by californian on Sept 21, 2014 19:41:10 GMT
I agree Tulips, 1st part added. Thank you for reading it, it was an extraordinary tour, so happy I went, putting Putin and his shenanigans aside. The people in Russia has suffered enough. I didn't know the situation was so bad in the early 90's after Perestroika, there was not enough food for everybody, and as our tour guide in St. Petersburg told us, "they are genetically incapable of trowing away food, especially bread" Of course during the 900 days of siege nearly 1 million people die of starvation. The Russian people has suffered incredible hardship through its history. This part "disappeared" when I posted the pictures, mostly from the St. Petersburg part of the tour: The optional tours list included The Swan Lake at the Hermitage theatre, it was wonderful. Also, the Summer Palace, Tsarkoe Selo, first constructed by Elizabeth, Peter the Great’s daughter, with additions and modifications by Catherina. We were given disposable shoe covers to walk on the parquet floors; the gilded rooms, the painted ceilings, the furniture, the mirrors in the grand salon, must had been inspired by Versailles, incredible beauty and riches. The Amber Room was reconstructed, the original stolen by the Germans and so far not found, it is said it might be at the bottom of the North Sea. Hermitage Theatre.  The second part of the day was to visit Peterhof’ s gardens, right on the Gulf of Finland, there is nothing like it in the world, Peter had a sense of humor and he amused himself playing practical jokes on the ladies, the fountains would turn on if a certain rock was stepped on and would get them all wet. To this day, visitors try to get the right stone, especially children. Our guide tried as well.  The last day we went to the Yusupov Palace, where the conspirators planned and succeeded assassinating Rasputin. Very grandiose and mostly furnished palace, also with a luxurious theatre, since the wife of Yusupov was a famous actress. |
|
|
|
Post by Tulips on Sept 22, 2014 22:03:06 GMT
Did you go to the Catherine Palace, Californian?
|
|
|
|
Post by californian on Sept 22, 2014 23:19:32 GMT
Hi Tulips, yes we did, The Hermitage and the Winter palace is the same thing, and the Summer Palace is Tsarskoye Selo. I have no way of copying pictures here, not sure how to do that, I posted a few in facebook, the Winter Palace (green and white) is in St. Peterburg proper, the Summer Palace is outside the city (blue and white buildings) Quite something! The Winter is mostly Catherine's, especially because she started buying entire collections and it became her "Hermitage" The construction of Tsarskoye Selo was done mainly by Elizabeth, Peter the Great's daughter, she went broke building it, but of course it became Catherine's summer palace as well. I wonder if you, or Chech or Oz-T can walk me thru the process of posting pictures, please... Summer Palace (Elizabeth's palace in Tsaerkoye Selo, also called now Pushkin Village)  |
|
|
|
Post by Tulips on Sept 22, 2014 23:26:25 GMT
Did you see the Amber a Room, then?
|
|
|
|
Post by californian on Sept 22, 2014 23:26:38 GMT
|
|
|
|
Post by Boop on Sept 22, 2014 23:28:10 GMT
Well done Californian! Maybe someone can put up a tutorial on how to obtain these wonderful, big pictures?
|
|
|
|
Post by Tulips on Sept 22, 2014 23:28:32 GMT
If you use the add attachment button, you can then add photos from a location on your computer.
they have to be small in size. You can use pic resizer. Just search for it on the internet. Facebook also resizes all the photos.
|
|
|
|
Post by californian on Sept 22, 2014 23:35:09 GMT
Mistery! I was able to paste the picture of the Summer Palace, but now I can't post any other.... Yes, we did see the Amber Room, Tulips, no pictures were allowed though, just gorgeous! In many places we could take pictures if we paid separately and got a sticker, which was great, maybe at one time or another they would allow pictures of the Amber Room.
|
|
|
|
Post by californian on Sept 22, 2014 23:47:45 GMT
Thanks Tulips, have not idea how the previous picture came out, (I copied it from facebook) I will try to learn the process of resizing, that will be the easy thing to do...can you believe a week later and I am still struggling with jet lag?
|
|
|
|
Post by tiffany on Sept 23, 2014 15:23:02 GMT
I’m looking forward to reading your tour tale California, as I would like to go on this tour some day. I’m busy right now writing my tour tale of Switzerland and Austria, but once it’s done, I’ll read over your tour tale.
|
|
|
|
Post by californian on Sept 24, 2014 21:38:47 GMT
Posted the Moscow portion of the trip, still trying to master the photo editing.
|
|
|
|
Post by californian on Sept 25, 2014 22:44:05 GMT
Posted the Belarus part.
|
|
|
|
Post by Boop on Sept 25, 2014 23:35:31 GMT
Really enjoying your tale Cali!! Thanks! |
|
|
|
Post by californian on Sept 29, 2014 22:32:09 GMT
I was able to post some pictures, big, enormous pictures, just copied them from facebook. Iwill continue the tale later or tomorrow.
|
|
|
|
Post by purvis on Sept 30, 2014 3:23:23 GMT
Part 4 Lithuania and Latvia We arrived at the very nice Radisson Blue early afternoon, our room had a great view of the old town and St Peter and Paul Cathedral. We visited this Baroque church, very impressive, and continue a walking tour, going thru the only gate of the medieval wall still standing, we passed by the site of the Vilnius ghettos, the were two, one smaller than the other, the museum now combined with the museum of the soviet occupation. Very nice shops along the way, lots of them dedicated to jewelry made of amber. Started to rain and we sought refuge in a café for a while. Going back to the hotel we were caught in a traffic jam , took long time to get back, some people got off the coach and walked, the hotel was just a few minutes away. Dinner was at the hotel, a buffet with many, many choices, including oysters, other shell fish, all kind of meats, veggies, potatoes, desserts, I think we purchased the wine, don’t remember because many times it was included. ![]()  The optional tour to Trakai Castle was very good, this is an Unesco site as well, situated in an island, dating from the 1400’s, it contains many artifacts associated with the Grand Duke Gediminas, who preceded the Grand Duke of Lithuania, and people of all the area tribes, it is a museum and for an small fee photographs could be taken inside as well.   Going back to town, our tour guide told us about the soviet occupation and how she and her family were involved in the struggles for independence during 1990-91, her son was at the site of the shooting when the soviets killed 14 and injuring 700 Lithuanian at the TV Tower , which was used to transmit to the world what was happening. Her son was OK, but she didn’t find out for days. Lithuania is now part of the EU, will start using the Euro next January, and I am sure they are relieved of being independent and leaving their past association with Russia behind. We then drove into Riga, Latvia capital and a gorgeous city, the medieval past well kept, the numerous Art Nouveau buildings just beautiful, we walked and heard the very interesting history from the old association with the Romanoff, the German Merchants, and of course the Nazis and the soviet occupation. Later we had lunch outside the city, at an open air museum: “The Latvian Ethnographic Open-air Museum is one of the oldest open-air museums in Europe. Now its territory covers 87.66 hectares of forest on the banks of Lake Jugla. The museum displays 118 historic buildings from all Latvian regions - Kurzeme, Vidzeme, Zemgale and Latgale dating from the 17th century to the beginning of 1930s” I just copied this instead of trying to describe it myself. We were served a traditional Latvian lunch, good soup, potatoes and pork, apple pie for dessert. That night we had an included dinner at one of the oldest building in town, we walked from the hotel, about 10 min, the streets were full of young people and music. We stopped for a moment at one particularly small “hidden gem”, this was a plaque among the cobblestones, and a pair of feet deep in cement, in remembrance of the “Singing Revolution” which started in Tallinn and extended all the way to Lithuania, people holding hands for 600 miles, forming a human chain demonstration of unity calling for independence from the Soviet Union. Our driver, Martin participated in this chain  “ The Singing Revolution is a commonly used name for events between 1987 and 1991 that led to the restoration of the independence of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.[1][2] The term was coined by an Estonian activist and artist, Heinz Valk, in an article published a week after the June 10–11, 1988, spontaneous mass night-singing demonstrations at the Tallinn Song Festival Grounds.[3] On August 23, 1989, the fiftieth anniversary of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, the People's Fronts of all three Baltic countries held a huge demonstration of unity - the "Baltic Way". A 600 km (373 mi) long human "chain" from Tallinn through Riga to Vilnius was assembled.” Latvia also belongs to the EU and uses the Euro since January. We left for Tallin, Estonia the next morning. |
|
|
|
Post by purvis on Sept 30, 2014 3:32:19 GMT
I am really enjoying your tour tales as they bring back some history of World War 2 that I heard from people that lived through these times in this part of Europe. In Ontario in the late 50's many Eastern Europeans settles in the Windsor Ont. area where my husband and I bought our first home in our early 20's . These people were what were know as DP's (displaced persons from the concentration camps) and their personal stories were awful to say the least. Our neighbours were from Holland, Germany, the Baltics, and Poland. and I will never forget what they told me they went through. Purvis
|
|
|
|
Post by californian on Sept 30, 2014 16:51:17 GMT
Thank you Purvis, the hardships the people of these countries suffered is incredible, one invasion after another, tragedy after tragedy, wars, sieges, occupations, hunger, persecutions, holocaust. Even with a somewhat overall knowledge of what happened in Russia, Belarus and the Baltic States, this trip, talking with people that suffered it, made more real. I almost considered canceling it at one time, but I am so glad I went!
|
|
|
|
Post by tiffany on Sept 30, 2014 17:06:12 GMT
Hi Californian, I am about to start reading your tour tale, and I’m wondering how you were able to post your pictures that size? The ones I posted were pretty small.
|
|
|
|
Post by californian on Sept 30, 2014 22:05:14 GMT
Finally posted the last part, Nev's tale was much more complete, full of details, I didn't take notes this time, that was a big mistake, there is so much history in these countries that I will have to spend lots of time reading about it, another trip would be nice if I could, loved the people, loved shopping, loved the food...the jet lag was tough (11 times zone) and the long flight was bad for my back, but enjoyed every minute. Thank you everyone for reading it.
|
|
|
|
Post by Boop on Sept 30, 2014 22:19:06 GMT
Great tour tale californian and thanks for sharing. Your pictures are terrific and I experimented using facebook pictures as well through "insert image" and it worked perfectly!
Very nice pic of you and your daughter...
|
|
|
|
Post by chech on Sept 30, 2014 22:39:44 GMT
Ahhh...great tale and the pictures add so much to a tale! Really feel like I'm there! |
|
