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Italiano (Italian)
My trip to the Baltic countries lasted 11 days in August 2017 and I returned for a weekend in May 2023.
This was the itinerary on my google maps.
By Baltic countries I mean Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, but also Finland. It was theoretically solo but in fact it was always in company because I made several acquaintances who also became important. I moved mostly by public transportation, but I also rented a car.
In Tallinn I know just the typical Nordic blonde.
On certain solo trips, I go on excursions where I assess that it is better to lean on tours. In that case I do it at the beginning because it may be an opportunity to find suitable company. Never was this more true than in the early hours of the Baltic countries trip.
Organizationally, it was a perfect trip, but also full of unforeseen events dictated mainly by as many as 3 female encounters.
Landing at 9:10 p.m. in Tallinn, I thought I would take full advantage of the long summer days. It actually gets very late in August, but I arrived tired after a long trip (I flew from Bergamo), so I ate near the hostel and went to bed early.
The next day, waking up at dawn and the beautiful old town being tiny, I practically saw everything already before meeting at 10:00 a.m. for the tour.
I immediately took a liking to a very nice chick whom I baptized as Nordic, because of her height, hair color and perfect English. If I have a choice I always try to make friends with foreign people, I find it generally more interesting.
They divided us into 2 minibuses and we went to Lahemaa National Park, 80 km away (by public transport it would have been complicated to see). Here I was very impressed by the swampy area where they used to release unwanted prisoners who disappeared swallowed by the ground. Now there is a wooden footbridge across part of it but if you step out even a little into what at first glance looks like a meadow, in addition to feeling the sguishsguish with every step, you also feel the very slight sinking.
Travel to Baltic countries, then to former Soviet republics
Also of interest are the remnants of an old Soviet submarine base and the guide’s account of how during the communist regime any footprints were monitored on beaches that were off-limits; they feared people would flee to not-too-distant Finland, especially in winter with part of the Baltic frozen over.
At lunch they took us to an all-wood inn and we all had lunch together at the same table; on the menu there was excellent salmon and, in addition to being next to a couple of Italians who were in my minibus and with whom I had already made friends, I made sure to have the blonde woman next to me, whom I soon discovered was from Rome!
In the evening we went to dinner just the 2 of us and ate bear meatballs, then besides definitely pleasant in itself, it was fun to search and find a room since we were both in the hostel. I well remember the doubtful look on the receptionist’s face when we asked her for a room without any luggage at 1 am.
We met again the following evening, decided to stay in touch and that we would meet again after a few days in Riga. We had a different but similar itinerary, we each continued with our own plans.
I finished touring Tallinn well on my own, even the outer area, and then went to Helsinki.
Next leg Tallinn-Helsinki ferry and bus to Riga
Trips taken, travel stories divided by continent
Anecdotes, divided by type in travel narratives
Countries visited in my travel stories
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