A Ball in the Baltics keeps on rolling - Riga and then Tallinn

We arrived safely in Riga and splurged on a taxi from the Central Bus Station to our hotel near the Riga Arena Sports Centre. Slightly random spot but airmiles = free accommodation with breakfast (which, often, of course, means lunch as well!) provided.

We only had one full day, the next day, in Riga so we made sure to make the most of it. We are glad though, that we took some good advice from our rellies and allocated the least amount of time here because while it has its charms, Riga did not have the same impact on us as Vilnius. The day started with the "Art Nouveau" walk down Elizabeth and Albert Street and the architecture certainly was impressive. We then paid a visit to the Freedom Monument before heading to the Central Market for some lunch. This was a definite highlight with this market having been in operation for at least the last 70 years and with stalls of food galore - not quite Borough Market as this one is more for every day shopping than for gastronoms but still very cool. We then went to the Old Town and visited the Occupation Museum, which, while a very good exhibition was a little bit overwhelming. Just enough time left for a visit to a couple of churches and a stroll along the river before heading back to the hotel for the evening.

The next day we caught a bus on to Tallinn where we stayed at the 16Euro hostel - a bit of a misnomer for most people but good for us. Really good hostel location and we had a HUGE room and our own bathroom which was a small luxury. We had only 2 and a half days here and the highlights were probably Kadriorg Park, Toompea hill, and seeing the sea! Daniel had his birthday here so we celebrated in style (haha) by actually going to a restaurant for lunch!! The Peppersack is just off the Town Hall Square and was a great place to do some people watching from.

While in Tallinn, probably the biggest rip off was paying 3 Euro each to go on to the Town Wall where you only get a short walk along the wall and a small art exhibition (which was a bit beyond us) in one of the towers. That said, there were some decent views from the top of the tower.

Fortunately we have had some really great weather while travelling and Tallinn certainly disappoint. All to soon, however, our time here ended and we moved on to.. Russia!