There aren’t many times in your life when you can say you’ve been in five countries in less than 48 hours (South Africa, Turkey, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia)! It’s been a busy two days!
We made a last minute change to our Lithuania itinerary as we realized we could easily cover the Baltics if we rented a car and drove up to Latvia and Estonia. That makes us two more countries closer to our new goal of 40 by 40 (40 countries by 40 years old)!
As we watched the flight map on our way to Lithuania we were struck with the realization that twice today our planes had to skirt around war zones (Israel and Ukraine)… that was a heavy realization and another reminder of how blessed we are.
After landing in Vilnius, we hopped in the rental car and drove to Riga, Latvia. Thanks to the summer light, we enjoyed a two hour sunset with darkness seizing the night at 11:30pm.
Shortly after leaving Vilnius we were startled by a moose crossing the highway. Luckily Jeff saw the big thing and had time to slow down before it ran right in front of us. That was exciting! Besides the moose and a few stork sightings, the ride was quiet and uneventful.
We began our first full day in the Baltics with a stroll around Riga’s Old Town, walking along the cobblestones, peeking down the narrow streets, and running into churches, bakeries, and breweries on every other corner. It brought back so many memories of our European adventures and left us feeling right back at home.
We passed Riga’s famous black cat and Three Brothers Houses and popped into St. Jacob’s Cathedral where we found an unexpected surprise. As we rounded a corner, there was an open ossuary with skulls and bones sitting out… after a quick google search we learned they were discovered during some recent renovations and it was decided to keep them out and available for future research. You don’t see that every day!
Following our city stroll, we grabbed our bags from the hotel and continued on to our second country of the day, Estonia! Our only plan was to find a town where we could enjoy the Baltic Sea and pine trees. We ended up at a little complex with cabins, camping, a hotel, and access to the water. We grabbed lunch at the one restaurant, sitting outside and enjoying another beautiful day.
When we arrived, we passed a miniature golf course and decided to test our skills. We didn’t realize how rustic it was until we got the putters and one ball (according to the lady all of the other balls were lost). We created our own version of mini golf and enjoyed putting around the holes.
We dipped our toes in the sea, which was much warmer than we expected, and then set off back to Vilnius, Lithuania. We stopped at Hesburger (McDonald’s twin) for a road trip dinner and arrived at our new hotel at 10:30pm shortly before the sun finished setting.
Our early to bed, early awake was fun while it lasted (we did it for two months!), but it seems we’re back to our old ways. The 10pm sunsets and inviting summer evenings make it hard to go to bed early!
On Sunday, Jeff gave me his “college tour” of Vilnius. He did a month long study abroad here in grad school, and although some things have changed and have been built up, he was flooded with memories from that special time.
This is the hostel he stayed in! It’s been updated and is “much nicer” now.
While strolling the town, we discovered that the city was celebrating their annual cultural and folklore festival. It worked well for us as there were artisan tents all over with bonus goodies to look at and people dressed in traditional clothing. It also gave us a chance to sample the potato pancakes and a special juice made with berries from a local village that the vendor was excited for us to try. We were excited for the fresh pancakes as this was one of the foods Jeff remembered eating here.
We spent the afternoon popping in and out of the local shops and churches before hiking up to the castle for some beautiful views of the city.
“Let there be peace”
For dinner and a relaxing evening, we found a food truck park that was airing the Euro 2024 soccer game. While we were there, I spied a mini bottle of my favorite wine from Germany on a nearby table. The hunt began and we soon found a mini bottle for me. It was just as good as I remember! We spent the evening enjoying the perfect summer night, sitting out with the locals, cheering on the teams, and reminiscing about our trip.
Now that we’re in Europe, we’re hitting the places we had booked but were canceled during Covid. Lithuania and the Baltics were on that list, as well as Greece, Ireland, and Scotland. We’re so glad we finally made it to Lithuania as it was special seeing where Jeff studied abroad and reliving some of his memories. Next up, island hopping in Greece!
Oh Europe, it feels so good to be back!
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