Since the Baltic countries are not the largest in terms of area, we have already reached Latvia. First, we headed directly to Riga, the capital. Interestingly, in our other vacations, we usually avoid big cities and stroll through small villages or towns. However, in the Baltics, the big cities attract us magically because despite their size, they also exude relaxation. They are both beautifully old and historically significant, as well as modern and youthful with great ideas and innovations.
Now to Riga. We stayed at a campsite in the city again, from which we could reach everything on foot this time. The old town was on our way and was nice to look at, but didn't impress us too much. Apart from restaurants and souvenir shops, there was nothing worth seeing for us that invited us to linger.
So we continued to the former Zeppelin hangar halls, where a huge weekly market takes place 364 days a year. Only on Midsummer's Day, on June 24th, it is not held because it is celebrated. Since we are also huge fans of large weekly markets in Kiel, we were more than enthusiastic about this market. The dimensions are difficult to grasp, but it's a lot of fun to buy something different at every booth. The individual halls each have a theme (fish, meat, dairy products, spices and pickled products, etc.). And little things in between are super cheap.
In the evening, we went to the city center and enjoyed the atmosphere here very much. There was a lot going on in the streets, all the outdoor seating areas of the restaurants were occupied, but it didn't seem hectic at all. In the many Latvian parks, various sports and card games were played. For example, team frisbee. Everyone seemed to be active and enjoying being outside. We found the prices in Riga's restaurants surprisingly cheap compared to Lithuania. Except in the old town, of course.
As usual, a national park followed the city stay. In front of us was the Gauja Park, through which the river (Gauja) meanders. We could tell that we had now arrived in western Latvia, as everything seemed a bit more touristy. Even the smallest attractions, which you would be happy to discover by chance, were advertised here and many tour buses went there. Overnight stays in the Gauja National Park were only possible at campsites, and the prices were a bit higher again. Nevertheless, the park was beautiful and we hiked a few short distances.
The ground in this area consists of sandstone, which is why the washed-out riverbed has very soft walls. Many caves have been formed in these walls. It seems to be a kind of popular sport to leave one's mark in the sandstone walls here.
We spent one night in the Gauja National Park, and we wondered if the campsite owners were cannibals ;-)
An outdoor bathtub to fire up With benches We spent another night in Latvia at a lake. We were standing on a small peninsula in the middle of the lake.But this place was not under a good star. First, a heavy rain shower came down. Ok, then we decided to have our first real TV evening. With chips :-) When a moth flew through the picture and we just wanted to turn on the light for a moment to catch it, we saw the disaster. But thousands of little mosquitoes in the bus. They must have sneaked past our new, actually super great, homemade fly screen somehow. We didn't know exactly how, but they were in there. Armed with paper towels, we were lucky that mosquitoes always gather around the light and our artificial leather blanket is light and wipeable. After about three-quarters of an hour, there was nothing left to see and the TV evening continued with the door closed. The next stage took us to Estonia. First, we drove back to the east of the country. The Lake Peipus, which separates Estonia from Russia, was our destination. On the way there, it was very convenient for us that here in Estonia, instead of the usual berries being sold by the road, there were heaps of vegetables. We bought oversized zucchinis, tomatoes, potatoes, and onions and paid just under two euros in the end. That made Estonia immediately likable. And as described earlier, we found the most beautiful sights again in the east of the country, without them being advertised and exploited here. For our beloved Yahtzee break, we found an old castle ruin. We were the only visitors and stayed there for a long time. The old knights must have played games of chance right at that spot ;-). Once we arrived at the lake, there were several small designated places to stay overnight, and we spontaneously chose one. It was, of course, the most beautiful one. Fantastic view, weather still fantastic with over 20 degrees, and a great opportunity for SUPing. The next morning started like almost every morning. Drink coffee, have a small breakfast, and then pack everything up. And off we go (11:30 am ;-) )! The main goal of the day was the bog (Männikjärve raba vaatetorn) in northern Estonia. Additionally, Kerrin found a special treat in her research, which was supposed to be visited afterwards. More about that later. Upon arrival at the bog, there were once again very good hiking trails of varying lengths that could be started from the parking lot. Estonia is known for this, by the way. The bog was really eye-catching. In spring, you can even canoe through the bog. As mentioned earlier, there was a special treat afterwards. We visited a private vintage car cemetery. Someone collects old vehicles of all kinds and lovingly exhibits them in their very large garden. For €2 per person, you can visit the garden/cemetery. We think it's great. Next day, next stop. We visited the Palmse Manor, one of the many manor houses in Estonia, which had many different owners throughout history. Now it has been made accessible to visitors as a museum and is quite lovely to look at. Our search for a place to sleep was a bit more complicated this time. We read about a place that was supposed to be located on the peninsula in northern Estonia, and that could be reached with VW buses. The way there was hardly recognizable as a path, and on the first attempt to get to the place, we got stuck right in the sand. But Kerrin quickly dug us out and we were able to take another small path. In the middle of nowhere, we found a parking spot that had somewhat solid ground and stayed there. Our wild camping hearts were delighted. The next day, we could finally swim in saltwater again, as we still had 23 degrees and sunshine on the Gulf of Finland.
We slowly made our way to Tallinn. However, we wanted to take a short break at a not-so-small waterfall to have breakfast. The waterfall was really eye-catching. And with the 25 degrees that we had again, the wet mist from the waterfall was a refreshing relief. Unfortunately, the river's water level is quite low at this time of year, so the waterfall was very narrow. Still, really cool.
We are very excited about Tallinn and will report back next week.
