Eurovision, Lithuanian-style

Summary: I attended a live Eurovision Song Contest qualifier for Lithuania while in Vilnius! TL;DR Details: For decades now, I’ve been intrigued by the motley collection of songs across all musical genres from acts from around Europe (and now beyond) that constitute each year’s Eurovision Song Contest. From ABBA’s winning performance of “Waterloo” in 1974, […]

Lithu-WOW-nia!

Ironically, while Lithuania has been the most frustrating, especially in terms of walking, at the same time it’s also been my favorite Baltic state! It’s the one I definitely wish to return to (in the summer), and it’s where I have the most I want to share stories about but have the least time because […]

Riga, Latvia

Riga, the largest city in the three Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania), is not quite as polished and romantic as Tallinn, but it’s an engaging and interesting place, full of good food and drink. Lonely Planet summarizes the spirit well: “People here fancy themselves to be the least pragmatic and the most artistic of the […]

Russian to the Border

After a smooth 2.5-hour ride east through the wintery Estonian countryside on a comfortable modern train, I arrived in Narva, which currently has the EU’s busiest border crossing with Russia. I was intrigued both by Narva’s long and dynamic history and by the fact that Russia lies just across the river. The location is impressive, […]

E-stonia

Estonia has completely embraced the information age, with so many things now possible online, including voting! The following summary is from a display at the local Museum of Occupations and Freedom: “Estonia is an e-state. We’re well aware of that, and we’ve been bending the ears of anyone willing to hear it for decades. We […]

An Estonia-shing Winter Wonderland

I made it to a former Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR)! I had been here to Tallínn once before, but that was almost exactly 25 years ago, and much has changed since those early years of freedom from the communist yoke. And even back then I was writing about my travels and making bad puns. Some […]

Stockholm Syndrome: Falling in Love with Swedish Museums

ChatGPT created the title for this blog post, haha. Before I move on to Estonia, I wanted to share some highlights from the several museums we visited during the week in Stockholm. There’s the long-favorite Vasa Museum, with its well-preserved 1600s-era warship; the popular ABBA Museum (yes, it’s what you think); the modem art Photographic […]

Croatian Exploration

Much of my exploration time by myself or with some friends visiting from Asheville was spent hiking hills and mountains or lounging at beaches, two of my favorite activities! Some things are definitely worth repeating, such as climbing Croatia’s tallest mountain, Dinara. See this previous blog post about when I first scaled this peak back […]

Bosnia and Herzegovina

All along Croatia’s Dalmatian coast lies Bosnia and Herzegovina inland, to the east. This other former Yugoslav republic is often referred to as just B&H or even just Bosnia, though Herzegovina is its own district area within the country. B&H interrupts Croatia’s coastline for a short 20 kilometers (12 miles), providing the country with some […]

Whoa-atia

Truly, Croatia never fails to amaze and surprise with its spectacular beauty. Despite all the exploration I’ve already done over the past couple of years while spending months here total, there are still plenty of Croatian destinations I’ve yet to explore. For such a small country, there’s an embarrassing abundance of travel-worthy destinations. Equipped with […]