Warszawa, Polska

Warsaw, Poland’s capital and most populous city, is surprisingly approachable and fun. Nowy Świat, the main street leading to the old town, is very pedestrian friendly, with dozens of high quality restaurants, bars, and stores along a stretch of over a mile. And the old town itself, with not a single building left standing by […]

The Hungry Eastern Bear

While traveling around any of the Baltic states, a recurring subject with unavoidable reminders everywhere is Russia. Historical occupation, awful atrocities, continued use of the Russian language, Russian foods and drinks, Orthodox churches, leftover Soviet architecture, residual communist mentalities and culture, echoes of past traumas, modern cyberattacks, online propaganda, implicit and explicit threats, military buildups, […]

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 […]

Life’s Swedish Moments

For over two and a half decades, Stockholm has been my primary overseas home away from home, though now with Sofia living in Czechia, Prague has become one of two overseas homes away from home. This year my family and I had a wonderful Christmas holiday in Stockholm together and with friends. I am very […]