I went to quite a few interesting restaurants in the Baltics.

In Tallinn I had dinner at Old Hansa, a medieval restaurant.  They prepare authentic medieval meals.  I had a game selection – boar and elk with barley and vegetables.

I celebrated Estonia’s Day of  Restoration of Independence by going to Korsaar, a pirate restaurant.

I also visited Sushi Cat, a Japanese anime-themed sushi cafe.

In Riga I visited Rozengrals, a restaurant in a candlelit cellar that was mentioned in 1293 and was used to host special events by the town hall.  They only serve food that was available during the middle ages.  I had duck with cherry onion sauce that was a favorite of the King of Naples in the 14th century.

I also went to Hospitalis, a hospital restaurant in Riga.  The waitresses were dressed up as nurses and there was all manner of hospital pariphalnelia scattered around the restaurant, including a bathtub with goldfish in it.

In Vilnius I visited Rene, a Rene Magritte (the Belgian surrealist painter) themed restaurant.  The staff wore bowler hats and gave me an envelope and said I had some mail.  My cutlery was inside.

Have fun,

Aidan.

From Latvia I took the bus to Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania.
Like Tallinn, Vilnius’ old city is a World Heritage site and has lots of grand buildings and old streets.

Vilnius also has an interesting neighborhood called Uzupis, a self-proclaimed independent artists’ community.  They have their own constitution, which includes:
Everyone has the right to die, but this is not an obligation.
Everyone has the right to be idle.
A dog has the right to be a dog.
A cat is not obliged to love its owner, but must help in time of need.
Everyone has the right to be happy.
Everyone has the right to be unhappy.
Do not defeat.
Do not fight back.
Do not surrender.

There is a lot of interesting artwork in the neighborhood, as well as around Vilnius.

The Frank Zappa memorial.

Vilnius used to have such a large Jewish population that it was known as the Jerusalem of the North.  There were more than 100 synagogues, but now there is only one remaining.  Almost all of the Jews living in Vilnius died or fled during World War 2.

I visited the Chiune Sugihara museum in Kaunas.  Lots of Jewish people tried to flee Soviet-controlled Lithuania before the Nazis arrived.  The Soviets would let them leave if they had visas for another country.  These were very difficult to get.
Chiune Sugihara was the Japanese vice-consul in Lithuania.  He asked Tokyo several times for permission to grant visas to Jewish people, but didn’t receive any response.
So he went ahead anyway and issued several thousand visas.  It’s estimated that he saved at least 6000 lives.
After the war he was dismissed from his post by the Japanese government.  For years he remained virtually unknown, until one of the survivors tracked him down.  Sugihara was eventually pronounced as a righteous person by the government of Israel and he and his descendants were granted perpetual Israeli citizenship.
When asked years later why he had acted without permission, he replied:

“You want to know about my motivation, don’t you? Well. It is the kind of sentiments anyone would have when he actually sees refugees face to face, begging with tears in their eyes. He cannot just help but sympathize with them. Among the refugees were the elderly and women. They were so desperate that they went so far as to kiss my shoes… People in Tokyo were not united. I felt it silly to deal with them. So, I made up my mind not to wait for their reply. I knew that somebody would surely complain about me in the future. But, I myself thought this would be the right thing to do. There is nothing wrong in saving many people’s lives.”

I also visited a small museum that claims to be the only museum in the world devoted to the devil.
There were lots of statues and paintings of the devil, including a map of Lithuania with Devil Stalin chasing Devil Hitler across it.  Unfortunately you couldn’t take photos inside.

Vilnius’ Museum of Genocide Victims doesn’t have anything to do with the Jewish holocaust, it’s about the Soviet occupation of Lithuania.  It’s more commonly referred to as the KGB museum as it’s housed in the former KGB headquarters.  You can visit the interrogation cells and execution chambers.  It’s a sad place with an awful history.  After the end of the war, Lithuanian partisans (the forest brothers) continued to fight the Russians for almost 10 years.

I went for a day trip to Trakai, Lithuania’s medieval capital.  There is a really nice island castle.

Have fun,
Aidan

I took a bus from Tallinn to Riga, the capital of Latvia.
Riga has a nice old town, (not nearly as picturesque as Tallinn’s though).

It’s known for its Art Nouveau architecture and there are some interesting buildings in the city.

There are some quirky statues, sculptures and murals around the city.

There were some fireworks on one night while I was there.

In recent years (after joining the EU and the rise in popularity of budget flights to Eastern Euruope) Riga has acquired a really bad reputation for being overrun with British stag parties.

Latvian soldiers on patrol.

Latvia also holds the record for recording one of the drunkest people in the world.  A homeless man was found with a BAC of 7.22%. He survived. Before that it was generally believed that 4% was a lethal level.

Have fun,

Aidan

I took a ferry from Helsinki to Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. Estonia is the northernmost of the three Baltic countries.

Tallinn’s center is a beautiful medieval old town with lots of cobblestoned streets, fortified walls and round towers.

You have to be careful how you pronounce the names of some of the towers.

Street performer.

Tallinn also has one of the oldest pharmacies in the world. A pharmacy has been operating in Tallinn’s main square since at least 1422. There’s a museum inside with lots of old ingredients including:

viper salve
dried toads
stallion hooves
mummy fragments
wood louse infusion
parched bees
sun-bleached dog faeces
earthworms in oil.

I also visited the Museum of Occupation. The Baltic countries had a really bad time of it last century. Hitler and Stalin divided up Europe via the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact and the Soviets invaded Estonia.
Then the Nazis turned on the Russians and invaded. After a couple of years, the Soviets started advancing on Estonia again. Many of the Estonians figured the Soviets were worse and enlisted in the German army to try and stop the Russian advance westward.
Then the Baltics ended up with almost 50 years of Soviet control. People were deported to Siberia and the KGB arrested, tortured and executed people. In 1989 (the 50th anniversary of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact) more than 2 million people held hands, making a human chain stretching more than 650km from Vilnius to Tallinn. The Baltics regained independence in 1991 after the failed coup against Gorbachev weakened the Soviet Union.

I was in Tallinn on August 20th, Estonia’s Restoration of Independence Day. There were celebrations and fireworks in the main square and the Estonian president gave a speech. I celebrated by going to a pirate restaurant.

Have fun,
Aidan.

Estonian Tech Trivia: Estonia is regarded as an Internet-savvy country and wi-fi is surprisingly widespread. Skype is one of Estonia’s better known Internet business ventures.