I flew from Riga to Vilnius at 10 AM (had to miss hotel breakfast in order to catch taxi to airport - sigh). The €7 flight seemed like a great deal until I found out about the €20 extra fee to check baggage (coupled with a one-small-bag carry-on limit). Plus they charged for all food and beverage on board, even water. (It's annoying but survivable on a 55-minute flight; if it isn't already illegal to charge for water on longer flights it should be.) I heard from CouchSurfers later that the Eurolines Lux Express bus between the three Baltic capitals (Vilnius, Riga, Tallinn) is a much better deal than flying. You get a single captain's chair, power outlet, free wi-fi, beverage and snack, all for €17. 4 hours per leg (Vilnius - Riga or Riga - ... read more

Moving from Minsk to Rīga is jarring. That's no surprise, but it's jarring anyway. I was relieved when Dmitry's advice turned out to be correct and the Belarusian passport control officer didn't ask for a hotel registration document upon exit. No more visas needed for the rest of the trip - but travel in the EU's Schengen zone means no more fun passport stamps, either. Didn't love airBaltic's Airport Express shuttle to the city - it's much cheaper than a taxi, and acceptably comfortable, but there's a long wait, it only serves the city's largest hotels, and from those one must walk to one's small B&B on one's own. Might as well use the public bus, at that rate. In any case, I did in time find myself deposited outside the Hotel Riga and the Italian ... read more

"You know, some tourists come to Minsk because it's supposed to be the most 'Soviet' city. Can you believe that?" - Natalia, a Belarusian "(mumble)" - me So, this place is supposed to be "Soviet"? Let's see.... Hammers and sickles, stars, and other Soviet emblems still prominently and non-ironically displayed? Check. Minsk's relationship with Lenin is complicated. Плошча Леніна/Площадь Ленина (Lenin Square) was renamed Плошча Незалежнасці/Площадь Независимости (Independence Square), and for a while its associated subway station was also ostensibly renamed to Independence Square, except no one ever changed the signage on the subway. Residents of Minsk protested the confusion and demanded that the signage be updated. Instead, it was decided to rename the subway station back to Lenin Square, though the place where it's located is still called Independen... read more

I've got a late flight from Kaliningrad to Minsk on Belavia, the Belarusian national airline. Check-out time at my hotel is noon; I've arranged to leave my suitcase, but I need to find something to do with myself from noon until my ride at 18:00. It's raining again. Alexandr has urged me to tour the блиндаж (Nazi bunker), and I've gotten good instructions about how to find it, so I have the hotel call a taxi for me and I wait outside on the covered patio. Several kittens and I vie for the few dry spaces. There are cats all over Kaliningrad (and most subsequent cities). I don't know if they're true strays or just pets allowed outdoors, but there lots of them. This seems consistent with what I've noticed on every European trip: pets here ... read more

Well, here it is, my first real chance to travel somewhere non-touristy, and I'm sad to say I'm being a total wimp about it. I still hate the hordes of tourists in places like Prague, and I still prefer hanging with locals or otherwise trying to blend in, but here on my own I'm missing little conveniences. Specifically, right now, a bottle of fizzy water. I know it's a source of humor regarding Americans and our free refills of everything, but seriously, I do not get how Europeans manage to be anything other than permanently dehydrated. And this is coming from me, who at home am well-known for being mostly dehydrated. One of many ways to easily spot a tourist in Europe is if they're carrying any kind of water with them. In Gdańsk, my hotel ... read more