Perhaps the greatest disappointment in the trip to the other Baltic states was the amount of time spent in Riga. Our semester took us to Riga 4 times, but we ended up spending more time in one restaurant than in all other parts of the city combined. We didn’t get around to sightseeing until arriving in the city for the 4th time. What I did see was very cool. Looked liked a fun city. One of our Student tour guides (Liga) was from Riga, and wished she could show us more of it. All in all, we only spent 3 hours going through the city, but found out some cool things. Back in the middle ages, the Riga government used to levy taxes based on how wide the home fronts were, and how large the windows ... read more

By far my favorite city in Eastern Europe (assuming that Hungary is classified as Central and Estonia Baltic), Krakow has as much to offer in its surrounding areas as in the city itself. We took a quick day trip to the Ski resort of Zakopane, headed off to the salt mines, and took in the sobering sights of Auschwitz. The market square and surrounding streets are a great place just to sit, walk and experience the atmosphere of Krakow. Try to get lodging within the old city walls, or very close to. The class that the city offers warrants a stay close to the old town. There are several hostels that send out scouts to find guests. This is a good way to find lodging, but be sure to bring the price down if it is ... read more

Our third day in the country started on a bit more of a somber note. We visited a cemetery that housed the remains of some of the greatest Russian minds. Puskin, Dostoyevsky etc. I was not really sure about the rest of them. Liga (the Latvian that was one of our student guides) went from grave to grave in awe. We recognized some, but she seemed to have an intimate regard for every tombstone she passed. There were only about four of us that went with her. The cemetery was actually rather small considering all the amazing people that were buried there. What I remember most about the morning was that it was overcast and foggy, which was most appropriate for the occasion. We went back to the riverfront as a group, split up and ventured ... read more

Unlike our longer train from Riga to Moscow, getting any substantial sleep on the journey from Moscow to St. Petersburg was hopeless. We arrived sleepy and dazed, but only had to trek a short distance to the hostel. Counter to any guess we would have put forth, the hostel had the most elaborate security system that I had even seen at a travel lodging. One code for the door, followed by a corridor monitored by camera, and then a code to get to the stairwell plus the code to enter into ones floor. It was far more trouble than it was worth, but the redeeming factor was that the showers must have been installed by firefighters due to the amount of water that gushed out. Half cleansing, half message, the showers were the highlight of the ... read more

The morning brought out Kremlin tour. By this time, we had the impression that the city seemed to be quite well funded, and even though there were signs of poverty all around, it was easy to still see the city as the capital of one of the world's superpowers. We passed Putin’s residence, a number of churches that served the Czars, the world’s largest canon, and what I am fairly sure was described as the world’s largest bell. When visiting the sights around the Kremlin, I was surprised to see that the Russian government has now taken a fancy to funding restoration projects of Orthodox sights. The entire area around the Kremlin is either pristine or heading that direction. We saw a nice museum that displayed the wonders of the Royal Family, and the treasures that ... read more