Baltic States - Fall 2019

We left Cesis, Latvia, driving 105 miles to Tartu, Estonia Didn't see a border crossing but received messages on our iPhones Tartu is Estonia's second largest city (Tallinn is #1) Town Hall above holds Tourist Information (note green "i" in lower left window) Always our first stop for maps and advice Not a trace of trash anywhere on the cobbled stone streets of this university town Honestly, the cleanest countries we've ever visited My travel guide is looking worn - Extra notes stuffed in margin have been valuable Tartu is a one-night stop  We arrived before lunch to enjoy  Hard frost this morning It's cold Hat and gloves  I asked a young woman at Tourist Information about a street artist named Edward Von Longus Equivalent to NYC's Bansky She circled locations on my map You see, today is Monday All the museums are closed Street Art is never closed There's a message in this kind of art ...

Cesis is a very interesting town - Looking prosperous for over 8 centuries Multitude of architectural styles - Buildings with great stories & secrets Started at the 18C manor house, which has a museum Medieval castle on the same grounds (12C castle built by Livonian Knights of the Sword) Inside, a "Lantern Girl." eager to converse in English Climbed the spiral staircase, lantern in hand Reached a darkened stone-faced rotunda room with illuminations on the wall White lines growing in number as a digital clock clicked downward Sat and waited - Others joined What transpired was an illuminated 270-degree light show of the castle's history against the contours of the stone walls and ceiling Starting with the castle's construction  (see below - year 1213 )  Moving on to 1577, came the sight and sound of catapulted balls of fire hitting the stone walls and 300 defenders blowing themselves up before Russia's Ivan the Terrible...

Castles (13C) and Manor houses (17/18/c) dot central Lativa In-between, pine forests protected by a national park, and small farms Every farmstead with rows of flowers - zinnias, sunflowers, marigolds Livonian Knights of the Sword built this beauty in 12C (German warrior monks converting pagan Latvians/Lithuanians to Christianity) Highly defensible with a long narrow passage from the tower where I'm standing Intruders were vulnerable on their way to the main gate  Structures and grounds significantly altered during reconstruction  Explanations honest in saying so Sketch from 1793 shows a tower's condition  These places were piles of rubble and rock in 1991 when Latvia regained independence from the USSR and could save their history Many manor houses from the late 1700s and early/mid 1800s in the area This one surviving two world wars and Soviet occupation On the grounds, a sacred or secular oak  Old Believers ha...

Leaving Vilnius, Lithuania, we returned to Lativa's southeast corner Daugavpils is very close to Russia   Latvia's "Little Russia" It was only a 112 mile drive from Vilnius, but top speed here is 56 miles/hr (90kms) Dropping to 70 kms (44miles/hr) at every intersection on two-lane highways Arrived in time for lunch at the towering Park Hotel Business lunch menu 3 courses for 4.5 Euros - Menu in Latvian & Russian  Great view from 10th floor Shopping at the mall on the left, consisting of hundreds of individual stalls  Sandy bought shoes that don't hurt ($24) and we each found gloves - Definitely colder  Then on to investigate the imposing Daugavpils Fortress outside of town Plan for its construction approved in 1810 under Tsar Alexander When all of Baltics under Russian rule Plans for this fortress included everything Interior ramparts high above ground encircling a vast grounds Exterior bastions with cannons above, passag...

Vilnius is known as the Baroque beauty of the Baltics  It warmed my heart to mix Baroque with Bauhaus (Baroque isn't a favorite)  Vilnius possesses many churches Including Gothic-style St Anne's and Bernadine behind They appear to overlap Bernadine was used as a warehouse during Soviet times St Anne has roots in 15C Rode the elevator in the belfry at Vilnius University (founded 1530) for great view of the city Did I mention we got a parking ticket, after finding a really great parking spot? Paid 8 Euros for 3 hours (ouch) only to find we'd parked in a taxi zone Sandy emailed the Administrative Violation Unit of Vilnius City Municipality They responded with an address - the short squat building among a palette of gray Found the office and noticed an election in progress  An official pouring ballets into a cardboard box Since we were first time offenders, the ladies in the office let us off with a stern warning They said the fine woul...

We left Klaipeda, on Lithuania's west coast this morning Taking the A1 (not a steak sauce) to Vilnius, the capital, on the far west side A distance of 300 kms (184 miles), the breadth of the country The A1 is one of the few 4-lane highways in Lithuania, also the longest A word about roads...While the map is consistently right, interpretation is significantly downgraded from previous trips. We need to keep to RED roads, trusted two-lane paved. An occasional orange is acceptable, but not for distance. YELLOW may not be totally paved and WHITE aren't on the GPS. Onward from Klaipeda, the halfway point was Kaunas, Lithuania's capital for a short time while Vilnius was under Polish rule. There is a Fortress, which is defined as a planned system of fortifications, garrisons, and ammunition. Nine forts surround Kaunas, we visited IX Fort (upper left on map) Visited the fort, museum, and memorial on expansive grounds Walked great distances - Parking is ½ from th...