Shoulda, woulda, coulda?

This trip, among many other things, has been about self exploration. It was my first trip abroad, my first chance to see how other people do this little crazy thing called life, or was the lyric love? Oh, well. It wasn't maybe, the first time I've had to move alone, or blend in with a new set of people but it was the first time I was so far away in a completely different environment that required me to re-jig my priorities to fit the context. Actually, the most major revelation started before I ever left the country. I find that revelations are sort of like busses, none come for hours and then they all come at once. Anyway, I've been thinking, and to quote Meg Ryan in "You've Got Mail", I wanted to send this cosmic question out into the void. What is the difference between should and could, and equally, how do we separate what we could do or want from what we should do or want?

More specifically, I wonder about the "should's". I think each of us has their own set of "should's" which could be anything from should finish washing the dishes, to should have children or should get married. Each of us has their own independent sets of pseudo obligations or duties that we sometimes feel are vital. For the sake of narrative, I'll divulge what mine were before, and then I'll tell you how I don't really know what they are any more. Ok, so my should's include: should do my absolute best all the time, should study for a week in advance of every test, should eat healthy and not eat cake for breakfast, should be responsible always because if a person is anything they are at least responsible for their own actions, and lastly should be all of those traits like considerate, mature, etc that get preached to a person as a child that we should always strive to be. My list of should's sounds awful doesn't it? It also sounds stressful. It is stressful.

Now we fast forward to the present. While I still have those things on my list of should's, I've relaxed the protocol on a few of them after this experience. Things don't necessarily need to be so difficult, you know. Specifically the bit about responsibility. I still think that I should be responsible, but now maybe I could take some time to be a little irresponsible. Maybe what I've been thinking about my should's are just what other people told me or showed me that they should be. So now we reach the real question: what about the "could's"?

Imagine you're looking at a big screen of all of the things that due to your should's you think you can't do. Now imagine a giant waste paper basket. Dump all of the should's in it. Dump them! Thank you. What happens to the could's? They magically light up on the screen and all of a sudden what you could do might trump what you should do. For me, when I abandon my strict "responsible" act thing I can do all sorts of mumbo jumbo that I didn't think I could. Like what you ask? Like getting on a plane and coming to Estonia. Like applying to the U of T in a program that I didn't think I'd get into and then getting into it, like anything really. I've always wanted to go sea turtle conserving. I don't why, it's not even remotely relevant to anything. But I could.

I am eminently practical. Forget practical. It never made anybody happy. Going to Estonia made me happy. It made me look beyond my nose at the world around me. So eschew the should's for a moment because you never know what you might find on your list of could's.

I'll leave you with this, another quote from "You've Got Mail". This time the speaker is "Birdie" played by Jean Stapleton, who's a genius, I think. "You are daring to imagine that you could have a different life. Oh, I know it doesn't feel like that. You feel like a big fat failure now. But you're not. You are marching into the unknown armed with... nothing. Have a sandwich."

Seriously. Have a sandwich. Or cake for breakfast.

Helsinki!

At the risk of sounding like Maria from The Sound of Music, bright sunny days, boat rides, big cities, and scenery are some of my favourite things. Which I suppose is why Helsinki was so much fun. We did, however, have a sort of rocky start. I woke up in plenty of time to pack and meet Kevin so we could get the bus to the harbour. I even had time to stop for coffee. I met him on the right side of the street, at the right time, and got on the right bus. In the wrong direction. We only went one stop before realizing the problem but it still took us far further away then we wanted to be. This is what I get for letting Kevin check the bus schedule. Anyway, we called a cab and made it to the ferry at it's last boarding call. With literally a minute to spare. Aahhh...

So slightly sweatier than necessary, but with no harm done, we embarked on our 2 hour journey to the land of reindeer. Not that there are reindeer in Helsinki, but rather in Finland generally. Sorry.

After disembarking from the windy ferry, loaded with caffeine and curiosity, we took a bus to where we thought was the city centre. Turns out we were wrong and it had taken us to the outskirts of town, but there was a metro right across the street. Kevin then decided that it would be an opportune moment to take off without saying where and left me waiting on a set of stairs for twenty minutes. I was very annoyed. We got over that little blip eventually and sorted ourselves enough to get on a subway and get off in the heart of the city. It was beautiful, I have to say. Central Station was an attractive building on a busy street positively teeming with people. We stare around a little with slightly glazed over eyes before moving on to our next project. Our bags are heavy and I didn't pre-book a place to stay. According to the guidebook, two beds in a hostel is a comparable price to splitting a double bed hotel room. The hotel is just off of Helsinki's central street so this appears to be the best option.

As an aside, I have a question about European hotel rooms, or hostel rooms. Rooms where sleeping happens in general, actually. North American hotel rooms only come with double beds. But the European ones come with two single single beds.. does that mean they don't sleep together? Have I uncovered a possible reason for the decline in birth rate?? Hee...

Ok, after getting somewhat settled we went to forage for food. My God, Helsinki is expensive! To keep things cheap, we split a pizza and head to the harbour for some sightseeing. We wanted to go see an island called "Suomenlinna" which has a fortress and crazy views. We spent a very long time on this island, which was absolutely stunning. I love, love, love to hike and the rolling grassy knolls directly by the seaside with all of these historical sites was someplace I could roam for hours. I left Kevin behind in my eagerness to explore and met a nice Spanish family who took my picture in front of the sea. A few hours later we were cold and hungry so we ventured back to the ferry and rode into the harbour again.

Food was again an issue and I took to my enormous guidebook for help. It said to check out a pub/restaurant that was only a street away from our hotel and was apparently "ironically decorated in a tractor theme". Well, it was right. There were tractors, and wire fencing, and barrels, and strangeness everywhere. I didn't get while it was ironic until after leaving the bar. I blame it on being flabbergasted as it was rather obvious. Soviet era propaganda included a lot of tractors.. and this was a tractor bar. Right. Got it. Anyway, the food was delicious and after that bed was calling. Good night, Helsinki!

The next day dawned bright and beautiful. It was as sunny as the day before and so after breakfast we hopped on a bus that would take us all around the city, just so we could take a peek. It was a welcome rest from all the walking the day before and was also nice and warm, which despite being sunny, Helsinki wasn't. After catching a glimpse of the most important sights we got off at the large Cathedral close to the Harbour and took a look inside. It was surprisingly austere with little in the way of the traditional excessiveness that large churches usually have. We walked and walked again until we had exhausted most viewing possibilities. It was a Sunday so mostly everything was closed but that didn't stop us from finding a charming tourist shop, a great park to sit in (I watched two old men sit on a bench for a while), and just roaming the streets aimlessly. The day passed quickly and after our last meal at the most charming cafe, it was time to gather our things and get back on our ferry.

It was a pleasure to visit Helsinki, but Tallinn had started to feel a lot like home and we missed it. It was a relief to see it's spires in the distance as our boat drove into harbour. If I can't leave for two days.. how am I going to go back to Canada?

So, before writing about my adventures in Helsinki, I want to outline five of my favourite things to do in and around Tallinn. These may not be things that I do everyday but are rather things that I have only done once and enjoyed so much that it ranks as a favourite. I will start at five and work my way up to the number one spot. Ready? Here we go.

5) The bus ride from Viru Keskus to Viimsi on route A1. I don't live or really ever need to go anywhere near this route, but if you're a person who likes a good scenic drive, this bus will provide that for you. One day, my friend Kevin suggested that we go ride buses to places we hadn't been before. He'd asked me to go before but I always turned him down, citing better things to do with my time than waste it on a bus. However, it happened that this afternoon he finally caught me at a time when I had nothing to do and couldn't think fast enough to invent an excuse not to go. As I recall I was upset about something, though now I can't remember what about and driving around on a bus seemed a good a thing as any to escape the doldrums. As we were deciding which bus to board to whereever, my mother called. Kevin was trying to talk to me, the bus garage was echoey, my mother wanted something, and I wanted everyone to go away. So, to escape the chaos I boarded the first bus I saw, not caring whether or not Kevin was even with me. Being the good friend he is, he boarded after me (not that I gave him any choice) and we started our trip to neverland.

The route took us past Kadriorg Park, Lauluvaljak (song festival grounds), and eventually brought us alongside Pirita Beach. We got off here and wandered through the woods until we got to the water. We picked a relatively chilly day for such an excursion so this beach stop didn't last very long before we were back on the bus again heading towards the unknown. It was getting late in the afternoon by this point and the sun was starting to set as the bus looped through a wealthy neighborhood with shops and apartments (it appears the Viimsi is a suburb) on it's way back to the city centre. We pass a marina, and soon see the beach again but from this side of the road we can see Tallinn's Old Town across the water, dark against a dusky sky. The whole hour-long bus ride was entirely worth it for this view. I hate to admit it- but Kevin might have been right about this random bus riding thing. Maybe.

4) Second hand shopping. I am and always be a sucker for a good shopping spree, but in order to curb costs incurred by this habit I have to suss out places that sell nice things for cheap. The local chain of second hand places is called Humana and sells a variety of decent stuff that I don't need to pay out the nose for. I can spend literally hours rummaging through racks of crap in order to find the one gem that makes it worthwhile. Even if I don't find anything it's still nice to turn my iPod up on maximum and get lost in the hunt. I think such an activity is symbolic of how I am in everyday life, perhaps always looking for the impossible.

3) Feeding the ducks. I am 85 at heart, I swear. There was one day that I walked through a park almost next to my home and took out my camera to take a photo and all of these ducks swarmed me thinking I was about to give them something to eat. I felt so guilty that I actually started telling them that I had nothing to give them. This was ridiculous because ducks of course, don't understand what people say, and if they do, these would have been Estonian ducks and I was speaking English. Now I come prepared and on sunny days sit in the park and read and feed the ducks. Sometimes I even try speaking in Estonian. Maybe the only thing this trip has done for me has been to make me lose whatever remaining marbles I had in Canada. Whatever. I like ducks.

2) Prowling. Wait.. prowling? Ok, maybe not prowling, but certainly going out for a drink. I think I may have mentioned the nightlife here before but I feel the need to mention it again. It's really quite something. I remember one evening that began innocently enough at the hostel with drinks that wound up at a pretty popular nightclub called Privé. Everyone was dancing and things were going very smoothly when suddenly the music stopped and our attention was directed at the stage that was subsequently cleared of the half naked girls I don't understand who feel that dancing on stages in order to show me their underwear is a good idea. These girls were replaced by a dance crew who were backing up a very interesting... wait for it.... drag show. The man/woman was really rather good and performed several different numbers with several different costume changes. Just when you think you know a place, it surprises you in a variety of different ways. Ways that will be burned into my mind for the next decade.

1) Dinner with friends. This is by far and away my very favourite thing about this trip. Tallinn offers many different culinary experiences as one would see in any modern city but going to these places wouldn't be nearly as interesting or as much fun without friends. Vapiano is a popular choice, serving both pizza and pasta, while the various cafes are better for a more one on one setting and serve anything from meals to cakes and pastries. Set aside places to go to and what you're left with is eating in. And we do lots of that, too. Usually, not a week goes by when someone is cooking something for a group. My favourite of these occasions was a pancake breakfast at Nicole's one Sunday morning. It made me feel like home because my parents and I have a tradition of Sunday breakfasts that I hadn't realized I missed. I think that this week is maybe my turn to cook up something for everyone but I haven't decided yet what that's going to be. Stay tuned!

A Day in the Life

Whenever I blog, it seems to be about events that occur outside of days spent in relative mundanity, so now, since I'm at a point in the blog's timeline where there's a week of nothing before my trip to Helsinki, I figured I would regale you with some everyday life stories.

My week begins with two lessons, as every week begins, in Russian and Estonian. At the outset I have to say that Russian and I are not friends, have not ever been friends, and will likely never be friends in the near or distant future. It conspires to kill me from either embarrassment or raised blood pressure, either of which would be a welcome excuse for not going to Russian. I'm normally a fairly intelligent person but for whatever reason, it consistently fails to sink into my thick skull. The reason I'm blowing this out of proportion is because the teacher asks oral questions and I never fail to embarrass myself, every, single time. Cheeks turn red, somebody takes pity on me and corrects my mistake, sweat glands expand, but the floor never opens to swallow me up. It's like eternal disappointment.

So, after I finish wishing I'd never woken up that morning, it's time for lunch. This part isn't interesting except to mention the extraordinary amount of pickled items that come with sour cream that are available for my consumption. I eat rice.

Now, we're sitting in Estonian. Same teacher as in Russian, but I'm way better in Estonian class so she usually leaves me alone. We learn a little (why do I keep hearing "cocks" and "sex" so much?), and then I let my mind slowly drift over what the rest of the day may hold. As I'm drifting, I realize I'm supposed to be saying something useful. I snap back attention, say the answer, and then drift away again. This happens five or six times before I'm allowed to leave. Having gone through the motions of the class, I wander down towards the exit. I deliberately take longer than usual as the thought of spending the rest of the day alone while everyone else is in class doesn't really appeal to me. I go to the washroom, linger awkwardly downstairs attempting to make the small talk I'm so poor at, and then I finally go to my trolley, back to the city.

The trolleys are like giant caterpillars whose antennae are attached to a string and who make an annoying whining sort of sound. The iPod goes in almost immediately, which serves a dual purpose; a) to ward off irritating strangers and b) to prevent me from puking all over the trolley. I get really motion sick, really easily. While I'm listening to what could most accurately be described as death metal, I run through the same quandary in my head as I do every time I get on the trolley: get off and get the four? Or, get off at the end and get the one? The latter takes less time, the former is lazier. I always pick the former. These thoughts entertain me for another twenty-five minutes or thereabouts. I always do my best thinking on the trolley, but I never remember what exactly it is I was thinking about by the time I'm in a position to write it down.

So, this is where it finally brightens up. I'm alone, for the rest of the afternoon and evening. At home, this would be a rare luxury. I therefore, take quick advantage of the opportunity. Sometimes I stop for ice cream, sometimes I take my camera and explore secret places, sometimes I lay on park benches and read or people watch, and sometimes on rare occasions, I'll have remembered my sketch pencils and I try to capture what's in front of me. In these moments, I'm filled with the rush of the possible. I am an artist, a dreamer, a ghost or a wonder. If I could capture such romantic notions and save them for later I would, but such frivolous thinking is fleeting.

On my walk home, I remark at the abandoned buildings at the top of my street, the beautiful park I walk through which rain or shine always has an old lady feeding the ducks, on the castle I have the privilege of looking at every day, and at the fragility of freedom. Because, if there's anything that living here has taught me, it's certainly that.

The sun is usually starting its journey toward the earth at this point, and the sky has that certain light that either inspires a song, or inspires your body to remember its dinner time. I don't sing, so to me it means dinner. Curry anyone? And maybe a little wine….

Adventuring and so on.. April 1 and Easter Weekend

So, spring has finally, sort of, sprung in Tallinn. It's still not what one would call warm but it's warm enough for a few (six) brave ERASMUS to venture out into the unknown and risk life and limb in daredevil climbs and zip lines.

Just kidding… would I do that??

No, there were no limbs or lives risked that day and really, anyone could have done it. The "it" I'm referring to would be "Nomme Adventure Park" conveniently located behind the Technological University. When I saw only six people show up to the event, I was questioning how the day was going to go and when I saw just the outside of the park, I really, really wondered how it was going to go. It's a very nondescript sort of place. Anyway, on to the good stuff.

Our first task was to get into our harnesses. I was not prepared to be wearing a harness and am currently wearing yoga pants. This of course resulted in an enormous wedgie for the duration of the harness wearing period. I figure that as long as nobody can see the jam or perhaps "bind" that I'm in, I'm fine. Very punny, I know.

The harness comes with two large metal clips that have to be attached at all times to wires that are strung through the trees above whatever part of the course we're on. It also has a really big hooky thing with a closure for the zip line parts of the course. This is the moment when I know that I'm in trouble. I have the coordination of a floor tile. That is to say, effectively none. I'm baffled about how to clip and unclip these things with people lined up behind me waiting for their turn on whichever task I'm completing. How do I do it while looking like I know exactly what I'm doing, because it would be such a terrible thing if they saw that I didn't, and still manage to do the task quickly. My concern with such trivial matters lands me in trouble with the instructor more than once because I keep removing both clips, which I'm not allowed to do. Ugh, why did I sign up for this?

However, about ten minutes after this thought runs through my head, I finally manage to get the hang of the course. I'm breezing through tasks! I'm quick! I'm nimble! If there was a candlestick, I'd be all set. My success fills me with a false sense of confidence and so I push through climbs and balance tasks that maybe are a bit beyond my skill level. Two hours later, and thighs burning, I finally reach the end of the course when maybe I should have stopped a little while back. The last zip line was the longest one, a reward I suppose for the work required to get to this point. I feel a sense of accomplishment which is nice. Nice, because for the next three days every time I walk anywhere, I limp and wince in pain. Crap.

This is especially embarrassing because my friend's families arrived the next day in Taliinn and I agreed to help show them the town. So, the only time in weeks that I might have to make a first impression, I get to make one with a strained crotch and two none functioning thigh muscles. Oh, no!

Nonetheless I have a great time showing these two surrogate families what we've been doing here and also to do some new things. I hadn't been to the Museum of Occupations, the Kalev marzipan museum or the Kiek in de Kok bastion yet but I did all of those things with Kevin's uncle. Not to mention eating at Olde Hansa and at various other bars and restaurants with Szymon's sister and her husband.

A weekend that I thought was going to be very lonely, actually turned out to be one of the better weekends in Tallinn. I think that I might have underestimated the effect of not having my family less than five hours away would have on me. Briefly, fleetingly, I got a taste of what it would be like if I could show them this city that I've come to love.

March 13-14 Latvia by Night and Day

And so, after two or so successful days in Lithuania, we arrived at 8pm on the 13th to Riga, Latvia. We had less time in this city so we elected to go exploring in the evening rather than relaxing. Thankfully, this city is smaller than Vilnius so we didn't need to tax ourselves.

The first sight greeting us off the bus was a very pretty lighted bridge. It was streaming blue lights onto the water and into the night sky. So, Riga looked promising. The hostel was also much nicer than in Vilnius and the staff were more helpful. However, maybe due to exhaustion or simply because of how much I liked Lithuania, Riga didn't really do it for me. The city reminded me of Tallinn, in size, and of Stockholm in building style but the magic wasn't there for me. Not that a city needs to be "magical" for me to derive enjoyment from it.

The best parts of the visit to Riga were the hours we spent just walking through art nouveau facade clad buildings in districts that skirted the Old Town, and the food, as well as the market. The food in Riga was fantastic, hearty and satisfying and so, so, cheap. Lido, on the first night was a buffet featuring traditional Latvian food and drink as well as interior decor. The same restaurant exists in Tallinn, as it's actually a Latvian chain restaurant but I'd never been there before. I loved the food, and made a mental note to visit the one in Tallinn before I leave. We explored the city after this and then made our way to the hostel to plan the next day and catch some much needed sleep.

Breakfast was a little hard to find on a quiet Sunday morning, but we eventually located a little cafe and got our munch on. The day was chilly, and windy so our wandering took a brisker pace and we spent a large part of the day indoors. We viewed the very well planned out museum of occupation and then made our way to the highlight of Riga for us, the market.

Located in three adjoining zeppelin hangars, the market featured fresh produce, meat and baked goods. I'm a huge fan of markets and despite being a little skittish about pickpocketers and that kind of thing, I thoroughly enjoyed looking around. We spent the last of our lats on dinner and some sausage to take home as well, as the rest of our time in Riga, here.

By the time we made it onto the bus, it was dusk in Riga and I couldn't help but take note of the coincidence that we arrived at dawn in Vilnius and were leaving Riga at sunset. A very poetic ending to a very lovely trip. I'm not usually so romantic but it seemed like something out of a Jane Austen novel.

Vilnius, Lithuania

March 11-12 Lithuania

Have you ever wandered into a place you've never been before, took a look around and almost immediately felt at home? Like you belonged? That was Vilnius, Lithuania for me.

It all began when my American friend Kevin and I decided we wanted to take a trip. After looking at the weather and casually bouncing around ideas of Minsk or Kiev, we settled on nearby Riga in Latvia and Vilnius in Lithuania. After some investigation, we discovered that buses run daily and cheaply from Tallinn to both locations and so we packed our bags and settled in for the nine hour trip to Vilnius. It was an overnight bus ride and I was trying to be as efficient as possible so we saved on accommodation and travel time by travelling and sleeping in one practical combination. Unfortunately, I am famous getting quite bus sick and so for the duration I was trying to sleep on Kevin's shoulder, much to his chagrin, with god awful nausea and heartburn and a plastic bag beside me. Cute. Luckily, I nodded off right after we hit Riga and soon arrived safely in Vilnius with nothing but some fatigue.

After getting us hopelessly lost in order to try and find our hostel (which means I walked in the entirely wrong direction into the seediest part of town possible at around 6am), we got a chance to sit, have some tea and meet a fellow traveller before heading out into Lithuania's Old Town (not so seedy, I promise). Kevin, my impulsive travelling partner, whose sense of curiosity and play I consistently fail to emulate, insisted on going inside every church we came across and walking down every street possible. I didn't mind. Vilnius' streets are wide and clean and bright with the buildings, more often than not, having these amazingly beautiful art nouveau facades. Even the most run down buildings are still graceful with iron balconies and stucco on their exteriors. Lithuania has some sights that almost remind me of someplace like Rome. Many have pillars and ornate plaster decorations that gleam in the sunlight. It's incredibly beautiful and the weather we had on this trip did the city justice. It was clear and bright the entire time we were gone.

The description I wrote just now only begins to describe the atmosphere of this city and what I'm about to say next may surprise you. The place is absolutely covered in graffiti. Covered. Every available space has a tag or a painting or something on it which gives an otherwise almost too-perfect place a real grunge-y, underground feeling. Part of the national culture, Lithuania has always been the upstart of the Baltics. The people are louder, more open and although I hate to say it, friendlier than their Northern neighbours. Not that Estonians aren't friendly, just more reserved. Therefore, there are parts of this city like which I haven't seen anywhere else in the Baltics. Whole districts devoted to art and music. Youthful Uzupis is a good example. It was my favourite part of our explorations. Located to the right of Old Town, it has actually declared independence as it's own republic with it's own president and flag. Every niche is covered in graffiti with alleys and narrow streets throughout. Small bridges connect it with the outskirts of the Old Town and each bridge has a large collection of locks attached from people who have gotten married and had locks for the bridges engraved with their names. On the other side of Uzupis is a pedway connecting it to a lovely park. Standing at the edge of the small waterways, I could have stayed forever. Something about the beautiful juxtaposed against the slightly grimy and the very arty makes it feel like home.

Vilnius is also home to a large outdoor market where vendors don't sell food but rather, art. It's very fitting judging by the brief glimpse I had of the city's character. Rows and rows of paintings were closely guarded by their artists and I have to say that if I had had enough room to transport some home, I would have purchased half of the stalls. They were really good! I wish more places had things like that. Now, this market was located just past the presidential palace and I will now walk you through what we saw along the way. Cutting straight through Old Town from the hostel, you first pass through the Dawn Gates which are the only one of nine gates originally built around the town. Passing by the philharmonic, you then reach the centre which had shopping, hotels and residential buildings around large, wide streets with lots of grass. Yes, there was grass. The first I'd seen since leaving Canada. Leaving the centre, you walked toward the Cathedral which was most definitely the architectural pinnacle of the trip. Huge, with white columns and statues, and situated in a large tiled square, it could have rivalled anything found in Greece or Italy. Continuing on, you eventually reach a river separating the Old Town from the newer business centre. To walk along this river is very pleasant and that was mostly how we spent our afternoon. Close to the river are the Royal Palace and the city museum where there is a large hill boasting fabulous views of every part of Vilnius. So we took the glass elevator up to the top and proceeded to gawk for an extended period of time. By this time our legs felt as though they might fall off, so we took some time to eat and recover.

The latter part of the day consisted of the museum which formerly housed the KGB offices and prison, whose prison part has been kept intact. There were also top levels devoted to Soviet Occupation and the Holocaust. Lithuania was hit extremely hard by both of these events and over time, lost a third of its population due to deaths, disappearances and deportations. Seeing the prison was a particularly intense experience as hearing about various Soviet methods of torture is very different from seeing the chambers and leftover personal belongings of the victims in person. One that really dug under my skin was the ice room, where the prisoner was forced to stand on the small metal pedestal for days, surrounded by ice. So, his choices were to stand, or to fall and risk the harm of laying in a vat of ice for days and days. This to me, is unimaginable, yet the proof that it happened was directly in front of me. The museum serves as a sort of shrine that dedicates itself to remembering the occurrences of the last sixty or seventy years and that also tells all of its visitors about the popular resistance to these events by Lithuanians who risked everything to fight for their freedom. No person need look any further for women's lib in the Baltics as the stories of the women who were also part of the resistance feature heavily in the exhibits and also detailed their punishments if and when they were caught. The most severe punishments were either death by firing squad, prison, or 25 years in hard work camps. I wondered what in particular each had done to merit their fates. I learned a lot here, and though sobered after a lovely day, don't regret going to see it in the slightest. It was certainly something I won't soon forget.

So, for only spending a day and a half in the city, Kevin and I packed as much as possible into our stay. Leaving Vilnius felt a bit sad because there were still parts that I hadn't seen, but I consoled myself knowing that if I so enjoyed it, I would make it a priority to go back. And so, I will.

After another five hours on a bus….. Riga!