Last year was a dream-come-true in terms of travel, but with so much awesome, a few bad experiences were bound to creep in. For the sake of full disclosure, here they are, in chronological order. Florida jet-lag and junk food binge. It took me nearly a week to stop waking up at 1 am and…
I really love looking back at the most amazing year of travels – all the photos, adventures, and memories to last a lifetime. Writing at a seaside café while it rained in Novy Svet (Crimea). I might have gotten rained out of several days’ worth of sightseeing, but on the flip side it was the…
Twelve months ago travel was pretty much at the bottom of my 2014 agenda. Twelve countries later, this turned out to be the most travel-intensive year of my life. Some of the journeys were for work, some for fun, and some were undertaken on a whim. By the end of the year I have crossed…
Why am I reviewing an airport of all things? Because Tallinn’s Lennart Meri Airport is THE CUTEST! By far the most adorable airport I’ve ever been in. It is cozy and cheerful, and feels like a big lounge room with a cafe or a library or a playground throwing in here and there. Actually, why tell you about…
Whatever my expectations for Estonia, having a mind-blowing gourmet experience wasn’t on the list. Yet this is exactly what I got in Tallinn, over and over, in just three days. How did Estonia surprise my palate? Let me count the ways. The best pork I ever had. Ever. Possibly the best entrée, period. On my…
You know how parents tell their kids to never get into cars with strange men? This is exactly what I did in Estonia. The strange man in question was the Nice German I met on my first evening in Tallinn. Long story short, as a result of making this acquaintance, I abandoned my original plan…
Here are some random interesting bits from Tallinn. A Tale of Two Churches The Soviet Union was not kind to organized religion of any stripe, and thousands of churches were outright destroyed or re-purposed for other needs of the people. Old Town Tallinn has two remarkable examples of ecclesiastic architecture with equally fascinating histories. The Russian…
I mean – just look at this place. Where have I seen this before…? Even their souvenirs looks like they were taken straight from Elsa’s and Anna’s wardrobes (that’s a “Frozen” reference for you heathens). I never thought any place in the world could have too much whimsy for my liking, but Tallinn came close…
When you think of the cities with the greatest collections of Art Nouveau architecture, what comes to mind? Probably Paris or Brussels, Prague or Budapest. But not Riga, right? Well, then you’re in for quite a surprise. I first heard of Riga’s collection of Art Nouveau architecture just a few months ago, through the Latvia’s…
I think it won’t be an exaggeration to say that Expat Eye on Latvia’s Linda almost literally put Latvia on a map for a lot of “far abroad” foreigners with her very active Latvia PR campaign. However, she accomplished this with a rather unusual approach, often highlighting the gloomy and dysfunctional over the pretty and…
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