Estonia... bet you don't know where that is!

We were in the lovely, tiny country of Estonia for three days - and had a blast! We went to the capital, Tallinn, and a beach town called Parnu. First some very brief info about Estonia:

• population: 1.3 million. Yes. That's it.
• The entire country is wired to Wi-Fi. You can literally pull your laptop out anywhere and get a free signal.
• The capital is Tallinn, which passed hands from the Danes, Swedes, Germans, Russians, Soviets and other Baltic peoples.
  

Beneath the secret underground tunnels of Tallinn. They were used as bomb shelters.

Beach in Parnu... we got really, really burnt.

Central Town Square showcasing Tallinn's architecture.

Skyline of tiny Tallinn.

Update coming soon!

We've been in St. Petersburg for a few days with little free time to spare. I'll post on Estonia and St. Petersburg as soon as I can.

In the meanwhile, pray that we have a safe journey to Moscow! This is definitely the most exciting part of our journey!

Leg 2a: Midsummer's Festival in Latvia

Keeping the sun from setting, approx 1 AM

First a bit of explanation: the Midsummer's Festival is an important holiday in the Baltics and Scandinavia. It celebrates the longest day of the year, known in the West as the Summer Solstice. Due to these countries extreme north position, the sky never gets dark! On this day, the daylight actually lasts 24 hours (the darkest it got was a light blue/purple haze). We went to a museum/fairgrounds outside of the capital, not really knowing what to expect. We were met with thousands of Latvians, drinking, eating and dancing until the "sunrise" at 5 am. It was beautiful and even a little magical... probably because the holiday is a pagan one!

Traditional folk songs and costumes

Holding hands round the bonfire- notice the color of the sky at 1 or 2 am.

Jumping over the bonfire for good luck.

Me with some lovely Latvian ladies.

Leg 2: Latvia (Riga & surrounding regions)

Latvia, Latvia. So few people have even heard of this place let alone could find it on a map. Nevertheless, I have always wanted to come here and turns out there is no better time to be in Latvia than the end of June. The first few days were rainy but then we were able to escape to the countryside on a nice weather day. There we explored ancient castle ruins and hiked through the woods.

Streets of old Riga.

Central square in Riga.

Turaida castle in Sigulda, a region of Latvia.

We frolicked in fields. Literally!

Midsummer's Festival begins with flower wreath weaving. More on this festival in my next post...

Leg 1: Berlin

Berlin.... what a fun and eclectic place! Here are just a few shots of our six days in the unified German capital.

The Brandenburg Gate at night.

A biergarten. That's German for... you guessed it, beer garden! My friend, Radim, came to visit.

In the giant dome of the Reichstag, the German Parliament. This was a cool, cool place!

Concentration camp outside of Berlin. "Work sets you free." Not so much, as the thousands of people who died here found out.

Gay Pride 2010 Berlin. When Lady Gaga came on, everyone went wild! Really, really wild.

Eurotrip: our itinerary

View Our itinerary in a larger map ... scroll right to Europe

On June 14th, my sister, Rachel, and I embarked on a brother-sister whirlwind tour of Eastern Europe code name *Ostalgie*. Our mission: to get to Moscow without killing each other. Just joking! We get along great. The idea for this trip came after watching the German 2003 movie, Goodbye Lenin! By starting in Berlin, the formerly divided German city and modern-day German capital, and ending in Moscow, we plan to gradually ease into the East and Communism. Here is our itinerary:

June 14-19: Berlin, Germany

June 20-24: Riga, Latvia

June 25-27: Tallinn, Estonia

June 28-July 3: St. Petersburg, Russia

July 4-13: Moscow and surrounding regions

Video: Jumping over flames

This is an old video but since I have a fast connection, I decided to go ahead and post it!

For Novruz, a festival that commemorates the first day of Spring, Azeris jump over a bonfire three times to burn away sins/regrets/illnesses of the past year. I did this two weeks after having my hernia operated on! Doctor's orders.