Nevertheless the next morning I woke up with the obligatory morning song, courtesy of my friend Helen. I have the perfect song to start your day she stated.
My aim for this trip, was to get from Helsinki to London, via as many places as possible. To experience some culture, as people say. I had planned to inter rail around Europe, last summer, but life got in the way, and so did money if I remember (aha Student Problems!!)
I had arranged a rough itinerary of my travels, but me being me, I new I was just going to see where my adventure took me. I had just two weeks to be 'safely' back in London and return back to normal life.. ow and a sparing amount of money to aid my travel fund.
After saying farewell, to my friend Helen, my adventure began.
Planning my Travels!! The coffee, is to help with the lack of sleep.
Me and Helen, thank you for showing me Tallinn, for the second time, I hope we meet again, one day!
On the map, Tallinn to Riga looked so close, and reassured by Helen, the cheapest way to travel was to hitchhike. HITCHHIKE!!! Well that was my initial reaction... but nevertheless, the fearless person inside of me decided to go for it. I soon arrived in Tartu, but this was just a place to stop to get on the road to Riga. This part seemed more difficult and fortunately for me, I bumped into two French guys, who were heading in the same direction.
They became my saviors and as we hiked along a nice wedding party, pulled alongside us and gave us a free bottle of Vodka... only in Estonia!! We didn't get a ride that night, but Jeremy and Sam (the french guys) rang up their Couch Surfing host, they had stayed with the previous night and she agreed to let us stay.
A unintentional night in Tartu, ended up being a Russian party avec le Vodka... shot neat, obviously!! With astonishingly cheap drink prices, how could the night go wrong. (Remember I lived in Helsinki, where an average drink would cost, over 5 euros)
My free bottle of Vodka, sorry for the rubbish picture, but I had to show you
The next day we once again attempted our journey towards Riga. Luckily a guy agreed to take us all the way to Riga, via a deserted Petrol Station, which did appear like something out of a horror film. If only my imagination was not so vivid.
My optimism, availed and by midday I was safely in Riga, where I met my Couch Surfing host, Martin. This would be my first couch surfing experience, and for every one that has never heard of this website then I will give you a quick insight. https://www.couchsurfing.org is an online forum, for people to offer a bed for a few nights, or a 'couch', or even just to meet local people from the city. I had been introduced to this website through some people in England, and found alot of people used it during Erasmus, I was so glad that I checked it out.
The main square, in the old town of Riga.
As for Riga, I was stunned by its beauty. A similar town to Tallinn, but bigger. The old town, offered the charm and historic splendor, that you would expect, in a very magical manner. Think Disney without the cheese. Of course, it has become a tourist trap, but can you blame such a small country,with a small economy to neglect tourism, in fact I love it for this. An underrated, and charming city.. just waiting for you to explore.
This was only my third day on my trip, having such an amazing time...next Stop... Poland.
I had arranged a rough itinerary of my travels, but me being me, I new I was just going to see where my adventure took me. I had just two weeks to be 'safely' back in London and return back to normal life.. ow and a sparing amount of money to aid my travel fund.
After saying farewell, to my friend Helen, my adventure began.
On the map, Tallinn to Riga looked so close, and reassured by Helen, the cheapest way to travel was to hitchhike. HITCHHIKE!!! Well that was my initial reaction... but nevertheless, the fearless person inside of me decided to go for it. I soon arrived in Tartu, but this was just a place to stop to get on the road to Riga. This part seemed more difficult and fortunately for me, I bumped into two French guys, who were heading in the same direction.
They became my saviors and as we hiked along a nice wedding party, pulled alongside us and gave us a free bottle of Vodka... only in Estonia!! We didn't get a ride that night, but Jeremy and Sam (the french guys) rang up their Couch Surfing host, they had stayed with the previous night and she agreed to let us stay.
A unintentional night in Tartu, ended up being a Russian party avec le Vodka... shot neat, obviously!! With astonishingly cheap drink prices, how could the night go wrong. (Remember I lived in Helsinki, where an average drink would cost, over 5 euros)
The Russian party.
Jeremy, hitch-hiking to Riga.
A midsummer, sunset.
Riga by night.
This was only my third day on my trip, having such an amazing time...next Stop... Poland.
