Travelsmartplanet

Estonia has 1,520 islands (in the Baltic Sea) while Latvia, so close by, has none.

The Ethnographic Open-Air Museum on the shore of Jugla Lake near Riga, Latvia is an outdoor exhibition of 16th-19th century farms, churches and a country inn (which also functioned as a community center for weddings, funerals, schools, etc.) offering a glimpse into life in the countryside. The plan was to establish a farm from the four regions, Kurzeme, Zemgale, Vidzeme and Latgale. In 1932 the museum was opened to the public and by 1939 there were 40 buildings erected. Today 118 buildings are on display.

Forto Dvaras restaurant in the Old town of Vilnius still serves up home style dishes (and has an English menu). The local fast food, zeppelins, are big dumplings – meat stuffed into grated potato jackets served with sour cream, “cracklings” fried onions, butter, onion sauce or curds.

You can savor varieties of potato pancakes, perhaps with mushroom sauce or topped with bacon. Classic beef stroganoff or chicken Kiev are on the menu along with 9 salads. If you don’t care for any of those you can always enjoy peas with pork ears.

Riga has it’s own special liqueur called Black Balsam. Supposedly in the 1760’s when Catherine the Great got sick she was cured by this bitter tonic made with 20 ingredients including herbs, roots and flowers. At 40% proof she probably felt no pain. To drink it you need to mix it with something sweet like Coke or a fruit juice.

From the 1400’s to 1795, Poland and Lithuania were one country. They still share similar food like cartachky (Polish) or cepelinai (Lithuanian zeppelins) – large dumplings with skins made of grated potato and egg stuffed with meat.

The Radisson Blu in Riga www.radissonblu.com/latvijahotel-Riga, built in 1983 is the largest hotel in the Baltics with 572 rooms on 26 floors offering spectacular views of the city.

The nightclub can seat 800 and the casino has room for 1,000 losers, oops, winners. There’s a spa, hair salon, convenience store, money exchange, ATM, an ironing room, and an attached shopping arcade with a gourmet food store. The abundant buffet breakfast is a beehive of activity, with guests digging in to platters of herring, smoked salmon, dried fruits, seeds and nuts, and even a station for eggs and custom omelettes.

The Skyline Bar on the 26th floor gives a whole new meaning to getting high.

Ernst Johann von Biren was born into a poor family in Latvia and rose to rule Russia (okay just for a moment).
He managed to become the lover of Anna, an Empress of Russia who gave him all sorts of gifts and power.  She made him the Duke of Courland, and he built Pilsrundale, a palace near Riga modeled after Versailles, and designed by Rastrelli, the same architect as the Hermitage in St. Petersburg.

We are quite impressed with the quality and amount of information you get on this tour. Down to the minute details like where the free bathrooms are, where they hide the coffee pot in your room and where you get the best exchange rate, and even suggestions of about how much to exchange based on typical meal prices. There is no way you could know this on your own or find out searching the net before you go.

Our guide speaks about 7 languages and knows so much history about each country including the social mores.
Everyone is enjoying his interspersing of the typical jokes of each nationality. He always has a smile on his face and is willing – and able – to answer everyone’s questions on all kinds of topics. This makes everyone feel so comfortable.

Breakfasts  have been copious. Today’s  meal at the Novotel Hotel included Polish sausages, mustard and – pickles! They were delicious.
The Novotel hotel was glam and even had a casino in it.

We had a guide in training along – Esther – and she gave us a little extra tour to the impressive main square in Poznan. It is so spiffy that it looks like a Hollywood set, but is actually 700 years old.