For Scandi Baltic tour I travelled with Lauren, Naomi and Dave. We had 8 days and travelled through 5 countries by bus and boat. We travelled Lithuania to Latvia to Sweden to Finland to Estonia and then back to Lithuania to fly back to London.
What an amazing week it was. We began the week by flying into Lithuania Vilinus and ofcourse arrived off the plane at 1240am and Wizz air had broken the wheel off laurens suitcase which we were sharing for the week which ended up weighing 30kg. So for the rest of the week we had to carry around a heavy broken suitcase that not only broke our hands but our back to. That wasnt going to stop us having a good time though.
Day 1 - We met our guide Dax and went on a walking tour around Vilinus town. We were late to the tour seens we had to trek across the city carrying our bag so we missed half the walking tour and had to meet the group half way through our walking tour. After lunch we got on the bus and started our drive to our first stop which was The hills of crosses. On the bus we all played musical seats and went around meeting all the other passengers on our tour. It was really good and an easy way to pick and chose who you like and didnt like on the tour thats for sure. We arrived at Hills of Crosses which was a place where locals placed all different size crosses to symbolise Independence and of course Religion. We wrote on our own cross and planted it amongst the other crosses on the hill just so people knew we went there :) after spending about an hour here we continued on the bus to the place we were staying in Klapeida. We all got showered and went for a BBQ which we got a ferry across the water to a little island that had a beach on the opposite side and set up a BBQ and the group cooked a nice little Aussie style BBQ and drank a few beers and Ciders and got to know one another. The sun didnt set until about 1030pm this night so that was surprising but after it did we all got the ferry back for an early night.
Day 2- We drove from Lithuania to Latvia today. Once we arrived in Riga and dropped our bags off at the hostel we went out on a walking tour of the city and even were lucky enough to stumble over somebodies used syringe in the street (WOW! that was an eye opener). The walking tour was really good and by the end of it we were starving for dinner. We went for a group dinner to a local Latvian restaurant called Lido. It was the most delicious food. I had chicken with tomato and cheese melted on top with lithuania style rice :) was delicious. That night we had to hurry back to begin our pub crawl. We had a free drink in 6 places and even sometimes we got more then one :) was really good we went from beer gardens to traditional latvian bars and dancing to a Kiwi bar and then to finish the night off we ended up at the Karaoke Bar where ofcourse Lauren and I showed off our many years of singstar skills by getting up and singing all our favourite songs that we know off by heart like professionals. Was an awesome night.
Day 3 - We had the day in Riga as we didnt get the overnight boat until late afternoon. Naomi and I went on a Soviet walking tour which was really good. In the tour we went to local markets and I nearly spewed in the fresh fish section it smelt so potent of Fish and with a hangover they definately dont mix well. The locals eat dried out fish as "fish chips" they dont have fish and chips there fishes are chips. GROSS!!! We continued through the markets which varied from Fresh fruit and vegetables to lollies and sweets to canned foods and toys. Was interesting. After the walking tour we headed back to meet the rest of the group and grabbed our bags and made our way to the port to get our overnight ferry to Sweden. Very excited.
We get on our boat which is about 9 stories high and a huge cruiser. It has duty free shops, bars, restaurants, money exchange absolutely everything. It even has a swedish schoolies on the roof top having a foam party from the night before and yes this was 4pm the next day. There were young girls and boys literally half naked partying covered in foam and slipping and sliding off the top deck. Was crazy to see at 4pm. They were very trashy thats for sure.
That night we met up with our group and then decided we would all do our own thing and just chill out and go get dinner and then meet when we were getting off the boat the next day.
Day 4 - We arrived in Stockholm at 9am and got off the boat after an amazing buffet breakfast. We dropped our bags off to our hotel and then we went off to our Viking tour which was awesome as we got to dress up as Vikings and do a walking tour all around the city and everytime someone stopped to take photos of us we all growled and pulled a scary face. It was really fun. After the walking tour we had free time and we roamed around the shops and as H+M is swedish we had a bit of a shop all through there. We walked through local markets and sat in the park in the sun and enjoyed the sun. We had dinner then went to the Beer Garden across from our hostel as they were showing the Soccer game of Sweden Vs France so that was really fun to watch and even more so that the sun didnt set till 1130pm so it felt like 4pm at like 10pm. Was really cool. After watching Sweden win the football game we went to bed.
Day 5 - We had the whole day in Stockholm as we were getting an overnight ferry to Finland that night. Today we spent the day on a bike tour around the alternative side of the city. The guide was lovely and the day was loads of fun. We rode up and down hills, over all different bridges and even stopped at a bar with the most amazing view of the city for a drink. Was really fun.
That night we got on the boat only this boat was bigger and we were on it for the longest day of the year. The boat was 12 stories high and had even more shops then the first boat. We wondered all over the boat then met up with thr group and had a traditional shot of schnapps and ate herring on rye bread (which is what the locals do for the longest day of the year) Was fun. That night we all splurged and went to the 30euro buffet dinner where we all dressed up nicely and had loads of food. SO much meat and seafood and cupcakes and icecream and ALL YOU CAN DRINK BEER AND WINE!!!! Heaven!!! haha After dinner we went up onto the deck and all had a big night drinking and watching the most amazing sunset at 1130pm. The day was amazing. SO much fun.
Day 6 - We all had buffet breakfast again and then hopped off the boat and went straight on a walking tour through Helsinki. Here we were all really tired and hung over so cant say we were all listening in depth but it was nice just to wander around the city. After the walking tour we got the ferry over to a little island and walked through a castle that was on one side of the island then we stopped for a drink and spent the afternoon hanging in the sun on the grass before getting the ferry back to Helsinki. That night we were all buggered from the big night before and the early start so we went out for dinner then back home for a good nights sleep.
Day 7 - Bright and early start to get a 2 hour ferry from Finland to Tallin in Estonia. Here we had yet another walking tour through the town and then we got a free Funky alternative bike tour. The bike tour was really good and we got to go in an old jail which only closed in 2004. It was really creepy but was cool cause we could walk through all the rooms and most of the stuff was left in there including paperwork and medical equipment. Was a bit dodgey but it was also on a private beach so the inmates had a pretty cool beach at the time. The bike tour didnt finish until 7pm then we went out and had a 3 course dinner for only 10 euros. Was so delicious. After we said our goodbyes to the group as we had a 5am get up to get at 7am flight.
Was a great tour and met some lovely people also.
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