Saturday, October 02, 2010

Eastern Europe: Day 7 - Tallinn, Riga

About morning flights on Baltic Air - no one bothered to shower before the flight except me. I didn't ask anyone, but I am fairly certain it was true. Actually, check that, I don't think anyone bothered to shower for several days in preparation for the flight, except for me.

I've noticed for these flights, there is no boarding by rows. People wait in line, until they say it is time to board, and then everyone shoves their way onto the plane. To me, it seems reminiscent to shopping in Soviet times, when people would wait for hours to get into a shop which may or may not have what you want. Funny thing is, the shoving was fairly minimal - folks respected the queue for the most part (as long as you were moving). Even stranger, I think it took less time to board using this procedure vs. the way we do it in the US.

Speaking of the people, in both countries, there were a lot of angry looking old ladies who were giving me the evil eye. Actually, they gave it to me and anyone within eyeshot. I don’t think it is anything personal - just a general hatred of those who have it so easy now.

I was flying through the great transit hub of the Baltics, Riga International Airport (RIX), again. I deplaned at about 9:30 am, and had two hours till my next flight, so I had time to hang out at my favorite coffee shop/bar in RIX. I got coffee. Some others were getting beer. The coffee was good, but the thought of an ice cold Zelta was very tempting….

I was told that the nicest of the old towns was Tallinn, with Riga a close second, followed by Vilnius, Lithuania a clear third. Granted, Vilnius was not as big or nice an old town, but it was nice. For anyone traveling to the Baltics, I would recommend starting in Vilnius, then moving north. I can comment on Riga, but from the travel books it looks like fun. Next time

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