Hey again, greetings from the European North. So to pick up where I left last time I am enjoying being able to walk and have been taking full advantage of this with recent travels to Estonia and Latvia. Estonia is just a short ferry ride (4 hours) across the Baltic sea from Finland, so a group of Germans, Belgians and one French took the journey to explore Tallinn, the capital. It never ceases to amaze me the history and stories these cities have to offer, Tallinn being over 500 years old. We didn’t explore the new city very much, but we walked all the way around old town which was very amazing. The churches are enormous, and the streets are all stone which helps you imagine what it could have been like a few hundred years ago.So after Tallinn my Canadian friend Simon and I decided to take the bus down to Riga, Latvia. It was a fairly short 5 hour bus ride, but then again a 5 hour bus ride seems like an eternity to my friends from Eastern Europe. They cant believe when I tell them it is a “short 5 hour drive” from my home in Kelowna to Vancouver. I guess it seems long when your country is only a few hundred kilometers wide.Riga is beautiful, but one thing you notice as soon as you get there is that your not in “friendly Finland” anymore. Latvia has recently joined the EU, but the country is still reeling from being occupied by the soviets for so long. At night there are many members of the Russian Mafia, so you do have to be careful there. But once you get over the fact that everyone is trying to make a buck off you, the city is gorgeous. Old town is beautiful, with many towering churches and museum. While we were there we visited the Occupation Museum which detailed the occupation of Latvia between 1940, by the Soviets, then the Nazis, then the Soviets again. Both of which really suppressed the local population. Oh yeah and we shot a few guns off too!So after the trips to Estonia and Latvia I have been back at school studying hard (or hardly studying, I forget which) Not much changes here in Tampere other than the weather. I am told to get out in the sun every chance I get, as it will disappear soon, never to be seen again???? It might even snow this week, if we are lucky! Well upcoming I have a break from studies October 20-30 and I have planned another trip to Poland, and then Lithuania to meet up with some friends. Well see you later, and I hope to hear back from you all. Oh yeah it just started snowing, yay! ( I am not kidding.)Nelson
Hey again, greetings from the European North. So to pick up where I left last time I am enjoying being able to walk and have been taking full advantage of this with recent travels to Estonia and Latvia. Estonia is just a short ferry ride (4 hours) across the Baltic sea from Finland, so a group of Germans, Belgians and one French took the journey to explore Tallinn, the capital. It never ceases to amaze me the history and stories these cities have to offer, Tallinn being over 500 years old. We didn’t explore the new city very much, but we walked all the way around old town which was very amazing. The churches are enormous, and the streets are all stone which helps you imagine what it could have been like a few hundred years ago.So after Tallinn my Canadian friend Simon and I decided to take the bus down to Riga, Latvia. It was a fairly short 5 hour bus ride, but then again a 5 hour bus ride seems like an eternity to my friends from Eastern Europe. They cant believe when I tell them it is a “short 5 hour drive” from my home in Kelowna to Vancouver. I guess it seems long when your country is only a few hundred kilometers wide.Riga is beautiful, but one thing you notice as soon as you get there is that your not in “friendly Finland” anymore. Latvia has recently joined the EU, but the country is still reeling from being occupied by the soviets for so long. At night there are many members of the Russian Mafia, so you do have to be careful there. But once you get over the fact that everyone is trying to make a buck off you, the city is gorgeous. Old town is beautiful, with many towering churches and museum. While we were there we visited the Occupation Museum which detailed the occupation of Latvia between 1940, by the Soviets, then the Nazis, then the Soviets again. Both of which really suppressed the local population. Oh yeah and we shot a few guns off too!So after the trips to Estonia and Latvia I have been back at school studying hard (or hardly studying, I forget which) Not much changes here in Tampere other than the weather. I am told to get out in the sun every chance I get, as it will disappear soon, never to be seen again???? It might even snow this week, if we are lucky! Well upcoming I have a break from studies October 20-30 and I have planned another trip to Poland, and then Lithuania to meet up with some friends. Well see you later, and I hope to hear back from you all. Oh yeah it just started snowing, yay! ( I am not kidding.)Nelson
