Baltic Fast Forward

I'm pretty much bored with the Baltic Snapshots. Who would like to have 8 more of these? No, I thought so. So, here you are, a quick player:

Day 3: We spend the whole day in the Aquapark. I didn't know it was such fun to stand under a huge pirates' water bowl.

Day 4: We find out that Jurmala beach is 30 kilometers long. I get tired of the paradise after 5 kilometers of walking.

Day 5: We see the widest waterfall in Europe, an odd village of dolls, canalrunning competition and spend a night in a b&b, which has got the most wonderful garden I've seen in ages.

Day 6: We find out that the Swedish-Finnish army has destroyed most of the old castles. I try to sound less like a hakkapeliitta. We find out that all the shops are filled with Finnish dairy products and chocolates. We see lots of Finnish banks, clothes and furniture shops and hamburger bars. I'm not used to the invasion I see, so I concentrate on looking at the castles and mansions, which aren't destroyed. We come back to Riga and see how a lorry pushes a small Fiat ahead. I look at the calm and quiet faces of the Fiat people and wonder what would my face look like if I knew I was probably going to die under a lorry in few seconds of time. I think about it all evening, even when I find out that we share an apartment section in the hostel with a large French man who wears only a towel and a cigar all day long.

Day 7: I wake up and try to get a shower, but I hear a low voice saying Bonjour behind the bathroom door. The kitchen is filled with smoke and a young woman wearing only tiny micro-shorts. We spend the day in the castles and caves of Sigulda.

Day 8: We leave from Riga and Latvia for good. It's Mr Fox's birthday, so we spend a night in Estonia in the Sangaste Castle, which is a sort of a copy of the Windsor Castle. Outside. Inside it's just like it was when used as a pioneer camp. We had bought two bottles of bubbly and thought to enjoy it in the library when the kids were in sleep. Well, they aren't. After midnight J is finally sleeping and A almost. I raise my hand towards the glass and hear a horrified scream Harry Potter! coming from his mouth just before he climbs to Mr Fox's bed and pukes all over him. We clean up. The water coming from the tap is green and smells like it was already used in 1949. I find a bottle of something, which promises to make floors shiny and clean, so I gently wipe Mr Fox with it. "Well, at least it was memorable", I say, "...and well, exactly xx years ago a midwife was probably doing something like this to you, so happy birthday."

Day 9:We drive away as fast as we can. Shower in Tartu.

Day 10: We accidentally find the grave of Herman Hesse's grandparents. Back to home.

More photos will soon be uploaded here.