Latvia and Estonia

From Lithuania, I took a bus across the border to the port town of Liepaja, Latvia. While there, I headed to the Karosta neighbourhood with this Aussie guy named Morgan. Karosta was once a former Russian military base and closed off to the public for many years. Today, it has plenty to keep a visitor busy. The beach is littered with the remnants of bunkers and is definitely worth a look. A little cheesy but all in good fun, is a tour of the Prison. Be sure and volunteer for the bathing/clothes washing/bathroom demonstration. If you're up for it, you can also stay in the prison over night for 8 lats. Cheap as borscht!

Next stop, Riga. Now, I don't normally use CouchSurfing for its main purpose which is staying with locals on their couch. Usually, I just grab a hostel and use CouchSurfing to meet up with the natives for a pint. This time around, I decided to give a couch a go. You might think staying with a complete stranger would be a recipe for disaster but, in this case, you would be wrong; I couldn't have asked for more. Jana, who was born and raised in Riga, is fluent in English, is always wearing a smile and... has speakers in her bathroom! I showered each day to a soundtrack. Yes, to me that is cool. Even more cool - we went flying, took a tour of a secret Soviet cold war bunker and went night-kayaking around Riga's old town (where we were nearly overturned by a beaver, or rat, the size of car). Good times.

I hitched a ride to Tallinn with Jana, who was headed there on business. Spent a couple days looking around the Old Town but didn't get up to much else. It's a well oiled tourist machine but that doesn't mean it should be skipped. Decided to get out of the big city and headed to a small coastal area called Roosta with a quick stop in the quiet little town of Haapsalu.

Now, back in Riga, I am trying to figure out my next step. Perhaps it's time for a little 9-5 action?