Europe 2014: Warsaw, Poland

With two cities under our belts, we took a short flight from Riga to Warsaw in Poland. Having never been to Poland before I was uncertain about what to expect from the country and its capital. Would it be like Latvia or Estonia, or would it be more Westernised? My question was soon answered, along with the discovery of what is now one of my favourite cities.

Europe 2014: Riga, Latvia

Having left a little part of myself in Tallinn, we made the five hour bus journey (complete with a slight hangover) to Riga in Latvia. The bus trip, although punctuated by a few post-drinking moments of unease, was brilliant, with the perfectly straight roads cutting a seemingly endless highway across the Baltic States. And so with tired legs and a tired mind, I rolled off the coach and set foot in Latvia for the first time.

Europe 2014: Tallinn, Estonia

"I want to see the world. I want sunshine and skyscrapers; languages I don't understand; music I've never hear before."

That is a quote from one of my favourite films in recent years - namely, Sunshine on Leith. When I first watched the film I scoffed at how cliché that line was but I've thought about it a bit and found that the truth is that is accurately describes how I feel about traveling. The fact that it is said with a beautiful Scottish accent sends familiar tingles down my spine - a familiarity which makes me long for the unfamiliar. It is with this mindset that I set out on my most recent trip to Europe. 

My next seven posts are going to be about each city that I visit, providing small snapshots into an experience that I'm never going to forget. The first stop was Tallinn a little under two weeks ago and it went a little like this...