I didn’t have any major plans for my summer vacation other than just get out of Helsinki (and Finland) for a moment. Where and when exactly was pretty vague though.
As a warm-up, I first made a quick day trip to Pori mainly just to see an exhibition by Circle, a cult Finnish band I’ve been a fan of ever since its first album back in 1994.
I confess I didn’t stay to listen to the Circle exhibition’s hour long music from start to finish.
I must admit I was disappointed with it, but at least I also saw the impressive Jusélius Mausoleum and strolled around the city for the first time in decades. That was pretty much all I had time for during my four hour visit (not much considering I sat in the bus for seven hours total).
Finland’s only mausoleum in Pori was a small gem.
Exploring the Baltic cities
One later morning I decided I just had to get out of Finland asap. So for the rest of the day I bought ferry, bus and train tickets, made hotel reservations, packed my backpack and the very next day I started my week long trip to the Baltic states.
First a ferry from Helsinki to Tallinn, followed by a bus to Riga (Latvia’s capital city), eight hours in total. I stayed in Riga for two nights before continuing to Vilnius (Lithuania’s capital city) by a direct train (four hour trip). After two nights there, I took a hour train trip to Kaunas (Lithuania’s second largest city and former capital) and stayed there also for two nights.
Vilnius old town.
Then I backtracked to Riga by train and hopped on a bus to Pärnu in Estonia for a night in a spa hotel before continuing again by bus to Tallinn and taking a ferry back to Helsinki. So in total a week long trip with very little planning beforehand.
Was it worth it? Yes, I finally dragged myself out of Finland! Also, I saw some amazing architecture (I must admit Riga might have a better set of Art Nouveau buildings than Helsinki), interesting art exhibitions and some very sombre museums of the past.
An x-ray image of a puppet made by a Lithuanian artist Stasys Ušinskas.
Traveling without flying was also a bit more eco-friendly and thankfully not as tiresome as I feared.
In hindsight I should have balanced the trip with some out of town sightseeing, as by the time I got to Kaunas, I felt I had enough with churches, old towns, museums and other tourists. Thankfully Pärnu on the way back home gave a more chilled environment. I also could have done more research beforehand to get the most out of my visits, as there was a lot of wandering around this time.
Not the best weather for sun bathers at Pärnu, but good for a morning walk nonetheless.
So even though I was satisfied with my ad-hoc trip, I think the next one I come up with should be a bit more focused on relaxing. After all, the most pleasing moments during the trip probably might have come by just sitting down in a nice park and just watching the world go by.