Wandering Fractal

Tallinn, capital of Estonia. The Baltic states: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Three small countries with a lot of charm. When I first arrived in Tallinn, I felt like arriving in Switzerland. The city was small and uncrowded with a beautiful old town. Next I went to Riga in Latvia. They also have an old town, but it was my least favorite of the three Baltic capitals. Instead I went to Jurmala and the Gauja national park with a Russian I met there. He had a rental car so we went to the beach town of Jurmala in the morning and walking in Gauja in the afternoon. After Latvia, I went to Vilnius in Lithuania. It has an ancient university founded in 1579 and an artists' quarter. This gives the city a student and artistic vibe. To move from one country to another, I used the bus. You can cross countries with the train, but you need to change at the border. With the bus it's easier. You stay inside the whole trip and there is rarely any passport controls. Bird flying ...

Fountain in front of the Bolshoi theater. My last two stops in Russia: Moscow and Saint Petersburg. They are the two biggest city of the country. Both have many historical places to see, but one of the funniest thing I have done was to visit Moscow's subway. Most of the station are decorated and you don't feel like you're in a subway. They each have a theme and a unique look. We bought a 36 ruble ticket and spent 2 hours touring the various stations. (With a single entry ticket you can stay as long as you want in the subway.) In St. Petersburg, friends from Switzerland joined me to visit the city. The nightlife there is definitely something to try. St. Basil's cathedral in Moscow. Moscow metro. Moscow metro. Moscow metro. One of the longest escalator in the world at the Parl Pobedy station. It took me 3 minutes to go down. Saint Petersburg. Churche Savior on the spilled blood.

Church on Blood in Honour of All Saints Resplendent in the Russian Land. Yes that's the official name. It was built were the last emperor of Russia, Nicholas II was executed. Yekaterinburg, the fourth largest city of Russia. I spent a day visiting the city and it's many churches. It's a lovely place, but I didn't spend too much time there. It was more to take a break in the long train ride from Asia to Europe. Pigeon It took 35 hours to go from Krasnoyarsk to Yekaterinburg with the train. It is the longest time I have ever been in a train. While most of the Russians doesn't like their train, I found them very comfortable. You can drink tea in the traditional glass while admiring the view and trying to chat with  your Russian neighbor.