[Wednesday, September 10] This afternoon, we took Uber to IAH and at 2:50 pm we boarded Lufthansa LH441, a B747-8 airplane, and we pushed away from the gate on time at 3:35 pm. We had a good dinner and a reasonably good night sleep. We had breakfast as we approached Frankfort.

< Our Lufthansa flight.

[Thursday] As we arrived in Frankfurt at 8:15 am. We changed flights and took Lufthansa LH894 at 9:45 am from FRA to Vilnius VNO. We were on an Airbus A320-200. We arrived at 12:51 pm and took a taxi from the airport to the Amberton Cathedral Hotel in Vilnius Old Town. We were able to get our room about an hour and a half before the 3:00 pm checkin.

< Amberton Cathedral Hotel.

We walked around the hotel area and went inside Vilnius Cathedral, which was just across the street from our hotel. They were setting up on the church parking lot for the Vilnius Marathon which was going to take place on the weekend. The church dates from the 18th century. The Soviets closed the church in 1950 and used it as a garage for truck repairs. It was returned to the Catholic Church in 1989.

< < Vilnius Cathedral.

We walked to where we could see other historic buildings. Later we walked down to Vilnius G street and ate dinner. This is a pedestrian street with lots of restaurants. Lithuania was not overrun with tourists. There were a few, but they were not a problem.

< Presidential Palace. < Nice street scene.

Watching an English language Polish TV channel at night, the big news was the Russian drones that encroached in Poland airspace Tuesday night. Those type of incursions into the Baltics by Russian aircraft or drones continued to be big news while we were there. It did not affect our visit.

[Friday] Their late Summer weather was 56 degrees and rainy this morning. We ate breakfast in the hotel. We had scheduled a walking tour this morning but asked for a delay and they rescheduled it for 5:30 pm.

This morning we walked to St. John the Baptist and St. John the Apostle and Evangelist Church which is on the Vilnius University campus and went inside the Jesuit Catholic Cathedral. Originally built in the 14th century, it was reconstructed in the 18th century and is known for its stunning architecture, which features intricate decorations and a beautiful interior.

< <St. John the Baptist & St. John the Apostle and Evangelist Church.

We then walked to St. Anne's Church and went inside the Benedictine Catholic Cathedral. It was built in 1495–1500. It is a prominent example of both Flamboyant and Brick Gothic styles. In 1812, Napoleon's soldiers used it as a barracks on their way to attack Moscow.

< < St. Anne's Church.

On the way back to the hotel, we stopped for coffee and a cookie at the Caffeine Cafe. The drizzling rain continued.

At 5:30 we met our guide and even though the weather was still misty, we went to Vilnius University and saw many of the buildings. We then went into the Republic of Uzupia, which is "an independent country" within Lithuania. It was formed by artists and you are required to smile when you are in the country. It is surrounded on three sides by the Vilnia River. They have their own laws and currency. After two informative and somewhat damp hours, we ended the tour.

< Holy Mother of God Church. < Street scene.

< Entrance to Republic of Uzupia.

We stopped on the way to the hotel at the Saskaita Greek restaurant and ate dinner. The food was delicious.

< Saskaita Greek restaurant.

[Saturday] Today the rain was gone and the temperature was in the 50's. After breakfast in the hotel, at 10:00 am we took the Walking Tour of Vilnius Old Town with snacks. The tour lasted 2-1/2 hours and was very enjoyable. The guide was quite funny and the snacks were hand made traditional Lithuanian snacks.

< Church of St. Casimir. < Church of Saint Theresa.

< Street scene of some of the buildings being restored.

< Orthodox Church of the Holy Spirit and Monastery.

After the tour we walked back to the hotel. We rested for a little over an hour and went to the Caffeine shop had coffee.

Later in the afternoon, we walked up a large hill to Gediminas Castle overlooking the city. It gave a good view of the old town and new town across the river. We came back to the hotel and ate dinner in the hotel restaurant.

< < < Gediminas Castle.

< View of Vilnius Old Town.

[Sunday] Today the weather was nice and we saw the sun for the first time in Lithuania. It was also the day for the Vilnius Marathon, which began and finished right in the street beside our hotel. The first race began at 8:30 am. Different races were conducted throughout the day until everything ended at 6:00 pm. The staging area was across the street in Vilnius Cathedral Square. We ate breakfast in the hotel, watching the start of the race out the restaurant window.

< Display of Marathon route maps.

We decided to spend today visiting churches since it was Sunday. We started at the Orthodox Church of the Holy Spirit and stayed for almost an hour. It is a Russian Orthodox Church, and the service was not in English. The choir was excellent and sang throughout the service. After that service seemed to be ending, we went nearby to The Church of St. Casimir and Jesuit House and stayed until the Catholic service ended. That service was also not in English.

< < < Orthodox Church of the Holy Spirit.

< < The Church of St. Casimir and Jesuit House.

We also visited the Church of St. Theresa which was built from 1630 to 1655.

< < Church of St. Teresa.

We went past the Basilian Gate, which was designed in 1761.

< The Basilian Gate.

We walked around the area and bought some plums at Hales Market. There were many booths of fresh fruit and vegetables for sale.

< Hales Market. < Interesting building in the area.

We walked back to the hotel, stopping at the Orthodox Church of St. Nicholas for a short visit.

< < Orthodox Church of St. Nicholas.

As we got back to the hotel at 2:30 pm, we watched the beginning of the 5K Marathon. Many more races began later in the day.

[Monday] After breakfast, we had booked a transfer by private car to Riga, Latvia, which included sightseeing stops. The weather was misty and foggy and about 58 degrees. It was not good for sightseeing. We left at 9:00 am and got to our first stop at the Hill of Crosses at about 11:30 am. The weather had improved and we didn't need an umbrella. The Hill of Crosses began in 1831 during the Tsarist Russian rule. When the Soviets occupied Lithuania, they tried to destroy the crosses, but they kept reappearing. There are now several hundred thousand from all over the world.

< < < The Hill of Crosses.

The next stop on our trip to Riga was Rundale Palace, after we crossed the border from Lithuania to Latvia. We arrived at 12:30 pm and the rain was absent. The palace was begun in 1736. The structure suffered damage during the 20th century and the rooms have served as an elementary school and a granary. Restoration began in 1972 and is still in progress.

< < < Rundale Palace in Latvia.

Our final stop on the way to Riga was at Bauska Castle, a complex consisting of the ruins of an earlier castle and a later palace. We arrived about 2:30 pm. The Teutonic Knights built the castle in the fifteenth century. The palace was added in the sixteenth century. A large portion of the castle is mainly in ruins. Restoration began in the nineteenth century. The restored part is very rustic.

< < < Buska Castle in Latvia.

We arrived in late afternoon at the Konventa Seta Hotel Keystone Collection and ate dinner in the hotel restaurant. We had decaf coffee in the hotel coffee shop before settling into our room for the night.

< Konventa Seta Hotel Keystone Collection.

[Tuesday] It rained during the night, but stopped by the time we finished eating breakfast in the hotel.

At 10:30 am we went on our Old Town Riga walking tour. Some of the sights we saw were Riga Town Hall Square, St. Peter's Church, St. John's Church, Livu Square, The Cat's House, and Riga Cathedral. We finished the tour at 12:30 pm and went back to the hotel.

After a short stay in the hotel, we walked back to St. Peter's Church. It is a Protestant church. It was bombed in 1941, and is still being restored. We went inside, and also up the tower for a view of the city. It was very windy and cold up there, but the view was beautiful.

< < < St. Peter's Church.

< View of Riga from the tower.

Afterwards we walked back toward the hotel and stopped for dinner at the Kwak Inn Restaurant across the street from the hotel. Before bedtime, we went downstairs to the coffee shop and had decaf coffee and a treat.

[Wednesday] This morning was another nice sunny day. We got a late start and finished breakfast at almost 10:00 am.

We walked back to the area of the Cat House. The "story" of the black cats in Riga revolves around the Cat House, where two black cat sculptures were placed on the roof in revenge by a wealthy tradesman who had been denied membership in the Great Guild or a dispute with the Riga Town Council. The sculptures' tails initially faced the offending institution, but a court order eventually led to them being turned around after the tradesman's acceptance into the Guild. The cat house is now a famous Riga landmark, symbolizing the spirit of independence.

< The Cat's House.

Next, we walk to the Swedish gate. The Swedish Gate is the only surviving city gate from the city's medieval fortifications and was built in 1698 during Swedish rule to provide access to outside barracks. The gate is a part of the surviving city walls, and the setting for local legends, most notably the tale of a woman who was bricked into the wall for a forbidden love with a Swedish soldier.

< Swedish Gate.

We then walked to Riga Cathedral where we attended an organ concert by Aida Zingite. Music was by Bach and Liszt. Riga Cathedral organ is considered to be one of the world's most valuable historic organs. It was built in 1883- 1884 by a famous German organ building company.

< < Riga Cathedral organ.

After the concert we went back to the hotel. When we were ready to leave the hotel again, it was raining. It stopped and we walked to the House of Blackheads and toured. It is one of Riga's most impressive reconstruction projects. The original building was erected in 1334 as a warehouse, meeting and celebration place for merchants.

< < < The House of Blackheads.

We next walked to the Corner House, a KGB headquarters and prison during the Soviet occupation up until 1991 when Latvia obtained its independence. On the way there, we passed by a Riga cat sign and the Freedom Monument which was built in 1935. We took the tour of the KGB building. It was very informative of the brutality of the KGB. Our small group went inside the prison cells and the guide acted as a KGB officer at times to give us a taste of reality!

< The Freedom Monument in background.

< The Corner House KGB building. < Hallway in cells.

< Wall where prisoners were executed, with tabs marking bullet holes.

We took a Bolt (like Uber) back to the hotel. We then walked to the Galerija Centrs shopping mall nearby and ate dinner at a restaurant there.

[Thursday] The weather was in the mid 50's this morning and overcast, but no rain. This morning we walked to Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church and visited. It was built in 1785.

< < Our Lady of Sorrows Church.

We then walked nearby to Riga Castle, located on the banks of River Daugava. The castle was founded in 1330. Its structure was thoroughly rebuilt between 1497 and 1515. Upon the castle's seizure by the Swedes, they constructed spacious annexes in 1641. Since the president of Latvia lives and serves there now, we were not able to get a tour.

< < Riga Castle.

We took a Bolt to Saint Gertrude's Evangelical Lutheran Church. The church was closed because of work on the floor.

We walked to Alberta Street and looked at all the fancy Art Nouveau buildings along the short street. It was built in 1901 and named after Bishop Albert, who founded Riga in 1201.

< < < Alberta Street.

We walked to Nativity of Christ Orthodox Cathedral. It is the largest Latvian Orthodox cathedral in the city. It is incredibly beautiful inside and outside. It was built from 1876 to 1884 for the city's growing Russian community. During the Soviet occupation in the 1960s they turned it into a lecture hall and planetarium. It was restored in the 1990s and reopened in 2000. The interior decorations were nearly destroyed and are still being replaced.

< < Nativity of Christ Orthodox Cathedral.

Next, we took Bolt to Riga Central Market. It is a large indoor and outdoor market with lots of fresh fish, fruit and vegetables. We ate lunch at a restaurant that had Uzbek food. We had Uzbek Mastava soup.

< Central Market.

We then walked past the Latvian Academy of Sciences, a 1961 Stalinist style building. We just looked at it from the outside.

< Latvian Academy of Sciences.

We walked next door to the Church of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary and went inside. It is an Orthodox church built in 1818.

< < Church of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

We took a Bolt back to the hotel and terminated our sight seeing in Riga.

[Friday] This morning we booked a private car and driver from Riga to Tallinn, Estonia, with stops at various tourist sights. First, we stopped at Turaida Castle and toured the 13th century complex. A large portion is in ruins, but some has been restored. Work continues on the restoration.

< < < Turaida Castle

We passed from Latvia into Estonia and stopped in a few hours at a Parnu. It is a tourist town located on Parnu Bay. It is a popular destination in the summer. It is known for its 19th century wooden villas. We walked through the old town for about 30 minutes. We stopped at Saint Catherine Curch and went inside.

< The abandoned border station from Latvia to Estonia.

< < Saint Catherine Church

We arrived in Tallinn around 5:00 pm and checked into the Hotel Telegraph, Autograph Collection. We ate dinner at a restaurant near the hotel that was decorated medieval style and only used candles for lighting.

As we returned to our hotel we met a man that we met originally at checkin. He was from NYC and loved to talk. We chatted with him (Steve) for 2 hours in the hotel lobby. He was a retired Jewish lawyer that has been to over 130 countries (he said) and all the major cities in the world. We met him several times in the next few days, and he was always ready to talk to us. He was an interesting fellow.

[Saturday] This morning it was overcast and rainy, but had stopped raining after breakfast. As we left the hotel, we walked down the Katariina kaik , a quaint narrow street.

<Katariina kaik.

We walked down the street to St. Nicholas Orthodox Church. We arrived as a service was just ending. Before we left another small service began. The church was built during 1820–1827,

< <St. Nicholas Orthodox Church.

We walked a half block to St. Peter and St. Paul's Cathedral and went inside. It was not so elaborate as other Catholic Churches we have seen.

< < St. Peter and St. Paul's Cathedral.

We went back to the hotel and relaxed until we walked to our Guided Old Town Tallinn Historical Walking Tour starting point. The tour began at 1:00 pm. The tour finished at 2:30 pm and we went back to the hotel until we were ready to go eat dinner.

Photos from the guided tour:

< <Toompea Castle

< Overlook for Tallinn. < Restaurants on side street.

On the news today: Friday, three Russian fighter jets violated Estonian airspace and NATO jets were scrambled to escort them out of the airspace to Kaliningrad.

[Sunday] This morning we attended the 10:00 am St. Olaf's Church service. It is a Baptist church. Everything was in Estonian language, the only word we understood was Amen. The music was some organ and a very good guitarist that played songs that you would hear played in an American church. He may have been a guest, because there was applause when he finished. The attendance looked small, but was probably several hundred. The church is very large. It was definitely Baptist - they took up a collection. The preacher used Charlie Kirk several times in his sermon. The sermon lasted over an hour and a half on hard wooden benches. A more contemporary service began at noon.

It is believed to have been built in the 12th century and to have been the centre for old Tallinn's Scandinavian community before the Kingdom of Denmark conquered Tallinn in 1219. Its dedication relates to King Olaf II of Norway.

< < < St. Olaf's Church.

After a little while in the hotel restaurant, we walked to a lot of places I had marked on Google maps. We went past Toompea Castle again, and into Alexander Nevsky Cathedral and went inside. The cathedral is an Eastern Orthodox cathedral that was built in 1894-1900, when the country was a part of the former Russian Empire.

< <Alexander Nevsky Cathedral.

We went to St. Mary's Cathedral and inside. The church was originally established in the 13th century as the Roman Catholic cathedral, after Tallinn and northern Estonia had been conquered by the Kingdom of Denmark during the Northern Crusades. In the aftermath of the Protestant Reformation, the church became Lutheran in 1561 and is now seat of the Archbishop of Tallinn, the spiritual leader, and chairman of the governing synod, of the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church.

< <St. Mary's Cathedral.

We went to the Patkuli Viewing Platform for another great view of the city. We walked down the steep stairs down the side of the hill. We ended up at the Balti Jaama Turg, a train station with a market next door. We ate a snack there and brought some fruit. We walked around in some of the older wooden buildings in the area and took Bolt back to the hotel.

The weather today was sunny and nice all day. It was probably the best day we had in the Baltics.

[Monday] The weather was not as nice as yesterday. There was some rain bands, but it stopped by the time we finished breakfast. But the wind started blowing and the day was unpleasant, even though there was some sunshine.

We walked to St. Nicholas Church and Museum. It is mostly a museum, although they have Orthodox services. It was strange to us that it has pews. We took the elevator to the top of the tower to look out over the city. It has a great view of the city. We thought we would take the winding stairs from the 4th to the 3rd level, but we had to go all the way to the 2nd, which turned out to be a lot of steps!

< <St. Nicholas Church & Museum.

<View from top. <The stairs!

There were abundant signs of support for Ukraine in all the Baltic countries. There was one large display about a block long on the street, that was apparently being guarded by police to make sure it was not vandalized. Ukrainian flags were flying in all the Baltic countries we visited.

<Street display supporting Ukraine. <Another beautiful building.

We walked to the House of Black Heads and apparently it is closed on Monday.

Next we walked to Holy Spirit Church, a Estonian Evangelical Lutheran church, and went inside. Interesting thing about this church is that it has two naves, separated by large supporting columns. The nave that the attendees could see the altar was for the wealthy - along with their separate church entrance. The other nave on the right side was for the poor - and they had a separate entrance.

<Holy Spirit Church. <Rich side. <Poor side.

We walked back to the hotel and took Bolt to the Mercure Hotel at the Vilnius airport. It was a nice hotel, for being at the airport. We enjoyed a nice dinner in their restaurant that evening.

<Sunset from our hotel window.

[Tuesday] We got up at 4:30 am this morning and took a Bolt the short ride to the airport terminal. The weather was too unpleasant to walk. Our AirBaltic BT857, an Airbus A220-300 left Tallinn at 7:30 am.

<BT857.

We arrived in Amsterdam and rode the bus from the airplane to the airport terminal. We went through customs and to gate E2, where our United flight UA21, a B767-300 boarded and departed at 11:00 am on time. 9 hours 42 minutes later, we were to arrive in Houston.

<UA21.

This draws to a close our to The Baltics. We hope you enjoyed the photos and brief descriptions of our activities. God willing, join us again soon for another travel adventure.

Goodbye for now,

Lawson & Kay

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, "He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust." Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler And from the perilous pestilence.(Psalm 91:1-3 NKJV)