We arrived in Riga last night via five-hour-bus-ride from Tallinn, which was relatively painless thanks to some Ricky Gervais podcasts and lovely transitional scenery from Estonia to Latvia, which included the odd giant chair in a field of crops. Wish I could've captured a photo for you, but buses actually move pretty fast unless you're driving behind them.
Old Thomas is the medieval symbol and guardian of Tallinn, where according to the legend, as a poor boy, he'd won a parrot shooting contest and as a result, he was chosen to guard the city which he did very well into his old age. Here is his likeness which was placed on the city tower's weathervane in the 16th century:
While the sights have been nice, the weather has been full-on craptastic, with rain everyday. But today, we got a slightly warmer, balmy front with fog in the morning and then a crack of sun in the afternoon. Makes for an interesting (but not that interesting) four-seasons-in-one-day type of experience. 
They've got an Alexander Nevski cathedral, too. We have one in Sofia.
I love this man's tufts of hair and gesticulating hand. And the fact that he's coming out of a building.
Chocolate cake like gunboats.
Cafe culture is big here. And even bigger are the size and variety of hot chocolates offered. We sampled some after we visited the marzipan museum (seriously), where we got our first taste of diabetes.
In our defense, Sofia doesn't have a Mexican restaurant and we're always starved for some variety and it's not like we haven't been eating the local cuisine and the Texas Honky Tonk Cantina got really good reviews in the "Lonely Planet," so can we really be blamed for wanting to sample some Tex-Mex since it's practically down the street from the hotel? Anyone?
Quick -- tell me what you know about Estonia. I'll tell you what I knew before coming here: Kazaa and Skype were started here, supermodel Carmen Kass is Estonian, which kind of checks my interest box, and as it turns out she's an avid chess player, which really checks the interest box for the Hubs if you know what I mean. Well, after a day and a half here, please allow me to gush that the Estonians are not only very attractive, but charming and friendly. Tallinn itself is more reminiscent of a central European city like Prague than an eastern European city -- a fact which probably makes the Estonians proud, since they have a history of being occupied by others including the Nazis and Soviets. (Can you tell who went to the local history museum?) In addition to the charming local flavor, they have free wifi everywhere, so we can keep up with the Olympic medal count!
And the Hubs under some medieval supports:
One of many cute doorways in Tallinn, where they are unafraid to pair blue and green together:
...a Finnish reindeer! You do know Santa's from Lapland, right?
...the lovable Moomin characters! Hippopotamus-like trolls have never been so cute (it's the one on the left, btw).
...salmon steaks at the market square near the harbor!
...Finnish design company Marimekko!
...naked metal-smithers!
...the knife holder you've been looking for all these years!
...millions of slouchy stuffed reindeer dressed in Finland tees!
It's hewn of rock and a popular site for concerts because of it's awesome acoustics (due to the copper dome ceiling). 
Ever since moving to eastern Europe, we've visited mostly Eastern Orthodox churches and mosques. This was our first time visiting a Protestant church in over a year. I can't believe I just posted about this.
These girls were just quietly reading and wearing birthday hats in the park. I love it here. We totally bagged our plan to visit Porvoo and Suomenlinna in favor of just strolling around the city. Never has H&M seemed so glamorous, but does anyone else have the problem where they don't have any of the sizes you're looking for? No biggie, though. We're just healing our souls after the stress of traveling in Russia.
How much do I love contemporary art museums? You don't really have to think too much -- sometimes it really is just spilled paint:
Other times, there's the twisty bench:
After a five hour train ride, we arrived in Helsinki this afternoon from St. Petersburg. We were trying to think of other border crossings that could be more drastic than Finland and Russia (California and Mexico comes to mind, as does Earth and Mars). All of a sudden, people are smiling and relaxed and not drunk (yet). There's a Ben and Jerry's here, too. It was exciting and fascinating to visit Russia, but after a while, the exorbitant prices ($50 for a plate of cold cuts), the epic distances between everything, and helplessly standing by while a thief ripped a cellphone away from a woman on the metro -- it all sort of conspired to exhaust us. I think we need some time to process our experience. Luckily, we're in Helsinki, where we can process our Russia experience with little-to-no stress, as we stroll through the museums and markets, and contemplate our list of most shocking observations about Russia (safe to expect in the top five: the attractiveness of women and random, blown-up photos of cats in the metro stations).
Moscow's amazing art and design in the underground stations -- this is "Peace": 
Chekhovskaya -- the station named for Chekhov:
Atom light fixtures:
Stained glass art portraying the worker:
The soviet era trains:
Obviously I had to buy this postcard of an 1930s Russian public service poster. Each of us has a theory about what is going on in this image. You decide.
We just returned from Moscow, where we got to live out all our Red Square dreams (see photo below). As you can see, Carl, Eli and the Hubs couldn't contain their excitement. It was a whirlwind two days, which we spent touring the Kremlin and, in general, soaking in Moscow. There's a lot to soak in. First, there was the rain. But then there was the actual stuff -- like St. Basil's Cathedral and Red Square. Then there were the surprises, like the fantastic mosaics and art in the subway stations, the hip eateries and access to authentic (really!) Chinese food, and the rare Russian smile. 
A rally led by folks who preferred life under communism:
Lenin's tomb, which we did not have a chance to see because the line was ridiculously long and you know how I feel about long lines:
We're hopping an overnight train to Moscow in about an hour, so I won't be posting for a few days, but I'll be back soon to post photos from Akhmatova's house, the Peterhof Palace, and in general, the beauty of the streets and unending daylight in St. Pete. Until then, don't get wasted, don't litter, don't walk your rocking horse, or ride your bike in the park.
Walking along this canal was great for watching the Russian girls posing for photos. Never have I seen so many diaphanous scarves and hairbrushes whipped out while walking on the street or on scenic bridges in preparation for shots.
Kazan Cathedral (and the hood of a souped-up socialist car).
The Savior of the Spilled Blood (and two FINE gentlemen).
So that if I were to run into her, my nose would get lodged in her bellybutton. Thought you should know.
This is a gold peacock clock. Very famous.
Overheard often at the Hermitage: "Look, honey, another gold room."
Some drama:
Funneling has existed for centuries.
Lovely lady:
Bust by Rodin:
Here we are, stretching out for a day at the Hermitage Museum, where we spent six hours on our feet. Of course, two of those six hours were IN LINE. But then, had we not stood in the WRONG LINE for about thirty minutes we might have had a little more energy while standing in the real line. Also, my feet, which now look like a ballerina's busted feet, started blistering fifty meters into our trek to the museum. But it was all worth it to see this much sea foam and gold:
In the bottom right-hand corner you can see the beginning of the fake line, which we stood in for a while. But here we have the Eli and the Hubs reacting to the real line which was located behind the Hermitage and which stretched about 800 meters from the actual entrance.
Still in line.
We made it! Can you believe it? On the way from Prague to St. Pete, a cute Russian ballerina/model type girl sat next to me on the plane just so I'd get a taste of what it would feel like to finally be among Russians in their own country. So far, it's been awesome but in large part due to seeing Carl and Eli again (photos to come) and also reconnecting with Carl's cool friends Pete and Emma (hey, they gotta be cool if they indulged in my Chinese food cravings). Now, on to some sights and sounds!
Nearby Carl's place stands this monument to Anna Akhmatova, the Russian poet, whose house and museum we plan on visiting while we're here. You can read some of her translated poems here.
Amid all the big boulevards and pastel buildings, this item is for sale at a local liquor store: a rifle designed specifically to shoot vodka. Oh! Speaking of, we visited a grocery store where the vodka and herring aisles were really something to behold. You're just going to have to trust me, since I was too chicken to take a photo (I've been hurt before).
In case you couldn't tell by the jacked-up font sizes from the last couple posts, things have changed around here, both technically and drama-series-wise. We're still going to Russia in about four hours. But this fact has become infinitely harder to plan for ever since someone -- devil or angel remains to be seen -- introduced us to the crime series "The Wire." We're desperately trying to watch all of season one before we leave. I don't know if it's because it's Baltimore or Omar, but that show is genius. Anyhow, I haven't been paying close attention to what's been thrown into my suitcase, because I need to know if Bubs stays clean, but a couple things are for sure: I'm bringing along my new travel-blogging/sarcasm-espousing-tool (above) and you can guess which of these two books I'm bringing with me: 
