Nothing good ever ends in 5

So I lied when saying I'd be back on Monday to continue the story of the Baltics. In truth home was just far too exciting and I never got the chance to sit down and blog. But I'm now back in Bad Salzdetfurth. The tea is poured, the window is open and I can hear the brass band concert in the Kurpark from my desk. Not bad really.

The bus from Tallinn to Riga was the nicest bus ever. If you ever get offered a journey with LuxExpress go for it. There's wifi, a free coffee machine and so much legroom (to the point that I couldn't kick the seat in front!). I enjoy the process of travelling, so was perfectly happy to sit on a bus for four hours watching the scenery. The bus whizzed through the Estonian and Latvian countryside, offering glimpses of lakes and sea, plenty of forest and interesting 'normal' houses. It's always interesting to see how other areas of a country differ to its capital city. Gone was the interesting architecture and cobbled streets, in their place wooden huts and farming. As we approached Riga the cobbles returned, wrecking havoc on the coffee machine; plastic spoons everywhere! Coffee machine aside, our arrival in Riga was serene. The hostel was easy to find, and within half an hour we were back out for a rucksack-less wander in Riga.

The bus route had made Riga seem like quite a big city but our half hour walk suggested otherwise. We wandered to Rātslaukums Square (the Town Square featuring the House of Blackheads), Līvu Square and Dome Square and the streets in between. After walking in a circle, we decided it was time to sit down so found a spot in Dome Square. Here we were approached by a guy holding a bottle of coke. He didn't want to leave his coke unattended by his motorbike, instead wanting us to look after it for him. We all looked very confused (because this is not normal) which he interpreted as us not having understood him. So he then made motorbike noises and gestured at us for a while. He was particularly insistent that it was a 2 litre bottle of coke. Eventually we 'understood' and accepted the bottle while he rushed off to do something... we presumed go to the shop. However, he never came back. At midnight we left the bottle of coke behind his motorbike and went back to the hostel. Bizarre.

The following day was our chance to explore Riga. Methodically, we started with the sights furthest from the centre so saw the Freedom Monument and Riga's Nativity of Christ Cathedral, the biggest Orthodox church in the city. Riga is famous for its Art Nouveau architecture, numerous examples of which can be seen on Alberta ilea and Elizabetes iela.

The weather was gorgeous, which sounds lovely until you remember that we were carrying or wearing everything we'd brought with us and that we had packed for Helsinki temperatures. So wearing far too many layers we walked (slowly) back to the old town. Here we seized the chance to go up a tower. The tower of St Peter's Church to be precise. The panorama platforms were a little overcrowded and we had to fight for our places in the lift but we did get the views over the red-roofed old town and River Daugava as promised.

Rucksacks are deceptively heavy so we had a coffee and pastries in a typically cute coffee shop for a much needed sit-down-bag-off and look at the map to see what we hadn't seen yet. Time to see the castle, or what you can see of it anyway. It's under reconstruction until 2016! Pft. The tour ended with visiting the Three Brothers, a group of residential buildings and the Powder Tower, so called because it was used to store gunpowder. This meant it was time for food, which we found in Līvu Square. Potato pancakes with bacon and sour cream to eat and a pina colada to drink, sitting outside in the sunshine. Bliss.

Riga bus station is nice and central so it was a short walk back, and after successfully getting three of us through the turnstile to the toilets simultaneously so we only had to pay once we found our next bus. Oh heck. This was not a beautiful LuxExpress bus, this was a minibus. For four hours. The bus ride was nothing like as comfortable but it was equally interesting. The roads were deserted and all you could see was farmland, with slightly-falling-apart buildings dotting the landscape. We arrived in Vilnius as darkness fell and made our way to our hotel. A boutique hotel nonetheless.

The hotel was only a short walk from the hotel to the city centre through the Gates of Dawn to Rotušė (Town Hall Square). We passed the Church of St Theresa, a stunning baroque church which had a small crowd of people standing outside. The church doors were wide open while Mass was going on, and we soon joined the crowd standing outside. Continuing our walk we found Vilnius Cathedral, from which Mass was being broadcasted.

On the way back to the hostel the clocks struck midnight. Bells pealed all over the city. It was Easter Sunday.

Daytime again and after breakfasting on hot chocolate and apple strudel it was time to do some sightseeing. First stop was the St Anne and Bernadine Church Ensemble, then onwards and upwards to Gediminas' Tower, situated on top of a hill overlooking Vilnius city centre. We spent ages sitting on the wall admiring the view and enjoying the sunshine.

A walk along the River Vilnia led us to Užupio - a state within a state. It has its own president, anthem and constitution. The constitution includes things like 'everyone shall remember their name' and 'a cat is not obliged to love its owner but must help in times of need'. Briefly consulting the map, we discovered that we were pretty much finished, so we went and fabulous milkshakes sitting on Vokiečių gatvė. There was plenty of time to wander in the tiny cobbled streets, back along Pilies gatvė and through the university area.

Concerned that things would close early on Easter Sunday, we had tea early at a restaurant in Town Hall Square. Despite having a table that was far too small for three people, we bravely ordered three meals with the intention of sharing them. The food in question: chicken kiev, potato pancakes and ravioli with sour cream and bacon. The waitress thought we were crazy as we passed bits of food from plate to plate but it was delicious. So delicious that we ordered hot chocolate and chocolate cake for pudding, one between three...

With all of the 'serious' sightseeing out of the way, it was time for the supermarket challenge. Katherine and I like to leave each country we visit with a complete set of coins for its currency. Emma was with us so had no choice but to get involved. The currency of Lithuania is litas, with £1 equal to 4.2 Lt. One litas is divided into 100 centu. So we wanted 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 centu and 1, 2, 5 litas coins. Each. However, there is only so much small change you can gradually accumulate, so this is where the supermarket challenge comes in. All you have to buy the cheapest product to get the coins you are missing. Menthol tissues and milka biscuits. Marmalade cubes. Crisps. Because nothing ended in 5. It doesn't matter what you buy as long as you complete the set. After going round the supermarket multiple times and with only a few weird looks from the cashiers we succeeded.

I thought it would be lovely to climb back up to Gediminas' Tower and watch sunset over the city. We bravely navigated the cobbled path up and clambered onto the wall.

All was well until security came along and told everyone (it wasn't just us) to get down and walked us down the path. Hmph. Instead we sat in Cathedral Square eating the surprisingly tasty marmalade cubes.

Two nights in the same hotel! Didn't see that one coming did you?! Anyway, Easter Monday was our final day in the Baltics. We didn't have much time and were happy that we'd seen enough of Vilnius so found a pancake place and sat outside for an extended breakfast. We wondered why the waitress looked surprised when we ordered six pancakes each, but as soon as we saw the pancakes we knew why: they were huge. So much pancake. As in, so much pancake that we each ate four and took two for lunch! But hey, I did not feel hungry for the rest of the day.

Happy and full of pancake we strolled back to the bus station. Emma got a bus to Prague. Katherine and I got the airport bus, flew to Bremen and then headed home. The Baltic extravaganza (definitely deserving of the word extravaganza) is over.