Tallinn, Estonia

Tallinn, Estonia is a surprise treat! Although held hostage by Moscow for decades, Estonia maintained its Western traditions in the form of its Latin alphabet and its Protestant and Catholic faiths. Locals are stylishly dressed and the town impeccably clean! Medieval Tallinn is best explored on a walking tour.

We visited and recommend visiting: Town Hall Square (home to cafes, boutiques, and restaurants); Toompea Hill (Upper Town); Alexander Nevsky Cathedral (Russian Orthodox Cathedral in Palace Square featuring onion domes, colorful icons, and golden crosses); St. Olaf's tower.

St. Petersburg, Russia (& Moscow)

We are definitely coming back to St. Petersburg. Two days of non-stop sightseeing was not enough to take in all this city has to offer. Peter the Great, the architect of this fantasy city, was truly a visionary. He accomplished the goal of westernizing Russia by building this very European inspired city.

This city is starkly different from Moscow which is more institutional and rigid in design. In the 90s, my family and I stayed in Moscow for nearly 2 weeks for my Uncle's ballet. His ballet debuted in a small theater next to the ornate Bolshoi Theater. We stayed at the Hotel Metropol next to the Kremlin in Red Square. The subways, parks, and buildings were all very impressive!

In St. Petersburg, we visited and recommend visiting: The Hermitage (unbelievable!); Yusupov Palace (site of Rasputin's assassination); St. Isaac's Cathedral (the largest Church in St. Petersburg); Peterhof Palace (built to rival Versailles with an outstanding gravity powered fountain system); Peter & Paul Fortress (Peter the Great reclaimed this land and built St. Petersburg's first building here on May 27, 1703); Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood (site of Tsar Alexander II's assassination); take a canal cruise along the Fontanka, Moika, and Neva Rivers and the Kryukov Canal.

Tip: since traffic is so bad in this city, you should utilize the Metro and public ferries. You can zip between Peterhof and downtown on a 25 minute ferry and save nearly 3.5 hours of traffic time otherwise!

Russian entertainment:

Helsinki, Finland

Pursed against Russia, Helsinki is stylishly Soviet. Russians once conquered Finland between 1809 and 1917. Although lauded as an architectural jem rivaling Stockholm, there was little evidence to support this claim. The streets were dusty and the entire city felt drabby, as if Helsinki just stepped out of WWII.

We visited and recommend visiting: Senate Square; Lutheran St. Nicholas Cathedral; Market Square (rather dull); and absolutely visit Suomenlinna Island Fortress which was built to protect Helsinki from Russian attack in the 18th century. Six islands of a self-contained city are adjoined by bridges. UNESCO World Heritage Site. Get there by a public ferry which departs from Market Square.

Stockholm, Sweden

Compact, clean, and historic. These words describe my overall impression with Stockholm, a lovely city with Venice-like bridges and canals. We visited and recommend visiting: the Vasa Museum (which houses the 17th century warship Vasa, the oldest fully preserved ship in the world. It was built as the pride of the Swedish navy, but capsized a few minutes in on her maiden voyage); Royal Palace and the Royal Armory (your pass lasts for 30 days and you can even witness the changing of the guards show); Gamla Stan (Stockholm's historic old town with narrow cobbled streets and buildings dating from the 15th to the 19th centuries); take a public ferry boat ride between Vasa and Gama Stan.

Here's a video of the Royal Changing of the Guards:

Copenhagen, Denmark

Copenhagen is a beautiful, quaint, and extremely clean city. I am impressed with its well organized infrastructures and the friendliness of local Danes. In search of the perfect local meal, a local Dane saw our confused faces and offered to give a helping hand. I asked her if she had any favorite local restaurants. She said because eating out is too expensive, most Danes eat at home. She, therefore, was unable to suggest any restaurants. She did suggest trying the smörgåsbord, a Scandinavian open faced sandwich with capers, red onions, and pickled herring. By walking around purposefully aimlessly, we finally found a cute and rather inexpensive Danish restaurant. I had the open face herring sandwich and it was delightful!

Our local friend was right, everything was expensive in the city because of the 25% value added tax. Living costs are high and income taxes, as I learned from another local friend, varied between 40-60% of your income (this particular friend failed to accurately calculate her tax and was therefore charged the maximum 60%). The benefit, of course, was that everyone receives universal health care and an excellent education!

We stayed at the stylish Adina Hotel Apartments which was within 15 minute walking distance to the city center. It is about a 5 minute walk from the train stop (which links directly to the airport). Alternatively, bus #26 passed right by the hotel which can take you just about anywhere within the city for about $4 USD. We saved literally $100 in public transportation costs by purchasing a 1 day unlimited travel pass for about $30.

We visited and recommend visiting: The Little Mermaid; Kastellet Fortress (adjacent to Copenhagen harbor, near the Little Mermaid); Tivoli Gardens (pleasure gardens which was actually too expensive to go in); National Museum of Denmark (The only thing that is free and worth it in Denmark!); city center (with wide pedestrian only streets...its fun to people watch and window shop); City Town Hall (where public weddings take place and where you can climb up the clock towers--tours given once a day at noon); Rosenborg Castle (beautiful crown jewels); Kronborg Castle (site of Shakespeare's Elsinore Castle in Hamlet); Helsingor (the cute town just north of Copenhagen in which Kronborg is situated).