Week 1: Estonia

09 May: Overnight bus to Tallinn and get there nice and early to stroll around the beautiful old streets of Tallinn. It is as charming and appealing as ever. Meet up with Phil and Stu who arrive a little later by plane and we head to the main square where we find a few of the other Welsh lads over here for the Estonia v Wales U21 match and the legendary John Toshack having a drink in the sunshine. John is happy to discuss everything about the setup and goings on in Welsh football with us and it's quite an enlightening afternoon. I remember something about Phil and some Australian girl, but the details slip my mind ;-) I also end up locked out of the appartment most of the night, but we had a good time it seems.

10 May: Enjoy some Estonian delights in a medieval restaurant, which has the spookiest darkest candlelight toilet I have ever been to. Even finding the doorway and the urinals was a challenge, that I'm sure many have failed.

Wales U21 win the match 2-0 in front of their 20 faithful travelling fans and an Estonian lady that John invited along. Lots of 'Waltzing Matilda' was sung (ref: 09 May) and we head back into town where we end up at a Karaoke bar. After a few drinks the temptation to get up and celebrate with our rendition of 'Delilah' was too much. As there was little interest from the rest of the listening public, we ended up there a number of times and Men At Work - Down Under (for Phil that one) and Hey Jude (or Hey Wales as it has now become) were both among the set performed by the Welsh Spice Boys ;-)

You can see karaoke photos at John Perrett's photo site: Spice Boys on Tour 2006



Left: John P, Gareth and shy Perry enjoy a beer in Tallin
Right: Me, Phil, Stu and half a Neil.

Week 1: Lithuania

07 May: After the party in the park I spent all night finishing off things in my flat and finally dropped a couple of bags off at Rebecca's early morning. Say goodbye to Guus and Akiko (goldfish), collect my backpack, wave goodbye to my lovely flat and off to Schiphol. Arrive in Vilnius after a night of packing and panicking, but all is done and at last I am on my way (for a few days at least).

Vilnius is pleasent as ever and celebrating their anniversary of joining the EU, so stalls a plenty run up the street from the main square with traditional bits and pieces from a number of other EU countries. The UK stall has fish & chips, Italy lasagne & other pastas, Turkey (more stalls than anyone else) doner kebabs, Netherlands a cow !

Right: Vilnius Cathedral

08 May: Day trip to the beatiful former capital of Lithuania, Trakai. I have been here before but do not regret returning, this charming little town is surrounded by lakes and has a lovely castle on its own tiny island, connected by a bridge. What better way to start my travels than with a relaxing day by the water, soaking up the sunshine, some fine local cuisine and a couple of glasses of the fine local beer, Kalnapils.

Left: Lakeside boats in Trakai village. Right: Fishermen relax before lunch

Returning to the hostel I do my best to avoid the conspiracy theorist American seeking asylum in Lithuania, as I just don't want to spoil such a lovely day by being force fed his non-stop rhetoric. The poor Mexican guy there though doesn't escape and is still trapped in the corner when I return a couple of hours later!

Castle at Trakai.