It’s all too easy to think that old communist bloc cities have the drab, austere, lacklustre character imposed on them during the period of Soviet domination. But to do so is to forget that the Soviet era lasted less than 50 years. To put that in context, Riga, the Latvian capital, celebrated its 800th birthday in 2001. Tallinn in Estonia is almost as old.
Since independence from the USSR, both cities have to been able to parade freely their fascinating and rich cultural histories.
The P&J’s best of the Baltics holiday combines the lively cities of Riga and Tallinn with the wide open spaces of the national parks of Latvia and Estonia, and what’s more, you can now fly direct from Aberdeen.
Riga has been at various times under German, Swedish and Russian control. The most profound influence on its cityscape dates from the early 20th century when hundreds of art nouveau buildings were constructed. There are no less than 750 flamboyant buildings, festooned with goddesses and griffins, gargoyles and goblins, plants and flowers – many the creation of Mikhail Eisenstein, father of the great cinematographer, Sergei.
Riga has more art nouveau buildings than any other city in Europe and there is a lively cafe society to match the architecture. Riga is the 2014 European Capital of Culture.
BRITISH CONNECTION
There is a strong British connection with Riga’s boom period of the 1900s. Strolling around Riga you will come across a statue of one George Armistead, his wife Cecilia and their dog. Although he was born in Riga, George’s family hailed from Yorkshire (his uncle, also born in Riga, was a rather colourful MP for Dundee). George was mayor of Riga between 1901 and 1912 and presided over the city’s transformation from a backwater of the Russian Empire to a major European trading and cultural centre.
Many of the public buildings, works and social reforms which took place in Riga were due to him. Tsar Nicholas II was so impressed he offered George the mayorship of St Petersburg – which George turned down. Queen Elizabeth II unveiled George’s statue in 2006.
Tallin, like Riga, was a member of the Hanseatic League – a sort of mediaeval version of the Common Market set up by city merchant guilds to protect trade mainly along the Baltic and North Sea coasts. Aberdeen and Dundee had ancient trading links with the league and Aberdeen is a member city of the new Hanse – a modern re-creation of the old league.
Tallinn’s beautiful and Unesco-listed old town is crammed with opulent merchant houses, guild headquarters and perfectly preserved warehouses. The old town lies within the city walls and is an atmospheric place for a stroll.
Not far outside the old town are some very interesting museums: the futuristic Kumu Art Museum, the Ethnographic Open Air Museum, with an interesting collection of old cottages relocated from elsewhere in Estonia, and the impressive new Seaplane Museum, located in an enormous old Russian hangar. There is also a small KGB museum, located on the 23rd floor of the old Soviet Hotel – a floor which did not officially exist, but from where the KGB could keep a close eye on foreign guests.
With Helsinki just to the north, St Petersburg to the east and Stockholm to the west, Tallinn is once again giving a free rein to its innate commercial instincts and is one of the fastest growing cities in Europe.
Latvia and Estonia have a combined population of just four million, well over a quarter of whom live in Riga and Tallinn. This means there is plenty of the great outdoors to enjoy in places such as the Laheema National Park (an hour away From Tallinn eastwards along the northern Baltic coast towards Russia). The park (the first of its type in the Soviet Union when it was designated in 1971) boasts a rich variety of flora and fauna, as well as fine coastal and rural landscapes.
The pine-forested Gauja National Park north-east of Riga is home to the mediaeval castle of Sigulda and the reconstructed fairytale red-brick castle of Turaida, which has fine views across the Gauja Valley.
The trip includes flights, transfers, seven nights’ 4-star hotel B&B accommodation (three in Riga and four in Tallinn), walking tours of Riga and Tallinn, a visit to the resort of Parnu on the coast, and visits to the Laheema and Gauja National Parks. The holiday departs Aberdeen on May 5 (from £699 pp) and September 29 (from £719 pp). For a brochure call 01224 338004 and quote AB606. To book, call 0116 279 3929 and quote “ABJO”.