Let's do it! Hey, everyone, and welcome to
Understandable English. This video is part of a travel series that I have been doing
recently, where I tell you about different places and countries and different trips that
I've been on, and I do this in a very relaxed and understandable way. So, let's learn about
the world and learn English at the same time. Today, I'm going to tell you about my trip to
two of the three Baltic countries, that is, I'm going to tell you about Latvia and
Lithuania.
But if you are Estonian, then don't worry, I didn't forget about you. I
am going to make a whole video just for Estonia, so don't worry. And if you want, we can even
make a little competition where we can see which video gets more likes: the Estonian video or the
Latvian and Lithuanian video. What do you think? But anyway, my trip to Latvia and Lithuania
was back in 2018 when I was still a student. I had been studying in Spain for the summer,
and after my program or course had finished, I
decided that I wanted to explore a little
bit more of the European continent. So, I chose to go to the Baltics,
and I started in Estonia, but there'll be a different video about
that. And then, I moved on to Latvia. My first stop was in Gauja National
Park. I think I'm saying that correctly, so if there's any Latvians who are
watching and they can correct me, please do. I would love to know. But this
National Park was wonderful. I really enjoyed the quietness of it. It was beautiful, and t
here
were not a lot of people; it was quite empty. So, I really enjoyed a quick hike that allowed
me to relax with beautiful nature around me. My next stop after the National Park was
in Cesis. I think I'm saying that right, so if there's any Latvians who are watching,
please fix my pronunciation. But this is a very small town that is famous for the
ruins or the broken pieces of a fortress or historical building. And I would say that
it was interesting; it was a tourist location, so of cou
rse, the prices were a bit higher, and it
was mostly just tourists. There weren't too many actual Latvians around. But it was interesting
enough. But like a lot of these old ruins, you know, once you've seen one, you've
seen them all, more or less. Some of them have a few interesting aspects, but it
was interesting, so I enjoyed my time there. My next stop on the way towards Riga, the capital
of Latvia, was at a bobsled course. And this is my first time ever seeing this type of sport in
re
al life because I had watched the Olympics when I was younger, and so I had seen bobsledding,
but I had never thought I'd ever experience it in real life. So, I got to see how the course
or the track is made; I got to see the actual sleds or the cars. But of course, I was there
in the summer, so there was no snow; no one was actually doing the bobsledding. But it was still
interesting to see the infrastructure around. My next stop in Latvia was the capital, Riga,
which was my main goal. I'm
not really sure why, but for some reason in my childhood, I remember
looking at a map and seeing Latvia, seeing Riga, and I always wanted to go to this place. I
don't know why; I didn't know much about it, but for some reason in my childhood, I always
wanted to go to Riga. So, finally, I was getting to live my dream and see what actually is in Riga,
Latvia. And it was definitely a city to enjoy. It had the old town in the center, of course,
similar to what Tallinn is in Estonia, but it had
this old vibe to it, the cobblestones under
your feet, and the architecture was wonderful to enjoy. I liked the colors everywhere; there were
many different kinds of bright colors that are in your face and make you look around. I enjoyed
how some of the buildings were a bit taller than other old towns or old cities that I'd been
in; it gave it a bit of an intimidating vibe, almost like the buildings are squishing
you down and suffocating you. And so, I enjoyed walking through these winding
streets of
Riga and looking at these different buildings that were a lot taller and made me feel small; it kind
of was a different experience than I expected. I also enjoyed all kinds of these unique statues
and monuments around the city. For example, there was one with a cat on the roof, and
that was interesting, and all kinds of things scattered around. I don't know; there had to
be 50 or 60 of these interesting statues that I did not expect, but I enjoyed bumping into
them accidentally
as I walked around the city. Also, I discovered in Riga, Latvia that there are
these things called free city tours in cities all over the world and in Europe. And I had never
heard of such a thing because normally if you want to go on a tour, you pay money. But the idea
is that you have a guide, a local guide who does this tour for free, and if he does a very good
job, people will give him a tip or give him money as a thank you. And so, that is how the guide
makes money. And this was very
interesting because it attracted these guides who really loved history
and really loved their city, and it was wonderful to see someone who loves what they're talking
about so much. And I think it's a wonderful idea, and it also gives motivation for you guys who are
learning English and wanting to travel because all of these free city tours around the world
typically happen in English. And so, if you don't know English well, you're not going to understand
much. So, it's good to practice and
learn. But the overall vibe in Riga to me was
very relaxed and calm, especially in the old town. You could take a stroll, that
is, take a walk, enjoy a coffee in a cafe, sit in a restaurant, enjoy the architecture.
There weren't too many big cars or streets, so you didn't have too much noise;
it was a very relaxing place to be. You could also go not far from Riga to the
beaches on the Baltic Sea, on Jurmala Beach. And these Baltic beaches, of course, are not super
warm; you can swim a lit
tle bit in the summer, but it's not, you know, South Spain or somewhere
in the Caribbean. But it's still quite beautiful, and if you walk along the beaches, you can
often look for amber, that is, this kind of clear yellow stone that comes from the sea. So,
it was a lot of fun walking around the beaches, looking at different shells and amber,
and enjoying the beautiful scenery. And after Latvia, I was off to Lithuania. And I
unfortunately spent too much time in Estonia and Latvia, so my trip
to Lithuania was quite rushed;
I had to go a bit faster so that I could stay on schedule. But I still had time to visit the
capital, Vilnius, and one other city, Kaunas. Now, we'll start with the capital, Vilnius, and
it was interesting. The old town, the center part, was much longer; it wasn't this blob in
the middle, but it was a very long style of old town, and it was well-kept; it
had been repaired and fixed. And to me, it was, of course, very beautiful,
but sometimes with these old c
ities, I prefer that more rundown look, rundown
vibe; it gives it more of the old-town feel, whereas if things are too perfect, too
beautiful, it seems a bit artificial. But it's still beautiful; it's still fun to
walk; it just changes the vibe a little bit. I also loved the mix of greenery and nature
and the city. You could walk through some parts of town; you could climb up a big green
hill and enjoy the view looking down. So, it was a very good mix of city and green nature. Also, I think
it's great to use the phrase
"don't judge a book by its cover," that is, you can't judge something just by looking at it
from the outside. Because as you walk through Vilnius, it was interesting to see that some of
the most beautiful buildings from the outside, if you walk inside, it's boring; there's
nothing in there. But some of the most old, broken buildings from the outside, if
you walk in, they're the most beautiful and decorated buildings that I had seen. So,
it was interesting to s
ee and try to guess, well, was this building going to
be beautiful or boring inside? Other than Vilnius, like I said, I got to
visit Kaunas, which was a short day trip, but still definitely worth the time. It was a
very slow, relaxed day, and I loved the greenery in the main part of the city; you're walking
down the street, there are these big trees, and you feel this kind of slow city vibe to it. I
really enjoyed it. The art scenes and the murals were also wonderful. As you walk around, yo
u'd
see small murals, small pictures on the walls; you'd see huge buildings decorated, and it was
wonderful to see. Every time you turned a corner, you could look around, up and down, and perhaps
you would see something interesting along the way. I also tried some donuts because some of the local
people recommended that I try these famous donuts, and I can say that, well, yep, they were donuts.
I don't know if they were anything specific; I hope I'm not going to offend anyone who lives in
Kaunas, but, uh, that's all I can say about that. But before I dig myself a deeper hole by saying
that these donuts are just normal donuts, I just want to wrap up and say that my
trip in the Baltics was wonderful. I really enjoy that Baltic Brotherhood
feeling where these three countries, even though they are three specific separate
countries, they still have this brotherhood because of their shared past history.
There's also a lot of similarities to their culture but also many distinctions
,
so it's very interesting to travel in these three places and see how they are in some ways
related, in other ways completely different. As I said, I have a whole video about Estonia
coming out soon, so if you're interested, please subscribe, and you won't miss it.
But yeah, if you are from the Baltics or you know someone from the Baltics, feel free
to share this video. I know that many people in the Baltic states know English very well, but
perhaps they might be interested in some sort o
f perspective from a foreigner, even though
you do get lots of tourists. But anyway, feel free to share; I'd love to hear from you
guys in the comments. I'd love to talk with you as well. But, uh, yeah, if you learn
something new or if you enjoyed the video, please press like, subscribe, and I'll see
you next time on Understandable English. Toodles!
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