Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia make up the Baltic states. The three countries have had a troubled history over the past hundred years but they came through it with the quiet force of people power, holding hands to take their freedomβ¦.
Rather than take a direct flight from Bratislava although I actually flew out of nearby Vienna to Vilnius, I flew via Riga , as for some reason, prices had been much cheaper. A six hour layover was required but it passed very quickly while I was occupied with writing my blog. With two hours to go, I moved to my gate, B8, to wait. I was confused when it said Tallin , as I was going to Vilnius. Suddenly realising my error, I ran to the departures board in panic: my flight was at pm, not pm and it said CLOSED in capital letters.
How could I have been so stupid? Cursing my idiocy, I ran to the correct gate, B5, which was nearby. I ran down to the plane, which was obviously running a few minutes late, and boarded. As I took my seat, my hands were shaking: travelling could be so stressful. I was almost glad the end was in sight β I had just three weeks to go until I flew home and could enjoy staying in one place for a change. Once the priest took his seat, the door closed and we took off.
I was glad it was only a forty minute flight, as even though I had nobody next to me, three monstrous children were sat in the row behind and they screamed the whole time not for any real reason, but just for the sheer fun of it. With thunderstorms in the air, the flight was more than a little turbulent and we shook and rattled as we made our descent. The plane landed with a big bump and a long screech of the brakes. Being such a small airport, within fifteen minutes of landing, I was on the number 88 bus into the city centre.
The Hot Spot Apartments were very new and modern; I was even able to let myself in using three keycodes, one for the gate, one for the apartment block and one for my personal apartment, number 6.
