News — Speakeasy Explorer

This week Speakeasy Explorer Cailin O'Neil travels through Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. Along the way, she finds hip neighbors in Estonia, cool road trip finds on her journey between Lativa and Lithuania, and takes flight over the Trakai Castle and Historical National Park in Lithuania. Pretty awesome stuff, if I do say so myself.

Home for the next 3 nights in country # 44!! The Hotel Schlössle in Tallinn, Estonia #jaywaybaltics

A photo posted by Cailin (@cailinoneil) on May 4, 2015 at 12:45pm PDT

Today we ate lunch in the hipster neighborhood of Tallinn, Estonia known as Telliskivi area at the F-hoone restaurant. I ordered the "Furger" yes you read that right, a Furger. Mmmm #jaywaybaltics #yahootravelexplorers A photo posted by Cailin (@cailinoneil) on May 5, 2015 at 2:49am PDT

Who loves street art?!?! Tallinn, Estonia has some pretty wicked #streetart in the hipster area of Telliskivi.

A photo posted by Cailin (@cailinoneil) on May 5, 2015 at 8:27am PDT

Estonian Bog Walking. Skill level = HIGH. Lol #askanyonewhoknows #jaywaybaltics A photo posted by Cailin (@cailinoneil) on May 6, 2015 at 3:26am PDT

Night time in Town Hall Square in Tallinn, Estonia. #jaywaybaltics

A photo posted by Cailin (@cailinoneil) on May 6, 2015 at 12:54pm PDT

The Schlössle Hotel in Tallinn, Estonia is quite deceiving from the street. From the outside it looks nice and quaint but inside some of the rooms are cave like and the basement has one of the coolest cave like cigar lounges/bars in the city. Definitely check it out on your travels. #jaywaybaltics A photo posted by Cailin (@cailinoneil) on May 7, 2015 at 5:17am PDT

Today for lunch in the small Estonian seaside town of Pärnu we dined at this adorable little restaurant full of color and patterns which was called "Supelsaksad Cafe". I had a beef tenderloin which was delicious!!

A photo posted by Cailin (@cailinoneil) on May 7, 2015 at 10:45am PDT

The Riga Central Market in Riga, Latvia. Originally Zeppelin Hangers during wartime. There are 5 buildings in total all with different purposes, for seafood, meats, dairy, gastronomy, and produce. #jaywaybaltics A photo posted by Cailin (@cailinoneil) on May 8, 2015 at 5:56am PDT

Exploring the Art Nouveau area of Riga, Latvia today with our local Latvian tour guide Tom. There are 800 Art Nouveau buildings in Riga which equal about 40% of the buildings standing in central Riga and they are simply stunning. I highly recommend a stroll through the Art Nouveau district aka the quiet centre if you visit! #jaywaybaltics

A photo posted by Cailin (@cailinoneil) on May 8, 2015 at 10:53am PDT

Some areas of Riga are crowded with people especially on a Saturday, however around the corner there is always a park or a nice quiet street scene like this one. I loved this tiny orange car! This city is FULL of some beautiful parks as well!! I highly recommend a visit. #jaywaybaltics A photo posted by Cailin (@cailinoneil) on May 9, 2015 at 6:04am PDT

Today was a GORGEOUS day in Riga, Latvia. It was 18 or 20 Celsius, finally warming up. People were out having picnics in all of the beautiful parks across the city and it was the perfect day for a boat trip along the Riga Canal and River. An 1hr long round trip in one of these charming old boats costs €18 and is quite relaxing. #jaywaybaltics @visit_latvia @visitriga

A photo posted by Cailin (@cailinoneil) on May 9, 2015 at 2:30pm PDT

Exploring Latvia's Rundāle Palace today there were hundreds of gorgeous portraits and this one stood out as one of my favorites. Not sure who she is but I found it to be quite unique compared to the others. The gardens on the property were quite gorgeous as well and reminded me slightly of Versailles. #jaywaybaltics A photo posted by Cailin (@cailinoneil) on May 10, 2015 at 6:28am PDT

Driving from Riga, Latvia to Vilnius, Lithuania today we stopped at this popular road side attraction in Lithuania know as the Hill of Crosses. There are anywhere from 100,000 to 400,000 crosses here mostly placed by Catholics. It was unlike anything I've ever seen. Really unique. #jaywaybaltics

A photo posted by Cailin (@cailinoneil) on May 10, 2015 at 10:26am PDT

Bright orange tulips grow wildly around the 10acres of gardens surrounding Latvia's Rundāle Palace. A great place to visiting if driving from Riga, Latvia to Vilnius, Lithuania. #jaywaybaltics A photo posted by Cailin (@cailinoneil) on May 11, 2015 at 7:01am PDT

Love a good spiral staircase. This staircase us in the Art Nouveau neighborhood at the Art Nouveau museum in Riga, Latvia. Simply stunning. #jaywaybaltics

A photo posted by Cailin (@cailinoneil) on May 11, 2015 at 1:09pm PDT

This morning I checked a major item off of my bucket-list as I got to go on my first ever hot air balloon ride! Outside of Vilnius, Lithuania we flew with the Ballooning Centre Lithuania over the Trakai Castle and Trakai Historical National Park. It was definitely an epic morning for it. Highly recommended. #jaywaybaltics A photo posted by Cailin (@cailinoneil) on May 12, 2015 at 5:45am PDT

A gorgeous view today over Vilnius, Lithuania from the top of the St. John's Church bell tower in the old town of the city. #jaywaybaltics #vilniustourism

A photo posted by Cailin (@cailinoneil) on May 13, 2015 at 4:17am PDT

A chilly day pool side at the Hedon Spa & Hotel in Pärnu, Estonia. Renovated and reopened in 2014, this spa sits on the beach with the Baltic Sea gently lapping at its shores. In summer time the small town of Pärnu swells from 30,000 to 60,000+ visiting the beach, spa and small town. Don't worry though as the spa never gets too crowded with no more than 28 people being allowed to use the facilities at a time. #jaywaybaltics A photo posted by Cailin (@cailinoneil) on May 14, 2015 at 2:25pm PDT

Getting ready for the big flight! Early morning in the Trakai Historic National Park in Lithuania. Definitely one of the coolest experiences from my travels to date. #jaywaybaltics #vilniustourism

A photo posted by Cailin (@cailinoneil) on May 15, 2015 at 8:52am PDT

If you have any questions about her journey, just let us know in the comments and we’ll get them answered for you. In the meantime, enjoy the wanderlust and be sure to check out her site, Travel Yourself, and follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for live updates from around Europe and beyond.

Got an itch for more travel stories? Here's a couple of more to fuel your wanderlust:

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