The great world capital of ‘art nouveau’
Riga (Latvia)
Magnificent for its architecture and its facades animated by a bizarre collection of demonic gargoyles and mythical beasts, art nouveau is the soul of the Latvian capital (it has more than 750 buildings of that style) that, despite its calm and reserved appearance , has linked its oldest neighborhoods with modern bars and contemporary art centers.
As you explore the intricate and cobbled streets of the medieval center of Riga, you are strolling aimlessly. Most of the old town is pedestrian and once the traveler has been lost in this labyrinth of alleys and gables will begin to discover an amazing landscape of cathedrals and church spiers that point to the sky, large squares and walls of castles in ruins.
The most tourist is around the Ratslaukums or Town Hall Square, which was destroyed during World War II and was completely rebuilt in 2003. The same happened with the House of the Blackheads, built in 1344 as a fraternity house of the Guild of German single merchants of the Blackheads, destroyed by the Soviets and rebuilt in 2001. Today it is the residence of the Latvian president and is not open to the public.
To soak up the spirit of Riga we can, for example, go to the lively Livu Laukums, a square with several outdoor beer gardens in summer and bordered by a row of colorful 18th-century buildings, mostly converted into restaurants. Here we find one of the symbols of the city, the House of the Cats, an art nouveau building adorned by frightened black felines in the turrets.
The art nouveau district (called Centro Tranquilo) rivals the old town for being the most beautiful neighborhood in the capital. Its main street, Alberta, looks like a picture that we could observe for hours, discovering new details at every moment. Work almost entirely of the artist Mikhail Eisenstein (father of the famous film director), its amazing facades are full of grotesque figures, tangled bushes and peacocks, lion heads or strange masks. To understand and deepen a bit more, it is convenient to visit the Art Nouveau Museum in Riga.
The capital of water
Helsinki (Finland)
Magnificent because it blends elegantly with the Baltic, as befits the capital of a country of such aquatic geography, Helsinki sits on a chaos of bays, inlets and islands that draw a complex coastal line. Its charming charm lies in the old: its sober art nouveau buildings, its elegant centenary cafés, its dozens of museums where the Finnish heritage and its restaurants with letter and furniture equal to those of 1930 are conserved with care. It seems to be in the shadow of other Scandinavian capitals, its designer shops have international fame and boasts an interesting nightlife. In addition, among its new attractions there is a gastronomic panorama on the rise, with gourmet references that boast of using local products.
Helsinki has more than 50 museums and galleries, although some are so cryptic that they only attract a minority. Like the curious museum of Natural History, culminated by a controversial vane in the form of sperm fertilized by an egg. For all audiences is the visit (essential) to the «fortress of Finland», Suomenlinna, built by the Swedes in the mid-eighteenth century in a tight group of islands connected by bridges. The experience is completed by several museums, such as the Ehrensvärdmuseo, in the former residence of the commanders of the fortress, which gives an idea of what life was like in those days.
In the center of the city, the heart is the Kauppatori (market square) of the riverbank, from where cruise ships and ferries depart from the archipelago. It is a fairly touristy place although there are still authentic stands of cheap food or berries and flowers.
The newest is in old industrial enclosures conventidos in popular leisure complexes. For example in Kaapelitehdas, a huge complex where Nokia’s main factory was until the 80s, and which now houses a large cultural center with design studios, galleries, exhibitions and frequent dance, theater and music shows. And, of course, also museums: one for photography, another for theater and another for hotels and restaurants. Another postindustrial site converted (and very fashionable) is Teurastamo, former slaughterhouse between Sornaimen and Kalasatama metro stations that now houses many gastronomic proposals based on local products and even a free barbecue and an urban garden with vegetables and herbs aromatic
Another good option to eat in an original way is to sail to one of the many restaurants in the archipelago: almost all have small ferries from the docks of the mainland. The most famous is the stylish Saaristo, on the island of Luoto, famous for its seafood dinners.
Fairytale city
Tallinn (Estonia)
Magnificent for being 100% Baltic, fusing the modern and the medieval to achieve an environment with its own style and very attractive. Ancient church pinnacles and baroque palaces with glass skyscrapers, cafes in sunny squares and cycle routes to nearby beaches and forests, all decorated with Soviet relics.
But the jewel of Tallinn, Estonian capital, remains its old town (Vanalinn), protected by UNESCO, a maze of turrets, spiers and sinuous alleys of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. It is considered one of the most charming medieval precincts in Europe, especially around the Raekoja plats, a square dominated by a Gothic town hall that culminates in a tower that looks like a minaret, and which can be climbed to have good views of the city. city. In the surroundings there are old merchants’ houses, remote medieval courtyards and winding staircases that offer amazing views. It is a magical labyrinth that is usually filled (unbearably) by tourists when several cruises disembark on the same day. The luck is that all the boats leave in the afternoon and the tranquility returns to reign in these cobbled streets after five o’clock.
Although the main points of interest are within the medieval helmet, Tallin has slightly more distant attractions, such as Kalamaja, an enclave of crumbling wooden houses and ruined factories that has become one of the most interesting neighborhoods in the city. The huge Patarei prison has undergone an extraordinary transformation over the last few years, housing an impressive museum around which local hipsters opened bars and cafes in abandoned stores and stores. O Kadriorg, the preferred green area of the inhabitants of Tallinn, two kilometers east of the old town, where the park and the baroque Kadriorg palace are located.
Art splendor between channels
Saint Petersburg (Russia)
Magnificent for its fabulous palaces, its romantic canals and for accumulating a treasure of extraordinary art and culture, the imperial capital of Russia was built on a swamp by Tsar Peter the Great, but it immediately became one of the most dazzling cities in the world. world. And it still is. From the beginning it was conceived as an example of the growing power of imperial Russia, and European architects were hired to build the fabulous palaces and cathedrals, turning the city into a showcase for the Romanov dynasty.
In St. Petersburg (Peter for its inhabitants), the water is always close: it has 342 bridges and numerous canals that flank Italian-style mansions and squares with baroque and neoclassical palaces. The so-called Venice of the Baltic is a treasure of art and culture that invite you to spend full days in the Hermitage, possibly the best museum in the world, contemplating from Egyptian mummies to paintings by Picasso. Or to discover the Russian Museum, housed in four sumptuous palaces that house, possibly, the best collection of Russian art in the world. Or to delight in ballet and opera at the Mariinsky theater, including its summer music festivals.
The whole city oozes imperial air, from the Fabergé Museum, housed in a beautiful palace restored on the banks of the Fontana, to the tsarist palaces surrounding the city, such as that of Tsarkoe Selo, in Puskin. And to get away from the obvious, we propose a very special visit to enjoy the unique spirit of St. Petersburg: a getaway to the Kirovsky Islands, in the Neva delta, which have leafy avenues where you can take picnics, practice water sports and enjoy the magical White Nights, which begin in May and reach their climax in mid-June, when the sky never darkens and the whole city celebrates the brief and fleeting summer.
The Baltic summers
Gotland and Faro
Gotland is magnificent for its medieval churches, its original summer atmosphere and, above all, for the walled city of Visby, its main urban center. The merchants of the 12th and 13th centuries filled this beautiful island with fabulous churches (there are more than one hundred), although at present they are its remote beaches, the idyllic paths for bicycles and horses, and its peculiar rock formations that attract this Baltic island to visitors from all over the world, who also find very good restaurants and a lively nightlife in summer. But it is especially the Swedes themselves who have made Gotland an ecological destination for their holidays.
Visby, a port city protected by Unesco, invites you to return to the Middle Ages, strolling through thick walls, cobbled streets, wooden houses of stories, evocative ruins and steep hills with wonderful views of the Baltic. When the good weather arrives, Gotland is full of vacationers, especially during the medieval week, in which the old town of Visby is filled with period costumes, recreations and markets.
Movie fans and nature lovers can head north and visit the Ingman Bergman stages in Faro. The Swedish film director discovered Gotland in 1960 when he was looking for locations for a film and ended up living and working on the island for 40 years. Since 2004 the Bergman Week on the life and work of the Swedish director has been organized in Gotland.
Faro is also the perfect place to go out to explore the paths that surround this island swept by the wind, and make a trip back in time through its open-air museums, houses from the 17th to the 19th centuries or petroglyphs from the year 800 before of Christ. A good plan to enjoy the north of the island is to start strolling along the magnificent beach of Norsta Aura, then rent a bike and pedal along the road of rauers (rocks with column aspect), have lunch at the Crêperie Tati, make an equestrian route riding an Icelandic horse and say goodbye to the day at Langhammarshammaren, Faro’s most emblematic spot, with a beautiful sunset.