I don't know if we report back on recent trips, but I took a two week stint to Poland and the Baltic countries in July, that I described further up thread. I started in Poland, then to Lithuania, then Lativa, and then Estonia A few tips and observations:
-- Although I'm staying in the south of France for the summer, the intra-Europe trips were very point efficient way to use United miles.
-- Although trains are available (and high speed ones in development) and low cost "luxury" buses available, transfer tours were a great alternative to getting between capitols. You get to see the countryside in a small van while making the journey.
-- In the trip I realized I was filling in great gaps in my US/Western Europe centric knowledge of history (from schools).
-- Estonia and Tallinn were beautiful, and more expensive than the rest (the VAT is very high). You can really see the scandinavian influence. It really was the first economy of the three to really break free, and just 1.3M have made so much progress. But they have been surpassed by..
-- Lithuania, where you can tell the economy is growing and things are changing rapidly. The GDP per capita is 1.8X the other Baltics and last year a
survey found the <30 generation is now the world's happiest. Net immigration is occurring after an earlier exodus, including those that had previously emigrated. Paradoxically, the cost of living is the lowest amongst the three.
-- Lativa has some beautiful architecture but also has the most Russian influence, and has a few more struggles economically. The Soviet-era architecture is very evident while in Tallinn, they are replacing the concrete blocks. My sense is all of the countries have been rapidly tranforming, but Lativa is a bit more behind.
--- Because the languages come from different roots, English has become very prevalent. The proficiency was impressive, especially in Estonia and Lithuania. Russian is also widely used, especially in Latvia and the border towns. Historicaly a lot of people emigrated to the US (and now, to the rest of the EU) and so there are some strong linkages and the nuimber of US chains and brands.
--- And yes, things relatively inexpensive for someone from a US HCOL mindset (half or less), with some exceptions (certain imported goods). It is still a challenge for local wages to keep pace with global inflation.
We had to settle for the standard tour, which was great but we heard great things about the "special" tour).
