For the last few days, I've been making mental lists about the highs and lows of this trip now that I'm three weeks and five countries into the journey. Since my last post, I spent two days in Tallin and have now been in Riga for 24 hours. Overall, there have a been a few exciting moments, a few pleasant surprises, a few setbacks, and more than a few irritations. Just like any travel experience, it's been filled with the unexpected.

Top 5 Unexpected Delights and Oddities
1. Discovering a thriving beach culture in the middle of the mountains at the alpine lake resort at Issyk-Kul in Kyrgyzstan
2. Walking the windswept cliffs in absolute solitude at the old Suomenlinna sea fortress in Helsinki
3. Cheesy American soaps and movies, most notably the infamous Showgirls, dubbed into Russian by just one male deep-voiced actor speaking over the top of all the dialogue on TV (experienced in Russia, Estonia and Latvia)
4. Sampling wild boar with wild berry jam and saffron cake as well as caramelised almonds at an authentically-styled medieval restaurant in Tallinn
5. Finding myself in a delightful and yet reasonably priced world-class boutique hotel in the heart of Old Riga

Top 5 Irritations
1. Being accosted by gypsy children in St Petersburg and having my Fuji instant camera and my (very cute Shanghai-bought) business card holder stolen
2. Numerous Russian men with chronic personal hygiene problems: haven't they heard of soap or cologne?
3. Chronically disparate pricing for Russians and foreigners in St Petersburg and having to pay US$3-5 per camera to take photos inside museums
4. Rude, abrupt and unpleasant service in restaurants, ticket booths, train stations, and hotels in Russia
5. Having cold weather (10 degree C highs) and rain trail me for the past two weeks since arriving in St Petersburg...and not having enough winter clothes or dry shoes to cope with the daily rain

Top 5 Survival Tools
1. My 30GB iPod
2. In Your Pocket travel guides to Eastern Europe
3. Oanda traveller foreign currency cheat sheets
4. Tokyu Hands, a one-stop shop for all travelling needs
5. Instant photo publishing on the road: Toshiba Portege mini laptop, iPassConnect for worldwide internet roaming, Canon G5 PowerShot, and Adobe Photoshop

Since the weather in Helsinki was mostly rainy and overcast while I was there, the first of my next two Typepad albums focuses on the vividly colourful macro views of boats in the downtown area (conveniently hiding the grey and unappealing skies from the camera lens). Once the weather lifted, I took the opportunity to document one of Helsinki's most interesting historic destinations, the Suomenlinna sea fortress, a UNESCO cultural heritage site dating back hundreds of years when Finland needed to defend itself from seafaring invaders.

Finally today, if you've read some of the comments attached to my recent posts, you would have seen that I have decided to change my itinerary. Moscow will now be only a transit stop on my way back to Tokyo, and I will be spending the last six days of my trip in Stockholm instead. Bring on the good Scandinavian design!