The Hill of Crosses is 12km out of Šiauliai, and its literally in the middle of country bumpkin nowhere. There’s no buses that go directly there, unlike Rundāle Palace, and the closest bus stop is 2km from the site. I didn’t fancy that walk on a 26 degree day, and what I would see later…

On the train to Trakai, a woman on across from me had what I thought was ASMR playing out loud on her phone. If you don’t know what ASMR is, count yourself lucky. Take a gross sound, like someone eating, record it really close so it picks up all the slurps and plops, now fetishise…

Four hours from Riga to Vilnius, on a mostly full bus. I didn’t note anything obvious to let me know we’d crossed the border, until my phone went off with an SMS – Telstra welcoming me to Luthuania, and kindly letting me know I can’t get roaming here. Thanks! The first notable difference from Tallinn…