We stepped ashore in Estonia, about which I confess I knew nothing except that it’s generally spoken in the same sentence with Lithuania and Latvia. The capital, Tallinn, thoughtfully features an Old City with your standard Hanseatic stone buildings and cobbled streets. It’s lovely. With our Rick Steves guide book we strolled through the streets, up the steep lane into the upper town, and back down to the main town square.

Everywhere we were greeted by smiling, charming Estonian girls wanting to sell us post cards and trinkets. They were ever so pretty, and ever so pleasant.