Places captnsusan Wants to Go

Latvia’s first skyscraper, nicknamed ‘Stalin’s birthday cake.’

With a design inspired by traditional Latvian textiles, this monument honors the Latvian people who suffered under Soviet occupation.

A map store filled with original Cold War era Russian maps of the world.

This celebration of Latvia’s freedom and independence avoided demolition over half a century of Soviet occupation.

A small museum contains one of the largest collections of ethnic and traditional headgear in the world.

This statue is dedicated to the animal cosmonauts that perished during space flight experiments.

Medical museum that houses most notably the taxidermied remains of Vladimir Demikhov's famous two-headed dog experiment.

The reconstruction of this prominent building fulfilled a long-written command.

Latvia's symbolic mountain-shaped national library is home to millions of cultural tomes.

A black cat protests the City Guild in Riga's Old Town.

The oldest housing complex in Riga is a mini timeline of architectural trends.

A former Latvian headquarters of the brutal KGB secret police is now open as a grim reminder of their atrocities.

3,000 market stands in five former Zeppelin hangars.

Walk along the medieval fortifications that have been protecting Tallinn since the 14th century.

This set of concrete chambers resonates according to different notes of octaves.

A spectacular Petrine Baroque summer palace commissioned for Catherine I by Peter the Great.

The Guardian of Tallinn.

The oldest church in the Estonian capital is home to over 100 fantastical cemetery coats-of-arms.

This striking memorial is one of Estonia’s most controversial Soviet leftovers.

A medieval setting reimagined into a unique art alley.

A forest park outside Tallinn full of architectural and artistic curiosities.

Spend your honeymoon where the Devil had his wedding.

Relics from an era long gone, sit idle outside this Estonian museum.

Only a fragment of this 15th-century Dance of Death survives today.