garbriel: don't chicken out. tll is a prettly cool place (although you will freak out when you see that airport (i.e. 1950's)). i did an overnight from hel, stayed at the hotel central (fully renovated in '95. huge rooms, runs about $90US.)

everything is so incredibly cheap (a nice change of pace from most nordic countries). it's a walled city with a beautiful yet eerie feel. and believe me, modern capitalism has come and is alive and well (i.e., bk & mcd's are all over the place & shopping 7 days/week).

tallinn(estonia) even has a small but fun party scene (dj nightman is the disco w/ good music, cheap drinks, and nice people.) english is not abundant, but can definitely be found amongst the locals. i highly recommend it. also, it's like budapest & prague with excellent large dinners with wine for about $10-15US. go for it!!

[This message has been edited by lonman (edited 10-22-1999).]