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pitviperofdoom · 2 years ago

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So uh. About 12 years ago I thought it'd be fun to do Sherlock Holmes set in the Redwall universe. I wrote a bit for it, then lost interest and moved on to other things.

Well, between my Redwall reread and the Letters from Watson substack, I've recently found myself with renewed interest in both Redwall and Holmes stories, so I decided to dust off the ol' Redwall AU. I reread what I had, found it almost entirely unusable, and completely reworked it. And now I have a humble little introduction here!

Don't know if I'll continue this, but I've had a LOT of fun ideas over the last week, so we'll see!

*****

Extract from the personal journal of Lancejack Johnswort Swifteye, formerly of the Fur and Foot Fighters Border Patrol—

The first day of spring has come and gone. The days grow warmer and longer as we leave winter further behind—the Winter of the Sweeping Mists, by Abbey reckoning. By my own reckoning it was the Winter of Abject Misery.

For six seasons I have marched with the Fur and Foot Fighters Border Patrol, that intrepid unit that keeps watch on the region where Mossflower meets the sand dunes by the Western Sea. Most of my comrades were Salamandastron hares, but with the border patrol’s proximity to the forest, they had plenty of use for squirrels like myself. Like many of my kind I am sharp of eye and handy with a bow, and between my childhood of helping in the Abbey Infirmary and my later training under Lieutenant Lagsworth, I had the skills to make myself useful as a healer as well.

It all came to an abrupt and inglorious end last winter, when a Galloper from the Long Patrol came to us warning of a corsair ship that had made landfall not far from our position. Word reached us too late that the ship was in fact a full fleet, and in the resulting battle I found myself cut off from the rest of the patrol during our retreat. I went down with several wounds, not the least of which was a bolt from a searat’s crossbow in my leg, and I would have been killed if Corporal Pennyroyal hadn’t dragged me to safety.

The patrol suffered heavier losses than it should have, with its principal healer gravely wounded. Penny tells me it was touch and go for a while, before reinforcements from Salamandastron arrived, led by Colonel Kordyne himself. In the end I survived, albeit severely weakened and with a newly-acquired limp, my military career indefinitely on hold if not outright over.

Once I was well enough to travel, I was swiftly sent on my way to Redwall by shrew logboat, and had scarcely passed a week in the willing paws of the abbeydwellers when I was struck down with a ferocious fever. The days and weeks that followed were miserable, full of aches and chills and horrendous dreams—and precious little company, as I was kept away from other creatures so as not to spread my illness to the rest of the abbey.

To add insult to injury, I missed the Nameday celebrations entirely, and by the time I had regained enough of an appetite to enjoy the taste of food, every crumb of that glorious feast had been eaten or sent out to the denizens of the surrounding woodlands in need of extra food after the winter.

It is strange to find myself walking Redwall’s venerable halls once more. I was quite young when I left, creeping out in the cover of night so as not to alert the elders to my departure. Back then I dreamed of returning in glorious triumph, and here I am now, scrawny and scarred and hobbling about with a cane on days when my leg gives me trouble. I keep busy how I can, usually helping Brother Stonecrop in the Infirmary, but more often than not I find myself passing days in a fog. I miss my comrades, the smell of the wind off the distant sea, the feeling of good bark beneath my claws. Embarrassment about my situation has made me a recluse. Stonecrop and I were friends as Dibbuns, and he is still good company, but in spite of his best efforts, in spite of the many good creatures who make their home in Redwall, I cannot recall ever feeling so terribly lonely.

****

The sound of pawsteps on the stone floor reached John’s ears. Briefly he considered snuffing out the candle and waiting silently for whoever it was to leave, but the thought felt unbearably childish. With a sigh, he set down his quill and blew gently on the still-wet ink.

“So that’s where you’ve been hiding.” Brother Stonecrop poked his head around the cask. “By the fur, how can you stand being down here so long on the cold stone?”

“It’s quiet,” John replied. “And before you ask, my leg feels fine. How’d you find me?”

“You certainly didn’t make it easy.” The stout mouse eased between the barrels and sat down with him, fidgeting until he’d smoothed out his habit. “I checked the infirmary and the top of the belltower first, and then I remembered Pinn saying she’d seen you creeping down here the other day.”

“I really thought I’d given her the slip,” John muttered, before a cloth-wrapped bundle was thrust into his inkstained paws. “Stonecrop, what—”

“You missed lunch again,” Stonecrop informed him. “I managed to rescue some cheese and nutbread and a scone before the young ones scoffed the lot. There’s a beaker of dandelion cordial as well. Get your jaws around that, see if it puts you in a better mood.”

“My mood is perfectly fine,” John protested. As if on cue, his traitorous stomach growled.

“Says the daft beast as he broods in the dark, scribbling out his thoughts by candlelight.”

“Alright, alright.” John bit into the scone and almost groaned. “Hell’s teeth, that’s good. How is it still warm?”

“Alright, so I didn’t actually snatch it from the jaws of a ravenous mousebabe,” Stonecrop admitted. “I stopped by the kitchens for a fresh one. I thought if you were making yourself this hard to find, it was a scone-straight-from-the-ovens sort of day.”

In spite of himself, John couldn’t help but smile. “Thanks, Stonecrop.”

Stonecrop clapped him on the back. “Think nothing of it, old Swifteye. Somebeast has to make sure you don’t waste away to nothing.”

“I’m nowhere near old.”

“Is that a fact? I could hardly tell, when you’ve got a face on you like a decrepit frog more often than not.” Stonecrop’s tone, light as it was, betrayed his worry. “You know it wouldn’t hurt to attend a meal every now and then. It’d be good for you to have some company once in a while.”

“I know, I know, it just…” John sipped from the beaker to buy himself time to think. “It gets a bit loud, especially with how voices echo in this place. And the last time I was somewhere loud, it wasn’t one of my good days.”

Stonecrop frowned. “I would think Dibbuns shrieking at dinnertime was a far cry from a battlefield.”

“You would think.”

“Well…” John could almost hear Stonecrop’s thoughts whirring as he hunted for a solution. “Would it help to get out of the abbey for a bit? You’ve hardly left since you got here—obviously you couldn’t with the fever, but you’re hale and healthy now, besides the leg. A bit of fresh air never harmed anybeast. Matter of fact, I’ve been doing some spring cleaning in the infirmary, and some of my herb stores need to be restocked.”

“It… would be nice to walk among proper trees again,” John admitted. “Though with my luck, I’d go out for a leisurely stroll and run straight into a robber gang.”

“Good thing you’re in an abbey full to the brim with willing, helpful beasts,” Stonecrop pointed out. “Why don’t I send you and somebeast else out on a little herb-gathering mission for me?”

“I’m not some restless young one you need to keep busy,” John told him, finishing up the last of the cheese.

“No, you’re a restless fully grown squirrel who needs to keep busy before he crawls out of his own fur,” Stonecrop said dryly.

“Yes, yes, you’re right.” John sighed. “You’re right. I’ve just been… I don’t know how to explain it.”

“Lonely?”

“I don’t know if it’s that,” John flicked away the last few crumbs of nutbread. “But it feels the same whether I’m hiding down here or standing in the middle of a crowded Cavern Hole, so I may as well feel it without forcing my awful moods on somebeast else.”

Stonecrop placed a paw on his shoulder. “That’s no good and you know it, John. Starving the body won’t cure it of sickness, and starving the spirit won’t cure it of sadness, either.”

“I’m not sad, I’m just… I’m not exactly what anybeast would consider good company.”

Stonecrop took long enough to reply for John to finish the rest of his meal. When he glanced over again, he found the mouse looking at him thoughtfully.

“What?”

“It’s funny, I was just thinking… you’re not the first creature to say that to me in the last few days,” Stonecrop said, stroking his whiskers.

“So there’s another unsociable hermit in the abbey? I’m shocked we haven’t run into each other in the same hidden-away nook.”

“You’d be surprised,” Stonecrop chuckled. “But no, he’s been away from the abbey for most of the winter and just returned this past week. Bit of an odd one, but clever as anything. Knows the woods like the back of his paw, too. It was actually him I asked first about herbs, and he was all for helping until somebeast else came along with a more interesting problem for him to solve.”

“Not very courteous of him.”

“Oh, that’s just how he is,” Stonecrop said with a shrug. “But either way my stores need replenishing, and I’ve been busy with cleaning and early springtime sniffles. Would you be willing to lend me a paw?”

John sighed, trying not to smile and failing. “Well, when you put it like that, I’d be a real puddenhead to say no, wouldn’t I?”

“That’s the spirit!” Stonecrop heaved himself to his footpaws before reaching down to pull John up alongside him. “Come along then, let’s get you back out into the sunlight. Meet me in the infirmary and we can go over the list—I’ll go let Hemlock know I won’t be needing him after all.”

“Actually…” For a moment, John teetered on the edge of indecision, before he steeled himself and swallowed his ever-present doubts. “I think I’ll come along with you. You’ve got me curious about this Hemlock fellow.”

Stonecrop’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh? Well this is a pleasant surprise.”

“I rarely hear a cross word from you about anybeast,” John pointed out. “So if he’s odd enough for even you to remark upon it…”

“Well, don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Stonecrop chuckled, a bit nervously. “Just try to keep an open mind.”

Curiosity piqued, John followed him out of the cellar, through the Great Hall and out onto the abbey lawns. From the looks of it, most creatures had taken advantage of the warming weather to have lunch outside. The food was cleared away, but rumpled blankets still lay strewn across the grass, and sticky-pawed Dibbuns dashed about playing while their elders cleared away dishes and napkins.

The gatehouse door stood ajar when they reached it, and Stonecrop knocked twice before pushing it fully open and stepping inside. “Are you in there, Hemlock?”

There was no reply, but the sound of pages turning told them that somebeast was inside, at least. The gatehouse was a cluttered mess, and the sounds of life came from somewhere behind the stacks of old tomes and loose parchment that covered the desk.

Before Stonecrop could call out again, the unseen creature gave a great “Ha!” before slamming a book shut and nearly knocking the chair over in a mad scurry for the door.

Behind Stonecrop, John froze, and his mouth dropped open.

There was a ferret in the gatehouse—better fed and groomed than others of his kind that John had encountered, but a ferret nonetheless. From head to toe his brown fur was so dark it was nearly black, with flashes of white over his muzzle and ears, and a thin layer of dust over all.

“Solved it!” he crowed triumphantly, waving a slip of parchment. “Terribly sorry for the wait, Stonecrop, Myrtus presented me with a puzzle the other day and it couldn’t wait.”

“Sounds like it was a real poser,” Stonecrop said.

“A decent diversion. How close is it to noon?”

“About two hours past,” Stonecrop replied.

The ferret beamed. “Excellent timing! This is the best part—come, this way, you’ll both enjoy this.”

Without waiting for a reply, the ferret seized them both by their sleeves and pulled them out of the gatehouse, then released them and took off for the orchards at a quick lope.

John was left staring after him, mouth still hanging open. Wordlessly he turned to Stonecrop.

“I did say he was odd and to keep an open mind,” Stonecrop sighed. “We’d better see what he’s found.”

They caught up to the ferret at the wall nearest the orchard, walking quickly along its length and tapping each sandstone block as he went. “Well, what is it, Hemlock?” Stonecrop asked.

“Twelve, thirteen—hush, I’m counting—fourteen, fifteen…” The ferret carried on until he reached the middle of the wall, then turned his back was to it and began counting his steps. Before long they were within the shade of the orchard, and the ferret had halted at a damson tree and was squinting at something on the ground. With a noise of sudden understanding he darted along its shadow until he reached its end, counted several more steps, and stopped at an apple tree.

“Here it is!” The ferret inspected the tree trunk, then stared up into its branches, before turning and locking eyes with John. “The smallest favor, if you don’t mind—could you climb up there and see if you can find this?” He passed the slip of parchment to John. Scribbled on it was the symbol of a flower with star-shaped leaves.

Luckily today was a good day, and his leg didn’t pain him beyond a bit of stiffness. With one last baffled look at Stonecrop, John scaled the tree with ease. This early in spring, the boughs were mostly bare of leaves, and it took him several minutes to find the symbol. It wasn’t carved into the tree itself, but engraved on a small bronze disk embedded in one of the branches.

“Found it!” he called down.

“Which side of the tree?” the ferret asked.

“South!”

“Thank you!”

John climbed down to find the ferret down on all fours at the roots on the south side, digging furiously into the soil with both paws.

“Would you like me to find Foremole?” Stonecrop asked.

“No, I’ve got it!”

Soil flew into a growing pile behind him; the ferret dug with single-minded determination until his head was fully out of sight. Minutes passed before John heard a thud and curse, and the ferret’s dirt-covered face poked back into view.

“It’ll just be a moment more, I’ve just hit it,” he said, before diving back down with renewed energy.

“Just hit what?” John mouthed to Stonecrop, who shrugged helplessly at him and crouched down for a better look.

Eventually the ferret rose again with a grunt of effort, and lifted out an old, dirt-caked chest secured with a rusted lock. The ferret dove down again, produced a sizable rock from the hole he’d just dug, and smashed it off. Then he lifted the lid, peered inside, and gave a bark of triumphant laughter.

“Well?” Stonecrop spoke up. “Don’t keep us in suspense, what have you found?”

“No gold or jewels, if that’s what you’re wondering,” the ferret replied. “These are the journals of Brother Mallowgreen, during the reign of Abbot Kastel. There’s a bit of a gap in the abbey’s history during that time, thanks to the abbot’s rather unfortunate penchant for destroying records he didn’t like. Luckily, the Infirmary keeper at the time had the presence of mind to hide his own scribblings, and was kind enough to leave behind a few riddles leading to their location.” He lifted himself out of the hole and dusted off his paws, gray eyes alight with satisfaction. “And I do love a good riddle.”

“And you took all of two and a half days to solve it,” Stonecrop remarked.

“As I said, a decent diversion.” The ferret’s eyes settled on John again. “Hello.”

“Ah, right—Hemlock, this is John Swifteye, an old friend of mine. John, this is Hemlock, who I told you about.”

“Pleasure.” Hemlock’s pawshake was firm but not so tight as to be painful. “I didn’t know Stonecrop’s friendships extended as far as the Fur and Foot Fighters of the western dunes.”

“I, er, haven’t been back here in some time,” John stammered out, caught off guard.

“Do your herbs still need restocking, by the way?” Hemlock asked Stonecrop. “I know it’s been a few days.”

“You know, I was just coming to let you know that I’d found somebeast else for the task,” Stonecrop replied. “But it looks like you’re free again.”

“It might be a two-beast job, given the state of your stores when I last saw them,” Hemlock pointed out, with a glance at John. “I wouldn’t mind the extra paws, especially if it means having an archer along. Never mind being out of practice—any ne’er do wells we find in the woods today will most likely flee at a warning shot.”

“Um,” said John.

“If you’re not averse to my company, of course,” Hemlock added with a smile.

“I—not at all,” John answered without thinking. “If you don’t mind slowing up for a squirrel with a limp.”

“Well then.” Hemlock scooped up the chest and tucked it under one arm. “I’ll go run this little find up to the attic, and then I’ve got to nip down to the kitchens for something. See you at the east wallgate, Swifteye.” With that, he was gone.

John waited until Hemlock was well out of earshot before jabbing his paw into Stonecrop’s ribs. “Out with it, Stonecrop, how many others have you gossiped to about me?”

“I didn’t!” Stonecrop was grinning. “On my honor, I never breathed a word about you, to him or anybeast else. I told you he’s clever.”

“What have I gotten myself into?” John asked.

Stonecrop slung a friendly paw around his shoulders and began leading him back to the abbey building. “Only one way to find out.”

They had only just reached the lawn when, behind them, the deep voice of Brother Bramlen the gardener rang out from beneath the trees.

“WHO IN THE NAME O’ SPIKES HAS BEEN DIGGIN’ UP ME TREES?” the hedgehog bellowed. “HEMLOCK!”

Squirrel and mouse beat a hasty retreat, laughing like misbehaving young ones.

****

True to his word, Hemlock was waiting by the east wallgate when John made his way down. The ferret was cloaked warmly for the lingering winter’s chill, and carried an empty basket with one paw and, oddly enough, what seemed to be a fully-packed haversack on his shoulders. John had a basket of his own, and had armed himself with bow, quiver, and a stout walking stick.

“Planning on spending the night, are you?” John asked, glancing at the pack.

“No,” Hemlock replied, and unbolted the gate. “After you.”

The sun was out, with more blue in the sky than gray. In spite of the warmth of sunlight, the air was still cold, even more so without the high abbey walls to block the wind. John’s injured leg gave a twinge, forcing him to lean on the stick a little more heavily than he would have liked.

Hemlock had taken the lead without a word, which was fair enough. Before he’d come limping to the abbey under the guidance of the Guosim, John hadn’t been this deep into Mossflower Wood since his nighttime escape as a wayward young one. Besides, if he wasn’t focused on pathfinding, it gave him a chance to size up his strange companion.

It wasn’t unheard of for vermin to live their lives in peace and quiet contentment. John had known of a few to the west—a weasel couple that farmed and fished in the woods, a solitary old rat that lived out in the dunes—and the patrol kept an eye out but otherwise left them alone. But that didn’t change the fact that, by and large, the vast majority that John had encountered had been… well. Roving bandits, robber gangs. Corsair fleets.

John glanced back at the sandstone wall looming over the tree tops, then again at Hemlock. Redwall’s charter had something or other about extending paws in peace and friendship, but that didn’t change the long history of vermin hordes showing up to try and conquer the place.

“Rest assured, that is not my intention,” Hemlock said dryly.

Startled, John nearly tripped. “I beg your pardon?”

“I was only a little older than a kit when I first came to Redwall,” Hemlock went on, picking his way carefully through a tangle of roots. “Rather a long time for a plot to simmer, wouldn’t you agree?”

John slowed, leaning heavily on his stick as he followed. “I didn’t—how did you—?”

“Your stare has been burning holes in the back of my head since we left,” Hemlock replied. At least he didn’t sound particularly offended. “And just now you looked back at the abbey as if to make sure it was still there, then very pointedly looked at all the spots on my person that might conceal weapons. It wasn’t difficult to follow your train of thought.”

“...Oh.” Sheepishly, John lapsed into silence.

Eventually Hemlock led the way to a patch of vervain, and John descended upon it. The plants were strong and healthy in spite of the recent winter, and before long the bottom of his basket was lined with it.

“I found feverfew not far from here, last time I passed through,” Hemlock spoke up suddenly. “Hopefully it’ll still be there—not much snow, this past winter, so it won’t have frozen.”

John pulled himself back up on his stick. His leg was beginning to ache, just slightly, but he could still walk a bit more. “Lead on.”

They found it near a massive fallen beech log, growing green and full out of the loam, though it was still too early in the season for flowers. Still, Stonecrop could do a lot with stems and leaves alone. When John was finished harvesting them, he found Hemlock sitting on the log waiting for him.

“Might as well sit for a bit,” the ferret said. “Rest that leg.”

“Oh. Er, thank you.” John leaned his stick against the log and climbed up to sit—not beside him, but near enough.

Truthfully, he was grateful. He hadn’t had much in the way of exercise recently, between injuries, fever, and moping. He could feel himself getting winded and tired more quickly than he ever had before. A long walk through the woods without rest was likely to make his leg worse.

Hemlock must have known. He certainly wasn’t resting for his own benefit.

“Can I ask you something?” John asked eventually.

“You may.”

“Stonecrop said he didn’t tell you about me,” said John. “Did somebeast else tell you who I was, or…?”

Hemlock’s gray eyes flitted up and down, taking in the whole of him again. “I hadn’t heard of you before Stonecrop introduced us.”

“Then how did you know I’m—I was one of the Fur and Foot Fighters?”

“Oh, a number of things,” Hemlock replied. “I looked at you and thought, here is a creature who carries himself like a trained soldier, with his best seasons before him but covered in scars old and new, with a freshly maimed leg and a recent bout of illness, in the middle of a vast forest that hasn’t seen much trouble from hordes and bandits in quite some time. The military bearing suggests the Long Patrol, but it’s extremely rare to see anybeast but a hare among them. And if you were in the Long Patrol, you would’ve rested from your hardships in Salamandastron. Then I remembered hearing of the recent visit from the Guosim, and that answered that. You came from the border between forest and sand, and your comrades saw fit to put you on a boat for home rather than send you on a long march over the dunes.” He paused. “The archery was easy enough—calluses on your paws and a thin patch on your inner arm where the bowstring wears at your fur when you fire.”

John gaped at him.

“It sounds complicated when I lay it all out, but it’s really not,” Hemlock finished. “Two and two make four.”

“And you know Redwall is ‘home’ for me because…?”

“The accent, obviously.”

“Obviously.” He hadn’t even known he had an accent.

“How’s the leg?” Hemlock asked.

John tested it, then carefully slid down to the ground. The ache was nearly gone. “Better, thank you.”

“Let’s be off, then. The infirmary’s stores don’t have a single stem of marigold left.”

Before they left, Hemlock shrugged the haversack from his shoulders and set it on the log. John watched him curiously as he wedged it in the fork of the roots so that it wouldn’t slide off.

“What are you doing?”

“Paying for services rendered,” Hemlock replied, leaving the pack where it sat. “Let’s be off.”

The ferret offered no further explanation. Something told John it would be useless to press.

****

“So what do you think of him?” Stonecrop asked later that evening, as they reorganized the herb stores.

“You were right,” John replied. “He’s an odd one and no mistake. Monstrously clever, though.”

“Oh, that he is.”

“He left a full haversack out in the woods,” John added, glancing at his friend. “Any idea what that’s about?”

“Ah, that.” Stonecrop grinned. “Don’t worry about that. You’ll find out soon enough.”

#redwall #sherlock holmes #fanfiction #tales from the pit

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boltlightning · 2 months ago

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2, 18, and 23 🫵

2. what’s something new that you tried in a fic this year?

another sad one lmao but...part of the impetus for so hunts the shrike was the realization that a plot doesn't need to be complicated to be compelling—half the appeal of one of my favorite fantasy series, the farseer trilogy, is that everything is so character-driven that there doesn't need to be a lot of twists, the intrigue comes from the character moments big or small.

in general i tend to shy away from plot-driven fic that doesn't lean heavily on canon events, so this was certainly a departure!

18. share your favorite ending line

this stupid exchange at the end of landfall chapter 5:

Elizabeth is so relieved, she scarcely hears James say, “A Swann, is she?” “If I had to guess, I’d say she’s a dragon, sir,” Cornett says to his unimpressed commander. “Though it seems she’s already got a captain. Fancy that!”

23. if you had to choose one, what was THE most satisfying writing moment of your year?

oh the entirety of the aforementioned shrike hunt was built around this moment:

"[...] You can die for me, James, and I know you can kill for me. But would you live? Would you live for me? Would you do what no one has offered me before?” [...] Elizabeth holds his gaze unflinchingly, demanding, challenging—asking, pleading. Something splits in him, that old festering scar torn open to heal at last. Norrington lifts a hand to steady hers against his chest. “Do you ask it of me?” “If you would heed me.” “You know my heart,” he says, low and shaky. “I would. I will.”

fellas you ever imagine a scene for two years and then write 30,000 words to justify it?????????

2024 in review asks!

#i wrote shrike hunt for Me but you guys can look at it too (and i hope you will)#thank you chilly 🧂🧂🧂🧂🧂🧂🧂🧂🧂#ask game #replies #johnbly

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chriscdcase95 · 7 months ago

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"Dragons & Monsters" Update: List of monsters

Title says it all, but for nearly a year now, I've been revisiting one of my shelved fics; Dragons & Monsters — Game of Thrones crossover AU with Godzilla. Being a Canon Divergence, the story splinters off from the end of season four, before really diverging from the end of season six.

Dragons & Monsters story covers what would happen when Westeros has monsters on their hands during the war between Daenerys Targaryen and Cersei Lannister, as well as the looming threat of the Long Night.

While I am unlikely to write a full story, I am working on several docs for a timeline covering the history and lore of this AU — which will include an updated scriptment for what the full story would have been. So far, the doc is over two hours long!

And with House of The Dragon season two, I have been expanding Dance-era lore for this AU. So I decided to share a list and descriptions I have in mind for this timeline as a preview.

— — — —

1. Gojira/Godzilla I: Named after a legendary sea dragon in myths pertaining to the Long Night — and is quite possibly that exact monster —Gojira's current claim to fame is bringing about the Doom of Valyria. Because of atrocities and abominations committed by Old Valyria, Gojira's habitat was destroyed, along with his kin and congregation. As recompense, Gojira went on a rampage that razed Valyria, and spent the next century tracking down and picking off the survivors where they fled.

Thought to be the last of his kind, Gojira reaches Westeros either during or shortly after Aegon's conquest. Soon after, Gojira was slain by an expedition led by Aegon beyond the Wall. The story goes that Gojira was destroyed by a mysterious creation by Daisuke Waters, a Maester/rumored sorcerer of Valyrian and Yi Ti descent. After Gojira's death, Daisuke killed himself after destroying all his research of his creation, believing it too dangerous for mankind to have. Gojira's current resting spot is at the bottom of a frozen lake in the Land of Always Winter.

2. Godzilla II: Another of Gojira's species, and considered his surviving offspring; serving as the Godzilla of the Dragons & Monsters outline. Unlike his vengeful and hateful father, Godzilla II was ambivalent and aloof towards mankind; rarely intentionally attacking humans, save for defence or retaliation. He first appeared in Westeros in 112 AC, along with numerous monsters over the years, before departing after the Dance of the Dragons.

However, these encounters were muddled in hearsay and rumors, and not properly documented by the Citadel; in part because some of the stories told were considered too absurd to be part of a serious historical record — especially the “nonsense” about a flying, fire breathing turtle that appeared during the Dance.

Centuries following his departure, Godzilla returned in the year 301 AC, making landfall in King's Landing; just before the trial of Cersei Lannister by the faith militant. It is soon discovered that he arrived in response to something else...

3. The Hatchling: A juvenile of Godzilla's species, and a survivor of a destroyed nest, born from a submerged egg just in the sea off of Eastwatch. Dormant for centuries, upon hatching in 300 AC, the infant made landfall, soon appearing during — and disrupting — the Battle of Castle Back. The Hatchling quickly breaches the Wall, and spends about a year wandering the North, initially considered a nuisance by the people and a frequent hunting target of Ramsay Bolton — despite their weapons doing little serious damage to the infant.

After encounters with the Stark family, the Hatchling is normally docile towards people. However, he gradually begins to attack in self defense. especially as he grows and matures over time. In fact, there are worries that the Hatchling may outgrow his attachment towards humans. Besides Godzilla II, the Hatchling's presence draws the attention of other monsters in Westeros.

4. Ghidorah: Also known as the “God of the Void”, Ghidorah was worshiped as the god of Old Valyria before their pantheon became the dominant religion. Being the Greater Scope Villain of this setting, Ghidorah was first alluded to in Empire of the Dawn myths; implicitly tied to the “black rock” worshiped by the Bloodstone Emperor. After the Long Night, the founders of Old Valyria uncovered Ghidorah's remains. Despite being “dead”, Ghidorah's body constantly healed and restored itself; feasting on his flesh and blood granted the Valyrians “revelations”.

It is through Ghidorah, that the Valyrians were able to practice blood magic and other abominations. Through this Ghidorah was not only the progenitor of their dragons, but was tied to the dragon lords by putting Ghidorah's blood into their genome. Despite being obscured over the centuries, Ghidorah was the ultimate source of Valyria's power, which lived on through its people.

Even their present descendants — including Jon and Daenerys — have unwitting ties to Ghidorah's lingering spirit. Some fanatics believe that the Long Night will herald the return of Ghidorah in his full form. And these fanatics don't mind bringing it about themselves.

5. Baragon and Varan: Two reptilian monsters that appear in Westeros in 301 AC, alongside Godzilla II. Their origins are unclear, but it's assumed they are among the last of their respective species from the World Below. With greater threats on the horizon, Varan and Baragon serve as the initial monster antagonists in the Dragons & Monsters plotline. Driven by animalistic instinct, the two invade Westeros in response to the Hatchling's presence in the North, acting as predators.

Taking parts of Westeros as their territory, Varan claims the Westerlands, while Baragon claims the Reach. Both monsters regularly attack the smallfolk and occupying armies, causing turmoil in the south; especially during Daenerys' and Cersei's war. Both monsters aim to reach the North in search of the Hatchling, putting them on Godzilla's warpath...along with six of the seven kingdoms.

6. Anguirus: A monster that first appeared in Westeros following Aegon's conquest. For centuries, Anguirus slumbered beyond the Wall, not far off from the Three Eyed Raven's cave. In the story outline for Dragons & Monsters, Anguirus first encounters Bran, Meera and Hodor during their stay at the Raven's cave. As the Raven, Brynden Rivers kept Anguirus asleep through warging with him on a regular basis.

While Anguirus shows no immediate aggression towards humans, it's unclear if he's naturally docile or if Rivers ended up taming him through warging. However, Anguirus will go on the defensive if provoked. During an altered version of The Door, Anguirus awakens to fight off the Army of the Dead as they attack the Raven's cave, soon becoming overwhelmed, and fleeing southwards. Anguirus would then wander into Westeros being a regular presence when the Long Night approaches. After initial hostilities with Godzilla II, the two monsters develop something like a kinship the following year.

7. Mothra: Formerly known as “Mosura”, a “Mother Spirit” worshipped across different cultures, but was most prominent in the Infant Islands off of Essos. She is seen as a benevolent nature deity, or an angel-like being, represented by butterfly or moth iconography. Some believe she is associated with the Maiden Made of Light of Empire of the Dawn myths.

Due to Valyrian colonization of the Infant Islands, her religion is considered extinct in Essos; her temples were burned, her people enslaved; image replaced with that of a three-headed dragon. Though some surviving fringes of her followers may be found in Naath. In Dragons & Monsters, Missandei brings up Mothra in discussions of benevolent titans — but she herself is unsure if Mothra actually exists — as well when she talks about returning to Naath.

— — — —

The next part of the list is monsters considered for this timeline; including other monsters that may have attacked Westeros during "The Dance" era.

They're either not set in stone, still in the "idea" stage, or I can't talk too much of them without going too far into spoilers. Hence why their descriptions are more vague.

1. Zilla: Following the Doom of Valyria, the remains of dragons and theirresidual cursed blood polluted many of their shores and bays. Marine iguanas regularly nest on these shores, and mutate as a result of centuries of exposure. These mutations include the iguanas growing to the size of Komodo dragons or crocodilians; developing draconic traits, and carnivorism — luckily for observing humans, their preference is fish. However, there soon came a specimen with more drastic mutations.

This creature mutated into something vaguely like Godzilla. In fact, many initially thought it was Godzilla. The creature made landfall in Meereen, were it was reportedly killed with Wildfire — albeit at the expense of exhausting military manpower and resources. It was soon discovered the creature asexually reproduced, spawning hundreds of eggs in the city. While considerably weaker than most monsters, this breeding aspect is what makes this creature and its spawn such a threat.

2. The Great Apes: Besides Skull Island being located in the Summer Sea, along with Basilisk Isles, tales were widespread further south; spanning from the Zamoyos river, and especially the Green Hell. Pirates, slave traders and such often hear or share stories of these lands and their wildlife. They would describe the “lesser dragons” (dinosaurs) along with numerous fantastic species; the most dreadful of them being the “lizards snakes” (Skullcrawlers). Most prominently, the Great Apes; with different accounts of how big they actually are. Though they may refer to different species of these apes.

It is said many of these apes had this bond with their human charges, while others were tyrant “gods” towards them. At the time of Dragons & Monsters, no one seriously buys into their existence...at least until an army of these apes are said to have reached Essos. These apes were war-hawks, living alongside the people of Essos and ostensibly protecting them from the growing presence of other monsters, such as the growing Zilla species. Later, it would seem these apes were domesticating or enslaving these creatures — including the “snake lizards” — in the same way mankind uses animals for war and labour.

3. Shimo: A legendary Ice Dragon in myths and folklore of the First Men, thought off as being worshiped by the Children of the Forest. She is said to be the source of their power, much like Ghidorah with the Valyrians. In fact the way Shimo is revered could be compared/contrasted with the Valyrians worship of Ghidorah. During their stay in the Raven’s cave, Bran and Meera see Shimo's image among the paintings and carvings. Meera notes a resemblance to an ice dragon illustration she uncovered at Greywater Rush, claiming that the tale of the Ice Dragon is a children’s story that is especially popular with Northern girls.

In a rare moment of wonder following her brother's death, Meera remarks she’d like to see this Ice Dragon, if she still exists. Leaf ominously warns Meera that she wouldn’t. According to Leaf, Shimo was a benign if not benevolent creature, before turning on the Children of the Forest as a “punishment” for reasons they keep vague and refuse to elaborate. Because of this, in the present day, the Children of the Forest no longer call upon Shimo.

4. Biollante: A creature said to have emerged following Ghidorah's appearance in Westeros, and nicknamed “The Monster of Tyrell”. The story goes she was born from ashes of a deceased Tyrell Lady or Queen, and the blood of her living kin, from which roses grew; what was supposed to be a symbolic ritual, keeping the latter’s spirit with her family. But it is said Godzilla's blood in that soil tainted these roses, thus giving the ritual an actual source of power. From these roses, a monstrosity was created. One can say, she brought a whole new meaning to “Growing Strong”.

Despite her frightening appearance, she is seen as a normally benign monster. She is described as recognizing, showing affection and protecting those she knew and loved in life; while being wrathful to those she hated. However, her protective streak is said to involve “spreading” across Westeros to combat other invading monsters, putting them on a warpath against her. Centuries after the fact, a sigil tapestry of her fighting both Ghidorah and Godzilla is uncovered in what was once Highgarden.

5. Rodan I and II: a mating pair of “fire-birds” with a nest in the Red Mountain, named after a Fire Dragon of southern folklore. First appearing in 115 AC, they'd attack villages and settlements throughout the Crownlands and Drone. When the Crown looked into the matter, they discovered four eggs in the nest. Attacking the Rodans directly was impractical, with them being roughly twice the size of Balerion. And destroying their eggs is easier said than done due to the shells being covered in volcanic rock-like casing.

Instead, they opted to lure the parents away; dragon-riders would steal each of these eggs, and transport them to isolated corners of Westeros, in hopes of drawing the parents to the re-emerged Godzilla II. The plan was to get the three monsters to kill the other. However it was discovered the Rodan attacks were the result of them hunting something else…

6. Meganulon: Dragonfly-like larvae, which were around the size of horses, and preyed on isolated villages throughout the Crownlands during 115/116 AC; in turn they were preyed on by the Rodans. The Crown considered the Meganuon a lesser priority since they could be dealt with by armed men, and focused their efforts on the Rodan pair. Two were captured and brought to the Citadel for study, where they soon grew into the elephant-sized Meganula, which created a nest in Oldtown. Without the Rodans' predation to thin them out, they continued to breed.

The nest soon gave rise to their hive-queen, Megaguirus — apparently nicknamed “The Queen Bitch” — which grew between the size of Vhagar or Balerion. They began to spread across the south, abducting thousands across Westeros to their nest to be stored as food. Following an attack on King's Landing, Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen, and Queen Alicent Hightower were also abducted; if the dates are any indication, Aemond Targaryen may have been born during Alicent’s captivity. The nest and hive queen were destroyed by other monsters, and the Crown’s armies, marking the first time Godzilla II ostensibly fought for the realm.

7. Also appearing in 115 AC, was a pair of “sea dragons”, that were considered a different but closely related species to Godzilla. Unlike the mating Rodans, this pair was a parent and offspring. The adult is recognized as Ogra of Ironborn folklore. Ogra is said to have fought and killed the sea serpent Nagga, before later stories credited the Grey King. In 115 AC, she and her offspring were awakened and separated by an underwater volcanic eruption.

The infant itself ended up in the Step Stones, where it was captured by the Triarchy, who intended to tame and weaponize it. Despite their obvious differences — such as their size — the Triarchy mistook the infant for Godzilla II, and gave it the Myrish name for “Gojira”; that being Gorgo. Described as pretty docile, preferring to flee than fight, Gorgo escaped his captors when Godzilla II made landfall on the Stepstones, but was soon recaptured by the Crown.

In 116 AC, Ogra made landfall in the Iron Islands, beginning a warpath across the Westerlands and Crownlands. With Godzilla II also on the move, the Crown intended to use Gorgo to lure Godzilla and Ogra in hopes they'd kill each other. During this confrontation, a distressed Gorgo broke loose and ran amok on Kings Landing.

8. The Gryphon: A monster said to be born from a comet that fell from the stars and into the Bay of Ice in 129 AC. It lay dormant for some time, before a substance from that rock began feeding and mutating a cave of bats. It would go on to consume and assimilate numerous animals and people to build a definitive body for itself, becoming another adversary to Godzilla.

Survivors infected by its essence would claim that the Gryphon wasn't a natural animal, but a “Doomsday Beast” — a living weapon created by an empire in “a galaxy far, far away” that was looking to colonize their world. And may still aim to do so with the Gryphon's death. Centuries after the fact, no one takes this “future warning” seriously.

9. Gamera and Gyaos: Allegedly appearing during the Dance of the Dragons, the Citadel omitted them from historical records. However, they were written about in Essos, as part of “Empire of the Dawn” myths. Rather than being natural monsters, Gamera and Gyaos were said to be creations of the Empire to protect humanity from the Titans; to fight monsters, they created monsters of their own. Gyaos are considered something like predecessors to Valyrian dragons, but became ravenous as their breeding escalated, and their food supply depleted. The “guardian” (Gamera) was created as a countermeasure.

During the Dance, he is said to first appear when Gyaos eggs were uncovered and hatched after being mistaken for dragon eggs. Little is written down, but what's vaguely described includes clashes with Godzilla II; battles between dragons and the smaller Gyaos; a supreme Gyaos being mentioned, as well as a being called Irys. It is also indicated that Gamera had some connection with Aegon III and/or Jaehaera Targaryen.

These were omitted from the history books, being deemed too outlandish and nonsensical for a real historical account.

10. Bagan: A monster mentioned in both myths of Old Valyria and the Empire of the Dawn, Bagan is vaguely described as a “demonic dragon-god”. His monikers include the God of Darkness or the Bloodstone Dragon. Supposedly, Bagan also appeared during the Dance, having been awakened by the Red Sowing and the Blacks attempts to breed more dragons.

As with other monsters, Bagan is kept out of the history books. Some because Bagan’s name is synonymous with “Devil”, speaking of him is a curse or invocation, so the Maesters wrote him out of Fire & Blood. Others believe that, like with Gamera and Gyaos, these accounts were just too ridiculous to be considered historical fact.

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demospectator · 1 year ago

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“San Francisco – P.M.S.S. Co.’s Wharf- Off for China and Japan” c. 1874. Illustrator unknown (from the collection of the National Parks Gallery).

Ships, Sheds and Wharves: Chinese and the Pacific Mail Steamship Co.

The earliest history of the Chinese in America remains intertwined with the Pacific Mail Steamship Company’s sheds on San Francisco’s wharf and the broader narrative of maritime transportation, immigration, and economic development during the 19th century in California. Founded in 1848 as a response to the California Gold Rush, the Pacific Mail Steamship Company (“PMSSC”) aimed to carry US mail on the Pacific leg of a transcontinental route from the east coast of the US to San Francisco on the west coast via Panama.

Illustration of the steamship SS California, the first ship of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company. Only a few passengers were on board when the ship left New York on October 6, 1848. By the time the ship reached its stop on the Panama’s Pacific coast, word had spread of the great new find of gold in California. Over 700 people tried to get passage on the ship in that harbor. The Pacific Mail agent managed to cram 365 people aboard the ship before it set sail for California. The ship and passengers reached San Francisco on February 28, 1849, where all but one member of the crew deserted the ship for the goldfields. The ship was lost in a wreck off the Peruvian coast in 1894. (Illustrator unknown, from the collection of the US National Postal Museum)

The discovery of gold in the Sierra Nevada in 1849 produced a massive influx of people to California

from all over the world, including China. According to historian Thomas W. Chinn, “Hong Kong was the general rendezvous for departure to California. The emigrants usually stayed at dormitories provided by the passage brokers or at friends' and relatives' homes until the day of embarkation. The earliest ships between China and California were sailing vessels, some of which were owned by Chinese. . . . However, most of the ships in the early days bringing Chinese immigrants were American or British owned. At the time the shipping of Chinese to California was a very profitable business.”

The voyage in sailing vessels across the Pacific varied from 45 days to more than three months. Chinese passengers typically spent most of the voyage below decks in the overcrowded steerage. Conditions aboard the ships varied with the ship and shipmaster. In March 1852, 450 Chinese arrived in the American ship Robert Browne bound for San Francisco objected to the captain's order to cut off their queues as a hygienic measure. They rebelled, killed the captain and captured the ship. According to Chinn, “health conditions on the bark Libertad were so bad that when she sailed into San Francisco harbor in 1854, one hundred out of her five hundred Chinese passengers and the captain had died during the voyage from Hong Kong.”

In 1866, the Pacific Mail Steamship Company (“PMSSC”) entered the cargo and passenger trade to and from the Orient. As the sole federal contract-carrier for US mail, the PMSSC became a key mover of goods and people and a key player in the growth of San Francisco, California.

“257. Pacific Mail Steamship Company’s Wharf” c. 1869 -1871. Photo and stereoview by Eadweard J. Muybridge (from a private collection). The Pacific Mail’s wharf at the foot of Brannan Street in San Francisco at the approximate location of its old Pier 36. This was the first waterside view of the city for virtually every Chinese immigrant making landfall in San Francisco.

For the first six decades of the Chinese diaspora to the US, the sheds provided the first experience for every Chinese immigrant on California soil.

“Chinese Emigration to America,” no date. Illustrator unknown (from the collection of the Bancroft Library). This illustration shows life aboard a Pacific Mail Steamship Co. ship making the passage from China to San Francisco.

Amidst the Gold Rush and burgeoning industries like mining, agriculture, and construction, Chinese immigrants from southern China flocked to California. The PMSSC’s sheds, located along San Francisco’s waterfront, played a crucial role in handling cargo, passengers, and immigrants who arrived via steamships. Serving as pivotal infrastructure, they provided storage space for goods, customs processing areas, and waiting areas for passengers.

Pacific Mail Steamship Co. dock, c. 1864- 1872. Photograph by Carlton Watkins, probably derived from Watkins Mammoth Plate CEW 611. (from a private collection, the Roy D. Graves Pictorial Collection, Bancroft Library; and the San Francisco National Maritime Museum). In this elevated view east from Rincon Hill to the Pacific Mail dock, sidewheel steamer vessels identified by the SF National Maritime Museum as the SS Colorado (built in 1865 and scrapped in 1879), the steamer SS Senator at right (1865-1882), and various sailing ships are seen with Yerba Buena Island in the background. The Oriental Warehouse (built 1867 and still standing at 650 Delancey Street) is at left. The opensfhistory.org site identifies the three-part wooden structure at center as the Occidental Warehouse, used for grain storage, with blacksmith and boiler shops to the left. Ads for C.C. Hastings & Co. Clothing at Lick House can be seen on the fence.

Even as the Gold Rush waned, the PMSSC initiated in 1867 the first regularly scheduled trans-Pacific steamship service, connecting San Francisco with Hong Kong, Yokohama, and later, Shanghai. This route facilitated an influx of Japanese and Chinese immigrants, enriching California’s cultural diversity.

Pacific Mail Steamship Co. docks, c. 1871. Photograph by Carleton Watkins (from a private collection).

“Disembarking.” Painting by Jake Lee (from the collection of the Chinese Historical Society of America). In this watercolor, one among a suite of paintings commissioned by Johnny Kan for his then-new Kan’s Restaurant on San Francisco’s Grant Avenue in Chinatown, artist Jake Lee depicted a stylized unloading of mostly male passengers at the Pacific Mail Steamship Co. wharf in San Francisco.

When a ship dropped anchor at the dock in San Francisco, the emigrants finally set foot on American soil. A journalist for the Atlantic Monthly in 1869 described the debarkation of 1,272 Chinese as follows:

"… a living stream of the blue coated men of Asia, bearing long bamboo poles across their shoulders, from which depend packages of bedding, marring, clothing, and things of which we know neither the names nor the uses, pours down the plank…. They appear to be of an average age of twenty-five years… and though somewhat less in stature than Caucasians, healthy, active and able bodied to a man. As they come down upon the wharf, they separate into messes or gangs of ten, twenty, or thirty each, being recognized through some to us incomprehensible free-masonry system of signs by the agents of the Six Companies as they come, are assigned places on the long broad shedded wharf [to await inspection by the customs officers]."

A detail from the "Bancroft's Official Guide Map of San Francisco" of 1873. The lower right corner of the image locates the Pacific Mail Steamship Co. pier at the foot of First Street (at Townsend) running in a southeasterly direction. According to local historian Garold Haynes, "that was before the seawall realignment of the waterfront in the late 1870s."

“Chinese Immigrants by The San Francisco Custom House” Harper’s Weekly, February 1877. Illustration by artist Paul Frenzeny (from the collection of the Library of Congress). Chinese immigrants wait for processing in the Pacific Mail Steamship Co.’s sheds while more arrivals from China disembark from the gangway seen in the background.

For many of the immigrants arriving on Pacific Mail steamships, the sheds served as the initial point of contact with the United States. Additionally, the sheds served as immigration processing areas, where Chinese immigrants underwent inspections and screenings. The sheds were a crowded and unsanitary place. Immigrants were often forced to wait for days in the sheds before they could be processed. They were also subjected to medical examinations and interrogations by immigration officials.

As the Atlantic Monthly writer described in 1869 described after each group passed through customs, “. . .They are turned out of the gates and hurried away toward the Chinese quarters of the city hv the agents of the Six Companies. Some go in wagons, more on foot, and the streets leading up that way arc lined with them, running in 'Indian file' and carrying their luggage suspended from the ends of the bamboo poles slung across their shoulders . . .”

In a political cartoon (c. 1888, based on the reference to the Republican Party presidential ticket of 1888 in the upper left corner of the image), Chinese immigrants stream off ships onto the wharves of the Pacific Mail Steamship Co. and the Canadian Pacific Steamship Co. and directly into the factories of San Francisco Chinatown and beyond. Illustrator unknown (from the collection of the Bancroft Library).

"New Arrivals." Date, location, and photographer unknown. The wagon on which the Chinese are riding, presumably having come directly from the Pacific Mail Steamship Co. wharf to San Francisco Chinatown, appears very similar to the 1877 configuration seen in the upper right corner of the preceding Harper's Weekly illustration.

The surge in Chinese immigration led to anti-Chinese sentiments, as reported in the illustrated magazines of the era. The arrival was often violent, as hoodlum elements would sometimes throw stones, potatoes and mud at the new immigrants. After the arrival in Chinatown, the newcomers were temporarily billeted in the dormitories of the Chinese district associations (citing Rev. Augustus W. Loomis, “The Chinese Six Companies,” Overland Monthly, os. v. 1 (1868), pp. 111-117).

“Hoodlums” Pelting Chinese Emigrants On Their Arrival At San Francisco” c. 1870s. Illustrator unknown (from a private collection). A rough sketch of the Pacific Mail Steamship Co. sheds appears in the background.

In San Francisco, local efforts to stop Chinese immigrants moved beyond the sheds and onto the arriving ships, which often became the focal points for Chinese litigants in the local and federal courts.

For example, in August of 1874, the Pacific Mail Steamship Company’s vessel Japan arrived in San Francisco carrying around 90 Chinese women. The Commissioner of Immigration boarded the ship and conducted interviews with about 50 to 60 of these women. From his inquiries, he concluded that 22 of them had been brought to San Francisco for “immoral purposes,” as reported by the Daily Alta California on August 6, 1874. When the Pacific Mail Steamship Company refused to provide the necessary bonds, the Commissioner instructed the ship’s master to keep the 22 women on board.

Pacific Mail Steam Ship Company’s Steamer, Japan, c. 1868. Print created by Endicott & Co. (New York, N.Y.), Menger, L. R., publisher (from the collection of The Huntington Library). Junks in the foreground, and, to the left in the background, Hong Kong’s Victoria Peak with semaphore at top appears in the background, center right. The SS Japan is flying the American flag from its stern, a Pacific Mail house-flag from the middle mast, and a pennant with the vessel’s name from the aft mast. A flag flying from the first mast appears to be a red dragon on a yellow field. Print includes vessel statistics and the name of the builder, Henry Steers.

Promptly, attorneys representing the detained women sought legal recourse by requesting a writ of habeas corpus from the state District Court in San Francisco. For two days, legal representatives from various parties engaged in debates over whether the Commissioner’s authority under the law was valid and whether the so-called “Chinese maidens” were indeed involved in prostitution. Reverend Mr. Gibson, who claimed expertise in this area, confidently asserted that Chinese prostitutes could be easily identified by their attire and behavior, likening the distinction to that between courtesans and respectable women in the city. He concluded that only half of the women were destined for prostitution. Ultimately, the District Court ruled that all the women should remain detained and ordered them to stay on the ship.

Shortly before the ship Japan was set to depart, the County Sheriff boarded and brought the 22 women ashore based on a writ of habeas corpus issued by the California Supreme Court. Two weeks later, Justice McKinstry, in a brief opinion on behalf of the court in Ex Parte Ah Fook, 49 Cal 402 (1874), affirmed the lower court’s decision, validating the Commissioner’s authority as a legitimate exercise of the state’s police power.

“258. Steamship Japan in California Dry Dock, Hunter’s Point, San Francisco”c. 1869. A side view of the steamship Japan of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company at the dry dock at Hunters Point. Photograph by Thomas Houseworth (from the Marilyn Blaisdell Collection). The ship would become the setting for a controversial habeas corpus case involving the entry of 22 Chinese women over the objections of state authorities in the case of Ex Parte Ah Fook, 49 Cal 402 (1874).

A third writ of habeas corpus presented the matter to the United States Circuit Court, presided over by Justice Stephen J. Field and Judge Ogden Hoffman. During the oral arguments, Justice Field made it clear that he wouldn’t dismiss constitutional arguments as easily as the state Supreme Court had, emphasizing the principle of equal treatment for citizens and non-citizens.

The Pacific Mail Steamship Co. derrick and coal yard in San Francisco, c. 1871. Photograph by Carleton Watkins (from the collection of the California Historical Society).

In the ruling, Justice Field discharged the petitioners, stating that California’s statute surpasses a state’s legitimate police power and violates the principle of “the right of self-defense.” He noted that the statute could exclude individuals who posed no immediate threat to the state. Judge Hoffman, in a concurring opinion, went further, suggesting that the states should have no control over immigration due to the exclusive nature of the commerce clause.

Although the Circuit Court decision released the Chinese women, while limiting the state’s power over Chinese entry, the Japan case reinvigorated California’s efforts to deter Chinese immigration. The influx of Chinese immigrants coupled with high unemployment in the late 1870s allowed Dennis Kearney of the Workingmen’s Party to target the Chinese as scapegoats. The “Chinese must go” movement gained traction, with both the Republican and Democratic parties adopting anti-Chinese stances.

The Pacific Mail Steamship Co.’s wharf in San Francisco. Photograph by Carleton Watkins (from the collection of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco).

During the San Francisco Riot of 1877, the sandlot mob attacked the wharves of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, because this shipping line represented the primary mode of transportation for America-bound Chinese immigrants headed to California. Although the steamships were not burned, the wharves were partially wrecked. Rioters also burned the lumber and hay yards adjacent to the Pacific Mail wharves.

“The Anti-Chinese Wall – The American Wall Goes Up as the Chinese Original Goes Down.” Illustration by Friedrich Graetz in Puck of March 29, 1883 (v. 11, no. 264). The cartoon portrays a multi-ethnic coalition gathered on the wharf to halt Chinese immigration in the aftermath of the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act in May 1882.

California was able to transfer its racial grievances and resentments to the national stage, culminating in the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882. This marked a turning point in the history of Chinese immigration and had profound effects on the Chinese-American community. The Act severely restricted Chinese immigration to the United States.

The use the PMSSC’s sheds posed significant challenges to federal and state attempts to enforce the Exclusion Act (and its punitive extension in the Geary Act of 1892), against all Chinese, regardless of birth or immigration status.

As an article in the San Francisco Call of May 12, 1900, details, the chaotic scene at the Pacific Mall dock where Chinese immigrants disembarked from the ship Coptic was typical for that era. In the Coptic case, federal officials were observed allowing the landing of alleged "coolies" despite the spirit of the exclusion act, causing outrage. The detention shed, initially meant for temporary housing, had become a long-term residence for over 370 Chinese immigrants, generating substantial profit for the PMSSC. The maintenance of this facility posed several concerns, including violations of health regulations and potential disease outbreaks. The Call decried the authorities' negligence in enforcing the law and highlighted the role of a Chinese "ring" in facilitating fraudulent practices and illegal immigration. With multiple ships arriving with more immigrants, the newspaper called for investigation and reform.

Headlines from the The Call of May 12, 1900, regarding the crowd of detained Chinese immigrants disembarked from the Pacific Mail ships Coptic and America Maru, the lack of security in the Pacific Mail sheds, and alleged immigration fraud.

Illustrations and photographs from the San Francisco Call of May 12, 1900, for its report about the crowd of detained Chinese immigrants disembarked from the Pacific Mail ships Coptic and America Maru, the lack of security in the Pacific Mail sheds, and alleged immigration fraud.

For Chinese and other immigrants and travelers from Asia, the transpacific journey, and even entering San Francisco Bay itself, posed hazards. The dangers were never more evident than in the case of the SS City of Rio de Janeiro. Launched in 1878, this steamship had been an essential component of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company's fleet. Its routes connected pivotal locations such as San Francisco, Honolulu, Yokohama, Japan, and Hong Kong, and the ship had played a role in America's expansion into the Far East and the Pacific in the aftermath of the Civil War and during the Spanish American War.

“A Thousand Boys in Blue S.S. Rio de Janeiro bound for Manila” copyright 1898. Published by M.H. Zahner (from the collection of the Robert Schwemmer Maritime Library). Built by John Roach & Son in 1878 at Chester, Pennsylvania, this vessel had served as a vital link between Asia and San Francisco, regularly transporting passengers and cargo. This stereograph shows its charter by the federal government for use as a military troop transport during the Spanish American War.

On the morning of February 22, 1901, the SS City of Rio de Janeiro commenced its approach to the Golden Gate and the entrance to San Francisco Bay. They had sailed with a crew that was mostly Chinese. History indicates that approximately 201 people were aboard the Rio de Janeiro, as follows: Cabin passengers 29; second cabin, 7; steerage (Chinese and Japanese), 68; white officers, 30; Chinese crewmen, 77. Of the Chinese crewmen, only two spoke English and Chinese. During the long voyage, the ship’s officer gave orders by using signs and signals. The ship’s equipment and lifeboat launching apparatus appeared to be in good working order and were capable of being lowered in less than five minutes.

Near the location of the future location of the Golden Gate Bridge, tragedy struck as the SS City of Rio de Janeiro. In the dense morning fog that obscured the surroundings, the ship collided with jagged rocks on the southern side of the strait, near Fort Point. The vessel’s non-watertight bulkheads led to rapid and unstoppable flooding. In a mere ten minutes, the SS City of Rio de Janeiro succumbed to the relentless forces of the sea.

The majority of the passengers, many of whom were Chinese and Japanese emigrants in steerage, were caught unaware in their cabins as the ship sank. The toll was staggering, with 128 lives lost out of the 210 souls on board. Of the 98 Asians reportedly on board the ill-fated ship, only 15 passengers were rescued, and 41 Chinese crewmen survived.

The SS City of Rio de Janeiro in Nagasaki, Japan, c. 1894. Photographer unknown (from the collection of the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park). The ill-fated ship, which transported passengers and cargo between Asia and San Francisco, sank seven years later after running into rocks near the present site of the Golden Gate Bridge. The never-salvaged shipwreck rests 287 feet underwater.

The sinking of the SS City of Rio de Janeiro represented the deadliest maritime disaster at the San Francisco Bay's entrance, forever etching its name in the annals of maritime history as the “Titanic of the Golden Gate,” drawing a sad parallel to another infamous shipwreck. Today, the case serves as a reminder of the unpredictable forces of nature and the inherent dangers of maritime travel to which thousands of Chinese immigrants and other Asian travelers subjected themselves to gain a better life in America.

"Chinese Passengers on Deck, 1900–15," enroute to Hawaii. Photographer unknown (from the collection of the Hawaii State Archives). Chinese passengers, some eating from rice bowls, crowd the deck of a steamship. After the Exclusion Acts, the numbers of Chinese voyaging to the US had decreased sharply.

Despite reduced immigration due to the passage of successive exclusion acts in 1882 and 1892, the PMSSC's sheds remained operational, their purpose shifting from off-loading immigrants to facilitating trade and commerce between the east and west coasts of the US.

The Pacific Mail Steamship shed on the San Francisco waterfront at the turn of the century. Photograph attributed to Arnold Genthe. Located at the former pier 36, where Brannan Street runs into the Embarcadero, the immigration station was moved to Angel Island in 1910. Pier 36, the last of the docks at Brannan was torn down in 2012. In just one year, 1852, 25,000 Chinese entered California for the Gold Rush and other opportunities. Chinese America began here.

The convergence of the Central Pacific and Union Pacific railroads in Utah in 1869, had started the process of eroding the Pacific Mail's profitability on the Panama-to-San Francisco route over the ensuing decades, eventually leading to the sale or redirection of many of its ships to other routes.

The Pacific Mail Steamship Co. offices on the southeast corner of Market and First streets in downtown San Francisco, c. 1896. Photographer unknown (from a private collection).

The landscape changed drastically in 1906, when a devastating earthquake and subsequent fire struck San Francisco, including the PMSSC’s wharf facilities. Although destroyed during 1906 disaster, the PMSSC’s sheds were rebuilt shortly thereafter. The sheds continued to be used for detaining and interrogating Chinese immigrants until the opening of immigration station facilities on Angel Island in 1910 for the processing Chinese and other immigrants.

A detail from the August Chevalier Map of 1915. The PMSSC sheds were located on Pier 36 at the intersection of Brannan and First Street.

The legacy of the PMSSC’s sheds, intertwined with their role at the inception of Chinese immigration to California and the US, is deeply rooted in San Francisco's maritime and Chinese American history. Both the company's operations and the experiences of the first wave of the Chinese diaspora arriving on American shores by steamships will remain forever part of the socio-economic dynamics of 19th-century San Francisco and the American West.

“Chinese Immigrants by the San Francisco Custom House” c. 1877. Detail of the magazine cover illustration by artist Paul Frenzeny for the Harper’s Weekly (from the collection of the New York Public Library.

[updated 2023-10-17]

#Pacific Mail Steamship Co.#Pacific Mail sheds #Chinese immigration detention #Carleton Wtakins #Paul Frenzeny #Harper's Weekly #SS Japan #In re Ah Fook #Stephen Field #Eadweard Muybridge #Pier 36 San Francisco

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pakkiyick · 7 months ago

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Trip to Baltic and Poland (6th – 21st Sep, 2023)

As for me, Europe is a fantastic wonderland steeped with mesmerizing history and culture. This is the reason why I would love to travel there again and again. Over the past decade or so, I had traveled to Europe every September until the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic in 2019. As the new coronavirus ravaged the world, the citizen’s freedom of travel was strictly restricted. My yearly trip to Europe was forced to be postponed due to the worldwide plague. It was not until last year when the border was eventually reopened following the ease of epidemic. It had been nearly four years since I had last set foot on the European continent. Having been to many countries throughout western Europe, I planned to have a short trip to the eastern part of the same continent in 2023. Seeing that there was no sign of the end of the Russo-Ukrainian War, it seemed to me that neither Russia nor Ukraine was a safe travel destination. Some low profile countries with relatively low risk of military conflict were under my consideration. In early September 2023, I decided to take a two-week excursion to the three Baltic states and Poland to continue my journey of exploration in European history and culture.

Organizing a self-guided tour can be a thrilling yet challenging endeavor, which involves investing a large amount of time and energy to coordinate every single detail of your trip. It is such a time consuming and frustrating task to customize an ideal itinerary for a budget tight traveler, from reserving plane tickets and booking hotel accommodations to arranging local transportation and ordering sightseeing tours. Even though you can now finish all the above-mentioned preparation work online, you still need to spend much time and effort to compare the prices and services from different service providers to make sure that you are getting the best value for your money. No matter how thoroughly you have planned your travelling schedules to the last detail, there are always some insurmountable situations beyond your control.

My original travel route was to fly from Hong Kong to Estonia, then headed south to Latvia, Lithuania and then finally up to Poland. It was certainly the most efficient and cost-effective way to travel around the Baltic region together with its neighboring country Poland. Unfortunately, my travel plan did not turn out as I had expected when all the flights were called off because a tropical cyclone made landfall in Hong Kong on the exact same day of my departure. The unpredictable inclement weather was the last thing I could handle with. My entire itinerary was disrupted by an unexpected bad weather. I had no choice but to reschedule my travel itinerary and due to this sudden change of flight, some surcharge was unavoidably incurred. It really cost me an arm and a leg since I had to pay a few more thousand Hong Kong dollars for flight changing and any other issues related to it. Not only did I need to rebook the air tickets and the hotel accommodations, but also to rearrange my preorder local tours. What was worse was that my insurance covered nothing of the aforementioned costs. I always have an impression that the insurance companies can justify their reasons of refusal of reimbursement on every occasion. It was quite a terrible experience that I will not trust the insurers which were recommended by the airlines.

Geographically, the three small Baltic states belong to the Northern Europe; however, politically speaking, they had long been subjugated to the totalitarian rule of an Eastern European power, the Soviet Union, which made them members of the Eastern European family. Until now, the Baltic nations are still more or less under the sphere of influence of mighty Russia. Hence, the livelihood of the Baltic citizens is substantially influenced by the political situation of Eastern Europe. Undeniably, Poland is an eastern European nation state in either terms of geography or politics. Similar to the Baltic States, Poland had once been a vassal state to the USSR some thirty years ago. Up to now, Poland has remained wary of Russia’s westward expansion. The national security of Poland has been threatened by the aggressive ambition of its eastern neighbor for centuries. Sharing the similar historical background and ethnic traditions, all four aforementioned nations have developed a particular way of life deserving every traveler to explore and appreciate.

Located east of the Baltic Sea and south of the Gulf of Finland are three nations that make up the Baltic states in northeastern Europe. Estonia is the northernmost country of the Baltics with the smallest territory and the least population among the three. The territory of this northern Baltic nation is sixteen times larger than that of Hong Kong whereas the population of the former is just one-fifth that of the latter. Though it is only a petite country with limited natural resources, Estonia has tried hard to integrate its economy into the European market after the collapse of the Soviet Union and regained independence in 1991. In the present day, Estonia has a similar level of GDP to its Baltic counterparts Latvia and Lithuania. Named the most digitally advanced society in the globe, Estonia was the first country in the world to hold legally binding general elections where voters cast ballots online. It is also believed that the Estonians enjoy a comparatively high standard of living since Estonia has the highest Human Development Index (HDI) and lowest Gini Coefficient amongst the three Baltic nations. As a Eurozone member and a member of OECD, Estonia is now regarded as a high-income developed country with a fast growing economy that has led it to be ranked eighth in terms of economic freedom among 176 countries in 2024.

Situated in the middle of two countries, Latvia shares a northern border with Estonia and a southern border with Lithuania. In spite of the fact that the land area and population of Latvia are 40% and 30% larger than that of Estonia, respectively, the GDP per capita of the former is 15% lower than that of the latter. Riding the waves of the Soviet Union's disintegration, Latvia reclaimed its sovereignty in the same year as the independence of Estonia in 1991. Following a similar path of economic transformation of Estonia, Latvia enthusiastically joined Western economic institutions such as World Trade Organization (WTO), OECD and the European Union (EU). Undergoing a transition to market economy since more than 30 years from now, Latvia's economy is still the worst among the three Baltic States and one of the worst in all of Europe. Though classified as a developed country with a high-income advanced economy, Latvia had the third lowest GDP per inhabitant in the European Union in 2023. Due to poor economic performance and comparatively high unemployment rate, the average gross salary of the Latvians is the lowest in the Baltic region.

As the southernmost nation of the Baltics, Lithuania is the largest country among the three both by territory and population size. Lithuania has slightly more land area than Latvia but has 1.5 times the population. After the downfall of the Soviet regime, Lithuania redeemed its sovereignty and made exceptional efforts to incorporate its economy into the capitalist world system. With the swift implementation of a number of liberal reforms, Lithuania transitioned from a centrally planned to a market economy. Following its return to independence in 1991, Lithuania's GDP has expanded by more than 500%, making it the bellwether of the Baltic Tigers. Together with two Baltic neighbors, Lithuania joined the European Union in 2004 and adopted euro as its currency in 2015. Given its huge labour force and relatively low unemployment rate, Lithuania's GDP per capita has surpassed that of the other two Baltic States. With the substantial improvement of the national economy, the quality of life of the Lithuanians has been greatly improved. As such it is not surprising that, Lithuanians under the age of thirty are the happiest youth in the world, according to the 2024 World Happiness Report.

Located south of the Baltic Sea, Poland is the ninth largest country in Europe in terms of territory. The overall land area of Poland is nearly double the size of all three Baltic nations put together. Poland has a population that is over six times larger than the combined population of the three Baltic states. The political transformation trajectory of Poland was a bit different from the that of aforesaid Baltic countries because the democratic Third Polish Republic was established just before the end of the year 1989 when the communist Russia had not yet been overthrown. The liberation of Poland marked the beginning of the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Along with a series of economic liberalization and privatization that started in the early 1990s, Poland has gradually become a developed capitalist country with a rapidly growing economy. Today, Poland has the fifth highest national GDP (PPP) of all EU countries, producing six times the total GDP of all three Baltic nations. Similar to other eastern European countries, Poland has become members of several intergovernmental organizations, including the WTO, OECD, NATO, and the EU. Becoming a full member of the European Union for twenty years, Poland has still refused to accept the euro as its currency. Based on the latest Gini coefficient, the gap between the rich and the poor is smaller in Poland than in the Baltic region. It seems that the problem of income inequality is less severe in Poland than in the Baltics.

Day One - Tallinn: KGB Vangikongid (ibis Vilnius Centre, 3-star hotel)

Resting on the northern coast of Estonia, Tallinn is an exquisite coastal city overlooking the picturesque Gulf of Finland. Said to have been established in the former half of the 13th century, the city has regarded as a cultural hub of historic significance in Northern Europe for hundreds of years. Viewed as one of Europe's best-preserved medieval cities, Tallinn Old Town was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997. In 2011, Tallinn was even crowned as the European Capital of Cultural. Due to its strategic location by the Baltic Sea, Tallinn became the northernmost member city of the Hanseatic League, a long-standing medieval trading monopoly that controlled trade over the Baltic Sea for several hundred years. In the following centuries, this low-key medieval seaport gradually developed to be an influential commercial centre in the Baltic region. As of today, with a population of less than half a million inhabitants and a territory only about a hundred and a half square kilometers, Tallinn is the current national capital and most populous city of Estonia. With its little population size and limited territory, the country’s capital seems like a small town instead of a bustling city. But don't let the small town feel fool you. Tallin is the financial centre of Estonia, generating more than half of the country's GDP. Many people may not know that Tallinn is also the home base of numerous multinational high-tech businesses, including Skype, one of the world’s notable telecommunications applications. With its fascinating history and innovative technology, Tallinn is a true hidden gem in Baltic region, making it a captivating destination to explore.

From the moment I stepped foot in Tallinn airport, I was deeply attracted by its minimalist interior design. Compared with other international airports in Europe, the size of Tallinn airport is relatively compact in size. Tiny as it may seem, all airport facilities were in place and fully functional, providing passengers a pleasant and comfortable flight experience. So small is the capital that no mass rapid transit is available. Bus transportation is the only means of public transport from and to the downtown of Tallinn. Leaving the airport lobby, I took a bus to get to my very first destination in Baltics.

To the younger generation, the abbreviation KGB is a term that they may not be so familiar with. But for those who are acquainted with the history of Cold War, this three-letter contraction is a synonym of secret and terror to them. The KGB (Committee for State Security) was the principal intelligence agency for the Soviet Union from 1954 until its dissolution in 1991. Once regarded as the biggest espionage and secret police agency during the Cold War, the KGB was principally in charge of public surveillance, military advancement, and internal security. Hosted on the top floor of Hotel Viru, KGB Vangikongid (Hotel Viru KGB Museum) was used as a radio station to spy on guests to the hotel. Currently the 23rd floor of the hotel is now served as a historical museum offering visitors a unique glimpse into clandestine activities during the Soviet era. Admission to the museum is only available to visitors who book a one-hour long guided tour. The well-informed tour guide would tell engrossing tales of KGB’s covert operations by showcasing a wide array of surveillance tools, such as hidden microphones, disguised cameras and eavesdropping devices. As a large portion of the original Soviet-era furnishings are still in place, visitors are allowed to see the authentic bugged rooms and espionage equipment used by the KGB agents. Hotel Viru KGB Museum is a true treasure trove that unfold the dark history of the Soviet KGB, making it a must-go destination for those who interested in seeking the spy history during Cold War.

Leaving the old secret service building, I hurried to my second stop of the day early in the afternoon. Located right at the historical old town, Great Guild Hall is a magnificent Gothic-style building dating back more than 600 years of history. Somewhat like a trade union of today, a medieval guild was an association of merchants and artisans who shared common goals. The function of guilds was to regulate the practice of trade in a particular region in order to promote economic interests and provide mutual protection. The site was originally a guild for medieval merchants to hold business meetings, discuss trade agreements and resolve commercial disputes. In the present day, it houses the Estonian History Museum revealing the absorbing story of trade and cultural developments in medieval northern Europe. Seen as a quintessential representation of medieval Tallinn architecture, the Great Guild Hall was one of the first sites to be awarded the European Heritage Label in 2013.

Just a stone's throw away from the guild hall, an impressive Eastern Orthodox cathedralisconspicuously erected at the top of the Toompea Hill. St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral is a hundred-year-old Russian Church consecrated in 1900. The five iconic onion shaped domes of the basilica make it a sight to behold. Proudly claimed as the largest cupola church of the city, no one would disagree that this well-preserved cathedral is one of the most striking examples of Orthodox sacred architecture in Tallinn. Despite its impeccable exterior, the interior decoration is not as thrilling as one might think. There is no entrance fee for the church, but taking photos is strictly prohibited inside.

Not far away from the cathedral are two viewing platforms located up high on Toompea Hill. One is Patkuli viewing platform; the other is Kohtuotsa viewing platform. Overlooking the idyllic old town of Tallinn, sightseers can enjoy a fairytale view of characteristic orange-red rooftops and distinctive towering spires from either platform. These viewpoints are must-visit spots for those who want to soak in the beauty of the old town Tallinn.

Due to the sudden change of my original travel schedule, it was necessary for me to temporarily depart from this lovely city for a week or so. Taking a half hour bus ride, I reached the airport safe and sound late in the afternoon. Supposing that neither food nor drinks would be served on a one-hour flight, I hastily grabbed a couple of croissants and some sips of carbonate water before boarding. Though my flight had delayed for over half an hour, I was lucky enough to make it to the hotel in my next destination without incident before midnight.

Day Two - Vilnius: Trakai Historical National Park (ibis Vilnius Centre, 3-star hotel)

Positioned at the confluence of the Vilnia and Neris Rivers, Vilnius has sometimes been considered the mathematical centre of Europe, mainly on account of its geographical location. Notwithstanding there are other European cities claiming to be the centre of the continent based on different methods of calculation, Vilnius has usually been regarded as the symbolic centre of Europe by its cultural and historical significance. Deemed to be one of the largest and best-maintained old towns in Europe, the Old Town of Vilnius has been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List for 30 years. Vilnius has also earned the moniker “Rome of the North” for a large number of Catholic churches and monasteries found in the city, exuding a strong religious atmosphere and classic charm. In 2009, Vilnius was the first city in Lithuania to hold the praiseworthy title of European Capital of Culture, two years before Tallinn to gain the same designation. With over half a million inhabitants, which is equivalent to one-fifth of the total population of Lithuania, Vilnius is the modern-day capital and most populous city of the country. With a GDP per capita of over thirty thousand euros, Vilnius is the wealthiest city in Lithuania and the second-wealthiest city in the Baltic region after Tallinn. Serving as the political, cultural, and economic centre of the country for over seven hundred years, Vilnius is a vibrant, historically significant city that successfully combines its medieval heritage with contemporary development, making it a popular travel destination for tourists from all over the world.

As far as I am concerned, the true beauty of Europe can be reflected in two major aspects. One is the spectacular traditional architectures emanating an atmosphere of ethereal past of the continent. The second is the breathtaking natural landscape radiating a feeling of tranquility and serenity. Trakai Historical National Park is a place where combines the beauty of historical buildings with fabulous natural surroundings. About an hour and a half bus ride from my hotel, including the interchanging time to reach the central bus station, I arrived at the historic city of Trakai which is sited roughly 28 kilometers to the west of Vilnius. As soon as I got off the bus, in the distance I spotted an orange gothic medieval castle lied on a small island on the other side of a bridge. Encompassed by a lake of sparkling blue water, Trakai Island Castle stood out from the surroundings. On the day I visited, the weather was splendid as the sky was completely clear without a single cloud. The water and the sky merge in one color, the incredible natural scenery with the backdrop of the Island Castle was just beyond description. The Trakai History Museum has been housed in the castle for over six decades, presenting medieval relics and narrating glorious tales of Trakai. It is a place where visitors can discover every detail of Trakai's distinctive past.

After munching a few bites of chicken pie and downing some water, I left for my next stop in Trakai, Peninsula Castle. As one of the largest and important defensive architectures in Lithuania during the Medieval Ages, Peninsula Castle had experienced a riveting history since it was first built six hundred years prior. The castle was initially constructed as a fortress to defend against attacks from the enemies in the mid-14th century, and then was remodeled to be used as a ducal residence when it lost its military function in the early 15th century. In the early 16th century, the castle served as a jail for high-profile opponents of the country. By the end of the 17th century, the land was granted to a Dominican cloister. Today, the castle plays a role to tell a fascinating piece of history about Trakai.

Upon departing the Peninsula Castle, I inadvertently strolled to a modest carriage house. Karaites Ethnographic Museum is a delicate museum that documents the history of the Karaites, a Jewish sect originated a thousand years ago. The museum amasses a substantial and remarkable collection of paintings, weapons, records, and household tools which provides insight into the history, traditions and daily lives of the Karaites. As the population of Karaites dwindles to a meager few, so does its culture. This ethnographic museum is one of the few places where guests can take a glimpse into everyday life of the Karaites.

After arriving back in the old town, I rushed over to the next destination before nightfall. Founded in a 17th-century baroque-style house, Gintaro Muziejus-Galerija (Amber Museum-Gallery) is a specialized museum for a kind of alluring gemstone, amber. Also known as succinite, amber is a fossilized tree resin that has been subjected to geological processes for millions of years. Occasionally, tiny plant fragments or insects can become stuck in the resin, resulting in preservation of ancient life. Its archaeological importance and glaring beauty make it extremely valuable. This terrific gem is frequently used to create jewelry and other ornaments since it comes in a variety of colors. The largest amber deposit known to exist is found in the Baltic Region. The amber in Lithuania even referred to as “Gold of Lithuania”. The museum features a unique collection of amber pieces with authentic inclusions. The cellar of the museum presents the history of Baltic amber dating back to millions of years ago. As an amateur fossil enthusiast, I was lucky enough to get a chance to examine the enigmatic and legendary amber up close.

Passing through the Bernardine Garden, a public park positioned at the left bank of the Vilnia River, I came to a lively and enthralling neighborhood late in the evening. The name Užupis means "beyond the river" in the Lithuanian language. As its name suggests, this isolated and placid borough was built on the other side of the River Vilnia. About a quarter of century ago, on the first of April (April Fool’s Day), Užupis sarcastically proclaimed its independence as a republic, possessing its own flag, currency, president and constitution. But, of course, Užupis is not a real republic in the political sense; it is just an arty community in the middle of the city. If Užupis were recognized as an independence state by international community, it would be the second smallest country in the world after Vatican City.

The constitution of Užupis may seem a little quirky at first glance, but upon closer consideration it becomes thought-provoking and convincing. For example, according to Article 3, declares that “Everyone has the right to die, but this is not an obligation.”. It is quite true that survival is a right, not a responsibility.

Užupis was once among the city's most abandoned zone, but today it is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and has grown into an exclusive municipality filled with Bohemian and laissez-faire atmosphere. As the whole community is filled with artistic atmosphere, one artist is found for every seven inhabitants in this locality.

Among the many of art pieces found in the area, the most eye-catching one must be the statue of a trumpet-blowing angel erected in the main square. The Angel of Užupis was made in honor of the district's fifth anniversary of independence. Another noticeable sculpture is the Užupis Mermaid, situated on the bank of River Vilnia. Visitors can appreciate the secluded and tranquil river view while enjoying a cup of coffee in a café nearby.

Day Three - Vilnius: Gedimino Kalnas ir Aukstutines pilies muziejus (ibis Vilnius Centre, 3-star hotel)

As a thrifty traveler, my financial situation only permits me to take a two-week annual trip to Europe. In order to visit as many tourist attractions as possible in the time allotted and avoid squandering too much time on some unnecessary transportation, I am used to come up with a compact travel itinerary and try hard to stick to it. Not only can a thorough travel schedule lead you to explore more tourist spots and save a lot of money, but also make your trip more eventful and satisfying.

Waking up early in the morning, I set out for a trip in genial weather. Taking a leisurely promenade to the Old Town, I found a pure white massive neoclassical structure gracefully erected on the ground. Arkikatedra Bazilika (Vilnius Cathedral) is one of the oldest Lithuanian churches in the city, dedicating to two Christian saints, St Stanislaus and St Ladislaus. This shrine serves as both the final resting place for numerous prominent Lithuanian figures and the heart of Catholic spiritual life in the country. Another iconic building found around the square is a 57-metre-high bell tower located right next to the cathedral. The tall towering tower and the massive magnificent minster looked particularly pulchritudinous against the azure sky and white clouds.

Placed right at the city centre, a bleach white building stands erect across from the Lukiškės Square, the largest square in Vilnius. The Okupacijų ir laisvės kovų muziejus (Museum of Occupations and Freedom Fights) mainly features documents, photographs, maps and personal belongings pertaining to the 50-year occupation of Lithuania by the Soviet Union. Housed in what was once the KGB headquarters, this place is sometimes informally referred to as the KGB Museum. The KGB is perceived to be the most fearsome secret organization of the Soviet Union during the second half of the 20th century. It was always accused to commit the crimes against humanity, including interrogation, torture, and execution. The museum building is divided into different sections, which focus on showcasing the atrocities committed by the KGB agents. Some historians even believed that some KGB operatives constituted a genocide in Lithuania during the Soviet reign. If anyone who is interested in learning more about the history of the Lithuanian resistance against the Soviet occupation, you are advised to spend five euros to buy a guidebook related to the subject matter in the museum.

In my experience of travel in Europe, most European capitals have their own national museums. I adore this kind of museums because I can review the local history through the primary source of historical materials. Such museums would not be missed by me unless time is of the essence. Claimed as the largest depository of Lithuanian historical cultural heritage in the country, Lietuvos Nacionalinis Muziejus (National Museum of Lithuania) is one of the oldest Lithuanian museums focused on the culture and history of the Lithuanian Grand Duchy. The history of the museum building can be dated back to as early as the mid-19th century. Not until some seventy years ago that the government converted it to a state-sponsored history museum encompassed a sizable collection of written materials and artifacts. Anyone who wishes to learn more about Lithuanian archaeology, history, and ethnic culture is welcome to visit the Lithuanian National Museum located next to Gediminas Hill.

After a short funicular ride up to the summit of the hill, I spotted a huge orange-red brick tower standing on peak of the mountain. Gedimino pilies bokštas (Gediminas Castle Tower) now serves as a subdivision of the Lithuanian National Museum. Upon climbing up the slender staircases of the tower, I saw a series of medieval weapons and a city model depicting the old city of Vilnius. On the top of the tower, there was a Lithuanian tricolor standing straight up like a guard, watching over the city of Vilnius day and night. This location is irrefutably the best spot to appreciate the sweeping panoramas of the city.

Taking a funicular down to the foot of the mountain, much to my surprise I came across a small museum with a presentation of prehistoric artefacts. Archeologijos Ekspozicija (Archaeology Exposition) is an exhibition hall showcasing an array of ancient relics, including clothing, jewellery, weapons, harvesting tools and other domestic items.

Nestled in a busy street only strolling distance away from the castle zone, Signatarų Namai (House of the Signatories) is an ivory white Neo-Renaissance style building housing another branch of the National Museum of Lithuania. Now operating as a history museum, it offers guests an intriguing peek into the time when the Act of Independence of Lithuania was signed a hundred years ago, on February 16, 1918. Following the third division of Poland-Lithuania by Tsarist Russia in 1795, the name of Lithuania had vanished from the global map. Having to wait for another 123 years, the present Republic of Lithuania was ultimately established towards the end of World War One in 1918. The House of Signatories chronicles the rebirth of the country and the reinstatement of Lithuania as an independent state.

Once I walked out the museum entrance, I proceeded straight down a street until I reached a place full of academic ambience. As I walked, I found myself was standing in front of the main gate of Vilnius University. As the first and largest university of Lithuania, Vilnius University is one of the most premier leading research institutions in Central and Eastern Europe. Being part of the university complex, the Church of St. Johns is a modest religious buildingwith a striking late Baroque architectural style. The interior is delicately furnished with an amazing altar and several superb stained-glass windows. Next to the church is a bell tower, which is one of the highest buildings of the Old Town with a height of 68 meters. The university buildings, the church and the bell tower formed an unexpectedly pleasant picture in the afterglow of the sunset.

Just a few steps from the St. John’s Church is the Prezidentūra (Presidential Palace), the present-day official office of the Lithuanian President. It is a white palace with a light green roof. In front of the palace is a fountain. Not far away from the fountain is a set of giant chess pieces, where you can play chess with your friends.

A short walk away from the President’s Office is Sv Onos Baznycia (St. Anne's Church). When I first saw such a majestic cathedral, I was inexplicably surprised. Consecrated around a half millennium ago, the imposing crimson-brick Gothic architecture is a well-known landmark that made the district eligible for inclusion on the UNESCO World Heritage list. A nice deep red brick tone adds to the structure's distinctive and alluring appearance. No wonder even a heroic emperor was impressed by the church. According to a widespread legend, so marvelous was the minster that Emperor Napoleon expressed his wish to carry the cathedral home with him to Paris in his palm when the French army was on its retreat to France after the Franco-Russian War of 1812.

A carefully thought-out travel schedule makes it easy to see several tourist attractions in a single day. I was fortunate enough to visit eight different tourist sites in the same neighborhood without much difficulty. A thorough preparation is the beginning of a successful journey.

Day Four - Vilnius: Lietuvos Didziosios Kunigaikstystes valdovu rumai (ibis Vilnius Centre, 3-star hotel)

Breakfasts at hotels are usually overpriced and lackluster. For a frugal traveler as I am, I always try to avoid booking a hotel with breakfast included in the room rate. However, sometimes breakfast is bundled into the price of lodging. Hotel guests have no choice but to pay for a pricey meal. That being said, there are always exceptions. The hotel I reserved in Vilnius was exceptionally good. The breakfasts served by the hotel were delectable with many of selections. As it was a buffet meal, guests were allowed to choose their favorite foods rather than being limited to a set menu. In the three days I stayed in Vilnius, I could have a sumptuous breakfast every morning before the start of the trip. I firmly believe that having a nutritious morning meal is great way to start the day.

Catching a flight to the next country early in the evening, I was only able to arrange two more attractions before my leaving Lithuania. It was quite a challenge to visit multiple locations within a brief time frame, especially when each of the attractions were not close to each other.

On the last day of my trip in Vilnius, there was only one place left that I had really wanted to pay a quick visit. Given that the royal palace is the place where the past ruling class resides, I have always held the opinion that touring a local palace is the finest way to understand the history of a country. Dating back to the 15th century, Lietuvos Didziosios Kunigaikstystes valdovu rumai (The Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania) served as a residence for Lithuanian rulers, embodying the opulence and historical depth of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In the years that followed, the palace was suffering serious damage from immense devastation by continuing military conflicts, including the Russo-Polish War (1654–1667) and the Great Northern War (1700–1721). After being painstakingly rebuilt in the late 20th century, the current building was restored to be a museum preserving the historical significance and cultural heritage of the Lithuanian state. As a protuberant landmark in Vilnius, the palace is absolutely the main focal point of the city.

Aside from topics pertaining to history and culture of Europe, I have a strong interest in studying science and technology. When I travelled abroad, I would make an effort to schedule some visit to local scientific museums. Hosted in a former power station, a 5000 square metre large venue is now the biggest technical museum in Lithuania. For celebrating the hundredth anniversary of the first power plant of Vilnius started working in 1903, Energetikos ir technikos muziejus (Energy and Technology Museum) was open to public some twenty years ago in 2003. The museum keeps the old power plant's facilities, such as generators, water pumps and control panel, etc. It is an interactive and family-friendly museum where parents and children are welcome to stroll around steam boilers, steam turbines and sophisticated pipelines to feel the essence of this kind of industrial establishment. Visitors are also allowed to walk up to the roof terrace to relish the perfect panorama view of the capital’s old town in all its spectacular glory.

Day Five - Warszawa: Palac na Wyspie (ibis budget Warszawa Reduta, 1-star hotel)

Founded as a de facto capital at the turn of the sixteenth and seventeenth century, Warsaw has been a city rich in history and culture. From its early days as a small fishing town to its current role as a central metropolitan area, this capital now ranks as the seventh most populous city in the European Union with more than 1.8 million of inhabitants. With ample awe-inspiring attractions that showcase its ancient and modern charm, Warsaw has always been an entrancing place to explore and its old town has been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Legend has it that once upon a time, a brave fisherman named Wars saved a beautiful mermaid called Sawa from an evil merchant. Expressing her gratitude to her lifesaver, Sawa promised to protect the city where Wars lived. The city was named after the combination of the two characters in this tale, Wars and Sawa. Since then sea mermaid has become the city’s coat of arms, and its statues are dotted throughout Warsaw. With only a quarter of Hong Kong’s population and less than half of its land area, Warsaw is still good enough to reckon as the major economic and financial centre of the Visegrád Group and the Three Seas Initiative, generating roughly one-fifth of Poland's GDP and national revenue. Today Warsaw is categorized as an alpha global city with a bustling metropolis and as one of the EU’s fastest-developing capitals.

Spending a lovely morning wandering a classical European park was an immersive sensory experience. As the biggest municipal park in Warsaw, Łazienki Park is a park-and-palace complex located at the downtown. Inside the park, you can explore palatial palaces, outstanding orangeries, terrific temples and many more which all highlighting the region’s rich history. It would be easy to have entire morning lingering about the awesome architectures and gorgeous gardens. The most prominent edifice in the park must be Pałac Na Wyspie (Palace on the Isle). What makes the palace special is that it is built on an artificial island surrounded by a tranquil lake and lush greenery. Under the sparkling sunlight, the shimmering water with the ravishing reflection of the fabulous palace makes the ambience of the place charismatic. Almost five million people visited the palace in 2019, placing it as the twelfth most popular palace and monument worldwide.

Originally constructed as a residence of the king's courtiers and later served as a guest house for prominent political figures, Pałac Myślewicki (Myślewicki Palace) is a remarkable rococo-neoclassical palace in the park. Over centuries this palace has hosted many influential politicians including French Emperor Napoleon I and U.S. President Richard Nixon.

As a branch of the Royal Łazienki Museum, the Museum of Hunting and Horsemanship is housed in two historic buildings dating back to the early 19th century. It is a place where visitors can explore the rich history of hunting traditions in Poland. Stajnie Kubickiego (Kubicki Stables) is an exhibition room showcasing an array of carriages and saddles. Cantonists’ Barracks features an assortment of stuffed forest animals alongside the hunting weapons which killed them.

Around noon, I bought a piece of waffle from a snack kiosk in the park and enjoyed my light meal on a bench. After lunch, my self-guided tour continued with a visit to an ivory cylinder-shaped water tower and an old orangery. Walking along the garden path, I found a gigantic bronze statue standing in front of me. Erected about a hundred years ago, the Frédéric Chopin Monument was once the world's tallest Chopin monument.

As the lungs of the city, Łazienki Park functions as an urban greenbelt for the local citizens, where people can share quality time with their friends and families. It is also a popular tourist destination where overseas visitors can feel the marvels of nature close at hand.

Having enjoyed a delightful morning at Łazienki Park, I headed back to the downtown area where I started my museum hunting in the afternoon.

If you ask a Pole who is most well-known individual in Polish history, he will probably answer you Frédéric Chopin. Dedicated to the most prestigious Polish composer and masterful pianist, Narodowy Instytut Fryderyka Chopina (Fryderyk Chopin Institute) is a contemporary biographical museum with a focus on the life and work of the genius musician. In addition to housing the original manuscripts written by the resourceful composer, there is a multimedia centre introducing the life and contributions of Chopin. It is an unmissable place for anyone who would like to learn about this piano master.

As one of the oldest art museums in the country and the largest national museum in the capital, Muzeum Narodowe w Warszawie (Warsaw National Museum) offers a huge collection of ancient art from Egyptian, Greek and Roman. Founded in the middle of the 19th century, the museum boasts its rich collection of exhibits from antiquity to the present day. What interested me the most was the ancient Egyptian collection, which included the sarcophagus, mummies and other ancient Egyptian artefacts. Anyone interested in learning more about the works of art from Poland and abroad, it is a site not to be missed.

Day Six - Warszawa: Palac w Wilanowie (ibis budget Warszawa Reduta, 1-star hotel)

Elegantly located in the southern district of the city of Warsaw, Wilanów Palace was once a summer royal residence of the Polish monarch, King John III Sobieski. With over three hundred years of history, this resplendent palace has been a witness to numerous pivotal moments in Polish history. The palace was damaged during the Nazi invasion and renovated after the Second World War. Today Wilanów palace is praised as the finest example of Polish Baroque architecture and drawing millions of visitors far and wide every year, making it the second most visited palace in Poland, after the Pałac Na Wyspie. Compared with Pałac Na Wyspie, Wilanów palace is even more stunning and dazzling. It is no wonder that this majestic mansion is sometimes referred to as “Polish Versailles”. It is undeniable that the garden is an indispensable part of a palace complex which cannot be overlooked. By the time I came to the front yard, I saw a rainbow appear right over the façade of the palace. Under a cloudless sunny blue sky, together with the colorful rainbow bridge, the whole lavish palace exuded an atmosphere of elegance and affluence.

As an amateur history enthusiast, I adore visiting different kinds of historical museums when I travel to a new place. Warsaw is a capital which is full of fascinating history and gruesome tales waiting to be explored. Poland was the first country invaded by the Nazi German army, signaling the start of the Second World War. Muzeum Powstania Warszawskiego (Warsaw Rising Museum) is dedicated to the Warsaw Uprising of 1944 when the Warsaw Home Army tried to liberate the capital from the Nazis. The resistance operation lasted for over two months, starting from the first of August until the second of October 1944. Despite the gallant resistance of the Polish armed forces, it was still no match for the well-trained and better-equipped German army. Tens of thousands of Polish soldiers lost their lives in combat, and hundreds of thousands of Polish civilians were slaughtered. The city of Warsaw was almost razed to the ground after the uprising. In commemoration of the sixtieth anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising, the museum was finally opened in July 2004. Different from the traditional museums, this interactive museum enables visitors to experience the cruel historical event just as they were in the scene with the Polish citizens at that time. Entering this museum is like going through a time tunnel where visitors can perceive the brutality of war in person.

Facing the Monument to the Ghetto Heroes in Warsaw, Muzeum Historii Zydow Polskich POLIN (POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews) is a rectangular-shaped cultural institution which committed to preserving a thousand-year-old history of Polish Jews. Spreading across eight galleries and occupying over 4,000 square metres, the museum offers a thorough historical and cultural tour that gives visitors a better understanding of Jewish history in Poland, especially Jewish life in Poland before and after the Holocaust. The exhibition includes some interactive features allowing visitors to experience the life of Polish Jews in those days. It is the only museum of that kind in Poland. If anyone would like to know more about life of Polish Jews, this museum is the place where you should not miss out visiting if in Warsaw.

In order to have a panoramic view of the city, many tourists always eager to climb up the highest point of their travel destinations. Standing at a total height of 237 metres, Palac Kultury I Nauki (Palace of Culture and Science) is the second tallest structure in Poland, after the Varso Tower. The so-called palace is a stunning high-rise building which was constructed in 1955 when Poland was still under Soviet domination. Designed as an iconic Soviet architecture style, the skyscraper was once nicknamed "Syringe" and "Russian Wedding Cake". Presently, the majestic multi-purpose building houses numerous civic and cultural institutions, including theatres, cinemas, libraries and university faculties. For most of the first time visitors to Warsaw, they would like to check out the viewing platform on the 30th floor where is the ideal location to admire the breathtaking cityscape from a height of 114 metres above the ground. These days, the Palace of Culture and Science is undoubtedly one of the most photographed attractions as well as the most symbolic landmark in Warsaw.

Day Seven - Warszawa: Zamek Krolewski (ibis budget Warszawa Reduta, 1-star hotel)

Located at the very heart of the city centre, Zamek Królewski w Warszawie (Royal Castle in Warsaw) is an architectural gem that holds great historical significance. Initially built in the late 16th century, this royal castle has experienced multiple destructions and reconstructions throughout its existence. Formerly served as the official residence of the Polish monarchs in the medieval times and the seats of the Polish head of state and president in the modern ages, the castle has witnessed centuries of Warsaw history. Entering the 20th century, the castle suffered a catastrophic disaster. It was almost entirely demolished by the Nazis during World War Two. The reconstruction programme did not start until the 1970s. After many years of restoration work, the Royal Castle and the Old Town around it were inducted into the UNESCO Heritage List in 1980. At present, it serves as an art museum displaying a wide array of art pieces with high artistic and historic value. The Royal Castle is now the second-most popular museum of art, after the Wawel Castle in Kraków.

No one would deny that Marie Curie is the most esteemed female figure in Polish history. She is the first female Nobel laureate and the first person to win the Nobel Prize twice in two distinct science fields, physics and chemistry. To commemorate the contribution of the respectable scientist who discovered radium and polonium, Muzeum Marii Skłodowskiej-Curie (Maria Skłodowska-Curie Museum) was established in her birthplace in Warsaw. Lodged in an 18th century tenement house, the biographical museum comprises authentic notes and correspondence written by Curie, accompanied with photos, documents and personal belongings of the scientist and her family. The research work of Marie Curie revolutionized people’s understanding of radioactivity which helped find treatments for cancer. For anyone interested in learning more about this highly regarded scientist, it is a must-visit location.

Before leaving the capital of Poland, I visited two more science and technology-related museums. Every time I visit a science museum, I can always learn some new knowledge that is useful or intriguing. The first one I visited is one of the biggest and most advanced science centres in Europe. Built on the banks of the Vistula River, Centrum Nauki Kopernik (Copernicus Science Centre) is a fully interactive science museum which is the largest institution of its type in the country. With a total exhibition space of more than 15,000 square metres and houses six interdisciplinary galleries, the state-of-the-art museum features over 450 hands-on exhibits that allows visitors to carry out experiments and investigate scientific principles at their own pace. Named after the Polish acclaimed astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus who revolutionized our understanding of the universe, the science centre aims at arousing public’s scientific curiosity and encouraging scientific discoveries.

As mentioned before, not only does the Palace of Culture and Science is an elevated tower, but it is also a multi-functional building. The Palace is home to two science museums. One is Museum of Evolution, and the other is Museum of Technology. It was a pity that the Museum of Evolution was closed at the time of my visit, so only the remaining one was left for me to explore. Though Narodowe Muzeum Techniki w Warszawie (National Museum of Technology in Warsaw) is only a medium-sized technological museum with approximately one thousand square metres of exhibition space, it showcases a wide range of authentic exhibits related to the technological developments of Poland. Exhibits with various topics are on display in three exhibition halls. One is about the sources of energy, another is regarding to the developments of computers, and the other is concerning the history of transport. The three exhibition halls offer visitors an opportunity to peer into the technological achievements of the nation in the past hundred years.

Day Eight - Krakow: Oswiecim (Auschwitz) (Hotel Wyspianski, 3-star hotel)

Sited in southwestern Poland, less than three hundred kilometres away from Warsaw, Kraków is among the oldest and the second-largest city in Poland. Its hypnotic history can be dated back to the early 11th century when Krakow was the capital of the country. It had been the political and economic leading centre of Poland for over half a millennium until the King of Poland moved the state capital from Krakow to Warsaw in late 16th century. Ranked as one of Europe’s well-kept historic centres, this spellbinding city was the second city to be declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site, after Quito, the capital of Ecuador. In the millennium year, Krakow was chosen to be one of the nine cities of European Capital of Culture, which was established to foster unity among the European peoples. Overall, Krakow is a dynamic and historically rich city that blends its medieval past with modern development, making it a desirable destination for various types of travelers.

I have been a solo traveler for over ten years and have traveled to more than 20 countries. Being a self-guided traveler has many advantages, one of which is the flexibility of your travel schedule. You are allowed to design your own itinerary and travel at your own pace. Spending more time in the places in which you are interested, avoiding the overcrowded tourist hotspots, exploring some off-the-beaten-path destinations, all those things can only be done if you are travel alone. Secondly, or maybe more importantly, if your tour is self-helped, you can save a lot of money by choosing low cost airlines, picking budget-friendly accommodations and selecting affordable dining options. Lastly, self-directed travel is not just a kind of entertainment activity, but it is more like a kind of learning process. Travelers are required to do all the preparations by themselves before the trip, including understand the local custom and history of the place they are about to travel. Independent travelers need to make decisive decisions when some unexpected situations arise during the trip, such as luggage missing and schedule delay. Some travelers like me would write a blog entry after the trip. This is a test of language and organizational skills. To put it briefly, self-guided travel provides me unparalleled freedom of exploration and an opportunity to craft my own unique adventure.

I came to Krakow as a self-guided traveler, but I still needed some travel support from local tour companies. There are some advantages to join a local sightseeing tour. Since some remote destinations are not easy to access, joining a local tour may be a good option for solo visitors like me. In addition to the safety concerns of travelling to some unfamiliar areas, professional tour guides can also give me some more in-depth information about the attractions. GetYourGuide is an online platform for travel services, providing travelers with professional tours to extraordinary locations. With a view to facilitate my trip to Krakow, as well as saving transport cost and time, I decided to join a tour to a concentration camp and a salt mine.

As the largest former German Nazi concentration and extermination camp, Auschwitz is the name that people always choose to avoid mentioning. Many terrible and horrible stories happened here. Over a million innocents were killed at Auschwitz during the period of the Holocaust, most of them were Jews. In the course of the Second World War, countless Europeans were sent to the camps every day. They were all treated inhumanely and cruelly. Some were forced to be slave workers in factories, others were compelled to be sex workers in brothels, and still others were obliged to be test subjects in laboratories. No matter which work unit they were assigned to before, they were all sent to the gas chambers and cremated eventually. Even though some prisoners were lucky enough to escape being sent to the gas chambers, many of them died of disease and starvation. Shortly after World War Two, the labour camp was converted into a museum by the government of Poland. Bedrooms, washrooms, lavatories, gas chambers and even crematoria were on display. Under the leading of the tour guide, I learnt more about the lives of the prisoners in the concentration camps, which was an experience that I could not have if I visited the place by myself. This is a must-see UNESCO site for anyone interested in the history of concentration camps.

After a lunch break, the second part of our trip continued in an underground excavation. Rested 82 kilometres east of Auschwitz, Wieliczka Salt Mine is one of the world's oldest operating salt mines with over seven hundred years of history. Dubbed as the Underground Salt Cathedral of Poland, the salt mine is just like a mysterious labyrinth located 135 metres below the ground surface. The salt mine is full of maze-like passageways. Guests should follow the lead of the tour guide for fear of getting lost. After walking through the labyrinthine pathways, we ended up in a huge chamber, called St. Kinga's Chapel. The chapel is home to a number of remarkable rock salt carvings including a statue of Pope John Paul II and a relief of Leonardo da Vinci’s “Last Supper”. There is no better place to learn the history of salt-mining than an authentic miner’s workplace. Inscribed as the UNESCO World Heritage site since 1978, this underground marvel draws more than one million visitors from all across the globe. It is an unavoidable attraction for anyone visiting Krakow for the first time.

Day Nine - Krakow: Wawel Castle (Hotel Wyspianski, 3-star hotel)

On my second day of my trip to Krakow, I joined another tour from GetYourGuide. Before meeting with my tour guide, I wandered around the area a little bit and came across a Roman Catholic Polish Baroque church right opposite the St. Maria Magdalena Square. With over four hundred years of history, the Church of Saints Peter and Paul is believed to be the earliest Baroque structure in present-day Poland. It is a solemn religious structure with a row of statues of saints positioned at the main entrance of the church. Inside the church, a sacred main altar is positioned at the one end, and a colossal organ is sited at the other end. Since there is no admission fee when entering this basilica, visitors are welcome to stop by for free.

I met my tour guide at eleven on the nose in the morning. My guide Barbra was going to lead me to the next destination, a fortified architectural complex rich in history and culture. Sitting on the Wawel Hill, Wawel Castle stands out from the surroundings with a beguiling blend of architectural styles, including Gothic, Baroque, Medieval and Renaissance. First constructed on the orders of King Casimir III the Great in the 14th century and enlarged through the ensuring centuries, the castle acted as the royal residence of Polish kings for hundreds of years. As the reign of Casimir III the Great is often referred to as the golden age of the Polish kingdom, this captivating castle is not only considered one of the marvelous monuments in the city but also holds a significant place in Polish history. Within the castle complex, the Wawel Cathedral served as the crowning site and the final resting place of Polish monarchs. This charming citadel now houses an astonishing art museum, which exhibits collections of paintings, sculptures, tapestries and porcelains. Standing as the most visited art museum in Poland and the twentieth most popular in the globe, this fantastic fortress welcomes over two million and a half visitors every year from far away lands and nations.

Besides providing professional guided tour to tourists, GetYourGuide also helps with purchase of museum tickets and fast passes. Only paying a little amount of additional fee, I could get a “Skip-The-Line Ticket” which allowed me to skip the long queue to get an entry right. Some attractions are always packed with sightseers, so getting a fast pass can save you lots of time and aggravation. Since Fabryka Emalia Oskara Schindlera (Oskar Schindler's Enamel Factory) is a well-renowned museum in Krakow, ticket reservation in advance is highly recommended as long queues are not uncommon. During Nazi occupation from 1939 to 1945, German industrialist Oskar Schindler used his enamelware factory as a cover to save around a thousand Jewish lives, including the elderly, the wounded and children. The contribution of Oskar Schindler was known to the world mainly thanks to the Steven Spielberg’s movie Schindler’s List in 1993. The museum reconstructed the miserable lives of Jews during Nazi rule. Visitors can get an immersive experience by walking through the exhibition halls which details the daily lives of wartime citizens in Krakow. Anyone engaged in the story of Schindler should definitely pay this place a visit.

Most of the museums in the world are built above the ground instead of below it due to lower construction cost and easier maintenance. But there are always exceptions to the rule, and the following museum is an exception to the rule. Situated four metres below the market square of the city, Rynek Podziemny (Rynek Underground) is a 4000-square-metre large underground museum retracing the medieval history of Krakow. After five years’ fully-underground excavation, layers and layers of city history were uncovered during the archaeological study. Following a designated route, visitors can review different aspect of the daily life of those who were doing business in the main market square during medieval times. By using the latest interactive technology, visitors will be able to sense the essence of the thriving commercial centre that Krakow once was. Guests can also feel the atmosphere of the bygone medieval marketplace by interacting with engrossing multimedia installations, such as touchscreens, holograms, projections and smoke machines. It is a true treasure trove of knowledge that offers an authentic and immersive experience of Kraków’s past.

After climbing up back to the ground level, I came to the main market square of the old town. Crowned as a pearl of Renaissance architecture, Sukiennice (Cloth Hall) is one of the city's most recognizable icons. It used to be a critical hub for global trade some half millennium back. And today the market is considered to be one of the best places to go souvenir shopping.

Day Ten - Krakow: Muzeum Przyrodnicze (Hotel Wyspianski, 3-star hotel)

My journey in Krakow was smoother than I expected. The original three-day itinerary was completed within the first two days. In other words, I could spare a whole day to look for some hidden gems of the city. After historical museums, natural history museums is my next favourite types of museums. Muzeum Przyrodnicze (Museum of Natural History) is considered the largest natural history museum in Poland, boasting an extensive collection of unique specimens, including rare species of rhinoceros beetles and stag beetles, as well as extinct species of trilobites and ammonites. Among all the exhibits, the most eye-capturing one must be an extinct species of rhinoceros, the Woolly Rhinoceros. It was the largest herbivore of the Ice Age, weighed approximately 3.5 tons. It is certainly worth spending an hour or so here to get a general idea about the natural world.

Situated along the trading route connecting the North Sea and the Baltic Sea, Krakow was a trading hub of amber jewelry during medieval times. Amber sold in Krakow was referred to as the “Gold of the North”. In addition to a piece of decorative arts, amber was thought to have medicinal and magical powers. Nowadays, this precious stone has become one of the most popular souvenirs in Poland. Muzeum Bursztynu (Amber Museum) is devoted to presenting the attractiveness and rich past of Baltic amber. Visitors have chances to appreciate the elegance of this kind of gemstone in the flesh.

Housed in a small baroque palace located on the Krakow Main Square, Pałac Krzysztofory (Krzysztofory Palace Museum) is a branch of the Historical Museum of Krakow. Its permanent exhibition "Cracow from the beginning without end" chronicles the city history from its fabled beginnings to the present. There are a wide variety of exhibits, from the medieval armors to modern electric scooters. As far as I am concerned, visiting a city museum is the best way to learn about the history and culture of a city and this is no exception in Krakow.

Standing on the western side of main market square, an imposing Gothic-styled red brick tower dominated Krakow’s skyline, offering panoramic views from the observation deck at a height of 70 metres. The Wieża Ratuszowa (Town Hall Tower) was first constructed in the early 14th century which served as the city's administrative hub and which also symbolized the city’s power and prestige. When I walked out of the church's door, an even higher edifice came to my view. Kościół Mariacki (St Mary’s Church) is an 80-metre-tall Gothic style basilica with a history of over six hundred years. It was placed into the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1978 alongside the Historic Centre of Krakow.

Day Eleven - Tallinn: Kadrioru Loss (Economy Hotel, 3-star hotel)

Taking a three-hour flight from Krakow, I came back to the first city of my trip, Tallinn. This detour was caused by the flight postponed due to the adverse weather conditions of Hong Kong ten days before. Being a history buff, every time when I come to a new country, I always try to visit some places where are full of historical significance and cultural air. Palace is a place where not only did the aristocratic nobles of the past live, but also a place where the kings and queens made important decisions for the nation, like declaring a war of resistance or concluding a peace treaty. Moreover, most of the current palaces are previous regal residences which possesses the highest artistic value of the country. For those reasons, touring a palace is the top thing to do when visiting a new city.

Being dedicated to his beloved wife, in the early 18th century Russian Tsar Peter the Great ordered to build a palace for his queen, Catherine. Kadrioru Loss (Kadriorg Palace) is now an exquisite example of Petrine Baroque architecture found in the capital. The palace itself is home to the Art Museum of Estonia, demonstrating a vast array of western European and Russian artworks from 16th through 20th centuries. Supplemented by the neighboring Kadriorg Park with its meticulously maintained gardens, sumptuous swan pond and fabulous flowerbeds, each corner of the palace complex offers every guest a peek into the splendor of the Estonia's past.

Just around the corner of the palace is a low-profile art museum. Housed in the former Kadriorg palace kitchen building, Eesti Kunstimuuseum (Mikkel Museum) contains a substantial amount of artworks donated by art collector Johannes Mikkel. Other than graphic art, a set of European ceramics to Chinese porcelain are the focal point of the collection.

Another point of interest is House of Peter the Great. It was a temporary residence for Tsar Peter the Great and his wife Catherine when they came to visit Tallinn. Visitors can get to know the day-to-day life of the Tsar and his queen through this small mansion they once lived in.

Within the same proximity, a monolithic semicircular shape structure rises from the ground. Partially embedded into the limestone cliff, a colossal blue building blends in perfectly with the surrounding scenery. Kumu Kunstimuuseum (Kumu Art Museum) is one of the largest and grandest art museums in Northern Europe, covering Estonian art from the 18th century onwards. In contrast to the Baroque style of Kadriorg Palace, Kumu Art Museum radiates an ambiance of modern elegance and simplicity, making it a unique architectural landmark of the city. Though I am no expert on art of any kind, I think the art museum building itself is a work of art.

Located a little bit away from the city centre, the following museum is housed in a former seaplane hangar near the habour. Lennusadam (Seaplane Harbour) is an 8000-square-metre large maritime museum featuring hundreds of maritime artifacts documenting the maritime history of Estonia. The most eye-popping exhibit of all must be submarine Lembit, which served during World War Two. Visitors are able to explore the interior of the submarine and gain insight into the life of naval crew during wartime. Besides the enormous submarine, tanks, torpedoes, anti-aircraft guns are also on display. The interactive museum offers a variety of engaging exhibits for guests to immerse themselves in and enjoy. For instance, visitors can fly a seaplane or navigate a submarine by a using simulator. Lennusadam offers an absorbing experience with its interactive exhibits and detailed information on the maritime history of the country, making it a holiday destination for local and international tourists alike.

Day Twelve - Tallinn: Eesti Vabaõhumuuseum (Economy Hotel, 3-star hotel)

In the minds of many people, a museum is just like a big artifact storeroom keeping multiple exhibits indoors instead of outdoors. However, it is not always the case. Eesti Vabaõhumuuseum (Open Air Museum) is a kind of outdoor museum of Estonian vernacular architecture, featuring dozens of traditional buildings including a dozen farmhouses, several windmills, some fishing sheds and many more. The extensive ethnographic complex is dedicated to preserving the history of country life in Tallinn a few centuries ago. Following the historic trail, visitors can enter some of the original cabins and view first-hand what life was like for the countrymen hundred years ago. Some staff would dress up like traditional villagers performing customary activities to demonstrate the authentic life of the past two centuries from across Estonia. This open-air exhibition area is more or less like a living historical scene which lets you step back in time and experience daily life in 18th-century Tallinn. It is simple to lose track of time and spend hours exploring the serene surroundings of this museum.

Most coastal cities have their own maritime museums, dedicated to preserving the local seafaring history, and Tallinn is of no exception. Paks Margareeta (Fat Margaret) is a half a millennium old defensive tower, which is also home to Estonian Maritime Museum. This former city fortification contains traces of history from the Middle Ages to the modern era. The citadel was once a powerful stronghold protecting those who lived in the city. The tower was used as an ammunition warehouse, but was reconstructed as a city prison in the 19th century, and then transformed to house the present museum in the late 20th century. The thousand-square-meter large exhibition space demonstrates a massive medieval shipwreck, an extensive array of ship models and various intriguing interactive exhibits. The main attraction of the venue is a 700-year-old Koge wreck, which is a nearly 20-meter-long boat found in Tallinn in 2015. But what interested me most was a series of vessel models, including Medieval sailing ships, modern steamboats, contemporary ocean liners, etc. It is a real feast for the eyes for every fan of ship models. Fat Margaret is a fantastic place where visitors can look back on hundreds of years of maritime history.

At the very heart of the downtown area, a plain-looking building hides a notoriously dark history. KGB Vangikongid (KGB Prison Cell) is accommodated in a hundred-year-old mansion, which in the old days was used as the headquarters of the Provisional Government of Estonia. During the period of the Soviet occupation, the cellars of the building were remodified as prison cells of secret services. Countless innocent Estonians were imprisoned, interrogated, beaten, tortured and even sentenced to death. This fearsome pre-trial detention centre witnesses the atrocities done by the KGB agents. It was the third KGB related museum I had visited during my trip to Baltics. Different from the other two which I had visited earlier, this small museum invited visitors to leave messages on a blackboard to express their ideas about freedom. I left the following words on a small piece of paper and pinned it on the blackboard,

“Everyone can fight for their interests without depriving the others.”

I hope there will never be a facility like this that violates human rights again.

In the same vicinity, a religious building that stands out for its gothic steeple. Standing at a height of 123 metres, Oleviste Kirik (St. Olav’s Church) is considered one of the highest churches in the Baltic States. Visitors can climb up the 232 steps to reach the 60-metre high observation platform through a spiral staircase, where one can enjoy a panoramic view of the old town.

Day Thirteen - Tallinn: Energy Discovery Centre (Economy Hotel, 3-star hotel)

It is like a norm that many European museums are closed on Mondays. When planning your itinerary, you have to avoid museums that are closed on Mondays and arrange some other tourist spots that are still open. On my last day in Tallinn, I arranged to visit some lesser-known attractions which are still open.

Hosted in a century-old power plant, Energia avastuskeskus(Energy Discovery Centre) is a technical and scientific centre focusing on the matters related to energy. The centre features more than a hundred hands-on exhibits that allow visitors to discover physical phenomena by themselves. Another highlight of the centre is a 10-metre-diameter hemispherical dome planetarium, where audiences can watch some popular science films. The facility seeks to promote scientific and technological understanding among youngsters. It is worth spending some time learning about science and technology around us.

Military is an indispensable subject of historical study. Understanding military history is crucial important in learning the development of human civilization. Exploring a military museum is an effective way to get to know the history of local fortification. Kiek in de Kök (Kiek in de Kok Fortifications Museum) elaborates the history of city’s defence system through displaying a wide range of centuries-old weaponries, such as cannons and guns. Apart from various kinds of firearms, the artillery tower also holds a handful of medieval torture instruments illustrating crime and punishment during medieval times.

In order to save time and money, and avoid accident, it may be wise to follow the itinerary exactly as it was written. But it may not be always true. During your trip you might come across some valuable tourist attractions which are not on your travel schedule. It is an opportunity for you to explore the unexpected places and which may give you another travel experience. There were a few sites where were not planned to visit in my original itinerary. Tallinna Linnamuuseum (Tallinn City Life Museum) is a medium-sized museum tracing the city's history from the 13th century to the late 20th century. The cellars of the medieval merchant house contains a superb collection of ceramics, porcelain, and metal. Visitors can get a glimpse of everyday life of the townspeople dated back to the medieval ages. Since the exhibition area is relatively small, the museum can be visited in about an hour.

Built in the late 14th century, Puhavaimu Kirik (Holy Spirit Church) may be the smallest but the oldest medieval church in the old town district of Tallinn. Free entrance if you have a tourist pass called Tallinn Card. It is an all-in-one pass that provides free public transportation as well as free admission to over fifty city’s top museums and attractions.

As a history and culture enthusiast, I spent most of my time exploring some places rich in historical value and cultural significance, such as charming castles, prestigious palaces, magnificent museums and gorgeous gardens. Seldom did I travel to some vibrant urban areas with modern architecture when I came to a historic city like Tallinn. For that reason, it was possible for me to overlook some worthwhile attractions. Rotermanni Kvartal (Rotermann Quarter) was an adorable district that I almost missed out on my trip. Originally built as an industrial zone in the 19th century, this tantalizing quarter that seamlessly blends antiquity and modernity, making it an architectural masterpiece that delights the eyes without lassitude. This neighborhood is now a unique cultural centre that is home to a number of characteristic shops, cafés, bars and restaurants. That perhaps the reason why so many hipsters like to linger here, enjoying a downshifting way of life.

Day Fourteen - Riga: Rundale Palace (Hanza Hotel, 3-star hotel)

Less than an hour’s flight from Tallinn, I reached my last destination of my trip, Riga. With over six hundred thousand population, accounting of one-third of the total population of Latvia, this capital is the largest city in Latvia as well as the most populous city in the Baltic States. First established as early as the beginning of the 13th century, Riga is a former member of the Hanseatic League, making it a foremost trading hub in the Baltics. Shortly after the First World War, Riga was declared as the state capital of the new republic. Just like the other cities which I have mentioned, the historic centre of Riga was also enlisted as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1997, broadly renowned for its Art Nouveau and wooden architecture. Together with the Swedish city Umeå, Riga was bestowed the long-deserved title of European Capital of Culture ten years ago. Riga is an astounding gem on the Baltic coast because of its idiosyncratic fusion of history and culture.

In contrast to the other two Baltic capitals, Riga’s tourism resources are relatively scarce and not distinctive. But with a passion for European culture, no matter how scarce tourism resources are, there will always be places that I yearn for. Rundāles Pils (Rundale Palace) a place where I can get a glimpse of the luxurious palace culture of Lativa. Built during the mid-18th century as a summer residence for a duke, this palace is the most notable example of Rococo and Baroque architecture in the country. Over the years, the royal residence had suffered from the ravages of many wars for more than a hundred years since the early 19th century. After decades of painstaking renovation, the palace has now fully restored its former opulence and splendor. Moreover, taking inspiration from the gardens of Versailles, the French garden of the palace is the most brilliant baroque garden in the Baltics, and won the European Garden Award in 2021. These days, the palace and the adjacent garden serves as a museum telling the appealing story of the lavish royal life. If I could only visit one attraction in Latvia to learn about the luxury life of the royalty, Rundale Palace is the place I would categorically choose.

A museum is a place that carries memories and reviews history. Some museums provide you a delightful exploring experience, but some others may elicit unpleasant emotions. The following institute that I am going to talk about is the one which has a heavy sense of melancholy. Latvijas Okupācijas muzejs (Museum of the Occupation of Latvia) is a historic educational institution preserving more than half a century of traumatic memories of Latvia. About thirty years ago, a historic memorial museum was established in commemoration of the victims who lost their lives during the Soviet and Nazi occupation from 1940 to 1991. The museum provides an extensive range of documents and photographs to reveal the miserable lives of the residents of Latvia under the two totalitarian regimes, as well as local guerrilla resistance against dictatorial powers. In my opinion, it is the most valuable museum for those interested in contemporary history.

Day Fifteen - Riga: Rīgas Geto un Latvijas Holokausta muzejs (Hanza Hotel, 3-star hotel)

Bordering the former Jewish Ghetto, Rīgas Geto un Latvijas Holokausta muzejs (Riga Ghetto and Latvian Holocaust Museum) is another historic museum with heavy historical scars. The museum offers a thorough understanding of the Holocaust in Latvia, emphasizing the sorrow as well as the pre-war lives of Latvian Jews. This place is more an outdoor exposition zone than an indoor museum. Visitors can go into a little wooden house to take a peep into the life of Latvian Jews at the time. The most arresting exhibit at the venue must be the one-way wagon that transported Jews for extermination. Another exhibit which is worthwhile mentioning is a memorial wall inscribed with the names of more than 70,000 persecuted Latvian Jews during the Holocaust. It is not so much a historic museum as a place to preserve memories of the Holocaust tragedy during World War Two.

Over eighty years ago, no one would have thought that there was a secret police headquarters set up in the middle of the city. As the head office of the KGB in Riga, Stūra Māja (Corner House) became the most arresting emblem of the totalitarian dictatorship from the Second World War till the end of the Cold War. During the 48 years of the Soviet occupation, 48 000 criminal cases for “anti-Soviet offences” were initiated by the repressive authority. Innumerable Latvian citizens were accused to be enemies of the state. Political perpetrators were imprisoned, tortured, humiliated and even executed in this house of horrors. As a branch of the Occupation Museum, the Corner House is now served as a memorial site for those who suffered in this building.

When I walked along the old town's streets, I found a striking red brick tower hidden between two rows of buildings. Pulvertornis (Powder Tower) was a former fortification structure dated back to the early 14th century. Having undergone several reconstructions over the years, the present appearance was set in the mid-17th century. Since it originally served as one of the Riga defensive system buildings, the tower naturally became the best place to accommodate the Latvian War Museum. The exhibition covers the political and military history of Latvia from medieval times to the present day. A wide diversity of weapons can be seen in the museum halls, such as medieval cannons, modern machine guns and military uniforms. It is a museum with a very rich military collection.

As one of the oldest museums in Latvia, Rīgas vēstures un kuģniecības muzejs (Museum of the History of Riga and Navigation) has played a pivotal role in preserving and showcasing the cultural and historical heritage of the country. The city museum houses incredible collection of exhibits relating to the 13th to 18th century, telling the history of Riga for more than 800 years. The exhibition provides a chance to explore the life of Riga citizens during the first Latvian independence from 1918 to 1940, together with a unique display tracing the history of Latvian navigation from prehistoric times to the present. Some of the most arresting displays are large scale sailing ship models and other navigational instruments. This museum is regarded as the guardian of the city’s past, known for its huge collection of 500, 000 exhibits.

Natural history museums are rare in the Baltic countries. Latvijas Nacionālais dabas muzejs (Latvian National Museum of Natural History) is one of the few natural history museums in the city, with Latvia’s largest public depository of natural specimens. Although this museum is one of the oldest multi-disciplinary museums of natural sciences in the Baltics, it offers guests a modern and interactive visiting experience. The museum preserves versatile collections of natural objects, including a vast range of taxidermy animals and insects, comprising 200,000 specimens in total. The most impressive exhibit is probably a huge skeleton of an orca, hanging from the ceiling of an exhibition hall. It is an amazing place to learn natural science.

Famed as the highest church in the city rising to a height of 123 metres, Svētā Pētera Evaņģēliski luteriskā baznīca (St. Peter’s Church) has been the main Lutheran church located in the heart of the old town since the early 13th century. From the top of the church, one can get a brilliant bird's-eye view of the old town during magic hour. The basilica is honored as one of the oldest and most famous sacred buildings of medieval monumental architecture in the Baltic States, and it was listed on UNESCO’s World Heritage list in 1997.

Day Sixteen - Riga: Latvijas Nacionālā bibliotēka (Hanza Hotel, 3-star hotel)

On the very last day of my trip, I visited some more culturally rich tourist spots. Among all the public facilities, libraries are the government services that I most often use. As a nerd who loves to read, I spend much of my spare time hanging about the public libraries. Visiting libraries in different countries is also one of my favorite travel activities. It is no exaggeration to say that the following building I am about to introduce to you was the most peculiar architecture I had ever encountered on this trip.

Opposite the old town, a gigantic “Glass Mountain” rises on the left bank of the Daugava. Widely known as the Castle of Light, Latvijas Nacionālā bibliotēka (National Library of Latvia) is indisputably one of the most significant cultural institutions in Latvia. The library building itself is a masterwork in modern architecture, from its fantabulous triangular shape design to its brilliant blue glass curtain wall. As a beacon of knowledge and culture, the library contains a vast collection of books, manuscripts, and digital resources. One may lose the track of time when they are wandering in the sea of books.

Originally built in the early 14th century as a guild especially for young and unmarried merchants, Melngalvju nams (House of the Black Head) is the grandest example of Gothic architecture in the city. Once entering the opulent conference hall, visitors will astonish by its ostentatious decoration in no seconds. You can imagine yourself participating in a sumptuous banquet with a group of wealthy businessmen some hundred years ago. This grandiose building acts like a time machine that transport a person to the glorious past of the city. Nowadays, the House of the Black Head serves as a venue for exhibitions and event centre.

A cathedral is a symbol of the power of the church over a specific administrative area in a country. General speaking, the grander the cathedral, the greater the power it had. Rīgas Doms (Riga Cathedral) holds the seat of the Archbishop of the Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church. As one of the earliest and largest ecclesiastical structures of the medieval period in the Baltic region, the basilica has proudly stood in the heart of Riga since the early 13th century. The interior of the church is decorated with ornate pillars and vibrant stain-glass windows. When the sunlight shines through the colorful stained-glass windows in the church, it looks particularly appealing. It is a sacred edifice that you would love to visit when you come to Riga whether you are a Christians or not.

Surrounded by a greenery with rows of green trees, Latvijas Nacionālais mākslas muzejs (Latvian National Museum of Art) is unquestionably the most impressive baroque-style building in the urban area. Comprising more than 52 000 artworks from both Baltic and Russians artists from the mid-18th century to the current era, the art museum contains the largest collection of national art in Latvia. It is the best place to learn about the contemporary art of the country. Although I have little interest in art, the historical atmosphere that this national architectural monument exudes is beyond description.

To be an Adventurous Traveler, To be a Responsible Citizen

Eastern Europe was a place where full of tumultuous history. Years of invasion and occupation had left deep scars on the land and its people. No matter how difficult it was, the people of Eastern Europe had never given up on regaining their national identity and pride. Modern Eastern Europe has completely shaken off the shadow of dictatorship and gradually entered the road of democracy and freedom. As travel enthusiasts, we enjoy learning new culture and exploring unknown frontier. As amateur historical researchers, we should not only appreciate the resplendent historical sites during our trip, but also ponder the lessons of history. As citizens of the world, we ought to expose the injustices of the world and try to set them right.

#europe #poland #Baltic #estonia #lithuania #latvia

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