I’m writing from Finland, the thermometer reads twenty-one degrees. Since I was last here a couple of weeks ago, the days have shortened a bit. It is now getting dark around ten-thirty. I’ve come back after a short break back in Italy to complete my research for the next edition of the Lonely Planet Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania guidebook. I will take the ferry from Helsinki to Tallinn in the coming days to spend most of August exploring the norther coast of Estonia from Narva to Haapsalu, plus sections of the Baltic Trails, before beginning to descend south. I’ll be returning to Italy overland from here.