The three Baltic countries differ. Lithuania is mainly Catholic.  Estonia has a language similar to Finnish. Latvia has the world’s tallest women. (Really.)

Yet all three impressed us when we toured them last week with a local travel company. Since gaining independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 and then joining the European Union and NATO, they’ve enjoyed far more prosperity and stability than the former Soviet state we know best, Moldova.

They’re also really interesting to visit, as you can see in the dozen examples below:

Picturesque churches, castles and squares abound. These are just a few of the ones we visited.

Cobblestone streets are also plentiful. They’re charming (but challenging when you’re recovering from hip surgery). This street is in Estonia’s capital, Tallinn.

Some old forts and castles look like Game of Thrones. This one is at a national park in Lithuania.

Lutheran and Catholic churches predominate, but there are also many Russian Orthodox churches, like this one in Tallinn.

Jewish synagogues are scarce. The Holocaust all but wiped out the vibrant Jewish presence here. We visited Jewish museums in Lithuania’s capital, Vilnius, and Latvia’s capital, Riga.

The Nazi occupation was followed by decades of Soviet oppression. The Museum of Occupations and Freedom Fights in Vilnius included this exhibit showing how the KGB bugged and monitored Lithuanian citizens.

Soviet domination was portrayed artistically in this exhibit of old propaganda posters at the Kumu Art Museum in Tallinn.

Traditional baths and saunas are celebrated in the Baltics. This historic display in Latvia shows what people added to their baths.

If you ask for “hot chocolate,” don’t expect something like cocoa. You’ll be served a delicious cup of melted chocolate.

Riga hosted the World Athletics Road Running Championships while we were there. Our hotel was filled with world-class runners, including Olympic champions.

The rappers 50 Cent and Busta Rhymes came to Riga shortly after we left.

The Hill of Crosses is a pilgrimage site with more than 200,000 crosses in Siauliai, Lithuania.

You cross easily from one Baltic country to the other. This sign marks a border between Lithuania and Latvia.

Finally, meet John from Australia, 89 years old, who traveled solo with our group, including this stop at the Baltic Sea. He inspired Champa and me to keep pursuing our own travels for as long as we can.