Another Baltic cruise memory.

      With Russian troops massed on the boarder of Ukraine, NATO has much been in the news. Yesterday's post about our ambulance ride in St. Petersburg brought to mind another memory of that Baltic cruise referenced in that post. Three of the small Baltic countries we visited were Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia. With all the talk of NATO it reminded me of an incident in Latvia.

    At each port of call there was opportunity to take guided trips ashore. These gave excellent introductions to the cities we visited. The Latvian tour guide, a woman I'd guess to be about forty, led us explaining what were seeing in excellent English. Mindful of the Soviet Union's long occupation of Latvia after WW II, and Russia's proximity, prompted me to ask a question of our guide. "Do you, as a Latvian, worry about Russia?"  She replied, without hesitation, "No, becasue Latvia is a member of NATO."

   That response often came to mind when the previous occupant denigrated NATO, and cozied up to Russia. It's interesting that, given Russia's current behavior, both Sweden and Finland are giving thought to joining NATO, as are Norway and Denmark. All three of the aforementioned Baltic countries are in NATO.

Takk for alt,

Al

          This the guide in Riga, Latvia, about whom I write.