Baltics - 23 June 2012

End of the Trip

I didn’t get up until 07.00.  The suitcase took a lot of packing and repacking to fit in my shopping from the day before, but eventually I was nearly sorted.  I even remembered to get out my oyster card and train ticket, which were in my inner suitcase pocket.

We had breakfast with Ann and Bob, who were sneakily making sandwiches for Helsinki Airport.  It was a good idea, given how expensive things are in Finland.  I ordered a mushroom omelette, which was very nice.

We were all assembled and back on the bus at 10.00.  Our timing was good to the end.  After enjoying such good weather since the drenching in Tartu, it had now started to rain again.

Aija came with us and saw us to the correct check in desk at the airport.  She gave us all big hugs goodbye and then set off back to the hotel to pick up her bags and head to the coach station to return to Riga.

We checked in and went through and sat down to wait.  Our group was much smaller now.  Susie and Roberta would be leaving us in Helsinki.  Ian, Ann, Bob, May, David, Dulcie, Sue, Ken and me were going to Heathrow.  Unfortunately, I wasn’t booked to sit near to any of them on the Heathrow flight.

The flight to Helsinki was quick and painless.  Ken had an empty seat next to him, so I moved from the back and sat there.  The flight actually took off four minutes before schedule, which was amazing.

We disembarked and said goodbye to Roberta.  We hugged Susie goodbye when she caught up with us after passing through passport control.  Their planes were much earlier.

May, Ian and I spent our time in Helsinki in a primitive café where a small cup of not very nice coffee cost €3.  When we finally moved on, we found a large café/restaurant area, which would have been nicer, though probably not cheaper.  Ken said he got two hot chocolates for the price of one though.

We went to sit by the gate along with lots of other people on our flight.  Then we were all thrown out of the area when the airline people arrived.  The bus arrived to take us to the plane as soon as we had been finally allowed back in.

This time, May moved her seat so we could sit together.  The plane was ½ hour late when it started taxiing.  I got my veggie meal, but it was very tasteless.

Amazingly there were no queues at passport control in Heathrow.  As we waited for our luggage, we all had goodbye hugs and then went our own way as the luggage arrived.

Baltics - 22 June 2012 (3)

Final Dinner

Dinner at Restoran Maikrahv

May and I nearly forgot the time and were the last to come down at 19.00 to set off for our final dinner.  This was at Restoran Maikrahv at the far corner of Town Hall square.  We went in and were led downstairs and towards the back, where two long tables were waiting for us.

Dinner at Restoran Maikrahv

I sat at the far end, opposite May and next to Sarah.  Susie sat next to May.  Ian started proceedings by giving Aija her tip, which was much deserved I felt.  She gave a little speech.

Aija's Speech at Restoran Maikrahv

There was one vegetarian starter, which looked nice and one main.  No one was ordering a starter, so I just had the main – aubergine stuffed with mozzarella with three red quenelles of something quite tasty.  I had orange juice to drink.

Waitress at Restoran Maikrahv

Dinner was somewhat muted.  Even Charlie and Ian didn’t seem to be on form.  Susie invited everyone to New York and May invited everyone to Orkney.

Crème Brulée at Restoran Maikrahv

There was crème brulée on the desert menu, so I had that, as did several other people.  Feeling a bit daring, I finished off with a small port.  The meal came to €28.05, which was quite expensive.  My meal was one of the cheaper ones because I hadn’t had beer or meat.

When the meal ended, Ian, Charlie, Susie, Sarah, May and I went to the Clayhills Gastropub.  Susie had found it at the start of the tour, when she had gone off and done her own thing.  They have live music from 22.00, so it was about to start.  We sat down and most of us ordered a strawberry and lime cider, made in Sweden, as recommended by Sarah.

Saxophanist, Clayhills Gastropub

The published group wasn’t available for some reason so we had the last minute substitutes.  This was a group of three young people with a strange combination of instruments.  One girl played a keyboard and also sang.  Because of the limited space on the “stage”, she had to sit with her legs at an uncomfortable-looking angle.  The other girl was the lead singer and played the glockenspiel.  The final member of the group was a young guy who played the sax.

They were all very good and Ian was especially impressed.  He is an advisor to the Newcastle-under-Lyme Jazz Festival Committee, so he went up and asked them if they would like to take part.  They swapped email addresses.

Trio, Clayhills Gastropub

Unfortunately, the Germany v Greece European cup quarter-final was being shown on the television, so the group were occasionally interrupted by clapping and cheering from people who were watching the match instead of listening to the music.  It was a real shame.

After our second order, we had to go back to the hotel as Charlie was leaving for the airport at 0400.  It took a while to get the bill, but we were sorted out eventually.

When we walked back to the hotel, it was dark for a change.  Once there, it was time for some goodbye hugs and then we dispersed to our rooms.  By the time I got in bed, it was 01.00.

Baltics - 22 June 2012 (2)

Shopping in Tallinn

It was only just after 12.00 when we got into the hotel and we were told that our rooms wouldn’t be free until 15.00.  So we put our bags and cases into the luggage room and set off for the old town.

May and I wanted some coffee and cake and then go and do some shopping for souvenirs and presents.  Almost as soon as we hit the old town, we left the others and did our own thing.  It was almost as if we hadn’t left and we soon found Kohvik Matilda café, where we had a very nice chocolate cake.  I had kakao and May had cappuccino.  It came to €4.60 each.

Then the shopping started.  I bought a nice linen cardigan with some applique work.  May looked for tablecloths, but, after looking at lots, didn’t buy one after all.  We both bought some of the wonderful 1920s style felt hats though.

Talinn old town was quite different from when we had been there before.  The sky was solid blue with no clouds and the shops were all open.  It had been a Sunday when we had done our city tour and it had rained some of the time.

We stopped for a drink at Dominic’s Wine restaurant near Katarina käik.  We were not impressed when the waiter told us to move from a table for four to a table for two, despite there being no one else sitting outside the whole time we were there.  The freshly squeezed orange juices cost €4 each and were quite small.  We didn’t leave a tip.

Having browsed and shopped for hours, we headed back to the hotel.  On the way, we called into the large Viru Keskus shopping mall and found a chemists, where I bought some cocoa butter for my legs.

Back at the hotel, we retrieved our luggage and got our room cards.  We were in room 227 – next door to the one we had before.  Sarah was at reception, complaining because, once again, she was right next to the lift.  This is one of the problems of having a single room.

Baltics - 22 June 2012 (1)

Return to Tallinn

Got up at 06.10 and we set off at 09.00.  I had done another major case repack, so I couldn’t get my journal up to date until we were on the bus.

Kuivastu

I was still writing when we got to the ferry.  I couldn’t believe how quickly we had reached Kuivastu.  Once again we were in time for an earlier ferry than the one we were booked on.  There was hardly anyone waiting and the ferry was lying empty.  We walked around for a bit.

Black-headed Gull

A girl in the car next to us was throwing bread to a gull.  He had a very full crop and wouldn’t let anyone frighten him off his prize.

Car Deck on Ferry to Virtsu

As we drove onto the boat, we realised that Craig was missing.  We were relieved to see him there to welcome us at the top of the stairs as we came on board.

Martin Flying Alongside Ferry

This time, I could only see one martin nesting in the front of the boat.  I think others had nests on the car deck as we were accompanied by a squadron of them.  I tried to get a photo of one as it matched our speed, but they almost always seemed to dart off after an insect just as I was about to press the button.

Wind Turbines Near Virtsu

It was soon time to get back on the bus and I resumed my journal writing.  Aija tried to teach us a folk song, with no luck, and then ran through what we had seen during the holiday.  We had certainly done a lot.

Dzintars by the Bus

We were staying in the Park Inn in Tallinn again.  Before we got off the bus, Harry gave Dzintars his tip.  I tried to say “thank you” and “goodbye” in Latvian to him as I got off.  Aija had been teaching them to us earlier, but I am sure I got it wrong.

Baltics - 21 June 2012 (4)

Solstice Song and Dance

Old Wooden House, Kuressaare

Restored Wooden House, Kuressaare

It was nearly 18.00 and Aija wanted us to meet at 18.30, so there was little time to spare.  I had just enough time to recover from the ride and was down in reception on time.  Most of us were waiting when Charlie came down. He addressed us from the stairs as if making an important announcement and told us all to clap when Ian came down as he had made a special effort to spruce himself up for the evening.  We all complied and Ian looked suitably bashful.

Veski Trahter

Solstice Choir, Kuressaare

Aija had booked a meal in Veski Trahter (Mill Tavern), because there was some traditional singing and dancing to celebrate the solstice.  We walked there and arrived just before the show began.  Veski Trahter is a windmill, converted to a restaurant. We were led upstairs to our tables and then most of us went straight back down again to watch the show.

There was a choir of mostly elderly ladies wearing national dress.  They sang several songs and were really quite good.  One particularly elderly lady didn’t have a songbook, but she sang enthusiastically.  She sang a solo and had a really good, strong voice.

Solstice Choir, Kuressaare

Solstice Dancers, Kuressaare

There were also ten dancers, four men and six women, which meant that one woman had to be an honorary man.  They too were in traditional dress.  They did quite a few dances.  They were all elderly, which made us concerned that the traditions were dying out.  But at the end, they asked some of the audience to join them and quite a few young people came on and danced, which was reassuring.

Solstice Dancers, Kuressaare

Solstice Dancers, Kuressaare

I was even asked to dance, but I gestured to my rucksack and camera which would have made it very difficult, even if I had known how.

All through the performance, the guy sitting next to me was getting twitchy.  He had a box which held three mouth organs.  He sang along to some of the songs and sometimes quietly played along to them.  After the singers and dancers had finished, he got up and performed two pieces.  He was also pretty good.

Solstice Dancer's Footwear, Kuressaare

Mouth Organ Player, Kuressaare

Then we all headed back upstairs for our meal.  There wasn’t much on the menu with no meat, but I chose chanterelles and potato salad.

When it eventually came, I started eating it.  First I ate the mushrooms, which were not that nice.  Then, as I was eating the tomatoes, I noticed something which looked suspiciously like ham or bacon.  I started to extract a significant pile of it from the salad without even rummaging too deeply.  I felt really awful.  The meal was completely inedible for a vegetarian and I felt contaminated.

Aija and Dzintars were at our table.  They looked at the menu.  There was no mention of meat in either the English or the Russian descriptions.  When we complained to the waitress, she said that it mentioned meat in the Estonian description – some use!  Sarah, also a vegetarian, said that her meal also contained ham.  She had ordered fried bread and sauerkraut, which sounded vegetarian, if totally unappetising, but there had been ham hidden inside the bread.  Charlie dissected one to check.  I told the waitress that I would be happy with just potatoes as they said it was impossible to prepare the salad without the meat.  She brought me fried mashed potatoes, which looked horrible and, with their record, may well have been fried in lard, so I said that I couldn’t eat that.  As a peace-maker, Ian stepped in and said he would eat it, so he and Charlie took it and tucked in.

St Nicholas Orthodox Church, Kuressaare

Susie, who wasn’t even a vegetarian, had had the only true vegetarian meal – raw cauliflower, carrots and apples – and was still hungry.  So we paid for our drinks and her meal and disappeared off to La Perla.

Unlike the previous evening, La Perla was nearly empty.  We sat down and I ordered the penne arrabiata again.  Susie ordered wine and penne carbonara.  The bad news came back that the penne arrabiata was off, but the waitress suggested two vegetarian options.  When mine arrived, I queried the ingredients of the brown sauce.  She went to check and I was reassured that it just came from cooking the mushrooms.  I didn’t want to be so difficult, but once bitten twice shy.

Old Barn Building, Kuressaare

We were just finishing our wine when Sarah and Charlie turned up.  When we had paid (€9.85), we all went for coffee and cake at nearby Sadhu.  Charlie treated us.  The waitress came up and chatted to us.  She had lived in London for ten months, so her English was good.  She asked why we liked Estonia and Sarah said it was because the people were the friendliest.

When we walked back, I took some photos in the sunset.  We were back in the hotel for about 23.45.  Charlie asked us all into his room to witness Ian’s snoring.  But Ian was still awake, so we went straight to our rooms.

Baltics - 21 June 2102 (3)

On Our Bikes!

On My Bike

We finished the castle tour at 13.30 and Ann, Bob and I dashed back to the hotel to hire some bikes.  This was easier said than done.  The biggest problem was that the brakes operated by back-pedalling.  With my dodgy knee, I can only push off with my right leg, which means that my right pedal has to be near the top before I can set off. This is easy at home: I just back pedal to get it in the correct position.  In Estonia, I needed to make sure I stopped with the pedals just so.  This made me feel less secure and so I needed a bike where my feet firmly touched the ground, not just on tiptoe.  It took three attempts before I found a bike which I could ride.  Being smaller, it meant that I would have to do a lot more pedalling for any given distance than at home.

Suur Toll and Piret, Kuressaare

Despite it being a hot, sunny day, I had to dash to the room to put on leggings and boots to maintain my modesty while cycling.  Then I met Ann and Bob in reception and off we went.  Our first stop was to get something to eat at the supermarket behind the old Town Hall.  I just got a Mars bar and a packet of paprika flavoured TUC biscuits (which turned out to be extremely tasty).  Ann and Bob got a cold hamburger in a bun and some gooey cakes.  Nothing very healthy for any of us!

Tori jõgi, Kuressaare

We cycled to a small park, where we ate our food and had a few gulps of water.  It was very pretty and just the right temperature as we sat under the trees.

Bay beside Nasva Surf Club

Then we set off for our big adventure.  We decided to head west along the coast.  We followed a cycle path, covered in gravel.  This wasn’t the best surface for cycling and I was worried about punctures, which would have meant disaster.  The path took us to a sculpture of a man and a naked woman, carrying a boat full of fish.  These were Suur Toll and Piret, who are the folk heroes of Saaremaa.  The sculpture was by Tauno Kangro.  It was in front of a large hotel, so we moved across to the paved path alongside the hotel to save our tyres.

Resting beside Nasva Surf Club

Then we followed a cycle path which took us over two small wooden bridges crossing the Tori jõgi and the Põduste jõgi.  The first bridge was a bit too steep, so we wheeled our bikes across.

Windmill by River Nasva

Once across the second bridge, the surface of the cycle path improved considerably, so we hurtled out of town.  I say hurtled, although really that was only true for Ann.  I was much slower because of my small wheels and Bob wasn’t much faster.  He reckoned it was all down to the quality of the bikes and Ann had been lucky enough to get a good one.  Ann had to keep stopping to wait for us to catch up.  After a while, the cycle path became a mini-avenue between poppies and other wild flowers.  I thought it was so pretty and was glad to be travelling slowly enough to enjoy it.

We passed an oak wood, but decided not to explore as it meant another gravel path, so we continued on until we came to a right turn.  I went off to scout for a cycle path and could see one on the opposite corner, so we decided to take that route rather than come back the way we had gone.

Martins Foraging in Bay

But first, Ann wanted to get to the sea, so we continued on and took a left turn with signs pointing to a surf club, which looked promising.  The road was terrible.  The surface resembled hardened caterpillar tracks on a building site, with gravel thrown on top.  When cars went past, they threw up a cloud of dust.  At least the first one slowed down so it wasn’t that bad, but the others did not.  Luckily, there weren’t many cars.  On the right hand side of the road was the estuary of the River Nasva, so we knew we would have to come back the same way.

Wooden Houses, Kuressaare

At the end of the road, there was a hut, which belonged to the surf club, and a wooden slope to the beach.  On the other side of the river, which had now become a small harbour, was a hotel or similar, with a wind turbine.  Ann walked off to find some interesting stones on the beach and I watched a martin on the wet sand.  When Ann returned, lots more martins came onto the beach.  We thought they might have been gathering wet sand for their nests, or they might have been finding insects.

After a rest, we headed back up the road.  I went down to 2^nd gear, which made the ride a bit less bumpy – or maybe it was smoother on this side of the road.  There were no cars, so we cycled three abreast.  I said it was like in the Famous Five.

Kuressaare Castle from Coast

Then we got back on the good track and headed back to the junction.  Although a main road, there was no traffic, so we were able to cross without stopping.  Unfortunately, the cycle path disappeared soon after the junction.  So we cycled back to the right hand side of the road (there was still no traffic) and kept to the white line at the edge.  The others let me go in the lead, so that we could stay together and make sure we were all safe.

Harbour, Kuressaare

Two ambulances overtook us: one when we were on a small piece of cycle lane, racing down with sirens blaring; and another moving slowly when we were a bit further on.  Very few cars passed us during our long ride up this road, even though it seemed to be the Kuressaare by-pass.

We saw a brown sign and stopped for a while to look and read the information board.  To our right was a lake, which was famous for its wildfowl in the summer.  We didn’t see much wildfowl while we cycled past.  Most of the wildlife consisted of mosquitos, including one I caught biting me through my leggings.  There were some large dragonflies, Bob and Ann spotted some white butterflies and I saw three hooded crows – and that was it.

Baltic Coast of Kuressaare

At long last, we came to a roundabout with a road leading into Kuressaare.  There was still no cycle path, but still hardly any traffic.  We re-crossed the Põduste jõgi and saw a very pretty arched stone bridge to the left.  We passed some soviet style apartment blocks, which we had missed on our city tour for some reason, but then reached some of the more picturesque wooden houses.

After a small dog-leg, we reached the sea and recognised the sculpture of Suur Toll and Piret.  We waved to David and Dulcie as we took a diversion to see the boats in the harbour.  On the way back, we saw Craig, who took a photo of us.  Then we returned to the hotel, parked the bikes and paid Juhan – just €4.00.

Baltics - 21 June 2012 (2)

Kuressaare Castle

Kuressaare Castle

Kuressaare Castle

The castle was built in the 13^th century and, unlike most European castles of a similar age, has survived intact having never been attacked in earnest.  It is not exactly in its original state as radiators, modern toilets and electric lighting have been installed, together with a café in the high tower.

Vaulted Corridor, Kuressaare Castle

Its surroundings have changed too.  It was constructed on an island, which made it more defensible.  However, the land is gradually rising, still bouncing back at a rate of 2mm/year after being compressed during the iceage, so it is now a short distance from the sea, though still surrounded by a moat.

Chapel, Kuressaare Castle

Juhan guided us around the bishops’ quarters, the area having been governed by bishops from the 13^th to the 16^th centuries, when it was under German rule.  There were the usual chapels, dormitories and a great hall.

List of Bishops, Kuressaare Castle

More fascinating was an exhibition on the history of Saaremaa from the first inhabitants to the current day, including the stories of WWII and the subsequent Russian occupation.

Costumes in Exhibition, Kuressaare Castle

The exhibition was done well and included normal personal implements, costumes and mock-ups of rooms – even a mock-up of a flat during the Soviet period.  The occupation periods of the 20^th century were done objectively, but without hiding any of the bad bits.  Some humour crept into the tour as the stairs going up the tower had jokes on them in both Estonian and English.

Battlements, Kuressaare Castle

Hotel Staadioni from Kuressaare Castle Roof

At the end of the tour, we were able to walk around the battlements and get a good view of the town and the sea.  Thanks to the nearby stadium, we could identify our hotel, on the flat ground to a seaward side of the castle.