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.