Blogs from Kuressaare, Saaremaa, Estonia, Europe

Well, it's been a few days now since I last wrote and i can say i have finally got some kilometers under the belt (and in my legs). Yay! But not today. Four days of riding, a little bit of rain and already I'm calling a rest day. Not bad eh? But first, the nightmare that was trying to get out of Tallinn. As you know, not the most adept at map reading but... to say I was lost was an understatement. In my defence though I will add that the bike paths do not follow the roads as such and so I managed to get completely off track. I think I found the right road after some 10km of cycling aimlessly in circles. But once out, well what a relief. I had hoped to make ... read more

July 6 - I didn't get to sleep until 12:30am or so last night, and got up this morning at 6am. I so need more sleep. I got everything together and had breakfast and then got on my way. I had to go to the train station to get the tram to the bus station. I asked someone if this was the right tram to get to the bus station but he didn't speak English. Luckily another man told me it was right and he was going there, so I could just follow him. It turns out he is a priest who used to work in the place where I was going. Anyway, he did get me where I was going. I was able to get a ticket for the 7:50am bus to Kurassaare on the ... read more

I am now on Saaremaa island the largest in Estonia - in a place called Kuressaare, which is the biggest town here - but we are only talking about 11,000 people so WAY smaller than anywhere else I have been. It was quite a surprise to come somewhere so small. However I was ale to use my initiative and found a pretty reasonable hotel not mentioned in the LP (Lonely Planet) the Arabella which was only 500Eek (thats Estonian krons - about 9 to Aussie dollar - so that was pretty reasonable. The bus ride to Kuressaare is about 4 hrs (incl. 30mins or so for the ferry crossing to the island) from Tallinn and I got here around 4pm yesterday. I was a little worried about it being the weekend and no booking but it ... read more

I thought I would tell you a bit about Saaremaa. Living here for about three months, and you guys still don't know too much about it. Here are some random things that I notice... still! Half the days (especially here on the island of Saaremaa) are filled with either snow or rain, or extreme clouds that look like either could happen at any moment. Once in a while, if the wind blows just right, you can smell the sea walking back to the flat. The walk to my school is only about 15 minutes or so from the appartment I live in now. If it is a really cloudy day yet no rain, then usually you can hear the seagulls too. In the stores here, I have found some types of salsa, tortillas, beans, tortilla chips, ... read more

Just a few days ago, I visited the capital of Estonia (Tallinn) to see a few friends and to see the parliament building. The other exchange kids met us there in Tallinn of course too. When we got to the parliament building, we met Estonia's prime minister: Andrus Ansip. He is a funny man and showed us (just for a joke) a letter that George Bush Jr. hand wrote. Not meaning to be the sound hypocritical, yet his handwriting was quite terrible and we all laughed at the fact that none of us could read it- even me. Later Ansip showed us a "translated letter" of what he wrote. It was interesting to see that my previous president would take the time to write a handwritten letter though- sweet of him actually. Unfortunately, while I was ... read more

To ski. Being an exchange student should have one golden rule. Well a few, yet one above all else: Expect the unexpected. It is not as easy as it appears, and is just as rewarding when you figure out how those two sticks work as well as moving your feet with little boards attached to them. A couple of us exchange students (the one in Estonia) all went to this place that is in southern Estonia to go skiing. The cabin type of house that we stayed in was pretty cozy and very warm, unlike the weather outside. When we first got there (after it took me seven hours to go to Tartu from the island including the ride on the boat which was only about forty-five, and then another hour drive to the town), it ... read more

I am sorry that this has taken so long to write yet I have been quite busy lately. To start it off, I moved from Tartu to Saaremaa- the biggest out of the three Estonian islands. I live right in the capital city called Kuressaare and it is wonderful. My family here is made up of my host mum, my host dad, and three host brothers. One of them (Taavi) lives in Tartu and goes to University there so I don’t see much of him. He visits every now and then though. He is 20 years old. The next oldest is Artur. He is 16 and is in 10the grade so I see him at school almost all the time. The youngest brother I have (Mattias) is six going to be seven in March. He is ... read more

Kuressaare, Saaremaa Island We left Tallinn somewhat earlier than we would have liked, and headed to the excitingly named Autobussijam to catch our bus to the island of Saaremaa. The 4 hour jaunt involved a short ferry crossing, which was vastly more pleasant and relaxing than any dover to calais trip has ever been. A sleepy drive past tumbledown farm shacks and through lush green forests brought us to the islands capital, Kuressaare...or at least, we thought so...possibly the quietest bus station ever... Not entirely convinced we were heading in the right direction, we eventually found our hostel and then strolled towards (and without realising, straight through) the town centre. Had a delicious and wonderfully cheap dinner at the John Bull Pub - featuring an old bus as the bar, and a terrace which looked out ... read more