Blogs from 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

so this was Kuressaare on the full second day - with sunshine, after day of arrival when I ended up rreading my book and then spending the rest of the evening in the Vinoteek (see separate bibulous account) - Barbara said I thought was A. A. Milne - had to Wikipedia that one, as I thought he was the bloke who wrote Winnie the Pooh and other stories (or maybe he did that AND wrote about food for the Sunday Times!). Anyway finally down to the Kuressaare Bishop's Palace marked on the map attached generally as Vallekraav - it does not always appear to be there - you will likely have to click on the hypertext link above with map name which will take you to the map - it is about the only real attraction ... 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

(From my book OUR SUMMER IN ESTONIA, AMAZON.COM) It’s ironic that my second historical interest on Muhu spans those 800 years, with the battle of 1227, representing the beginning of Estonian subjugation, and a deserted Soviet air defense missile site representing the final shaking off of Estonia’s foreign occupation. Muhu was off limits to all but the island’s residents, for the almost fifty years of Soviet Union occupation following WWII. In addition to Soviet paranoia that someone might escape their loving embrace by sea to Sweden, Muhu was a restricted site because of the Soviet military forces stationed there. The military site, which Elysee and I rummaged through, had been a Soviet Air Defense Missile base. The air defenses on Muhu were likely planned to guard the major Soviet submarine base at Paldiski, Estonia, and the ... read more

I know that this entry is much too late, however here it is. Ever since I moved from my last host families’ house (which is about two months ago now), I have been so busy. More than I can believe, still, has happened. Here are a few pictures of my new host families’ house. It is a cabin and is real wood. There are four rooms, a sauna, two bathrooms, and a television room as well. They have an old dog named Rolli and a cat (who is younger than the dog, yet not by much) named Otto. Everyone just calls him kass (cat in Estonian). The house is in a village about ten kilometres from Kuressaare so if I go, I go by car or I take a half hour bike ride there. My host ... 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