Blogs from Tartu, Estonia, Europe
Arriving in a town on a Sunday, when there is a bit to see in it is not the best. Not here in Estonia anyway. All museums are shut on Mondays and Tuesdays and reopen on Wednesdays, usually at 11am. And so, I arrived in Tartu on a Sunday. Not the best day obviously but it does make for more imaginative planning for Monday and Tuesday. So yesterday I ran around Tartu trying to find these dotty orange cups they have here in hostel (B&B)Terviseks. They're lovely bone china, nothing fancy but ever so joyful to look at and feel so nice in the hand. Apparently this is what every household had as they were manufactured somewhere in the Ukraine. Unfortunately, all the second hand shops I visited only had clothes. What else to do? Oh ... read more
After a rather short but very nice vistit to my family in law, i was headed back to Bergen Norway on 26th of December from Tartu. Getting to the busstation to go to Tallin to my flight 15 minutes before departure left me in a bad situation..handing over the luggage to the busdriver, he asks for a ticket..cant i buy from you i asked, as i did when i arrived ?. No, no..full he says, and ticket..all is chaos around the bus as people arrive all the time and he can find no more room for luggage. I run into the busstation, and find a open ticketoffice, im telling the nice lady where i want to go..and she speaks back in Estonian..she sees that im lost, so she turns her monitor and points @ next possible ... read more
jump
Well, 2010 is passing slow, April is here and Mai is just a matter of time, but March was one of my best months so far, due to several reasons.... The snow started melting and we had positive temperatures FINAAALLLLYYYY!!!!!! Now in April we still have some snow here and there but at least i dont have to scratch the windshield every morning for 20 minutes....Spring is almost here (summer in some parts of the world) and i am back to life, days are getting longer and nights are shorter and shorter....the Baltic Summer will be here soon... As a migrating bird that i am....i also started moving around. First stop...Romania, for one week of business meetings, but besides that i had time to meet some of my friends, my lil' sister and to enjoy ... read more
Turku - typical street scene
last day so what do I do - spend half of it in the shops! I went down to the Bussijaam to organise my tik to Riga tomorrow at 6.45am - - its now 10.30pm I should not be writing this! - and get somewhat sidetracked by the big shopping malls down there - designer label shops like Gant (no sale) Pepe Jeans (sale - bu- they want how much for wrecked jeans?? etc) - and bought a very nice shirt in the Esprit shop - did they start in Oz? - well we all know they are made in China now and the prices have not dropped! - on sale cost me about $34AUD. I trien in a very nice knitted linen top that was a steal - and a kinda funky Tshirt for about ... read more
Barclay Hotell 1
now Tartu in the SE of Estonia - the express bus from Parnu took 2 1/2 hrs so here around 3.30pm - its now 5pm and I am blogging - its sad isnt it?! Discovered that (always ask before leaving the Bussijaam - bus terminal - for next step) the bus to Riga in Latvia - abt 4 hrs - only goes twice per day - 06.45 (ouch) or 17.45 - bit late to be getting in there. So staying at some of the more attractive hotels maybe a little bit further from the station here and closer in Old Town did not greatly appeal due to the morning walk. Headed up the main street Ulikooli where 3 of my choices were all located and saw the unrecommended Barclay Hotell - jolly good - wonder how ... read more
Tartu town hall - back view
Tartu - 26 August gotta keep that production line going. No real text with this - that can wait - just want to upload the general views of Tartu at night this evening after dinner. Which was eaten at the Barclay Hotell - its 5 floors or whatever but the evening desk guy told there are only 17 guests today - no wonder they offered me 25% off! And I was therefore the only dinner guest. A classic borscht to start - not pureed but coarse in texture - warm and with blue cheese in it, which got me in! then the Admiral's Salmon (they all had somewhat fanciful titles - it said steamed but it seemed grilled to me). a nice South African chenin blanc with it - had to check whether New World was ... read more
Rainy Lovers
Yes, it's true, our time in Tallinn and that gorgeous apartment needed to come to an end. On the morning of the 26th, we looked at all of our stuff that had migrated out of our backpacks over the last couple of days and hastily shoved it back in, did one last pass of tidying up, checked out, and headed out to the bus station. Due to our experience with Altja, we'd already quadruple-checked our transport schedules and left quite a bit earlier than was probably necessary, but peace of mind was what we wanted that morning. One bus ride later and we were in Tartu, the capital-c-Cultural capital of Estonia and the location of its largest university. Having just arrived, pretending at being pack animals, we figured it'd be a good idea to find our ... read more
It has bee some time since i wrote on the blog and i am doing it now because during this weekend i had experienced something very strange that made me think about a lot of things. This has nothing to do with traveling, seeing new places or meeting new cultures, this is a picture of how Romania looks in my mind somehow.. Friday afternoon, after coming back from work and seeing some apartments i went straight to bed, for a quick nap, just because i was a bit tired and i wanted to go out in the evening. During this quick nap i had a very strange dream...i am not the kind of person that looks for simbols in a dream but this one made me think a bit about the image that the online ... read more
Estonian man
And here it comes, the first weekend out of the city. Well, i went out with AIESEC for a transition party, EB to EB. The location was 45KM out of the city in an area with "hills" and all that the nature can offer, lakes, woods, green grass, beautiful sky, bbq, sauna and great people :). The idea was simple, one night out with 30 people, bbq, sauna and fun, The new EB starts the term and the rest of the time is fun and relax...and that it was... The location was great, cool place in the middle of the nature, with a small lake for swimming after the sauna and a cozy place to sleep and have "emotional take over". Talking about take over, it was in Estonian, so about 30 people were in ... read more
Students Kissing
Some of you already know, some other don't but at this point i started a new chapter in my life, Tartu Estonia. I will be here for one year working for a national company in a field that is kind of new to me, automation industry, i will be responsible for all marketing, communication and Exports to Eastern Europe (Marketing communication and Export manager) and not only. Well yea, i know it is a shock that i am no longer working in the HR area but don't worry i will keep on preparing :). TARTU: Second largest city in Estonia (101.000 inhabitants) and In contrast to Estonia's political and financial capital Tallinn, Tartu is often considered the intellectual and cultural hub, especially since it is home to Estonia's oldest and most renowned university. By definition Tartu ... read more
