Estonia--Tartu

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Hello from Tartu

Still in Estonia, a little further South (closer to Latvia).

So, last night I had one cigarette outside the hostel, then went up to bed. There was an American guy in my room but we didn't really speak at all until just as he was heading out for a drink. I kinda wished I'd chatted with him beforehand because I wouldn't have minded a little company, but it's probably a good thing I got ltos of sleep. I had a really good sleep, and woke up this morning at 11:00. I was starving and dehydrated and, for lack of an immediate better option, I had a McChicken (hey, sometimes it has to be done!). It was right beside the vine-covered town walls, so that was cool.

It was miserably cold and rainy so I decided to head straight to the bus station, then I was a bit disappointed that the next bus to Riga wasn't for several hours. So I decided to catch the 2:00 bus to Tartu instead. It was a 2 1/2 hour bus ride into this little University town. I was pretty keen on having another spa (when in Estonia...), so I went into the centre of town and checked the prices at a couple of hotels near the bus station, then decided on a place with a spa attached to it, closer to the bus station, called the Alexandri. It was a bit of a hike away from the centre of town, so I figured I'd probably end up staying there for the rest of the night. At least I got a quick look at Tartu!

I got a nice room with a television, but didn't stay in it for long as I ended up booking a sauna right away (I was a bit gutted that the massages were all booked up for the day). So I stopped into the adjoining restaurant, had a quick beer, then headed to the spa.

It was actually a solarium rather than a sauna, and apparently it's less hot but it's supposed to make you sweat more and lose 600 calories. It's basically a little sauna where I sat for a half hour and thought I was going to spontaneously combust from the heat. I don't know if I lost 600 calories, but it was pretty damn hot!

Afterwards, I headed back to the room to get changed and went back to the restaurant to eat. I thoroughly enjoyed my steak with mushroom sauce, potatoes and coleslaw, and red wine. Delicious!!

There was a guy sitting a few booths behind me who I kept making eye contact with, and a few songs into the Estonian band's set, he finally came over and invited me to sit with him (to which I quite eagerly agreed). His name is Andras, he's from the town of Parnu, and although his English wasn't perfect, he was a great companion. He told me that all private houses in Estonia definitely have saunas, he talked about Russia and about ice-fishing in Norway, and then, the piece de resistance, we had a few dances. He was probably the best traditional dancer ever-he could really lead and I wished he'd been around for my swing dancing classes in London! We danced to four songs and I was having a grand old time. When we sat down again, he serenaded me to the song "Country Roads". At midnight, I decided to call it a night because I have to get up at 5am to catch the bus to Riga and I'd like a little more than 2 hours winks!

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