Saturday 12 July 2008
The digs we'd booked turned out to be a disused school closed up for the summer. Whilst it was clean and tidy, it proved to be a little soulless and austere. The upside? Every room equipped with its own piano!!
After we'd breakfasted at the hostel we set off to 'do' Tallinn. Our digs were right in the middle of the Old Town so we didn't have far to find the most interesting bits.
For those that haven't been, Tallinn Old Town is very picturesque bordering on self parody. Great to walk around for half a day though the other 100,000 tourists seemed to agree with us.
Cruise ship Oriana had docked also overnight so were overrun with middle aged, frustrated cruisers who had escaped the confines of the ship the day.
Pleasantly there were few badly behaved British Stag or Hen parties in evidence. We saw a couple of rowdy Brit. men groups out for beer and the other less obvious delights of Tallinn and a group of girls out Henning who seemed to think dressing themselves in canary yellow somehow added to their occasion!
We did all the usual sights and stayed in the Old Town for dinner in The Old Hansa, a fun medieval themed restaurant serving 'authentic' food from the dark ages. Dunno if they had Filet Mignon then but ours were pretty good!!
Back to the digs at a reasonable hour for shut eye as we're back on it tomorrow,
Sunday 13 July 2008
After two days enforced grockling, bums back on saddles today.
We have planned a 50 miler ending up at Jarvakandi, mid no-wheresville, Estonia.
Breakfasted at the Hostel with a nice group of Franco/Germans who had cycled the 600 km up from Riga and had just finished their tour. They were travelling superlight having booked all their Bed & Breakfast accommodation in advance.
This approach, though offering certainty at the end of each day, would be a little inflexible for us as our itinerary is a bit fluid.
Away from Tallinn at the customary time of 09:15. Had an easy run through the city to pick up Route 15 heading due South to Jarvakandi.
Got a good lick on and arrived into Rapla, 28 miles away, in pretty short order. Dropped into the Tourist Info office to enquire/book accommodation in Jarvakandi.
Opted for the option that was directly on our planned route and narrowly avoided
what was described as 'luxury' accommodation 10 or so miles off it.... a decision we would come to regret....
Whizzed on in high temps, lovely sunshine, completely flat terrain and a b'stard of a head wind.
Hmmmm, for cyclists, a bit of sun, temps in the low 20's, no hills and a tail wind are all we ask for. Not too much is it?
Arrived into Jarvakandi at around 14:00 and spotted our intended resting place for the day.
It was supposed to be a Bed & Breakfast with a bit of camping on the side. It was actually a grotty old cinema with café attached and a bit of random grass out in front to pitch a tent on.
Our spirits were further dampened by the 20 or so pi$$ed up locals hanging around where we were designated to camp!
A simple decision was taken; carry on young man.
We belted out another 20 or so miles to the next town of Vandra. Fortunately, this had us turning from the headwind and we had divine intervention pushing us along for the last few miles.
Vandra apparently had a pukka hotel/hostel - the two words are interchangeable when describing Estonian digs.
We tracked the little tinker down and then spent a good few minutes trying to raise any human who might have an interest in letting us a room for the night.
Turns out, it was a quiet night in the Vandra hotel trade - we were it! The place itself was nice, bit like a Travel Lodge which is a bit of a bonus in these parts. Alan Partridge would be in his element!
As is becoming our custom, dinner was purchased from the local supermarket and, unusually for us, we then spent a couple of hours vegging in front of an American film on the TV.
A reasonable end to what could have been a prize crap situation.
Total today a further than anticipated 72 miles and 140m of ascent. Total trip 1195 miles.
Monday 14 July 2008
Breakfasted handsomely at our digs before making our getaway at the usual time.
Our plan today sees us rolling into Parnu, the Blackpool of Estonian beach resortage. This is only about 35 miles from where we finished yesterday therefore we will let accommodation availability (and the elements) dictate where we finish today.
Good news; the wind has bogged off to the rear and we now have a delightful tailwind to go with our super flat, East Anglianesque terrain.
Bad news; its big brother AKA bloody rain, has come to stay.
As we set off, the rain started and waterproofs were quickly donned as would be the custom for the rest of the day.
We soon knocked out the 30 or so miles to Parnu with the combination of flatness and tail wind complementing our speed.
En route we passed lots of Storks nesting or otherwise going about their Storky business though we didn't see them delivering any newborn infants - perhaps tomorrow.
We also passed a number of 'Built with the support of the EU' signs by the newly laid (and fantastic quality) road.
The combined effects of the Finnish road builders shovel and the collective EU wallet were very marked particularly when compared directly with the output of the Estonian Highways Agency (or whatever it's called here...).
Stopped for a coffee, CAKE and WARM at a roadside services and watched the hustle and bustle of the holiday makers of Parnu go about their business.
All too soon, we were back on the road (and in the cold and rain) turning due South on the E67-4 heading for Tahkuranna, our destination for the day.
As we neared our destination, the rain let up a little and, on arrival, we made our usual choice of a cabin (AKA shed) as preferred accommodation for the night.
Mileage was a bit short today but this resulted in an early arrival that helped us catch up on some domestic duties (i.e. dealing with stinky washing) that we couldn't sort in Helsinki or Tallinn.
We tucked ourselves away in our (roomy) shed in the middle of a deserted site, upped the heater and concentrated on creating a lovely warm fug away from the nasty rain.
Dinner was provided by our campsite hosts (no nearby supermarket) followed by continuation of the all comers Scrabble championships...
Total today a rather tardy (and damp) 41 miles and 25m (yes 25m! Well it is flat) of ascent. Total trip 1236 miles.
More Southerly ramblings to follow.
Back soon. Miles & Tracey.
