Tallin and Pärnu

Tuesday 5th of June

On Sunday the trip finally started. I went to Tallin with my brother Ville and his family, Liisa, Leevi and Elsa. The weather wasn't perfect for a day in Tallin, but we still had a good time. On the ferry we ate a huge breakfest buffet, and that gave enough strength even for the smallest of us to walk around Tallin. Even though Leevi was quite disappointed when he realised we weren't going to Merimuseo, I think he still had a fun day.

Elsa, Ville, Leevi and Liisa

After saying goodbye to Ville & co, I walked to the bus station and found a bus to Pärnu. And in the bus I finally got the feeling I've been waiting for. The realisation, that from this moment on the next six weeks is going to be awesome! The anticipation for the unknown and the feeling of freedom is something you urge for when you are in Finland. On the road again.

For those of you who are not familiar with the concept of couchsurfing, here is the basic idea in a nutshell. You take other visitors to your place overnight if someone needs a place to stay, and when you're travelling you find someone who takes you under his/her roof. No money is needed, so people do it for free. Normally the host also spends time with the surfer, and that's actually the whole point: you meet new peolple and get to know the local people and local habits, places, culture etc. much better than just staying in a hotel. Hostels are of course also good places to meet people, but then it's basically just meeting fellow travellers. When couchsurfing you get to meet local people.

Anyway, I decided to try couchsurfing at least in some places during this trip. In Pärnu my host was a great guy called Jan, and I stayed two nights at his place. I also met a few of his friends and we went to some nice restaurants and pubs. Monday was also the day of the Estonian flag, so there was a flag parade and a concert in the evening. The day before evening I had spent mainly just walking around the city. There's a big beach and the old town is really nice. Around the old town you can also find many parks, which were great. They say Pärnu is the summer capital of Estonia, and I can easily see why. For many people the spas and waterparks are reason enough to visit Pärnu.

A park in Pärnu

Pärnu Old Town

From Pärnu I needed to find a way to get to Riga. Jan showed me a good spot to go with my thumb up, because I decided to hitchhike. And he was right, only after less than half an hour I got lucky. A Belarussian guy called Ivan was driving home from Finland, where he is working in Forssa. So I got a ride to Riga and he didn't fall asleep on the way because he had some company. He left me 10 km away from Riga, and from there I took a bus to central. It costed one euro, so it was quite a fair price for a trip from Pärnu to Riga...

In Riga I went to get keys to Peltsi's place from his office. I had walked almost 10km already with my backback, so it felt really good when I finally get to a shower and to have a small rest. Later in the evening I went to a coachsurfing meeting in a pub with Peltsi. He normally goes there every week so he already knew everyone. So once again, I got to meet many nice people. Now my plan is to stay here in Peltsi's and Kristine's place maybe until Sunday, when I continue my trip to Klaipeda in Lithuania. This week I'll try to make some daytrips to Sigulda and Jürmala. So all in all I would say that the trip has started very well.