This summer's adventure part 2 - Estonia (1/3)

Teisipäeval, 11. augustil alustasime Teresaga oma kahenädalast Eesti reisi marsruudil Riia-Pärnu-Laadi-Pärnu-Tartu-Lõuna-Eesti-Tartu-Tallinn-Rummu-Haapsalu-Saaremaa-Tallinn-Riia. Jäime ellu, Teresa sai natuke Eestimaast aimu (järgmisel aastal enam nii tihedat programmi ei tee, aitäh) ja mina oma kodumaad turistipilguga vaadatud. Järgemööda katsun siis pilte ka üles visata.

Tuesday, 11 August Teresa and I arrived in Riga and took the bus to my hometown Pärnu. This was the start of our almost two-week tour of Estonia, which included six towns, one island, numerous other places, one shooting star, one magical sunset, many many episodes of John Oliver, lots of romance, a lot of kilometers, loads of awesome food and quite a few alpacas. So here we go, the first part: my hometown Pärnu and the town where I studied for five years, Tartu (and the highest peak in the Baltic States).

 Romantikareisi kohustuslik alguspunkt Pärnus: õhtusöök Steffanis...

Kicked off our romantic trip with a stop at the most legendary (if not the best) pizza place in Estonia...

 ... millele järgnes klaasike veini ja päikseloojang Tervise Paradiisi kaheksanda korruse baaris.

...followed by a glass of wine at our Romantic bar.

 Järgmine päev oli raskelt palav, nii et käisime rannas, ujusime paar korda (millest fototõendid puuduvad) ning sõitsime meile suvilasse, et pidada maha üks ehteestilik saunaõhtu isetehtud ehtameerikalike burksidega.

The next day was a beach day, followed by an all-Estonian sauna night with homemade all-American burgers in my summer home.

 Neljapäeval rentisime Teresale ratta ja sõitsime mitu head tundi mööda linna ringi, et kogu ilu ikka nähtud saaks (neid pilte on päris mitu, aga ma olen sellel aastal Pärnusse kuidagi nii raskelt uuesti ära armunud, et ma lihtsalt ei suuda validaaaa).

On Thursday we biked around my beautiful, most precious Pärnu and took in all the town has to offer. There may be just about 200 pictures too many, but please forgive me - I just love this place so so much.

 Minu sellel suvel vaieldamatuks lemmikuks saanud täiuslik jäätisesöömiskoht.

My favorite spot in Pärnu this summer - it's my Estonian Waterfront!

 Lahe peal tabasime purjeregati ka pildi peale.

A big sailing event was going on.

 Pärnu muul, purjekad ja minu "niimoodi võib surma saada" poosid

The Pärnu jetty, pier breakwater - however you're supposed to call it, some sailboats and my "this is how you die" pose.

 Teresa ronis ikka vapralt viimase kivini, et soovida saaks.

You're supposed to climb to the last (big) stone of the jetty and make a wish. Teresa was the brave one, I figured I already have everything I want...

Õhtust sõime mu tulevase abikaasa seltsis.

Hey look, my future husband!

 Järgmise päeva õhtuks jõudsime Tartusse, saime Keiu ja Kristeliga kokku, sõime sushit, käisime veits Tartu ööõhku hingamas ning laupäeval pärast mustikapannkooke Kristeli ja Martini seltsis panime Teresaga Keiu autole hääled sisse ja sõitsime "mägedesse" Baltimaade kõrgeimat tippu kaema (ma muide ei teadnudki, et Lätis ja Leedus ka meie Suurest Munamäest miskit kõrgemat ei leidu).

On Friday we took the bus to Tartu, met up with some of my besties, had awesome sushi, made a brief introduction to the nightlife in Tartu and on Saturday, after some blueberry pancakes, took this show on the road to see some Estonian "mountains" i.e. the highest peak in the three Baltic States, which is 300somethingsomething meters above sea-level, but the hill itself is only 50something meters, which has a tower on top of it where you can see... lots of forest (Estonia is almost 50% forest) and basically Latvian and Russian forests as well.

 Siis tegime ühe 7 km raba-metsamatka ka, mis oli väga lõbus, kui välja arvata see, et me veetsime metsaosas umbes miljon aastat ja ma hakkasin juba mõtlema, kas me enam iialgi välja jõuame ning Teresa kutsus kurja välja, mainides pidevalt, kui väga ta karu näha tahaks.

You can't go to Estonia and not go for a little walk in a bog, it just doesn't make sense. I looked up a trail for us which was around 7 km with half of it in a bog and half in the woods. In the bog part we were followed by a bunch of Latvians, but even they abandoned us, so we spent 3.5 km in the woods all alone, which started to get a little creepy in the end, as I was becoming increasingly sure we would have to live there forever - the fact that Teresa was constantly expressing her wish to see a bear didn't exactly make it better either.

 Rabaosas jälitas meid pidevalt seltskond lätlasi - hirmus hakkas,

The Latvians finally caught up with us.

 Katsetasin matkamist matkakepiga - ei saanud aru, miks see hea on, aga okei.

Since everyone is always walking around with a stick when they go hiking, I wanted to try it out as well. I still don't get it.

Normaalsed kusiraudsikute pesad olid tee ääres.

The trail was surrounded by more than a meter high nests of hairy wood ants (?)

Laupäeva õhtul tähistasime Teresaga oma tutvumise aastapäeva veel ühe sushikorra, koogi ja maarjapäeva punase veiniga.

Saturday night was our one-year anniversary, so we had more sushi, cake and a glass of red wine.

 Pühapäeval oli paar tundi aega, et Tartus turistitseda, siis korraldasime Kristelile üllatuspikniku ning õhtul panimegi viimase rongiga Tallinna poole ajama.

On Sunday we spent a few hours being tourists in Tartu, then organized a surprise birthday picnic for my lovely Kristel and then took the last train to Tallinn.

 Teresast sai ka täieõiguslik tudeng.

 My alma mater.

Mina ja 50 (kirjanduslik liialdus) õhupalli ja kerge pearinglus.

Teine osa tuleb ka kunagi!
Second part coming at some point!