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A Day Out

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A short trip back to the airport today to hire the car, and explore the surrounds before we move on. And so to the Lahemaa National Park along the northern coast.

Bit of a mixture of things to see and do, and probably best to start with the low, and forever memorable, point – lunch. Best described as “rustic Russian”. We decided against “salt lard sandwich” and I opted for “groat potato porridge” – essentially mashed potato mixed with (probably) lard and some small pork pieces. Very filling! Suffice to say not Eileen’s favourite meal of the holiday!

Waterfall

Not exactly overwhelming but it does have water – unlike the UK at the moment. Can’t help noticing the grass is green here.

A Bog

One of the strap lines on the visit Estonia website is that you’re never more than 10km from a bog. So let’s visit a well-known one. They’re very proud of it.

And actually lovely. Note the macs – we did dodge a couple of heavy showers during the day.

Palmse House

Well worth a visit – apart from its lunch offerings. We’re pretty sure the National Trust could do a lot with it as well.

Kamsu

Beautiful little holiday village

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Cool-cation

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Is it even a word? Anyway, we got what we came for!

Actually it was a lovely morning in the old town again

And the afternoon on the beach was very comfortable. Even the service in the same hotel was significantly improved.

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Tallinn

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Still getting to know, and enjoy, the old town.

Took a short taxi ride to the coast again – stunning beach and hotel, and then probably the worst service we have ever encountered anywhere. Rude, unhelpful, surly, and then overcharged us. And all we had was 2 beers -actually would have had another couple if we could have managed to get served! Not sure if it’s the Russian influence – it was definitely a much more Russian area – and on reading the reviews afterwards it sounds fairly typical of this hotel.

Much more friendly back in the old town.

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Tallinn

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Favourable first impressions of Tallinn are confirmed as we get to know it better.

The weather is just about perfect – sunny but low 20s (compared to the 30+ back home). Tallinn is very walkable, with lots to see and very friendly locals.

The usual walking tour started us off, leaving us to then explore leisurely.

In the photo above, the white tower block in the centre was the only hotel in the So jet era, built and bugged by the KGB. Apparently it’s still a hotel.

And Tallin is also right on the coast.

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Tallinn

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We changed our usual criteria for travel:

  1. It’s the summer holidays when everyone else is on holiday
  2. We deliberately chose somewhere that might be cooler after 6 weeks of heatwave

If I say that we arrived in Tallinn at 08.30 UK time, that indicates that we had a very early start – which we did.

It meant we were in our apartment with almost a day to explore, albeit gently because, surprise surprise, we were a bit tired.

But first impressions are extremely good. A beautiful city to wander around.

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St Just and Home

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Final visit to the church

Getting out of Cornwall was tough, but expected. Getting past Reading was tough, but unexpected. So it took 8 hours to get home, but definitely worth it.

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Just Desserts

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On a holiday consisting mainly of views and food, it’s apt that I get my come uppance. Sneaked into a cake shop in the afternoon without telling Eileen. But a couple of bites later it was ripped from my hand with laser precision by a seagull which then seemed to proceed to share it with its mates and laugh at me at the same time.

The Hidden Hut

Stunning location, probably crazy busy in summer, and fantastic food (the less said about the coffee, though …).

And just enjoying the house.

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Moving a bit

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We’ve probably seen the best of the weather, so it’s time to move around a bit.

We remember the King Harry ferry from 2009 – just after the financial crisis and so many unused cargo ships were being stored up this creek.

It’s also the place where I had my great idea for a TV series about boring jobs in amazing places (the title probably still needs some work). As it’s a chain ferry, the captain doesn’t even need to steer, and yet the views are stunning.

Trelissick

We’d been before, although I didn’t remember it.

And a lovely place to have coffee

Tuesday was a little trip around the Roseland peninsula (including picking up hitchhikers which we haven’t done for decades, but with no buses or taxis they were desperate.

It was actually more ethereal than the photo makes it look.

And back to St Mawes to enjoy our panoramic views.

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As Good as it Gets (2)

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Weather for the weekend is just about perfect – sunny but not too hot. Forecast for the rest of the week isn’t as good, so we’re not moving far at all.

It’s nearly 20 years ago that we stayed near St Just with Jo, and at least 2 of her friends in successive years. So for old times sake, and because it’s stunning scenery we walked around the estuary to the church.

And that was that for the day!