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Tbilisi

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First day exploring. Coping with a little bit of jet lag – late arrival plus we’re 3 hours ahead of the UK.

A bit spaced out in the morning as we began to get our bearings, but had booked on a walking tour with Giorgi in the early afternoon which helped us begin to make sense of Tbilisi.

Mainly around the old town, and it was interesting to hear about his grandparents – solid secure jobs under Russian rule – and his parents coping with the fallout and the chaos following independence.

Anyway, plenty of pictures to get us going

And the rather mad (and modern) “leaning tower of Tbilisi”

and the 1500 year old church next door

Plus some fun

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Tbilisi

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EasyJet from Luton to Tbilisi doesn’t quite have the ring of Gladys Knight and “Midnight train to Georgia ” but we’ve made it – to a different Georgia but who cares.

It’s 3 hours ahead of the UK, so a pleasant departure time meant a nearly midnight arrival for us in Georgia. Managed to get a surprisingly decent dinner and a very quick view from our balcony, so clearly a lot of exploring to do.

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More Pictures

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Over in a flash, and very lucky with the weather. This is Dower Lodge where we stayed.

And these confirm Aldeburgh is very photogenic.

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Aldeburgh – 1st – 5th September

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It’s the usual few days in Aldeburgh, spending some time with Shelagh, Alan and family in Thorpness.

A great place to stay (once we managed to find it) right next to Sizewll C Power Station, with a lovely view from upstairs.

And right on the coastal path.

And then plenty of familiar places

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The End

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Driving the rental car into the wrong car park and having to pay €1 to get out was about as stressful as it got during the 12 days in Estonia, although the least said abut arriving back at Luton the better!

So some final pics from a great holiday (including a guest appearance from San Francisco)

Including views from the apartment

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Haapsalu

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Not a massive amount here. Tried having some little drive around, but really nothing to see, apart from a ruined Manor House.

But the town is distracting enough with decent coffee, a few ok restaurants and enough sites to keep us distracted.

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Haapsalu

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A popular (small) seaside resort as our final stop. Fantastic apartment (not unlike Bremerhaven).

When we visited the local castle, apparently it gets an average of about 20 English visitors a year. And yet English (as well as Estonian and Russian) is widely spoken. Might be something to do with what seems to us to be a very young, well educated, population but it makes chatting very easy.

Also, food (with one very notable exception) has been very good, and especially outside Tallinn noticeably cheaper than back home.

A few local pictures

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Moving Again

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After Tartu, we had a short hop to Viljandi for a night, and then on to Haapsalu via Parnu for the last few days.

Driving is a dream – long straight roads with virtually no traffic so very unstressful travelling.

Viljandi

A nice little town on a lake.

And a big shout out for a cafe/restaurant – found it by chance for a morning coffee which was the best so far, saw the lunch menu which looked great so went back, and then thought might as well do dinner there which was a great choice!

Parnu

Estonia’s main holiday town, so decided to have a look. Nice old town and beach

Thought it was quiet, but apparently 8,000 Estonians were there on holiday, so according to them it was buzzing.

Haapsalu

Last few days in a fantastic apartment

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Tartu

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It’s Estonia’s second biggest city, and if the guide was being serious, where we tried to watch the eclipse is Estonia’s 10th highest hill. It’s a big and very old university, and with students being replaced by tourists at the moment is pretty quiet.

The walking tour with Stanislav (Ukrainian living in Estonia) was great, with a mixture of history and fun facts.

Oh cheer up ….

And enjoyed the rest of the day meandering, eating and drinking.

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Fun

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A little diversion, to enjoy the green green grass of Estonia (as Tom Jones didn’t sing)

Apparently it was 38 degrees back at home, so enjoying the relief.

So much so that I tried some aerial acrobatics

And then

In the upside down house