March 5: Trip to East Estonia
I am currently as sick as is humanly possible for a person with a cold. But, that's never stopped me before so why would it stop me now? In that light, yesterday I piled into a rental car with three good friends and proceeded to drive to the very edge of Estonia. I literally stood at the banks of the Narva River and looked at Russia. I said, "Hello, Russia. How are ya?". How cool is that?? This trip was much better than the South Estonia one and I think I've identified the problem. Too many people, for too long, make my teeth itch. That's right. My teeth itch.
I've always been a lover and simultaneously, a hater of the "roadtrip". This time though, I pumped myself full of Gravol and was determined to enjoy myself and live up to my imagined standard of the concept. It worked. We stopped where we wanted, got lost a few times, and really, really enjoyed ourselves. On the way to Narva we stopped twice, once to try to find a waterfall, and secondly to successfully find a waterfall. Why a waterfall you ask? Well, only because it was frozen solid. Very impressive looking, I tell you. I almost died on the stairs though. They were treacherous. Sorry, Kevin, about the hot chocolate on your jacket. That's what you get for walking in front of me.
After the waterfall we eventually got to Narva. Narva is a small town mostly comprised of Russians, which is situated closer to St. Petersburg than to Tallinn. It sits on the bank of the Narva River which separates Estonia from Russia (at least this part) and at the same time joins them by a so called "Friendship Bridge" which appears, incidentally, on the 5 kroon note. The fortifications on the Estonian side of the river have become a very interesting museum that we took in before moving on to see more parts of the town. We also had a nice photoshoot next to Lenin. He was a bit overbearing, wasn't he?
On our way to see a statue of a Swedish Lion, we saw a few limos and some commotion. Upon closer examination, a wedding party was taking their photos next to the tourist attraction we wanted to see. So, we took ten minutes and crashed their party. It only made sense, it was our tourist attraction, too. Giggling away, we then explored some interesting churches, one of which happened to be having it's Lenten service. It happened to be the Russian Orthodox service and let me just say, that it was creepy with a capital "C". All and only lit with numerous red glass encased candles, and with nobody sitting, just standing with heads bowed listening to the Priest utter very quickly in Latin, it was a scene I will never forget. Very surreal. At this point, it's snowing rapidly and getting dark so we decide to hit the road.
Our last stop was a town called "Rakvere" which is quite small but very lovely. I feel like the worst kind of crap and elect not to get out and see castle ruins that I can see perfectly well from the car. But I do decide to go into a pub and get a hot chocolate when the occasion arises. We stay for a while, say that this little town merits further exploration at a later date, and head back to pass in the rental.
After some adventures getting gas, we successfully returned the vehicle and I am safe at home after a day well spent on the road. I hope to do this sort of excursion again. It was worth every penny spent and every minute on the road.
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