Estonia, (one of) my new favorite place(s)

I am happy to report that Estonia was the first place I actually stayed UNDER budget during this trip! Ding ding ding, winner winnner, chicken dinner. So what do I do? I head to Helsinki, Finland, one of the most expensive countries in the world! Brilliant!!

Anyway, one of the hardest things about discovering a new city I like is that I eventually have to leave. I often find it hard to acknowledge to myself that the only thing keeping me from staying in any given place is that I have an airfare ticket that expires within a year. Other than that there is absolutely no other reason for me to move on. There was always a reason to stay just one more night, whether it was to hang out with a group of new and interesting people with their own set of travel stories, or solidifying a casual acquaintance into a friend I will visit in the future.

Anyway, as I mentioned in my earlier post, I came to Tallinn with Adrian, to meet up with my old buddies back from California, who were going to be here for just three nights. I stayed on their couch, right in the middle of the Old Town Square, which, in my world, was pretty much like going from the Motel 6 to the Ritz Carlton. It was good to stay in an apartment again!

Some highlights from the time in Tallinn:

*Many of my close friends have heard my stupid Swedish routine, about how, when I get to Sveeeden, I will drive my Vollllllllllllvo, on my way to Ikeeeeeeeeeeeeeea, to call you on my Nokiiiiiiiiiiiia, to let you know I will eat some Sweeeeeedish meeeeeeeeeatballs. Well, I have not gotten to Sweden yet, but I did meet two Swedish girls at our hostel and convinced one of them, Isabelle, to say the exact same thing to me just for shits and giggles and recorded it on my camera. Needless to say, this is one of those videos I watch over and over again, which never ceases to make me laugh outloud. Oh yeah, little did I realize, but Nokia is a FINNISH company, so the new routine incorporates Ericcson as the replacement. Does not really flow as well, but hey, might as well! (or as my friend Greg would say, MINUS WELL!!!)


*We met two Russian girls in Riga, Malveena and Katia, who were staying in our room. I recall meeting these two girls, (see previous post in Riga) as they stood in our room with two huuuuge pieces of luggage (who carries luggage in a hostel??!?) for about a solid 20 minutes, speaking in all kinds of Russian gibberish. Finally, I asked them if everything was ok, and it turns out they were not the least bit happy about staying on the top bunk. Apparently, one of them rolled off the top bunk once..... Anyway, we exchanged emails after hanging with them for a night but never really heard back from them. Lo and behold, they show up at our hostel in Estonia about a week later! They tried to get in touch with me enroute, but apparently, sent an email to the wrong address. Anyway, I guess it is not uncommon to run into people here and there as it seems most people go to the same places. The travellers circle is indeed quite small.

*One day, we decided to head to the beach and we quickly figured out that none of us really conform to the stereotypes to of where we come from. Amanda, from Seattle, does not drink coffee and also dislikes salmon. Aaron, from Spain, does not know how to salsa, merengue nor flamenco. Though I am from California, I have no idea how to surf. Adrian, from the UK, has good teeth! And Gregory, from France did not wear speedos to the beach (but decided to take his pants off and wear his undies instead!) Ok, 4 out of 5 ain't bad.

*One night, we were at a bar with Hayden, Tim and Glen, three Kiwis I met at the hostel who have also been thinking about opening a hostel. From our discussions it seemed like these guys had really put some thought into it. Anyway, we head to a bar on a Sunday night (why not?) and it was fairly empty. So I ventured about and met three Estonian girls upstairs and persuaded them to come downstairs to say happy birthday to Hayden (even though it wasn't!) They come downstairs, one of them gives a kiss to Hayden and we start singing happy birthday to Hayden. After we finish singing, the bartender comes over and asks me, "Is it your friend's birthday today?" And I answer, "Yes, he just turned 25!!" Not two seconds later the bartender brings out a bottle of champagne and six glasses, "On the house!" he says! And to think, all I wanted to do was chat up some local girls in a bar!

*My last evening in Tallinn, I decided to cook a very simple chinese dinner (fried rice and chicken stir-fry) for my friends. They all commented on how great it was, and I reminded them all that my family back home would get a kick out of that. They would obviously tell me that a bunch of hungry traveling backpackers are probably not the most discerning critics when it comes to food, but hey, if any of my family is reading this (and Gypsy, you too!) my fried rice was a hit! hahahahaha