My blog - August 2004
Vilnius
August 31st 2004, 7:39pm
Got to Vilnius today. Big tower blocks on the edge of town again, but the old town is ok - what we've seen of it anyway.
We met Shay at the bus station, and he had already found a hostel for us to stay in, so that made things easy. Haven't really done much today though - just wandered around the town, had dinner and then met a few English speaking people at the hostel and went out for a drink with them. Quite a relaxing day really.
For the first time, we have no idea what we'll be doing tomorrow.
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First Go At Rīga
August 30th 2004, 4:56pm
Took the coach to Latvia this morning. It left at a sensible time of ten o'clock, so we could sleep in. Pretty uneventful journey; two stop and a passport control later we were in Rīga, and it looks much more Eastern Eurpoean than Estonia was. Lots of big grey buildings and tower blocks all over the place. It's like I was expecting Tallinn to be like I think. It does get nicer when you get into the old town though.
We had a room booked at the Placis Hostel, and the only instructions were to catch the number four trolleybus from Merķela Iela to the Teika stop. We found the start point on the map and got on the bus, but had no idea where it was going, so spent the journey scouring signs for 'Teika'. Eventually found the place to get off, but we weren't on the right road, so ended up walking for ages looking for it. It didn't help that there were no street signs. We found a map in a phone booth in the end and found the place, which was actually the Placis Hotel, not Hostel, but is still cheap and is pretty nice.
We then went back into town for dinner, which was very good food, outside a nice restaurant near St. Peter's church, which seems to be the hangout for the local goths. Then we went off to look for an internet cafe, which we've obviously found. Tomorrow it's off to Lithuania to meet Shay, who is coming up from Poland.
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Estonia, Part Two
August 29th 2004, 6:18pm
On Friday we went to Viljandi, where my great grand-dad was mayor twice. Lots of photos. Went to Tartu, met some relatives. Went to Mustvee. Met some more relatives, but they didn't speak English. One (Eenok - pronounced air-nock) told stories of how his father was arrested by the Russians when he was thirteen, and he hid out in the woods with the rest of his family for six years. I got very confused trying to work out the relationships though, as my Aunt was translating and when she said 'granddad' or 'cousin' I was never sure if she meant hers or mine.
On Saturday we went to Tartu again, via some place I forget the name of, where some other relatives lived, so we stopped by for a cup of tea.
Today we went into Tallin and looked at the Old Town, and then I met a cousin I didn't know I had.
Sorry - once again I have written a facts only overview, because there's just too much to write about. I will (I promise) try to write a more complete writeup when I get home, but for now you'll have to make do. So nah!
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Comment posted by Matt Ots at 6:18pm on August 29th 2004
So what's the photo of then?
Comment posted by James Ots at 6:18pm on August 29th 2004
Oops, forgot to say! That's the orthodox church in Mustvee.
Comment posted by Maret at 6:18pm on August 29th 2004
Hi, the confusing aunt is sorry for confusing you!!!!!!
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I'm in Estonia
August 26th 2004, 6:08pm
I flew into Tampere, Finland, on Wednesday, after nearly missing the flight because the coach was very late. The (rather rubbish quality) picture on the right is a building in Tampere, which is a really nice town about 100 miles or so north of Helsinki. The airport was tiny and surrounded by forest, and after a short bus journey we got to the town. It was late night, so the town was very quiet, but even though there were hardly any cars around everyone still stopped at pedestrian crossing and waited for the green man. I guess Finland is a very law abiding country. The cars all drove really slowly too.
Today we took a double decker train to Helsinki - I've never been on one of those before. And we got to ride on the top deck. Which I thought was well cool. Although not particularly interesting in the end. The train was very clean and efficient and Scandinavian.
In Helsinki it was raining, and until we got to the port it reminded me of Birmingham or Manchester. The buildings on the coast were nicer. We took a ferry to Tallinn, and we're now staying at my aunt's house. I have 60 photos so far, and I think I'll easily exceed my target of 500!
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Comment posted by Nomi at 6:08pm on August 26th 2004
Have I mentionned I am jealous, and I hate you? And you SUCK!!?! Yes, well, venting having been carried through... How cool was it to be on a double decker train? I haven't run into one of those yet! That one picture appears to bear striking resemblance to all other city houses I saw in Scandanavia. Denmark was the coolest by far for homes - thatched roofs, you know. So? Do tell? You need to learn not to just state facts, you have to let people experience through you. Describe the sights, the smells, the noises, the people! The little bit about the people obeying the streetlights is a good start. Might just be able to make a writer out of you yet! Ha, ha! Just joking! Hope you have a bloody marvelous time (sorry, had to say something mildly English, and that word is one recognized the world over as being a Brit word) in Finland, etc. Envy is taking over every part of me at the mo. Arg. Stuck in disgusting PG... Help! Oh, and PS, I sent a note to your hotmail account. And I forgot to paste the site in, so I'll send you a new note. Ignore the previous two! Adios!
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Mobile Blogging
August 19th 2004, 6:10pm
I have a new phone, a Nokia 6600, which has a big screen and can connect to the internet. So here I am, writing a blog entry from my phone. It's not very easy to do yet, so I think I'll have to change my blog code a bit.
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Aggressive Sunbathing
August 17th 2004, 9:50pm
Just been out at cell group barbeque - sitting out in the rain having a barbie, the way only the British can.
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Property Guide
August 15th 2004, 5:12pm
Saw six houses this week, none of them really suitable for renting. The first was six bedrooms, and was pretty nice, but since there are only three of us we can't really afford it. The next was a scabby student house. The third was reasonable, but too far away for make it work. The fourth house was amazing, but also very out of the way, and the third bedroom was only just big enough to fit a bed into. The fifth house I was almost considering getting, as it is just about the perfect house: Two good sized living rooms, a kitchen with a huge dining area, two big rooms and a small room upstairs, a big garden, a shed and a garage, in a quiet location in the centre of Earlsdon. The only problem is the price. I could afford it, but then I wouldn't be able to afford the project car and the travelling and just about anything else, so I've had to reluctantly cross it off the list and keep looking. The sixth house was also a student house, and worse than the other one.
Time is getting short. I really want to have found a place before I go off on my Baltics Tour (Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) - and that's happening a week on Wednesday. Looks like I might have to wait until I get back now.
(I have loads of pictures. But they're all of the houses I've been looking at, and you wouldn't be interested in those, would you?)
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The Other Stadium
August 7th 2004, 1:12pm
A couple of months ago I posted a photograph of the new Coventry rugby stadium. Today I photographed the new Coventry football stadium, which you can see here (they're still building it). It's a shame neither of the teams are any good.
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