I Can See Russia (Just Not From the Hotel)

Work sent me to the northeast corner of Estonia the other week. The city of Narva lies on the west side of the Narva jõgi (river in Estonian) and the eastern side of the river is Russia, officially known as the Russian Federation. The population is predominantly Russian-speaking. I speak not one word of Russian, so the co-workers I traveled with tried to get me up to speed with some pleasantries: welcome, thank you, good-bye. My pronunciations made them laugh. Yes, I was that bad.

Anyway, I did get to see a lot of the city after work (ok, really between one work event and then the other).

We went to Narva's Alexander cathedral where you could go up inside the bell tower. There is an observation deck and some exhibits as you wind your way down the stairs to the different floors. (You can take an elevator, too.)

We also took a walk along the river, including this little spit of land in the middle that is Estonian. But it's amazing how close it is. It's also interesting to see Hermann Castle (Narva Castle) on the Estonian side of the river and Ivangorod Castle right across the water from it.

The one with the white tower is Hermann Castle. Apparently, all along the river on the Russian side are border guard towers. And if you swim in the river, and apparently some people do, best no stray too far from your own shore.

I think my favorite was the tour of Narva College of Tartu University. It's on the square, but it's this modern riff on the classic Estonian building.

And inside was beautiful. The library had this interesting feature in the middle where you could essentially walk up one side of a stadium type seating on one side and computers on the other, and down the other. It was fun. And kitty corner to the new school is the old town hall.

Apparently the new building caused quite the stir. But I like the juxtaposition of the old and the new.

The other interesting tidbit about Narva. It's reportedly the only place in Estonia with a statue of Lenin still standing. It's inside the courtyard of the Narva castle & museum.

Looked pretty intimidating to me!

A Giant Block Party

My second weekend in Tallinn happened to coincide with Kalamaja Päevad or Kalamaja Days.  Kalamaja is a neighborhood in northern Tallinn. Everyone at work calls it a hipster neighborhood. It's a cute area with these old wooden buildings, some painted in bright, candy colors. Anyway, there was a festival-flea market feel on Saturday.  I got some lunch there and listen to Marten Kuningas. It was warm and sunny and a great way to spend some of the afternoon (before I had to go into work). Marten Kuningas (I'm not sure if I should refer to it as band, since I think that's the lead singer's name) lost power during the last song. It was kind of funny, but it was enjoyable to see them try and power (or is it acoustic) on. There was a guy standing by the stage, I don't know if he was just random old guy or their manager, but he was air guitar-ing and air drumming through the entire set. It was funny.

On Sunday, people opened up their homes, really their backyards and sold food. It was like a giant scanvenger hunt, complete with a map.

There was BBQ, burgers, quail, quiches, cakes and cookies galore. It was a lot of fun and a nice opportunity to see some cute backyards.

It was fun to see all the people that were out and about for this event.  I even got to break out my Estonian to ask for food. Although, if there was something I was unsure of, most people understood English.  My favorite was one of the houses that was selling baked good. Instead of opening up the backyard, they opened up a window. It was a walk-up window (there were two wooden slats you had to step up to to give the money and get the goods) selling brownies, lemon bars and chocolate cake, among other things!

It's Been Awhile I Know

You wouldn't guess it by this blog, but I have continued to bake, run and travel over the last year. The try-something-new-that-gets-me-abroad bug hit and now I find myself in Tallinn, Estonia.

I have been told by many people that I am lucky and will love it here. I guess we shall see. But as ou can tell from the photo, it is quite charming looking. I've spent most of my time in the Old Town wandering its cobblestone streets. It is quaint. I'm looking forward to exploring a bit more in the coming days. Stay tuned.

Misadventures in Baking

You'd think I'd learn. Read the directions. Well, I actually did. What I failed to do was check to see if I had all the ingredients. For example, I thought I had cinnamon. Nope.  I thought I had rolled oats. Nope. Only steel cut oats. (They are not a good substitute.) What I did have were two overripe bananas. Hence my desire to make banana chocolate chip cookies.

I'll make them again over the weekend. They're really good. Will be better with rolled oats, and maybe some cinnamon!