From Tallinn to Pärnu

First a few more pictures of the Lower Town in Tallinn :



Then it is time to leave the capital, in direction of Latvia, with a stop on the road in Pärnu, an Estonian resort on the Baltic sea. Less tempting than the Adriatic or Egean seas, to be honest, specially today, when it is raining, and the temperature is really getting low... The only creatures who can survive in the water today are the ducks.



Time for a bit of general culture : the word SPA comes from the Latin phrasing "sanitas per aquam" ie. "health through water". The 1st bathing establishment of the town was built in 1838, and nowadays you can still enjoy thermal water or mud baths, and of course saunas, as anywhere in the country. Another option is to wander in the streets full of nice churches and wooden houses.




Croatia was full of Italian tourists, but now I know where the German go at the end of the summer : everywhere you go, you can hear German, and even on TV it seems to be the official language of the country. Not a bad news : even if my German is (very very) far from being fluent, it is still 1000 times better than my Estonian ;)

Tallinn

Tere ! (just in case some of you are not fluent in Estonian, this means hello. It is hardly worth remembering it, in 2 days I will be out of the country)

A few facts about the country :
- 1.3 million inhabitants, 2.5 million tourists last year, not a bad ratio !
- the name of the Estonian capital, Tallinn, means "Danish city" in Danish. The history sometimes leaves strange memories... In fact, the name was given by the Danish army when they conquered the city in 1219.

After one more stop at the airport in Frankfurt (sometimes, I have the feeling that I have spent all my holidays there... ;), and an evening spent washing half of my clothes in the bathroom basin because something liquid was poured on my bag during the transfer from Paris to Tallinn, time to visit the capital of Estonia.

The easiest part to start with seems to be the Upper Town from which you have a wonderful view upon the Lower Town (logical...) It is also where you can visit the Nevski Cathedral. We are definitely not far from Russia here...



This assumption is confirmed by the food : an example of traditional lunch would be
- a pea and bacon soup
- pork with potatoes and cabbage
- an apple pie
The diet won't be for this week...

The Lower Town is organised around the city hall. The old merchant houses look like other hanseatic cities around the Baltic sea. A chemistry built in the 15th century is still in activity. The drugs are just a bit more modern now....



For the cheaters who are not planning to visit the whole country, the ethnographical museum of Rocca Del Mare is the solution : you can see there typical farms (also called Rehielamu), windmills, a church, a fire station, a chapel, a tavern and so on which have been transfered from other parts of the country and regrouped in an open air museum. While you wander between the pines, you can discover the architecture and the way people dressed in the last centuries.




A short trip to Kadriorg, a few kilometers away from there, to visit Peter the Great's palace (below), built in the 1720s, and I am back in Tallin, to discover a few more streets and squares.

Dubrovnik

Dubrovnik, the Pearl of the Adriatic, more than deserves its nickname, in spite of the hundreds of tourists who have gotten off the huge cruise ships, and make the town crowded and noisy. Fortunately, there are enough restaurants, cafés and quiet streets for everybody. It is difficult to imagine that this city was completely destroyed by the war, that almost nothing was left 15 years ago.

Cavtat, a few kilometers away from Dubrovnik. People in Croatia compare it to Saint Tropez. It might not be exactly similar, but is still very nice.

It is now almost time to go back to Paris.

Next news in early September, and the weather should be a bit colder, then....

From Sibenik to Dubrovnik

(Don't expect more comments in this message than in the previous one, one connection in 5 days is not enough to catch up with the delay, sorry...)

On the road to Primosten, a small village on the coast :



Trogir, another opportunity to wander in tiny streets, with the clothes hanging on the ropes to get dried by the sun, and to eat gorgious fruits, fish and seafood:





Split, where the mausoleum of the emperor Diocletianus, one of the worst persecutors of the Christians, has been turned into a cathedral, and where his palace, built 1700 years ago is now inhabited by more than 3000 inhabitants, as the building, almost not damaged by the centuries, has become the historic centre of the town. They call the street which is now in front of the palace the "Promenade des Français", as it seems that there are as many French tourists as you can have English on the "Promenade des Anglais" in Nice.




Bacine lakes, close to the Bosnian border (that you have to cross, to go to Dubrovnik, by the way), where you can give buy the fruits grown locally on the side of the road :

A few kilometers before Dubrovnik, Ston, and its "Chinese wall" fortification. Their local production is salt, but also delicous oysters and mussels, and a very good white wine. Mmmm, that was good ! :))

From Opatija to Sibenik

Opatija is a nice sea resort, with beautiful hotels built at the beginning of the 20th century.



Just one picture of the sea, for those who did not have the opportunity to have a nice swim this summer :



When you get away from the sea coast, and enter the countryside, you discover the part of the country which was really touched by the war. Half of the houses are brand new, and half of them are still in ruins. The cemeteries along the road are full of very recent graves, no need to enter, you can see it from the outside.

Plitvice, one of their 8 national parks, is a land of rivers and water falls, there are hundreds (thounsands ?) of them everywhere. As the temperature has lowered a bit, it is almost cold under the tree shade. The only noice around is the birds singing and the water flowing, but you might cross surprising animals...



It is not that easy to find an Internet connection in Croatia, so I have accumulated a huge delay, and will therefore not go in details through all the stops on the way down to Dubrovnik. In just a few words, the coast is incredible, and worth visiting the country just for those sceneries. All the historical cities (some of them partially rebuilt after the war 10 or 15 years ago) and the small villages are places where you want to spend a couple of hours.

Zadar :



Sibenik :

From Zagreb to Opatija

Dobro jutro !

For those who get mad in the traffic jams in Paris, they should spend a few moments in Zagreb, a couple of hours before a giant concert by U2 (as a consequence, quite a few streets are closed), in the middle of the summer (which is the perfect moment for road works, as anywhere is the world). It looks like the 800,000 inhabitants of the city are stuck in their car on the same road...
The North of Croatia looks really far away from the Mediterranean sea. Zagreb reminds Vienna, with its wide streets, its cathedral and its cafés where you can have a piece of cake full of cream. But the fruit market definitely belongs to a southern country. Everything sold here is produced a few kilometers away and has probably been picked this morning.

After a few more hours of traffic jams, the Istrian peninsula takes you directly to Italy (at least, this is the feeling you have, and it makes sense, we are only 30 km away from Trieste). In Porec, everybody speaks Italian (easier than Croat, believe me !), you can find (very good) ice creams, pizzas and pasta at each street corner...

Rovinj is another small town which looks familiar to anybody who ever visited a village in a sunny country. It is so easy to get lost in the tiny streets...