Sun 20/07/08 13:29

Well, the official tour ended and I’m now on my own… kind of. What that means is that this morning I left St. Petersburg for Tallinn, Estonia first thing after breakfast. I was so worried about not getting stuck in Russia after my visa expired that I took the easiest route out, which was a bus ride to Tallinn. I have to say that I think it was a great idea. First, just out of coincidence two of the people on the tour ended up have the same bus ride as I did, since I didn’t make hostel arrangements prior, I ended up following them to there hostel and booked a room. It’s good when things work out.

St. Petersburg is a very large city with a lot of ancient wealth, old buildings that were built to be impressive, and they were. Tallinn is the opposite, it looks like it is a village that has been restored. I can’t tell you how I enjoy walking through the narrow, cobbled-stoned streets on the way to the city square. There is a little bit of a sense that the city is trying too hard to look authentic… in other words it’s a little bit touristy, but when you factor in the idea that the city is really old, you have to understand that this is the real thing.

Like I mentioned I tagged along with two of the people that were on the tour with me, and it makes the fact that I’m no longer part of a big group just a little easier on me. Anyone who’s traveled in a large group knows when I say that it is a lot of fun. There is always someone to talk to, someone to hang with, and there is never a lack of fun, so when I said my good-byes this morning it was kind of hard. I feel really fortunate to still have two of them with me. Tonight we went out for dinner, had a few beers, walked around a bit, and finally finished off with a latte in a small cafe at the beginning of the square.

Tomorrow we are going on a walking tour. I need to leave tomorrow I think, but I don’t really know where I’m going… I know that I want to go to Poland, so I think I’ll head in that direction.