So, after a train, a bus, a plane, a bus, a plane, a plane, and a bus, I have arrived in Tallinn.

It was terrible! No, that’s not true, it was totally fine, just long. I didn’t sleep much on the way to London, and I had some funny trouble getting from Heathrow to Gatwick. (My bus didn’t come for like two hours, so I officially switched my ticket to a later bus. Minutes later, my original bus arrived and the newly booked bus was another hour late! All’s well that ends well, though, right?)

The flight to Riga was four hours, and I got to experience what it’s like to sit next to some true Europeans (read: terrible BO), but I was so tired that I was able to sleep most of the way there. The airport in Riga was nice, and after a short wait and a half hour flight, I was in Tallinn. I am in Tallinn, rather. The bus getting from the airport was a little confusing, just because they didn’t seem to require that I pay. I kept waiting for someone else to pay so I could follow their lead, but apparently it was free. That was nice.

I was a little (a lot) put off by the maximal hippieness of the hostel I’m staying at, but the guy who showed me around was nice, and the place is clean (if you don’t count that it smells like… Europeans.) Anyhow, that’s all!

Some observations:

• English people totally look like English people.  It’s weird.
• My bus driver from Heathrow to Gatwick was listening to Elvis Costello.
• At Gatwick, they don’t announce what gate your plane is at until it’s time to board.  Everyone just wanders around this central area waiting.
• Checking bags is free!  Way to go, AirBaltic!
• Europeans LOVE Ed Hardy.
• I didn’t expect to see obviously planned neighborhoods with fake water features in Estonia, but I saw a ton from the plane.
• Also saw a ton of backyard greenhouses, so that was pretty cool.
• The first Estonian word I understood was aitah ‘thanks’.  Practically fluent!