Tempo di rilassarsi

Good news: Ettje is feeling better after the bite attack. She is no longer in the animal clinic in Tallinn but she is weak and apparently still in pain. My parents are with her in a vacation rental, and we all hope she will be back to her old self soon. It remains to be seen how this will turn out... especially in terms of the costs involved.

We left Pärnu this morning in the warm country rain and continued driving towards Tallinn on the A4. But for now, this will be our last trip on Estonia's major roads: traffic is getting heavier and we no longer feel comfortable among the many trucks. There are still about 70km to the Estonian capital and we will ride the rest on country roads.

From Pärnu, we take two impressions that surely apply to all of Estonia, or even the Baltics: firstly, people love to be active outdoors. There are many sports fields or opportunities for physical activity: football, tennis, and general sports fields, swimming pools, climbing parks, exercise equipment on the beach, playgrounds... and all of them in very good condition, well-maintained and clean. The bike paths within the cities are in excellent condition, and you encounter cyclists, inline skaters, rollerbladers, runners, etc. Additionally, you can see many students of all ages who apparently have moved their classrooms outdoors for various reasons.

Secondly, we notice in Pärnu, a small town with 50,000 inhabitants, once again that special Baltic relaxed atmosphere. It's hard to describe, but you feel like you're under a bell all the time... as if the rest of the world can't touch you. There is rarely any shouting, honking, hectic running from A to B, and when you're shopping, it can happen that the cashier crosses their arms, waits, and looks dreamily around because there is no internet connection at the moment. Initially, I also hurriedly put my items into the bag to pay and vacate the space... that's how it's done at home! But now I wait until all my items have passed the scanner, pay, and then pack the groceries into the bag - unthinkable at home.

In short: we feel comfortable here!