Well, I still haven’t done my videos of Spain but I already did first day of my road trip.
Check it out:
Tag Archives: travel
South-Estonia | Part II
Nice little breakfast buffet at the hotel restaurant. Not too much, not too less. Enough variety of food and all I could want in the morning. Stomach’s full and the trip starts again. First stop – Väimela manor. Old manor that needs a hand for rebuilding. It could be a great and beautiful place but time has done its job.
Next up – Tamme-Lauri oak – the thickest tree in Estonia. 
Used to be oldest also but they discovered an older one. So with 17 meters (56 ft) high and circumference is 831 cm (327 in) it feel like an ant to be under it. It is really huge and amazing how big it can be. And it is around 700 years old.
Cool fact: when we still had kroons, it was on the back of the 10 kroon bill.
Then we found another National Geographic’s yellow window in Urvaste with a view to
Urvaste church. After that we made our way to Pühajärve and walked in the park to find Pühajärve oak of war. It got damaged a lot
in 2010, so it doesn’t look so good anymore and it will its time soon. It is 300-400 year old around 7 m in circumference.
As it is not summer yet then some cool thing we wanted to visit in Otepää were closed then only went to see the yellow window there. But we will be back for the action! Before going for the hike we also visited Cantervilla castle which is famous for the weddings. It is also a hotel and should be open everyday then somehow it was totally closed on the day we got there. No sign, nothing. The castle itself looked beautiful but hopefully some other day we will be more lucky. 
So for the hike we went! First up was a warm up in Pangodi where there is a nice picnic ground and a little walk around the area. After that came a real hike – in Elva-Vitipalu – track called Viti lake hiking trail (Viti jätje matkarada)! First we had a lot of trouble finding the right place where the track starts. But when we finally got on the way it was good and sporty road in the forest. On the way we visited Viti lake and Vitipalu lookout tower. Estonia is beautiful!! On the way got lost, so instead of 2,3 km we did like 4 probably. Well, it was all good exercise and also had some great hills, so it wasn’t just plain walking.
Second and last hike was Vapramäe educational hiking trail. It had signs on the way and the road itself was really good, especially thinking it was beginning of April. So the trail itself is 3,5 km. We got really distracted on the way because at some point we were walking along the river and on the other side the had those beautiful houses and one complex was so huge and pretty that we tried to think what was the story with it. It turned out to be trout catching place that also has party rooms and other things.
So we ended our big trip with out 5th yellow window – Tartu observatory. After long 2 days we washed the car and got home. We were happy to get home, same time really happy that we took this trip! I’ve never thought that Estonia is beautiful and since last year I have started to discover how magical Estonia actually is. So this trip was total proof of magical nature in Estonia! Even when the trees don’t have leaves yet and everything is quite brown then hiking trough woods and driving trough little villages will show the beauty of Estonia!!
South-Estonia | Part I
As my sister has a car for some time already then we decided that we can start exploring Estonia. So this time we took a little tour to the south. First to even know where to go then it took me few hours to track down all the sights, nature parks, bogs and also yellow National Geographic’s windows. As we had two day then we only took a part of it for a route. 
After a good gas station hot dog we drove on the route. We had some complications in the first few destinations as they just were closed because it was Saturday or they weren’t something we were looking for. But at least we already got to see the nature. Also I got to drive, so I was really happy because I hadn’t driven for 8 months.
So the first official stop was Valgesoo bog area. The hiking trail is 2 km and has one of those yellow windows on the way. Also half of the trail is with planks as it is on the bog. Half is through the woods. Good hike with any weather and such a beautiful area.
Next on the way was Kiidjärve hiking trails. We wanted to do 2,5 km one but on the spot the map showed something weird and we did a bit over 1 km I think. Although the forest is great, has educational signs on the way and half of the road is by the river with beautiful views. Also has some hills, so it is a bit better than usual dull Estonian landscape. Already good for hike in April, the roads were quite dry and most of the snow was melted.
The last hiking trail on this day was in Taevaskoda. The trail is 3 km + extra workout if you go up the Big Taevaskoda which has around 155 steps to get up there. On the way the nature is just amazing, starting with the little lake with Lonny harbor that was also used in the old Estonian movie called Viimne reliikvia (“The last relic”). If you ever find yourself going to South-Estonia then it is totally in the must-visit list.
We ended our trip with the second yellow window in front of Maanteemuuseum (Road Museum) but we plan to go back there at one point when it is open. We were just really late on that day to visit it. I have been there few years ago and this place is really cool! The very last spot was Georgi hotell. It is a new smart hotel in the old manor. Totally worth the stay! Rooms are spacious, comfy and really modern! The smart thing was a little technology device on the wall where we could regulate temperature, lights and stuff like that. Also some ligths were activated when you move. I really liked the hotel! And it is in the center of Võru, so you can visit the town all around really easily.
The Big Apology
There are so many reasons why I haven’t had another post for a while. And I am truly sorry for that. I am not gonna tell all the specifics why, but let’s just say that there’s been personal matters, post-Erasmus depression, cultural shock etc. Many-many things which all led to not want to write another post. Now I am finally ready for it. Soon I will have a post about my whole experience being Erasmus and some other posts. But some updates I have done so far, for s month and a half.
The main thing – ESN! That has been literally saving my life right now. I would still be gone if I wouldn’t go to the meetings and try to be active again. I have a goal for the next year and right now I am just working on it. I’ve calmed down a bit, I still go the events but I also let new members to do a lot. Last year I was trying to help everywhere, this year I go for deeper help. Right now I am one of the helpers for our event manager, and also taking part of some projects. I am also organizing one big event for beginning of May, but about that you will hear more at some point.
Also as usual, getting together with friends. Obviously there’s a lot of catching up to do. Also some long-distance friends have visited Tartu lately, so I’ve been getting coffee with them. It is really good to see my old friends and spend some quality time with them.
And I’ve done some short time work, for few days. Just to get some extra money which all goes to my traveling account. Next to all that I have settled in my new apartment which I’m sharing with two foreign guys. After living with girls for half a year it took some time to get used to the calmness and having a lot of privacy. Sometimes I miss my old flatmates but same time it is good to live with guys again.
And of course, I have been to my parent’s place in Rakvere. Last time was for Easter last weekend, and it was weirdly cool to have the whole family together. But as it is total spring in Tartu then there it was still winter. Snow everywhere but at least it so warm during the day that it is finally melting.
Fuengirola BioParc
The very last trip in Spain was to Fuengirola. As my brother suggested the zoo there and we just love zoos then we had to go there before I left. So however hangover we weren’t we promised ourselves to go there. Furngirola Bioparc itself is zoo with more natural environment from the tropical forests.
After spending most of the time in the zoo we still had a lot of time over so we just went to the beach were we found people going for a swim and just sunbathing. It was windy so for us it was definitely too cold to even take our coats off. 
We still had quite a lot of time over before our ride back home so we just walked to the harbor and watched the sunset.
It was a perfect last trip and although our ride back was quite scary and I was falling asleep then the zoo was definitely worth the visit! Whenever you travel there, definitely go and visit it!
Almería
So one of my last trips here was to Almería. It is on the east side of Granada. I went there with my German friend. Almería is basically empty of tourists in winter and in the summer it is main province for the beaches.
So the first thing to do in Almería is to go to the beach! Although the beach in the city is rocky but at least you can enjoy the sound of water and swim. As it is February and we didn’t have swimming suit with us, we just sat there and listened to the waves.
Almería is a really small city and doesn’t have many tourist things to see. So one thing to see is Mirador de San Cristobal. Quite a lot of stairs to get up there and every place is full of trash and pieces of glass. I would say that it is better to visit the whole are by car as also better beaches are a bit out of city. But from the mirador you can see the city, the castle, the mountains and the sea.
Next step was to see Alcazaba – the Moorish castle. It is free of charge and right now they had reconstruction. The views from there were also amazing! And there were few cats. One of them was friendly enough to not run away, or it was just too sleepy to care. But if I would compare Alcazaba to Alhambra then it was like a shadow of it. But it is the second largest fortress in Andalucia.
So the last thing to see is the cathedral. It was randomly closed when we got there but it looked quite big from outside. If you have more time then also check out the old train station. It is sad that they don’t use it anymore.
In overall, I would say that as mostly people go there by cars and just for the beaches then it is quite understandable why the city doesn’t pay so much attention on trash. If you’re not the beach person then those few places are definitely worth a visit! And if you go by car then also go check out Taberna, where a lot of films have been made. We didn’t get a chance to go there but bear in mind that you can go and check it out!
El Paso. Part III.
First weekend in 2016 we went to our friend going away party as he moved to another state. His whole family and relatives were there, so we just talked until they surprised him with mariachis. They sang, they danced and it all was going on for over an hour I think. It felt like they will never stop. I even got into dancing and showing my Mexican side (which I am not, but I picked up everything really fast).
His family was really really nice and I enjoyed experiencing all these traditions in person. Also I got to try menudo, which is really spicy Mexican soup. As I am not at hello with spiciness, then I took forever to finish my bowl until one point I just gave it to my friend. But it was really good! If only I could enjoy spices more.
As winter goes, then ice-skating is something you should do every winter. So we went to the big skating place with Stephen’s brother and his girlfriend. It was quite crowded, but it was empty according to normal. As I am always rubbish the first time in the beginning then after time I got more confidence and were trying to learn something new. At the break we also got some hot cocoa and a churro, which reminds me that Mexican churros are so much sweeter and don’t need chocolate with it to be sweet.
As his other brother came with his girlfriend on Wednesday then the house got quite crowded. We went to eat pizzas at Peter Piper Pizza and as they also have a game machine corner then after eating we bought a lot of chips to play with. And with all the points we won with the big group everybody bought something. After seeing the new Sherlock episode at movies we headed home to play board games. Also the next morning when I was supposed to study I decided to join in playing games as I won’t get to do it for a long time after leaving anyways.
The other day after his work we went with the whole family to his father’s house and also played board games and talked. It is always weird when people get curious about Estonia. I don’t know what to say about. At least Stephen helped me out a bit as he has lived there and seen stuff.
The next day we went ice-skating again, this time with the other side of the family. As most of them were really beginners and moved quite slowly and I was getting a lot better this time then I enjoyed learning and trying new stuff. Although this time it was quite overcrowded for me. Sometime it was impossible to get past group of people. After long fast-food dinner we went back to play some board games again. This time we played his mother’s new Bingo she got for Christmas and Life. We didn’t have enough loans to have 7 players, so Stephen joined to my life journey and we had this whole story of how we met after college and got married and everything. I was a doctor and he was a handsome rock-star.
On the last day we went to see sunset one more time. And also to see the city in lights. This time as it was cloudy, the sunset was amazing! I think it was one of the most incredible ones I’ve ever seen. The city is famous for them, and I can totally understand why.
On the very very last day I just packed my stuff and sent my postcards and had some last looks on the city. I think it was the saddest day in a really long time. At least up to this point it was. As my flight got delayed, we had some time at the airport. We were just doing some silly Snapchats.
On my first flight I was sitting next to window, so I also got a chance to take some pictures of Phoenix. I couldn’t get any of El Paso because mostly I could only see Mexico from there. And then the other 30 hour trip back was just tiring. Although I was watching Star Wars 1-3 on the plane. Being back in Granada felt weird and also I was super jet lagged.
El Paso. Part II.
Christmas time was really calm. As I am used to my Chri
stmas traditions on the 24th then it was weird to be somewhere else and not do the usual things. At least on Christmas Eve morning when it was already evening in Estonia I Skyped with my family. They even put me on big TV and before I had to go then we took a family photo, everybody around the TV. Funny but cool.
And then we went to see Star Wars: The Force Awakens! Before this vacation I hadn’t seen any of the episodes, so before the new movie I watched 4-6 to be on track of the things. The evening we spent with his 
family and played board games. How I’ve missed playing board games… And on the next day we tried to make our own gingerbread cookies and hot wine. Just so I could get a bit of Christmas from home. But we didn’t drink the wine at all because Stephen got sick and that’s where the most of Christmas went.
When he got a bit better then we went to see the neighborhood that has a lot of Christmas lights out. It was my dream to see it. I’ve always seen it in the movies. As El Paso is not so huge and is more Mexican then it wasn’t so big as in the movies but still something you don’t usually see in Estonia. And it was perfect as it had snowed before and really made me feel like winter finally.
After that we thought to go and see the city in lights as I hadn’t seen it yet in full dark. But as it snowed a day before then the road up to the hill was closed for driving. We left the car and walked up there. It was freezing and windy, but the view is still amazing! I really like El Paso!
On the last day of 2015 while we were walking Sophie(one of the dogs) then we saw a beautiful sunset. And later in the evening went to church as his older brother was in the play they had. I’ve never been to any services and I am not religious, so it was interested to see how they are here. And it also turned out to be all in Spanish. Thank god I know a little bit of it now. If you ever have a chance then just for the experience I recommend to go and see. Services are different, so I describing mine wouldn’t be correct. It has to be experienced yourself.
For New Years we went to little park/viewpoint on the way to Scenic Drive. But as fireworks are banned in the city area then we only saw far away ones from Mexico. And it was incredibly windy. After first fast food meal we went to meet up our friend Jose who was also in Estonia in the spring semester. It was weird to see him there but good to remember all those great times we all had together.
El Paso. Part I.
I am an horrible blog keeper right now. As I was in El Paso for 3 weeks for my holiday vacation then I was more enjoying my time more than thinking about my blog. And when I got back I didn’t bother to write as I wanted to have it only for myself for a while.
So, let’s start from the beginning. It all started with 32 hour travel from Madrid. With 4 planes to totally different parts of the World. And as I was expecting then I was too exited to get there that I couldn’t sleep so much, only few hours 
in total. So I just watched quite a lot of movies on the planes or just spending time trying to fall asleep.
The funny thing is that as soon as I was on American ground I felt much more home than I ever have in Spain. So I am pretty sure that America is my second home and a huge possibility for the future.
So to get full Texas experience on the first day we went shooting. Never done it with actual guns and in the shooting range. I’ve only done it at home with an airgun. I can say that headphones are essential to wear but the most annoying thing while wearing protection glasses. And as a beginners luck, I was shooting even better than Stephen at this day.
Second big thing is sunsets. El Paso is famous for it. So up we went to Scenic Drive to see. But as it wasn’t any cloudy then it was more of a normal sunrise. But from up there we could also see most of the city. Locals are so used to the city and they say it’s boring there but I could only see beauty and awesomeness.
Other day he showed me around UTEP (The Univesrity of Texas at El Paso) campus. The campus is huge. The univesity library has the World’s largest book which is 130 pounds (around 60kg) and size of 5-by-7 feet (1,5-by-2,1 m). It 114 pages and needs two people to turn the page. The whole campus is in Bhutanese style. I kind of can’t get over how big the whole campus was. It took a while to see most of it, because we also went inside of some buildings.
That’s the first part. As it was my vacation then most of the time I just relaxed. I didn’t rush through places like I usually do because I have only one day to explore. Be tuned for the next part 😉
A long time ago in Madrid
Before my long holiday trip to El P
aso, Texas I stopped in Madrid for a day. I did the smartest thing to go there a day earlier than my flight and also the stupidest thing to forgot my passport in Granada which is like over 4 hour driving away. Luckily I got it to Madrid the same night so I was quite lucky.
I stayed in one American girls flat through Airbnb which is a new experience for me. She was really nice and we had quite a good talk. I actually just chose this place because of the pictures I saw online. It looked like a little princess home.
I would say that Madrid is more of a few days trip. Because I was really tired and walked a lot in a day but there was still a lot of things I would have wanted to see.
I started my day with a long walk in a huge park called Parque de El Retiro. There I visited Palacio de Cristal which is an old glass palace and has fossils hanging from the top. Quite close to it is Palacio de Velázquez with the free admission museum. This time there was exhibition of some Lithuanian artist whose name I can’t remember.
Going along the road I passed Monumento Alfonso XII. Finally out of the huge park where I was like at least few hours I got to Puerta de Alcalá with its magic of having cars driving around it. As I remember that there are embassies in Madrid then I decided to visit home(Estonia) for a second and also get to America a bit earlier. The embassies are not anything interesting outside because I couldn’t even find a door to the Estonian one and to get into American one you need a really good reason for it.
So I walked all the way back to the heart of 
the city center trying to find some food on the way. After walking on Gran Vía I discovered it is more focused on stores and fancier restaurants. So when I started going to my next destination I went to little pastaleria called Bon Appetit! and had a very tasty lasagna for my lunch.
Because some places had a ticket price and didn’t want to spend my money so much then I skipped the Monastery and headed to the Royal palace. On the way I passed the Royal Theater and in front of the palace also Monumento a Felipe IV. Next to the palace is The Sabitini Gardens (Jardines de Sabatini) with all its glory and mighty statues.
As the Palacio Real de Madrid itself was closed for the whole week randomly then I only got to see a little bit from the side in Plaza de la Armería. On the other side of the plaza is Catedral de la Almudena which I somehow really liked because inside it had a colorful ceiling. I got out of there for the sunset and got a picture through the fence.
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Also Jardines del Campo del Moro which is behind the palace was closed and I wasn’t sure if it was closed or just one entrance was blocked then I walked all around it. I was so tired and it took me forever to walk around it. And of course it was all closed. As it was getting late and I wanted to have shower before heading to the airport I headed to the place I stayed through Puerta del Sol to see the big Christmas tree in lights and also Estatua del Oso y el Madroño (The statue of the bear and the strawberry tree). It also had a lot of mascots around the the big square and street artists with crazy balance on staying on one hand.
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I would say that Madrid is a place to visit but you have to consider that is is quite huge. It takes time to walk from one place to another and definitely need few days to see everything. I definitely want to go back and also visit some museums and the place next time. And I would also recommend Airbnb. I had a good experience with that.
Manna Rules the World 