Visiting Piusa and Võru, in Southern Estonia

This past weekend I ventured into southern Estonia on a short road trip. Estonia is not a very big place as you might already know, and reaching one end of the country starting from Tallinn doesn't take a long time. It was about 3 1/2 hours driving time to Piusa from here - it takes a similar amount of time to get to Narva (around 3 hrs) in the east or to get to the island of Saaremaa in the west. I set out at around 9 am Saturday and arrived in Piusa that afternoon.

I first stopped at the visitors' center of the sandstone mining caves. It was hot as hell down there (by my standards, because I wither in the heat despite having grown up in NC), like 21 degrees C and there isn't the Baltic sea nearby to keep things cool and windy. Now, about the caves - I have to say I liked the looks of them, but it was a bit underwhelming since you're not allowed to actually go in them due to risk of collapse, only to see the very entrance. So you get a short glimpse with a guide and then you're ushered out. That's fine though, since the nature surrounding that area is lovely and there are great trails for walking, hiking, photography.

So after that I spent the night in a rural hotel owned by a small family. Their property was beautiful, with a big pond, surrounded by the forest. Plus, they had a cute little dachshund dog that was slightly overweight and a bit grey in the face. Aww. But I don't have a photo of him.

Sunday morning I checked out and drove to Võru to walk around and whatnot. It's a pleasant little town with a small beach by Lake Tamula. There is a local museum about the history of Võrumaa county and the Võro culture and history, all housed in a little grey building with a colorful mural on the side. Admission was only 2 euros, and I was the only guest in the museum the whole time. The old lady working the front desk was very enthusiastic and friendly and told a lot about the history of the town.

The first level consisted of some cool contemporary art from the region, while the rest of the museum gradually took us through their history, from some ancient skeletons (from the bronze age I think it was) and onwards. I was really quite inspired by the beautiful antique things on display there from different periods of time. Dusty old books, farming equipment, instruments, clothes, household items. 

 Catherine the Great 

Various photos from the museum:

A local artist was inspired by rice paddies during their stay in South Korea. I like these pillows.

 

Animator is a small god, God is a big animator

I have loads of other pics too but I'm lazy. Anyway, after that I drove to Tartu and stopped to eat, then went back home to Tallinn. All in all it was just a peaceful weekend of cool sights.

I feel real.

 I feel so alive.

Yes, that’s the North Korean flag. No, it doesn’t belong to me and I didn’t choose to put it there lol

Reunited!

 

Recording life

Back to blogging

I deleted my old blog account because it represents a time which I'd like to forget. I'm not gonna regain the few followers I had, but that's fine, this is a dead platform and I use it mainly for me and no one else.

I guess I would like to record how I was backstabbed by two friends in January - two friends, who, before this, I considered precious to me. Let's just say everything went fucking nuclear between the three of us. I think it’s my stubborn Taurean nature combined with my Scorpio moon that lends my personality a vindictive streak that can be hard to overcome, so I don't know when I'll stop being pissed.

Sometimes I feel like my life has been nothing but multiple episodes of being f*cked over by people I trusted and went out of my way for, and I guess my mom was right that I'm naive, that I’m too trusting and too nice. That I'm a doormat who invites these things. I used to get upset when she said those things, because I felt like she was being needlessly harsh and because I wanted to see good in everyone. Well, I was dumb. I’m 20, of course I’m dumb. 

I definitely grieved this year. We had great times as friends together and those memories are forever tarnished. I'm past that part though. Now I'm just angry. It's September and can I go more than a few days without thinking about it? No. It's fucked me up, let's put it that way. 

On another note, I moved and there’s another disturbed babushka downstairs. She blows a gasket when she hears water running in other apartments so when I turn on the sink I hear her yelling "THE WAAAAATER IS RUNNING, THE WATER IS RUNNING!" in Russian. I’d write that in Russian if I could, I’m just telling you what my Russian friend told me she’s saying. The last flat also had an old paranoid granny who stood in the hall for hours ranting and left obscenely written posters detailing her paranoia of 'poison electricity', 'poison water pipes' and accusing people of breaking, entering and stealing her documents. I actually have pictures of her posters on my old phone. Of course, I understand they more than likely have dementia or something at their age. I feel bad for them as they are alone. 

Naive memory