Oct 28 Wed - Tartu Estonia

Kids create a monster area of museum

After a good breakfast it was off to find a bike share, 6€ for a day, rides up to 60 minutes then 1€ a hour max 5 hrs. So you ride for a while, find a station, check it in, get another one... and omg the station closest to the apt up a steep hill, had only one bike, but luckily it did have one, and i soon found out why... 

I need to go to the train station to get a ticket Elron (Estonia rail) will not take my Chase visa or mastercard... get everything in the basket all set and nope sorry... well it goes straight up a hill so steep lol... i mean there's a bike lane but cmon... yes i did think about walking it up as I am out of bike shape but no I made it panting like a dog... but then a good ride through neighborhoods and past parks to the station, where i dock it and go to buy a ticket. 

Nope can't sell me a ticket to Riga as thats in Latvia, it's an international ticket I need can only get me to Valga Estonia, where i can buy a ticket to Riga from there. Well the 1:05 train from Tartu gets to Valga at 4:14 and the one to Riga leaves at 4:25 so 11 mins time to debark, find the place, buy a ticket, and get back to the right train ? Rather not chance it... anyway so i buy the ticket to Valga 4.50€ and now to get to the Estonian National Museum, they say bus #7 from in front of the station, well I must missed it another one in 18 minutes and it's a 38 minute trip then... look at the bike route it's only 3km or so a bike will be faster and more fun. Go back to the full rack and get a bike and notice... they are all electric ! I must have got the only standard one for that hill climb... anyway, get the electric and zoom to the museum it was very good and had a nice cafe overlooking the water and greenery big glass walls and they had a veg plate farfalle pasta with grilled vegs and cheese 8.5€ it was very tasty, bread, butter and water are on a table no charge... 

The museums wasn't what I expected, not into antiquity all that much more about the different ethnic groups Urals, Volga Finns, etc, but lots of interactive exhibits and artifacts about the soviet occupation periods each exhibit had a a digital screen and you touch your ticket and it brings up your language. And stories of people that fled and those that stayed, many lost family members or were forced to leave or to relocate and many hid Estonia flags or mementos which were banned which are now on display in the museum. Lots of pretty blankets and scarves, dresses things mothers had made for them survived to tell the tale. 

While having lunch at the cafe I decided to call Elron see if they would buy my ticket for the remaining part to Riga cuz when I look online now the 4:25 doesn't show a 6:45 or so which doesn't get to Riga til 8:30 which is pretty late to be getting there, find my place, groceries blah blah... well no they cannot help me after a long time on hold... US and Canada credit cards are not accepted for International trips. While I'm on hold i email their customer service too and after I hang up thanks a lot... I get a email saying no sorry, the only way you can do that is to buy your ticket from VIVI . Which is Latvias national rail company... so I bring that up and yes they have english and it works ! so i got my ticket what a relief! I looked ahead to Riga to Vilnius (Lithuania) another international trip but no it didn't show so.. more on that in a day or two. I will speak to them at the Riga rail station when i get there. 

Then the best part of the day came about, I hemmed and hawed but put my foot down said to myself no, dammit, now you are going to the sauna place and see what all this is about, so I come out the museum and see the 7 approaching a few blocks away I run and jump on it, and when it gets by the river I see a bike share and jump off, I'll ride to the apt, get my sauna wear, toss it in the basket and ride to there. Well, everything is digital here, you get on a bus, you CAN have a bus card, OR use a pay app, OR just use any bank credit card, it's 1.2€ or so a ride, and capped at 3€ a day... so I put my chase visa up there and bing green light, a couple stops later here's a while van and 3 inspectors get on the bus, they check each and every persons validation with an electronic gizmo, I pull my card out my pocket and he scans it zing, green light... it's only been about 3 minutes i was on this bus amazing how they are connected here... of everyone on the bus only one girl had a bad pass and she was able to add more money to it right there, then they got off and the bus continued. 

I ride to the apt get my stuff, ride to Aura Sauna Center where there is a bike share parking right out the front door. The bike locks into something on the front fork electronics, when you go to get a bike you open the app, put the number of the bike in there, and ding green light UNLOCKED, when you put it back same thing, you have successfully docked. 

Kids create a monster play area

Coastal Swedes exhibit

Now once you get in there, well it's senior discount day lol... so only 13€ or 16€ for the whole place, which includes the big swimming pool, the waterslide park, about 8 or 10 saunas, a towel, a digital wristband to get through doors and open and lock your locker. "Polite people shower before they enter the sauna" says the sign on the door... so i hung out there for about 2 hours maybe overdid it a little bit I don't know I read 15-20 minutes but why then do they sell you a ticket for hours ? So I did 5-10 mins here and there in the ones I could tolerate 40C - 70C - and then they have water showers out there hot or cold you rinse off and they have buckets of cold water you can dump on you and 2 cool tubs 30C and 40C and then outdoors 2 cold tubs 10C and 20C maybe? anyway and then theres a little log cabin outside on the terrace, which i guess is the traditional smoke sauna really not.... people come out of there with red skin and jump into the cold tub.... not me..  well i did get in the #2 cold tub it wasn't too bad... and of course a drinking fountain with cold water and a gutter type pipe with ice chips coming out of it, and there was also a cold pool to walk through over rocks? and a ice sauna which 0C I didn't even go in there lol....

Entry to Estonia National Museum

Outside the museum were a whole bunch of these ? 

Volga Finns exhibit

Train station artwork

Aura Sauna Center pool area from outside

then the pool area there were about 20-25 lanes, little kids getting lessons, mostly women getting a water aerobics class, and lane swimmers down the way... its a huge place this is 2nd fl in the middle of the city so lots to look at over the rails...  anyway so there's all this stuff to do and a place to just sit on a reclining kind of bench which is warm too... and after all of that i could not wait to get back and get to bed... 

So I got back and cooked dinner, got my bag 90% packed, and I'll be able to sleep in checkout not til 12 and my train at 1 the Bolt (uber) ride will be about 10 minutes. See you tomorrow!