Blog #0007 May 6 2022 – Along the eastern coast of Estonia to Pärnu

Day 6 of my cycling adventure

A lovely spring day brought me from my beach in Paatsalu to Pärnu, via Varbla and Pootsi. Again, I was following the coastline of Estonia. In Pärnu, I took a room in a guesthouse for the first time.

But to start at the beginning, I must say that the day didn’t start very lovely, because I woke up to an inferno outside my tent. Waterbirds of all colourations, and sizes were making noises at ungodly decibel levels. What especially brought me up was the rhythmical trashing of the seawater by about 40-50 swans taking off for flight. As much as I was annoyed by the noises waking me up and robbing me of my important beauty sleep, I couldn’t but admire the swans taking off. In my opinion there is nothing more spectacular than a swan aiming to achieve lift-off. Imagine now an entire flock of swans taking off – it is simply majestic. So, all in all my day started spectacularly, although unbecomingly early.

I decided not to take breakfast at the beach, because the sun hadn’t reached this piece of the world, yet, and since it was pretty chilly, I opted to cycle some time until I would find a sunny spot to make breakfast. Soon, after about 10 km, I found an empty fruit sellers stall (or so) at the roadside. In front of the stall was a rail, which has the task to prevent disoriented pedestrians walking onto the street, but in my case it made for an excellent rail to dry the rainfly of my tent, which was still damp from condensation. While I was boiling my water for my Ceylon Orange Pekoe tea, a lady emerged from the door of a building on the other side of the street. In her hand a cup of coffee and a jar of milk, which she offered to me with the explanation that she thought I would need a coffee. I found that act to be very kind and I thoroughly appreciated this first act of true kindness and hospitality from a stranger to me on this trip.

I cycled the rest of the way to Pärnu in the brightest sunlight and temperatures at approximately 14 C. Once I was exposed to the cold north wind, however, temperatures dropped to 6-7 C in an instant. I enjoyed my ride enormously and saw my first stork in a long time. “Hopefully a good sign and not one indicating the arrival of babies” I thought. Time will tell, I am very sure. When I arrived in Pärnu, I took a room in a guesthouse, because I needed to thoroughly wash myself and my briefs. For a bicycle traveller with a limited amount of wardrobe this becomes a necessity if he/she decides to stay a valued member of society.

Ah, I almost forgot, I had my first “outside” ice-cream of the season, obviously not counting the enormous quantities I devoured on the coach in front of my television.