Friday 4th June 2010
Another glorious day with a clear blue sky and the sun shining brightly. And yes, when we stepped out of the hostel door it was warm – but only in the sun. Move into the shade or into an alleyway where the breeze blew and the chill factor set in.
Robyn had gone out a bit earlier and had returned with coffee to go and some pasteries from the small market in the ajoining square. Later I had a good wander around the dozen stalls while Robyn spent time in the up market clothing store near by.
She had gone out earlier to visit the post office and get a couple of boxes so that we could both send items home. I have decided to return a thick jersy and a fleece trousers. Yes they may be good in the northern cold but from experience so far, I think what I have left will be ok. If not, then I will be cold. The main thing is that this will give me more space in the trolly bag and with the various DVDs and printed material which I also squeezed in, I will save 3 kg and come down to around 18kg. At this rate I could just hit the 15kg I need for the flight from Kirknes to Tromso.
Thank goodness for parcel tape which I used to hold the box togther and keep the stuff squashed in.
Economy postage cost ended up at 427 EEK which was not too bad. That's less than NZ$60.
Well after that we headed off to visit a park which was in the guidebooks.Kadriorg Park was only a short tram ride. So while Robyn finished in the post office, I headed to a kiosk to buy four single tickets at 15 EEK each. We could catch either #1 or #3 trams and so I lead off to the nearest stop and caught an appropriate tram which had just arrived. I was enjoying the ride and the scenery but as we travelled I began to wonder why we were seeing direction signs for the harbour. We should have been going away from it. So we got off and I found that we were next to the Fat Margaret Tower. Hey! We saw this yesterday and I realised that we had gone in the wrong direction. We should have borded the tram from the other side of the road. Of course Robyn had suspected this all along but being the obedient wife that she is, never challenged the male leader's decisions.
Well it wasn't really a problem as we just hopped on a tram going back the way we had come from and then kept on riding it to the right stop for the park. Thankfully, Robyn had the amazing confidence to trust me on this.
Yes the gate to the park was just down the road from the tram stop. I am sure that her confidence in me was restored. To celebrate our success we stopped at a nice cafe at the park gates for coffee and cake and what cakes!!! Wow!
The cafe building had originally been the gate house in Catherine the Great's time although it has gone through a few changes and alterations since then.
It was located beside the large Swan Lake which was complete with numerous fountains and an island in the middle with of course a swan or two. It was a formal pond set out with concrete edges and shaped corners and levels. It did look good. Around it on some sides were formal gardens. Beside the cafe a jazz band was playing. It was good with a localised jazz sound I would think.
We headed down the long drive through the tree covered parkland. The first large building we came to was the Kadriorg Palace which had been built by Tsar Peter 1st several centuries ago. It sill look impressive in its classical form. Today it is an Art Museum and obviously a function centre as well. We walked around the formally laid out gardens behind the palace. Shape gardens and paths with fountains and miniture waterfall coming down steps in the rear retaining wall. All quite attractive.
We wandered on along the road passing a few other buildings including the President's Palace withits guards at the door. Further along was Peter 1st cottage which he prefered to live in when visiting here. Nothing very grand, just more or less the size of an ordinary NZ house. It was in amongst the tall spreading trees and the long uncut grass with its flowering wild flowers. All attractive.
A few steps away was a new, so modern, museum. It was very impressive with a striking sharp facing end shaped like the bow of a ship. We had a look in the foyer but it was only 15 minutes before it closed so we did not pay to go any further.
We reversed our steps back down the drive to the tram stop. Lovely warm sun when you were walking in it but cook otherwise. At the Swan Lake children were playing with a collection of identical model yatchs. They used long paddles to stir the water to make the boats sail out into the lake, where the breeze would catch the sails and generally head them back to shore again. On the Lake in a row boat was an assistant who redirected boatrs that failed to make the turn back. The rower had a comical mask on and a tall top hat. It was a pleasant friendly atmosphere.
The tram we caught took us back in the correct direction. Jowever as I had already used my four tickets (cost 15EEK each) I now had to purchase an extra two from the driver. These cost 25EEK each which was enough to ensure that most passengers had pre bought or season tickets.
We wandered around the hostel area looking for somewhere to eat dinner. The first choice was the ajoining hotel, but it had a notice advising that its dinning room was fully reserved and therefore closed. I wandered around and ended up finding a really great place to eat in the lane behine the hostel and hotel. This establishment was called 'Spirit'. It had a small but interesting menu.
I had: borsch soup with beef and beatroot, folowed by wild boar stew, and accomplied by red Italian wine and breads.
Robyn had Miso soup and lamb cutlet – which turned out to be minced lamb patty, accomplied by French white.
A very pleasant modern styled establishment and not crowded. We both enjoyed it very much.
In the square since midday a concert has been in progress from a stage which seemed to appear over night. Actually that is when it must have gone up. Various rock bands are taking turns but only to a small audience when we looked. From our room we can just hear it. We do though hear voices as people walk along the lane beneath our window. Or as they go into euther the bar or the strip club which are both at ground level in the lane.
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