Latvia to Estonia

This morning, I was up and checked out of the hotel for an early transfer to Tallinn, Estonia (88). The weather made a turn for the worse today, and the delightful sunny days I've had the last two days disappeared behind rain clouds, that threatened to open at any given moment. We drove about an hour until we reached the only stop along the way, which was Turanda Castle. I was there right as it opened for for the better part of the morning, my guide and I were the only two people in sight.

The castle itself is only a small fraction of the large park complex. There are several other buildings including a wooden church, a sculpture garden which featured over 20 sculptures depicting traditional scenes from Latvian folk songs. My guide's English was strained at best, but she sure did try hard, nonetheless. About every other word out of her mouth was "Yes?" which coupled with her slow speaking voice, made for a long tour. We walked all around visiting the church, which being Sunday, was preparing for its morning services. We then walked all through the sculpture park, where we finally ran into another group of visitors, a group from a Regent cruise ship. I've traveled with Regent around the Black Sea, and to the Eastern and Western Caribbean, so I recognized the umbrellas from the ship instantly. It had begun raining, but we were thankfully glad with most of the outdoor sculpture park and grounds of the park.

We made our way into a museum that featured artifacts from the tribes that inhabited these parts of the world over a thousand years ago. It was very interesting. Then, we made our way into the castle itself. The first landmark was the tall watchtower, which I climbed to take in the impressive view. I'm sure it would have been better on a sunny day, but it was nice, regardless of the less-than-ideal weather.

We then made our way to through the rest of the castle, which had been turned into a museum and housed artifacts and exhibits relating to the castle's 800+ years of existence!

We walked back to the entrance, where my driver was waiting for me. We made the rest of the drive to Tallinn, which took another 3.5 hours. By the time we reached my hotel, it was pouring down rain. I relaxed in my room and waited for the torrent to subside, and eventually the rain stopped, so I decided to risk another downpour and do some exploring! I walked all around the Old Town area, and eventually ducked into a restaurant for an early dinner when the rains came again. I had a lovely Indian meal, and then afterwards slowly made my way back to my hotel for the night! Tomorrow is a full day walking tour, so I am hoping for better weather, although the weather forecast doesn't bode well... All I can do is hope!