Walk - Don't Walk

Yesterday morning, I took tram #1 to the end of the line, got out and went exploring a bit. It was definitely a Russian neighborhood (judging by the conversation of the people around me) and it looked quite depressing. I saw some rather bland looking buildings, small bleak parkland and walls with tons of graffiti. This could easily have been somewhere in the outskirts of Detroit.

There are homeless here and like in Canada, I wonder how they get through the cold winters. One bearded gentleman with a big smile stood in front of a cafe that I was at, and started to dance. It was quite amusing as he looked like a Yosemite Sam from the old Bugs Bunny show. When he finished, he went around and collected donations. About a third of the coffee drinkers gave something, I elected to pass.

I was in an Irish bar watching an English football (soccer) game on the tube when this Estonian child (maybe 12 years old) walks into the bar trying to sell a bunch of flowers. Now this pub was full of drunken brits watching their team and there were no ladies except for the pub staff. He went around trying to sell these flowers to these guys. Of course, there guys were merciless as they joked with each other. The kids wouldn't give up and actually came up to me three times. I didn't know whether to admire his tenacity or pity him for his lack of judgement.

I noticed something strange this week while walking along the street but couldn't quite put my finger on it and then it hit me: Estonians don't jaywalk. It's really quite amazing to me especially spending a year in Taipei where jaywalking is as common as breathing. Heck, going through stale red lights is no problem in Taiwan. In Canada, jaywalking is definitely quite common, especially in the downtown major cities. It's strange, every 'don't walk' sign has people waiting patiently for the sign to change even though there is no traffic whatsoever. Funny how different countries have different sets of norms.

There's a supermarket a couple of blocks from my flat and it's quite equipped. It's not that much different then the ones back home for two notable exceptions. There is a large space dedicated for booze. Now I'm not talking about just an aisle, no the booze darpartment takes up nearly a quarter of the floor! Beer, wine, vodka, wine coolers and all the hard stuff. Yep, the Estos sure luv their drink. The other difference is the selection of Estonian food, which makes me smile every time as I grew up on this stuff:

• Leib, or black bread
• Kartulid or potatoes
• Kotlet or hamburger with onion patties
• Sulti or (er, not sure how to describe it) - boiled pork in jelly, I guess
• Verivorst or blood and barley sausage
• Mulgikapsad or sauerkraut stew with pork
• Pirukad or deep fried buns with diced meat & onions in it.

Yes, the beer is indeed cheap here. The two big local beers are Saku Original and A.Le Coq. A pint goes for about 30 Kroon which works out to $3.00 cdn. The list of Estonian beers available:
http://ohhh.myhead.org/est.html

They park their cars a bit differently here. Two wheels are supposed to be up on the curb so a third is on the curb, rest on the street. Looks bizarre.

As with most European countries, coffee here is very strong. I love coffee but I'm finding it difficult to adjust to the strong taste here. Also, there is no artificial sugar readily available. Most here drink coffee and some drink tea but not as common.

Yesterday I walked northwest of my apartment and ended up in Kadriorg Park. I was enjoying the park until I stumbled across a beautiful palace, called Kadriorg Palace. It was built by the Russian Tsar Peter I (Peter the Great) for the empress Catherine the first as a summer home. This is one serious summer home!! The architecture is a Baroque syle and it is just stunning.
See picture:
http://www.estonianet.ru/reisijuht/images/kadriorg-palace.jpg

Interesting characters on my Estonian keyboard: öÖ äÄ üÜ õÕ.