I was given a free bottle of water as I boarded, and there was also free Wi-Fi on board. I made use of it.
Ivanogorod, the final town on the border of Russia and Estonia, was three hours away. I sat back, relaxed and enjoyed the journey. And as soon as we approached the town, I recognised just where I was. I knew that there was a castle on the Estonian side, and it was in view. Border procedures were ready to go underway shortly.
There were no hassles. I was happy to receive my EU passport stamp, and to be in the European Union once again. Goodbye to Russia, it's been a pleasant visit.
From here, the border town of Narva, to the capital Tallinn, was a beautiful, scenic and relaxing journey, and I took in and appreciated as much of it as I could. I was in the Baltics again - this time, in the one country I haven't been to. Estonia, full of pristine beauty.
I changed my money and grabbed a hot dog once we arrived. The Estonian Kroon was a good looking currency; too bad they will be switching to Euros soon.
I made my way to the hostel by boarding a tram. I didn't feel entirely safe on board this train, as there were two drunken men staring at me. One of them snatched my tram ticket out of my hand. I didn't react; I stayed calm and relaxed. It was given back to me. I got off at the next stop, and the drunken man asked me for my ticket, which I understood as "bilyet" in Russian. I handed it over without arguement.
I was one stop short of the stop I was supposed to get off at, and I made way for the hostel. It wasn't too hard to find. I checked in, and found that it was run by friendly New Zealanders. I thought this hostel would be a great place to stay.
I met some travellers upstairs and we exchanged conversation. Of course the first question that's commonly asked is "Where are you from?". It was great to get back into the hostel lifestyle.
I went out for a walk in the Old Town. It was beautiful, and I began to like it here very quickly. I was back in old, Eastern Europe. Totally different from Saint Petersburg, despite it being Russia's most 'European' looking city.
I relaxed at the hostel for a bit and chatted with a few fellow travellers; first of all, a female traveller from the UK. We chatted about our trips. The other traveller was an older male American, who had been residing in Russia for over a decade. I later went out for dinner with this American, and we had a great time and chat! He was very talkative and confident, I wished I was like him!
He had many stories to share with me as we sat down at Taco Express, and he sure had a way with the ladies. I ordered some beef tacos, and he got himself a fajita. We shared nachos between ourselves.
After all this, it was time to head back and rest.
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