Enough with cities, it was time to get back to nature. The Lahemaa National Park is 475 square kilometres of pine forest along the northern coast of Estonia and Adam, an Aussie working at our hostel, was our knowledgeable and enthusiastic guide.
We stopped first at some ancient Swedish graves beside the highway. When the Russians built the highway to St. Petersburg, they unearthed these stone circular graves and moved them beside the new road. Nothing got in the way of Russian progress . . .
We went next to the tallest waterfalls in Estonia - not much to see at this time of year, but it was nice to splash around for a bit.
The rest of the day was interspersed with: hikes and walks through a bog,
exploring two old German estates, one the essentially deserted Kolga,
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| The old distillery |
the other Palmse manor.
The intended highlight of the trip was a swim in the Baltic Sea. Instead, we clambered around old Soviet bunkers and rocks in the pouring rain. Oh well. The wild swans still paddled among the massive rocks left behind when the glacier from Finland receded.
Happy Hour in the warm hostel common room was extra happy that night.
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