August 11, 1998, Tuesday

As I was getting dressed I saw a beautiful sunrise from the hotel window. After breakfast I loaded my bags into a taxi and headed for the bus station. The guide book said there was no place to put luggage on the Estonia busses but the driver took my bags and put them in the baggage compartment. My seat was comfortable and we moved along on the good road through the agriculturally rich green countryside. There was a great variety of crops growing including grains, corn, and vegetables. There were dairy and beef cattle. The wool merchants said they used Estonia wool but I didn’t see any sheep. The ride took about three hours.

At the Tartu bus station I found a taxi. It was only a short distance to the Tarv Hotel, a five story building. The rooms and the elevator were smaller. Not only was it necessary to use a key to get in my room, but it was necessary to use a key to LEAVE the room.

The young Estonian hotel workers were very helpful, especially the young woman at the reception desk. She went to a lot of trouble getting me a reservation at my next city—Riga, Latvia. She also called the bus company about my ticket from Tartu to Riga. She called a taxi so I could visit the Old Town. The fare for the short ride was about $1.30.

It was a university town. You would think that the college students would be able to converse using English. This was not the case. At least not with the ones I tried to talk to. Very few people spoke English. It was difficult ordering in a restaurant. I pointed at the menu and was surprised when I was served roast beef with French fries. Every other country I have visited, the young learned English in school starting in the early grades.

In the late afternoon I walked to the bus station for my ticket. The elderly women selling tickets asked me for what day. I said, not tomorrow, but Thursday—the day after. She kept asking me in her language and I was answering in mine. We were getting nowhere. Someone in the line behind me who spoke a little English said, “Give him ticket for Thursday.” She took my money and printed out my ticket. It was for Wednesday. I wrote the date I wanted on a piece of paper handed that and the ticket back to her. She called a colleague to consult with her and then wrote me a new ticket with the date I wanted.