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  • Day 22

    Estonia Greets the Ghostriders

    June 24, 2019 in Estonia ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    I don't suppose it really should have come as such a surprise. After all, for the past three weeks, our bright yellow and pink jerseys have been attracting attention wherever we went. On more than one occasion, locals had been so impressed that they actually looked us up on the Internet to see for themselves just how famous we were.

    I must admit however, that I was a little taken aback to find out that the day after our triumphant arrival in the capital city of Estonia had been declared a national holiday (presumably in our honour). We weren't expecting that, but it was a fitting way to finish our cycling adventure across the three Baltic States.

    I had previously visited Tallinn briefly in 2014 and I was curious to see if my impressions of the place had changed in those last five years. There is no doubt that Tallinn is a pretty city with its lovely combination of forested outer suburbs and its delightful medieval old city. The traffic appears to flow smoothly, the infrastructure is modern and the air is clean.

    Scratch a little below the surface, however,and you find that all is not perfect. In the first couple of hours after our arrival, I saw more homeless men and women than I had seen in the previous three weeks. The town is now firmly on the tourist radar and the streets of the old city are crowded with a continuous onslaught of tour groups following their flag waving guides. Like many other European cities, smoking is very common among all ages. Outdoor dining is spoilt by the constant puffing of toxic tobacco smoke, and if you look down at the ancient cobbles you will likely see them covered with discarded butts.

    The influx of tourists has had another unwelcome side effect - the prices are much higher than anywhere else we have travelled in the Baltic States. You can now expect to pay around 5 Euro (about $8 AUD) for a cup of coffee. Meals are similarly very expensive.

    While the influx of tourism dollars has no doubt bought prosperity to some sectors of the population, it is also evident that the gap between the "haves" and the "have nots", has also grown.

    On another topic entirely, I thought I might make a medical comment. One of the unfortunate side effects of growing old is that you never seem to know which part of your body will hurt or fail next. You can go to bed without a worry in the world and then wake up in the morning feeling like a bus must have run over your left foot during the night. Aches, pains, strains and assorted other bodily breakdowns seem to occur at random, mostly at a time when it will cause the greatest inconvenience.

    For the few weeks before this trip started I had been having trouble with pain at the base of both of my thumbs. This had made changing gears on my bike quite difficult and painful and I had been worrying how I would cope with the pressure of daily cycling during the trip.

    For some completely unknown and bewildering reason, that pain has now disappeared. That's the good news. There is always bad news as well. Over the past few days I have been conscious of a growing soreness and stiffness in my left knee. Although I tried to ignore it while on the bike, it did make it hard to climb stairs or walk without pain.

    When I awoke this morning the pain had increased significantly, meaning that I had to hobble down to the breakfast room like a 68 year old man. Come to think of it, I AM a 68 year old man, so I guess that is perfectly normal. By the same token, I wonder what body part will fail next when the giant wheel of potential medical problems is spun next.

    Tonight we have our final dinner together as a group. After breakfast our team will split into numerous sub sections as our members begin their long journeys back to Australia. After the incredible run of fine weather we have enjoyed here, the shock of arriving back in the middle of a bleak Melbourne winter will be a little hard to bear. And what will be the first thing I will do when I get back home ? Take this DELL computer back to JB HiFi to get the rotten space bar fixed. It has plagued me the entire tripand Iamsickofhaving totype thesamesentenceoverandoveragain.
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