Stage 27A “A Day in Elva”
tere hommikust (Good Morning!)
WOW! What a really nice and rather exhausting day we have had today!
The day started after breakfast by returning to the railway station as we wanted to do the ‘Small Trail Nature Energy’ walk that is 3Km long, except it also takes you another 3Km to get back to the start that it looks like someone forgot about, oops! ….
While along the trail are 36 Wood carvings that are related to Estonian Fairy Tale Stories, the first one is a story about a boy caught in a lightning storm….
As we made our way along the trail we would come to clearings in the forest with some very nice houses built in them….
While a bit further on was this ‘Old Boy’ whom you could sit alongside and have a conversation with, albeit one sided….
While each carving was related to an Estonian fairy tale story….
Girl on a broomstick….
As we spotted this BIG Bear we were able to get with the help of Tuuli in the Tourist Information Office at the Railway Station a translation of the Estonian story, which goes like this:
“Once a farmer had beehives from which he got his honey, however there was a BIG Bear in the area who used to sneak in and steal the honey from the beehives. The farmer became desperate as all is honey was disappearing, so he thought of a plan. He made a sweet of honey and a drink for the BIG Bear and put it near the beehives, then climbed into a tree and waited.
As night came the BIG Bear came and ate the sweet, then fell asleep, so the farmer climbed out of the tree and tied a bell around the BIG Bears neck, then climbed back into the tree and waited.
The BIG Bear woke up and was startled by the bell ringing as he moved his head from side to side, he ran off into the woods and never returned to steal more honey, but if you ever hear a bell ringing in the forest then look out for the BIG Bear who stole the farmers honey!”….
The next carvings were of a Wolf a Fox, some Fish and a Man, but the story was rather long to include in the Blog….
The fishes carved into the end of the Wolf carving….
Then just around the corner was this nice view with the small bridge and open area along the trail….
While a bit further along we find this man having a rest…..
Some quite large carvings on the trail….
The just when you think they are completely dead, you see the colourful fungus growing…
While this was the last carving on the trail it seems to have had something to do with Halloween from the expression on the face….
With another nice Forest House as we made our way back to the start….
With the carving that was a permanent resident in the Tourist Information Office as we got back,
We were asked if we had any plans for the afternoon by ‘Tuuli’ the young lady on reception?
Our reply was that we did not but needed to get some lunch first.
We were then asked if we would act as ‘Guinea Pigs’ for a walking town quiz that would not take long to complete, but would take us on a short tour of the town with clues, questions and answers as we went along, we ‘signed up' for the challenge.
Lunch was duly sorted out then it was back to the TIC (Tourist Information Centre) to collect the Quiz Sheet and a Town Map, then we were off as the results of the first clue gave you the location of the next one and so on, and the answers with the next clue location on was in this format, either pinned to a pole, doorway wall or seat, so you had to use your eyes to spot them!….
On the way around we saw the 'Old' no longer used Fire Sataion…
While next along the quiz route was this 342 year old Fir Tree that is now a permanent feature of Elva….
We then had to find the Ice Cream Kiosk that sadly was not open as the temperature was hitting 25C today, so this was hot and thirsty work!
This was the kiosk ….
While close by was this children’s playground that got some adult attention as well!
Our next stop was the lake for the next clue and and answer to the question, however I was not tempted to strip off and jump in to cool down even though it did look inviting, but we did see a small boy selling bunches of Rhubarb outside his house for €1/Bunch, so we stopped and got one, then watched the smile appear as he went off to tell his Mum that he had sold one! WOW. I think we made his day!!!
While after that we made our way to a house that was used by the Professors of Tartu University for relaxation.
While all the windows of the house are different sizes and shapes which is called ‘Wackwerk Lattice’. The building is now being used for child daycare.
Next answer was the Elva Singing Area which is a very nice outdoor arena….
With a visit to the Town Hall unfortunately we did not have time for the journey to get the final 3 answers to the quiz, but it was very interesting to take part seeing parts of the town that we had missed out on seeing as you drive around, and for that and being asked to take part we were really grateful to Tulli for asking, it was good fun.
Meanwhile I think we will definitely be in for a good night’s sleep tonight before we head off on the next stage into Latvia tomorrow….
head ööd (Estonian “Goodnight”)
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