I left Peter’s early and rode through Helsinki as the city was waking up. A golden sunrise gave the streets and old buildings a particularly handsome glow. I rode to the waterfront and hopped on the Linda Line high speed ferry to Tallinn, Estonia,which appears to be exactly the same type boats the Victoria Clipper.

Ninety minutes later I was in Tallinn, climbing the old city’s cobblestone streets on my bike. It’s a gorgeous old city but I was ready to get on my bike.
   

  

  

One delicious apple strudel later I was on the road and my bike trip was officially underway. It felt great to be on the road, exhilarating actually, working my legs and watching the beautiful world slowly drift past.   

  
Evidently I didn’t do a very good job rubbing in the sunscreen.

  
Along the way to Kullamma, I stopped at a small gas station to get water and as I was setting off an older grey haired Estinian man approached me and inquired where I was headed using hand signals, smiles and in English that was about as good as my Estonian. I showed him a map of my route, with Athens as the destination but as I learned later, he still thought I was headed to Tallinn. We shook hands, his like a slowly tightening vise grip, and I went on my way along a beautiful gravel path through the woods.  

 Not five minutes later, as I approached a small trail crossing, a beat up old car screeched to a dusty stop just ahead of me. And who should get out but my Estonian friend, who informed me that I was headed in exactly the opposite direction of Tallinn. “Didn’t we cover this?” I thought and gave him the thumbs up sign. He laughed and shrugged his shoulders, thinking me hopelessly lost, and extracted a frosted bottle of ice cold vodka from his car. Coming over to my bike, he very happily took a hearty swig and poured a bottle cap shot for me. “Say yes to everything” a wise bearded friend recently told me, so I tilted my head back and felt the cold sting on my throat. He belly laughed and once again crushed me a with a handshake and wished me a good trip.

  
Estonian countryside
  Evidently there are moose in Estonia!

  
A castle along the way 

 
 My destination for the evening.
  

 My castle for the night, with a water view!  
  
Still a big jet lagged, I fell asleep early and only awoke once and was treated to a lovely midsummer moonrise.