Today’s ride took us through some stunning pine and deciduous forests and made for a wonderful morning ride. If anything, it passed too quickly. The Estonian border snuck up on us fast at 25 miles.
Smiltene, Latvia to Tartu, Estonia
DAY #33 of 35Estonia2,121 miles total
Valga & Valka
The Latvia-Estonia border runs north to south through Valga and effectively splits it into two separate towns and two separate countries. The northern side, `Valga’, belongs to Estonia and `Valka’, on the southern side, belongs to Latvia.
For years, this created a complicated situation where members of one family, even living on the same street, may have had different citizenships and had to go through customs and border guards in order to visit each other. Fortunately, after both countries joined the Schengen zone, border points were removed, and Valga-Valka is fast overcoming the separation issues.
Although a gorgeous setting in which we could have spent a couple of days, we are excited to leave for Tartu, Estonia – an historic university city of about 100,000 people. As we got underway, we couldn’t help but notice the richness of the grasslands. Or is it the rose-colored glasses? Lots of hay bales. Valka, our last town in Latvia. The border between Latvia and Estonia separates Valka from the Estonian town of Valga. The twin cities proclaim the slogan “One Town, Two Countries”.
Estonia 🇪🇪- A New Country by Bicycle
We entered our 8th country on this epic #Napoleoncyclingtour … Estonia 🇪🇪. It was our first time here on a bicycle (we visited the capital Tallinn a few years back). We ❤️❤️❤️ 🇪🇪!
Video: Colette Jumps into Estonia
As we entered Estonia, we saw a marked difference between the prosperity of Estonia (with a 2018 GDP per capita of about $23,000 USD) and Latvia (with a 2018GDP per capita of about $18,000 USD). We still saw a few old buildings… …and some Cold War buildings… ….but most of the buildings appeared newer and better cared for. After leaving Valga, we were on a nice and very quite road through forested national park … … which continued for miles and miles … … finally giving way to farmland. We are not farmers, but this soil looked particularly rich to us. So lush that the ferns grew as thickly as in New Zealand.
Otepää – Estonia’s Winter Capital
The small hilltop town of Otepää, 25 mi south of Tartu, is the center of a picturesque area of forests, lakes and rivers. The district is beloved by Estonians for its natural beauty and its many possibilities for hiking, biking and swimming in summer, and cross-country skiing in winter. It’s often referred to as Estonia’s winter capital, and winter weekends here are busy and loads of fun. Some have even dubbed the area (tongue firmly in cheek) the ‘Estonian Alps’ – a reference not to its peaks but to its excellent ski trails. The 40 mi Tartu Ski Marathon kicks off here every February but even in summer you’ll see professional athletes and enthusiasts hurtling around on roller skis. Trivia Fact: The earliest surviving firearm in Europe has been found in the ancient castle of Otepää and it dates to at least 1396. The first settlement in Otepää was in 6th century BC.
We knew we were getting close to Otepää when we started seeing these little ski cabins.
Cross-country skiing is especially popular in the area. Otepää is a well-known training area for biathlon. Biathlon is a winter sport that combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. It is treated as a race where the contestant with the shortest total time wins. Depending on the competition, missed shots result in extra distance or time being added to the contestant’s total. Pacing Shauna as she rode through the streets. Video: This is my kind of traffic!
Lunch in Otepää was at a pizza shop with a verdant garden area. Video: Colette welcomes riders to pizza lunch in Estonia.
Tartu, a Pleasant University Town
Attending to a little mud and wetness from the last 15 mi of our otherwise perfect ride today of 86 mi and 2000 ft climbing, we arrived at this luxurious 2-story room at the charming Hotel Antonius. Tartu is the second largest city of Estonia, after Estonia’s political and financial capital Tallinn. Tartu is often considered the intellectual center of the country, especially since it is home to the nation’s oldest and most renowned university, the University of Tartu. The city also houses the Supreme Court of Estonia, the Ministry of Education and Research, and the new building of the Estonian National Museum. We loved this fountain of two lovers embracing. Since Estonia regained its independence in 1991, the old town center is being renovated. We found it to be lovely… …and full of energy with outdoor restaurants and lots of university students walking, talking, etc. We learned that many of the classes at the University of Tartu are taught in English. A rock star caliber cyclist, Keith was approached by this inquisitive fellow who wanted to better understand how Keith’s brakes worked… …then wanted to see how Keith’s legs worked. Ultimately, this guy was trying to imitate Spider Man. A character about town! This night was dinner on your own, and we decided to go to a French Restaurant, Chez Andre. Gorgeous decor. The salads were an inventive mix of ingredients: here, lightly fried kale, fried chicken and a light sweet cheese in a peanut butter vinaigrette dressing. Mark had the ‘Oreo’ salad to make the grandkids jealous (a little cocoa taste to the dressing, but didn’t find any actual oreos). Dessert was a highlight with homemade pistachio ice cream, lots of fresh strawberries and a light sweet crumbled meringue. Shauna’s was similar but with the addition of one of her favorites, sabayon sauce. Sabayon is a light custardy Italian sauce. We didn’t have room left for macaroons, but we took some back for the team (and maybe a few for us for the next day).
Trivia Fact: Tartu lies on the Emajõgi (“Mother river”), which connects the two largest lakes of Estonia. The larger of the two, Peipsi Jarv (“Lake Peipus”) is one of the biggest inland lakes in Europe — we will be cycling past it tomorrow.
