Hey y’all, the last time I posted an update was on Sunday and I was in Riga, Latvia and planning my next steps into Estonia.

Unfortunately, on Sunday (and even a bit on Saturday) I started feeling like I was catching a cold. I had a runny nose, a cough, body aches, and general feelings of fatigue that only got worse on Sunday evening and into Monday. Regardless, I had a full day’s driving set up on Monday and a dorm reserved in Tartu, Estonia on Monday night. So I powered through the drive and did a little bit of sightseeing along the way in the towns of Sigulda, Cesis, and Valmeira in Latvia, coughing and blowing my nose the whole way.

---

---

After seeing the the small towns in Latvia that I’d done some reading about, I decided to just beeline it to the dorm room I had booked in Tartu, Estonia because I needed to be there by 8pm for check-in and also because I was feeling kind of low energy from the cold I had. Here are some shots I took from the road between Valmeira and Tartu:

---

I was able to easily locate the dorm I’d booked and was pleased to find free parking and a 5 minute walk into the heart of downtown Tartu. I brought my stuff in from the car and then set out on the town to have a look around and get something to eat. Tartu is a university town and is the second-biggest city in Estonia after the capital, Tallin.

After dinner, the fatigue of the cold begin to set in and so I went back to the room for a night of very poor sleep. Between the stifling heat of the dorm room and my coughing and wheezing all night, it was not a great night of rest.

---

On Tuesday, I woke up drenched in sweat. I had a hard time getting up and getting moving but I finally motivated myself to do something at about 1pm. I didn’t feel terrible, but just extremely low energy. I decided I’d grab a bite from a bakery and then go check out a KGB cells museum I’d read about where there were the actual holding cells the KGB used to detain and interrogate political prisoners during the Soviet era of Estonia. After that I checked out a former Soviet airstrip that was once home to part of the USSR nuclear bomber fleet. And then I briefly checked out the Estonian National Museum since it was close by.

After checking out the museum, I was just about completely gassed at about 5pm. I went to a restaurant to get a little bite to eat and then had to go back to the room to lay down. I wound up passing out about 6pm and was out for about 2 hours, once again waking up drenched in sweat. After that I felt significantly better to the point I thought I may possibly want to try doing some music by the pedestrian bridge, but I ultimately decided it was best to lay low and try to fully beat the bug so I could be closer to 100 percent on Wednesday. I spent the evening doing a bit of research and booking some accommodations for the next few days.

---

Tuesday night, I tossed and turned all night long – unable to get comfortable due to the heat and light coming in the window starting at 3am. I think I finally passed out at about 6am and I woke up at about 11am on Wednesday and had time to grab a shower and pack up just before the cleaning lady showed up. Getting on the road to my next destination of Pärnu, I was feeling significantly improved from Tuesday night, although still a bit fatigued over all with a lingering cough and scratchy throat. The drive was 2 1/2 hours long and in the middle I stopped off a checked out a city called Viljandi.

---

After checking out Viljandi, I got back in the road for the rest of the drive to Pärnu. Pärnu is Estonia’s fourth biggest city, but it is considered to be Estonia’s summer capital due to it’s seaside location and pristine beach. I had planned on visiting for two days, but getting the gig offer in Tallin on Thursday meant that I’d have only one night there. Here are some pics from the drive to Pärnu from Viljandi:

Before heading downtown to check into my room, I went to the beach to see what all was happening there. I found lots of people relaxing on what was actually a very nice beach. I went in knee-deep to the water and realized it was much warmer there than the water at Jūrmala beach in Latvia had been.

After checking out the beach, I headed into the downtown area near where my room was booked and did a little bit of exploring and scouting for a place to busk later in the evening. There were a decent amount of people out and about but it wasn’t bustling like the other beach towns I’d been to previously. After looking around, I found my guest house and got checked in to my room.

After checking into the room, I decided to head out for some dinner and then try my hand at some busking on the pedestrian strip. I didn’t have high expectations as my voice was a little rough from the cold still and there weren’t a ton of people out – but I actually did way better than I expected and wound up booking a gig through it as well.

When I finished playing I took all my coins to a nearby bar and asked the lady working if she’d be willing to trade me for paper bills. I always do this when I get done busking because paper is so much easier to carry around then the heavy coins. When she saw how many I had, she said that I must be pretty good and she asked me what type of music I play, etc. When I told her, she offered me 150 euros each to come play her place on Friday and Saturday nights. Unfortunately, I already had booked a hostel for 4 nights in Tallin – but I only had gigs lined up for Thursday and Sunday. So I agreed to come back for sure and play her bar on Friday (it’s only 90 minutes from Tallin to Pärnu) and I told her I’d see what I could work out about doing Saturday as well. So in the course of 24 hours, I went from zero gigs for the weekend to fully booked for the weekend.

That brings me to tonight. I’m back in my room finishing up this post for you guys and trying to rest up a little bit more. Tomorrow I have the drive to Tallin and the show in the evening. I’ve got my fingers crossed that the cold will be all the way gone when I get up in the morning and I’ll be ready to rock in the evening. Thanks again for following along on my trip and I’ll do another update after the weekend’s festivities!