The Boat to Aland
Monday August 4th, 2008
Tallinn, Estonia
Scandinavia 2008 - Day 4
Yesterday touring Tallinn in the daylight was a blast. Without breakfast I headed off to see the Russian Orthodox Church. I saws some more churches and enjoyed the view from the lookout. I also happened to pass by the bar with the green and red door from the night before, it was clean, unnoticeable on the busy street, and locked up tight. For lunch I went back to Olde Hansa and ordered the pork leg. I sat on the outdoor deck wrapped in a thick red wool blanket with a ham bone in one hand and a clay jug of water in the other. I was a sight. After lunch I bought a locally knitted hat from a silver-eyed brunette who had a world-class bust line. I walked around some more before getting my bag and walking to the harbor.
On the boat I discovered I had a cozy 1-room cabin. I showered and changed. This ship is massive. The buffet cost $48 so I went the 24-hour fast food joint for the worlds worst $5 microwaved cheeseburger with carrots, cole slaw, and dressing, all on the burger. It was horrible.
After dinner I got my drawing things and went down to the main deck, bought a coke and a cake and begin drawing. After several hours I went to the duty free shop for some liquor and cigars. Many people were wheeling around dollies stacked with cases of beer and bags full of boxes of cigarettes. Back near my cabin I encountered a heavily intoxicated Swede who was hitting both sides of the narrow hallway so hard he looked and sounded a bit like a broken church bell. It was a mess getting past him; he gave me a cross-eyed stare that was intense through his silvery-blue dead-fish eyes.
I slept very shitty. All kinds of horrible and uncomfortable dreams, and dreams that turned into half-awake nightmarish hallucinations. Something about exiting procedure and how I missed getting off the boat; trivial but sleep killing. I awoke at 4:10am to the beating of my cabin door. My wake-up call was early. I showered, dressed and went out on the side-deck in the night and watched several ships pass as we approached the harbor.
Now here I sit in the awesomely quiet island town of Mariehamn. The eastern horizon once black-turned navy is now turning light gray-blue. It’s raining. There is a small group of people in the terminal. To my left are four old mariners sleeping in chairs. They have awesome beards and hats. They too have cases of beer from the ships shop. Outside the terminal the breeze is cool and refreshing and a long row of bicycles sit unchained in the rain. No thieves, no crime. No breakfast. Beef jerky and water from the bathroom sink is all I have. Inside the terminal it is warm and the old seamen are snoring over the sound of several groups of young people chatting silently. In 45 minutes I will walk to Wilhelm’s house (I will be couchsurfing for the first time ever with a Finnish guy named Wilhelm Matteson) and wake him up. I wish the café across the street would open, I need coffee and porridge.
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