“Not a single plane survived in the sky.” – this promising sentence was said by my father before I crossed the checkpoint at the Budapest airport for the first time in my life. He was absolutely right about that however I didn’t feel myself peaceful enough to appreciate his encouragement. Nevertheless I had no choice but to accept the inevitable and get on a plane. I was waiting with a stomach cramps to start the boarding right before 14:15. I tried to be really optimistic, two hours are not that long and maybe I will even enjoy it. Well – except for the take-off – that’s what happened altough it is still not something what I would do every single week.
The first stop of my trip to Tartu was Riga, the capital of Latvia. I looked positively at the day ahead of me because according to the weather forecast it would have been a nice and warm, sunny day. Well, what was waiting for me was everything but nice weather: a chill, 12°C temperature and pouring rain. What a great overture to a new „beginning”.
After the relatively bustling and spacious Budapest airport I felt that I was in a scene of a bad horror movie at the Riga airport. There were no open shops and waiting passengers. I was walking through the winding route as I would be in an endless maze from where there is no way out. And the rain and the darkness made the creepy mood even worse.
After luckily getting out of the maze a bigger challenge came after: buying a bus ticket from a non-english speaker vending machine which we finally solved more or less successfully with three other Hungarian girls. Let’s say, if an inspector had come, we would have stuck on the sieve. After about a half an hour bus travel we arrived to the city center where I was only a quarter of an hour’s walk away from my overnight accomodation. I have to admit, it is not easy to carry a 28kg luggage up and down into the tunnels. Because for some inexplicable reason there was n
o pedestrian crossing on the surface. But at least I wasn’t able to lift my arms for three days. 😀
Arriving at my accomodation I had no more energy than to inform my family of the lucky arrival and sleep. If only I could, because I was spinning from tiredness and excitement all night long and slept only four hours. The next morning I looked more tired but enthusiastic the day ahead. After breakfast I tousled my luggage all the way back to the bus station and I couldn’t decide if I am weaker or something happened because it was really hard to pull. At the station the truth was revealed: one of the four wheels lost the battle against the cobbles.
After I got rid of my glazing weight, I set off for the old town what – I have to say – I managed to discover almost completely. I got acquainted with the medieval, the 19th century and the soviet part of the center and during the sightseeing I even managed to walk into a movie shoot which was very politely brought to my attention by the security guard. And not to mention one of the shopping centers – the Galerija Centrs which has an interesting exhibition about it’s history – where I sat down tiredly at half past three and realized that I still had more then three hours until my bus left.
After endless hours while I was focusing on not close my eyes even for a second because I knew I would have fallen asleep immadiately, the last act of my journey finally arrived. Although I was extremely exhausted I wasn’t able to take some rest. However I didn’t mind because that way I could witness a wonderful sunset.
Finally right before eleven P.M. I captured the sign: Tartu Bussijaam. Although my knowledge of the Estonian language was quite deficient I realized that I had arrived to my home city for the next year.
EST:
"No plane has ever stayed in the sky." My father said this promising sentence before I crossed the security checkpoint at Budapest Airport for the first time in my life. He was absolutely right about that, but I didn't feel calm enough to appreciate his encouragement. Nevertheless, I had no choice but to accept the inevitable and board the plane. I waited there with stomach cramps, ready to begin my journey at exactly 2:15 p.m. I tried to be particularly optimistic—two hours isn't that long, and maybe I'll even enjoy it. Well, except for takeoff—that's still something I wouldn't want to do every week.
My first stop on the way to Tartu was Riga, the capital of Latvia. I was in a positive mood because the weather forecast predicted a nice, warm, sunny day. In reality, however, everything but beautiful weather awaited me there: coolness, a temperature of 12 degrees Celsius, and torrential rain. What a great prelude to a new 'beginning'.
After the relatively lively and spacious Budapest airport, I felt like I had walked into a bad horror movie at Riga airport. The shops were closed and there were no passengers waiting. I walked along the winding
the path, as if I were in an endless maze with no escape. Rain and darkness made the dreadful mood even worse.
After successfully navigating the maze, we faced an even greater challenge: buying a bus ticket from a machine that did not speak English. In the end, we managed to solve this problem more or less successfully with the help of three other Hungarian girls. Let's just say that if the inspector had come, we would have been caught. After a half-hour bus ride, we arrived in the city center, where I was only a quarter of an hour's walk from my accommodation. I must admit that lugging 28 kilos of luggage up and down tunnels is not exactly easy. For some inexplicable reason, the tree
there were also pedestrian crossings. But at least I couldn't raise my hands for three days. 😀
Upon reaching my accommodation, I only had enough energy to inform my family of my safe arrival before falling asleep. I wished I could have slept more, but I tossed and turned from exhaustion and excitement, managing only four hours of sleep. The next morning, I looked even more tired but was enthusiastically anticipating the day ahead. After breakfast, I lugged my luggage back to the bus station, unable to figure out if I was weaker or if something was wrong, as the suitcase was difficult to pull. At the bus station, however, the truth was revealed: one of the four wheels had lost its battle against the cobblestones.
After getting rid of my luggage, I headed towards the old town. It is worth mentioning that I managed to explore it thoroughly. I got acquainted with the medieval, 19th-century, and Soviet parts of the city center, and at the same time, I even stumbled upon a film shoot, which a security guard very politely pointed out to me. Also worth mentioning is the Galerija Centrs shopping center, which had an interesting exhibition on its history. I sat there, tired, at half past three and realized that I still had more than three hours until my bus departure.
After endless hours of focusing on not closing my eyes even for a moment, because I knew I would immediately fall asleep, the final stage of my journey finally arrived. Although I was extremely exhausted, I couldn't rest at all. But that didn't bother me, because it meant I could see the amazing sunset. Finally, just before 11 p.m., I saw the sign: Tartu Bus Station. Although my Estonian language skills were quite limited, I understood that I had arrived in my hometown for the next year.
Beáta Pravetz
Volunteer at the European Solidarity Corps at Tartu Youth Work Center
