Today we started our day somewhat early, because we had to be at the ferry terminal at 9:40am to catch the boat to Muhu. We were up and wanted coffee, with the only logical place to get coffee at 8am being McDonalds. One would assume that McDonalds would be open and have a breakfast menu but when we arrived, the building looked closed, and it was, and I had a momentary brain fart and wanted to drive around the building in the “Australian” direction, rather than the direction you would logically go here. So we eventually found the drive through and had a look at the menu. I asked if they had McMuffin meals and they said they don’t have a breakfast menu…of course they don’t, no one does anything before 11am here. So once we decided what we wanted to eat, we ordered our coffee. I have come to realise the coffee here is somewhat weak, so I wanted to order a “large latte with an extra shot” and the response was “sorry we don’t do that”, well, Lachlan thankfully caught that on camera because that was hilarious and we lost the plot.. so then I ordered an expresso as well as my café latte, and put it in my coffee once I had it. There was plenty of room because they only half fill the cups here. I think they use a push button machine rather than make it how we are used to in Australia. We then went to sit out the front on the chair and some other tourists thought it was open but we told them it was closed and they needed to use drive through, so they proceeded to walk through drive through, and what do you know, it worked! There were two sets of, we think German, tourists who tried and succeeded. In Australia, there is no way that would ever work! Once we had breakfast and dropped Lachlan off, we headed to Virtsu so we could catch the ferry to Muhu. When we got there, we went to the e-ticket gate and it recognised our licence plate, thankfully, because I had not gone close enough to scan a ticket. The way they get people onto the boat is incredibly efficient and we were on the boat and set for Muhu in less than 10 minutes, it was insane! The ride was relatively uneventful, but what I did notice that everyone was rushing to get breaky then eating it quickly. The journey was only 27 minutes.
We then headed to another käsitöö shop, that I remember from last time. It was full of Muhu related items. It was adorable and there was some material I really wanted but was still unsure of, the orange Muhu Rahvariide. They had some of the Muhu vests and lots of wooden items. It smelled like the wooden items in this store and I really liked it. They had the Muhu slippers and so many beautiful designed items. When we left there, without buying to much, we went to the Muhu bakery, but there were so many people lined up there because there is something very special about their bread. We then headed to the little market to see what they had there, and we got the most beautiful punnet of raspberries, they were so delicious. They also had a bucket full of kukeseened (chantarelle mushrooms) but they were very expensive, 16 euro for the bucket, or 35 euro/kg. We thought we better leave them there, even though I really wanted to have some while I am here. Once we finished here, we headed to the most beautiful little Talu in Muhu. When we drove up to it, it was like majik, the area was surrounded in stone walls, covered in green moss. It was really like stepping into a fairy garden. The roof was made of reeds and covered in moss. There were many little structures built around, and I later found out three of them were outside bedrooms. Everything was so cute and small and just perfect. I could live here, and there was a flush toilet and shower. We were met by Minnie, a very old dog, and Kadri, whom we met at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She always looks so elegant and she was very excited to see Mum and I, sharing in how she lives here, in her fairy garden (my words, not hers). When we walked inside, there were fairy lights strung around the room and I commented to Kadri, this is something I would definitely do if I had a place like this. It was so adorable and sweet. The bedrooms were small with low ceilings and everything was made of timber. It just ha this majik feel to it. She was explaining to us that in Muhu there are little villages and there are several houses in each village. The villages are surrounded by the same stone walls, which are covered in moss. I thought this was really special and something definitely unique about Muhu. I always wondered what was special about this place, because we usually just drive through, but this time we had a wonderful opportunity to experience somewhat what it would be like to live in Muhu. Kadri showed us around her Talu, where some of the structures were very old and used in photographs for magazines and different things. There were old cellars and something which is iconic for Muhu is the cellars are built of white stone with some black stone used as details. There was also some ruins of a small stone building used for the Land Lady back in the day and then some wooden structures used as bedrooms. Kadri was explaining to us that back in the day young ladies would use these rooms on some nights as young boys were allowed to come into these rooms and stay the night. They would organise that they would be in one of the rooms on a particular night and then spend the night together. I really loved the romance of these stories and allowing young people to express themselves freely, especially at a time where sex before marriage and religion was somewhat prevalent. It was so sweet and I really liked this idea, where they could be away from their families and just enjoying each others company. When we were walking through the garden there were so many beautiful flowers and greenery. I couldn’t help but think, this is where the fairies live. I was so grateful Kadri invited us to her place and shared some wonderful stories and conversation with us. I am looking forward to seeing what comes out of this. It was stunning and I really hope I can come back here one day soon. Once we had talked for a few hours, we headed to this little käsitöö Talu. When we arrived, even the sign was beautifully done with some hand painted images and words. We went into this ladies workshop and there were so many beautiful things she had created. She explained to us that she creates things she feels like creating and there was an abundance of käsitöö to enjoy. She was very into embroidery because a lot of the things she had to sell incorporated this. She also had little pre drawn images and kits where people could buy them and create their own bag, etc, and embroider their own images onto it, based on the stencil she had provided. I thought this was a wonderful idea. She showed us some beautiful Muhu slippers which she creates for order. There were some beautiful white ones which they use in weddings, I really liked them, as well as some red ones. She also showed us her Covid work, it was magnificent, sitting on the wall and she agreed to take a photo with it. It was tunning. She also showed us some lovely blankets she had done and working on. There was ne she is working on which was a tribute to Ukraine. The outside had their national flower on it, the sun flower, and dotted around it were little daisies which represented the children that have been killed by the Russians. In the middle was a flower that grows in Estonia that you can not kill. She shared with us that she finds it hard when she is working on this blanket as it makes her emotional, and rightly so, but what she is creating is absolutely stunning. There is so much passion she has for her käsitöö and I can really see how much joy it brings her. When she was talking about it, even though I couldn’t fully understand what she was saying, I could see and feel the passion she has for her craft, it was wonderful. Once we left there, Kadri got on her bike and we followed her down the road a bit further to a little village. This village was now a museum and could not be built on any more. It was displayed as a typical Muhu village, with the moss covered stone walls and the fairy paths, as I called them. The weather was not good, it was close to raining, but we continued on. The open air museum there was just so cute and next time we intend to visit it. We of course went into the little käsitöö shop and saw some more incredible things. They had on the left, as you walk in, a beautiful picture, which was created by Kadri’s mother. I am not sure if it was done in pencil, crayon or paint but it was stunning and I really would have liked a copy! Sadly it was not for sale. There was also a display of photo’s of the “Muhu Sky” with different variations of cloud formations. The thing that drew my attention was the three images of blue, black and white. I really liked how they looked. They were the same image but different colours and just looked wonderful, bringing a little moment of joy. As we started to leave this little store it started to rain and I felt bad for Kadri as she had to get back to her place in the rain, on her bike but she didn’t seem to mind. Mum and I headed for Saaremaa. I think we joined the traffic as a boat had come in as we were stuck in a long cue of cars, driving towards the island and the centre. It took about an hour and some heavy rain. What was irritating me was the inconsistent speed of the drivers up the front and they ranged from 70-110km/hr. The other thing that shocked me was how people over take. They would round up 3-5 cars at a time, in the heavy rain and it looked really unsafe. I did keep my distance because who knows what would happen! When we arrived, we had to wait almost an hour for someone with the key to our apartment and then discovered it was up 3 flights of stairs. I was REALLY tired and irritated by this point and I did say to the man, what is the point of asking for a ground floor place if it is not available, AND it should be made very clear on the booking that it has stairs, what if someone was in a wheel chair? Mum also had injured her knee too so this was really just pilling on the stuff. He was gracious enough to carry the suitcases up the stairs thankfully. That night mum and I decided to just sleep, we both needed some time to recharge because we were getting snappy at each other. The good thing was we both acknowledged it and apologised. So we went to the super market, got some soup and just had a chilled evening.
Until the next story Marissa xx
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