Surprisingly Close Yet Different

As I mentioned in the Riga post, some of us have to skedaddle on out of (t)here (Estonia) for some days to maintain our visitor status. J and I originally considered some northern locales -- thinking it appropriate to see just how far north we could get -- see the aurora borealis up close, pat a reindeer, get pulled around by sled-dogs, roll around in snow after hanging out in sauna tipis, the usual stuff.

We corresponded with some guest houses in Rovaniemi and some reindeer farms further north in Lapland. Things started looking more complex than expected -- we were sans vehicle -- how would we get to the farm from Rovaniemi? Could we duly diss Santa's Village and not be banned from the guesthouse breakfast nook? Would we have to drill our own ice fishing holes?

Further research soon revealed that the majority of attractions in northern Finland involved the snowmobile and, as Tallinn got chillier -- our teeth chattering and our longjohns chafing underneath our workaday (non-Gortex) winter fashions -- we started doubting the sturdiness of our apparel, should it be faced with Arctic Circle mid-day excursions (however brief) and northern-lit nights. Why were we heading north into even colder climes? After all, Tallinn is poised on the edge of the EU -- all the Union'ers flying in for mini-breaks to EST, why couldn't we do the same?

Ah, Barcelona. One of a handful of Estonian Air's regular destinations. We decided to take advantage of the relatively short distances and low cost of EU air travel, and booked passage. I tried to let myself ponder only briefly the company slogan, curious as to what exactly the marketing agency had in mind when they settled on "Surprisingly Close Yet Different" for Estonian Air's phrasal stand-in. I certainly hoped the intention was to talk up the country -- emphasizing for European travellers Estonia's location and uniqueness -- and not describing the airline proper.

-Watch out, Captain! Estonian Air is surprisingly close!

-Hm, Estonian Air, you say? How does it compare to other airlines?
-Well, Sir, it's surprisingly close, you know, similar. Yet...
-Yes?
-Yet.. it is, you know, just, well, different.

Corporate identity aside, the flight was fine -- though it was late leaving due to poor weather over... Copenhagen. We lunched on herring and boiled egg salads while waiting for the on-screen departures info to read something other than "Indefinite Delay". It never did, but we were eventually called to board.

Barcelona temperatures were surprisingly close, numerically speaking, to those we'd been enduring in Tallinn -- though we enjoyed the dramatic jump from minuses to plusses (plus-side and plus-size temperatures here gauged on this enormous neon Barcelonian thermometer).

In a quasi-(50~50)-related note, we were slightly disappointed that heading to Spain meant missing the much-advertised Lordi show, to be held in Tallinn on Feb 24. We'd been admiring the posters since we'd arrived -- these "Killers of 2006 EuroVision" (who, in fact, hail from Rovaniemi) promised a fire show at Tallinn's "Saku Suurhall" (think "Rexall Place", but in Estonian, and sponsored by beer instead of pharmacies). If Tallinn's music scene (well, besides the baroque) is to be measured by the postering, this might be the only rock show we'd be treated to during our stay. (Ozzy's not here until June.) We were tickled to see Lordi posters on our first walk-about in Barcelona (Tallinn--Barcelona clearly a popular route).... but were foiled again! Lordi was slated to play March 1, the day we were due to depart.

Surprisingly close, indeed.

[!?!..enjoy...!?!]