James O'Brien

Just in case you were previously unsure, I now have the badge to prove it. On entering Tallinn’s grooviest nightclub, Angel, tonight the woman on the door offered me a bidge. Initially, I declined the offer, thinking she was trying to sell me something. On closer inspection, the whole room was full of people wearing badges declaring their sexuality.

Looking around the room it was fascinating to see how people were defining themselves. The hip-hop dancers on stage had badges declaring themselves “bi”. Two blokes at the bar had badges declaring themselves “hetero”. Quite a few, though not as many as I’d hoped, had badges declaring themselves “gay”. And finally, there were lots of people declaring themselves “bi”.

For just a moment I was standing next to a bloke wearing a “bi” badge. He was a nice looking bloke, dark blonde, a bit nerdy, about 30 years old, but pretty gay looking if you ask me. Obviously it must have caught the attention of someone else nearby who leaned over and began to speak to him. I’m guessing by the body language he asked about the “bi” definition. At that point the bloke pulled out his mobile phone and showed a photograph of a baby. Question answered…

Unfortunately the pop star who appeared and sang half a dozen songs wasn’t wearing a badge. Judging by the reaction of the crowd, he must have been quite a popular local singer. With blonde hair and boy next door good looks, he sang a bunch of Euro-pop songs which wouldn’t have been out of place in the Estonian finals for Eurovision. I doubt they’d have made the final cut, but they were fine enough I suppose. The audience loved him. Even though I listened closely, I couldn’t quite pick up the local version of “one more time” but that’s what they shouted until he came out and did just what they asked.

After resting up, I’m feeling much better today. I think I’ve kicked the forty-eight hour bug that’s made me a little tired and congested. Still, I haven’t done all that much. I did some sight-seeing, did some shopping and I went for a swim.

The sightseeing was unguided. I just went for a bit of a wander, checking out some of the inner city neighbourhoods. You’ve got everything from Soviet style apartments, to modern apartments, to run down buildings, to beautifully restored German style housing. Quite nice.

I was in dire need of some new toothpaste and deodorant, as I pretty much ran out two days ago and have been doing the big squeeze on both. I was hoping that I could find a local variation, something a little exotic. Unfortunately, the supermarket didn’t stock a local variation, so I’ve ended up with Colgate toothpaste and Nivea deodorant. I was also in need of some underpants, since I seem to have lost a couple of pair along the way. I’ve found a local variation of those, though I’m far too modest to show them here.

The swim today was quite good at the “Pirita Top Spa” just a few kilometres from town. Along with the swim I had a massage which I suspect also helped make me feel a little better. The woman who did the massage was also straight out of Eastern European Central Casting. She was big and blonde.

Although I managed to get lost a few times today, I think I’m starting to get the hang of the place. I’m starting to develop a sense of direction.

Still, I’ve made plans for the next part of my journey. I’m gonna leave on Monday for Riga. It’s twice the size of Tallinn and, apparently, is very nice. And from there, I have a flight from Riga to Prague. So by Thursday lunchtime, I’ll be in the city described by a few of my friends as “the most beautiful city in the world”.

In the meantime, I remembered yesterday that I have two previous connections with Estonia. The parents of my much-loved high school form mistress were Estonian, as were the grandparents of a former colleague. I wrote her an email today, to which she replied…

Have fun and remember when peopel say Tervi-sex.. they are actually saying cheers.

Damn.