Day 8 Parnu, Estonia

House in Parnu

Aside from the hotel accommodations, which were pricey and substandard, I left Parnu with a favorable impression. I see why it's a popular summer vacation destination for people in this region and somewhat beyond. I didn't run into any Americans. Relaxed, laid back, with sprawling shaded parks, a beautiful beach, and a number of excellent, reasonably priced, restaurants. I had a "Heavy Russian Soup." That's what they called it - absolutely delicious. The breakfast buffet included local herring, lox, and tomatoes reminiscent of those grown in our garden as I was growing up. The Estonian wood framed homes, often abutting the sidewalks, are usually two or three stories high, painted in earthy tones of green, brown, grey, yellow, or orange, and built over a rock foundation with corrugated steel roofs, accented the appeal of Parnu as a vacation destination. You could buy a very nice home there for less than $500K.

I need to say something about the ubiquitous shopping mall. Wherever you go, from Parnu to Istanbul, from Kiev to Corfu, from St. Petersburg to St. Cloud, Minnesota, the shopping mall is the same; same lighting, air conditioning, glitzy display windows, young people loitering, moms schlepping kids, reluctant husbands coaxed by persistent wives into sparkling jewelry stores. Take a woman from St. Cloud, transport her into any mall the world over and she would find herself at home, "Look, Hun, pseud purses, 30% off." The shopping mall is the universal cultural melting pot, defining our tastes and values alike. How can global hostilities rage when we have so much in common? Maybe it's because too many think their mall is singularly unique and in need of defending or is it possible the mall and the global economy is just a side show, like the musac we listened to on the elevator up and has little to do with who we are.