We all spend our holidays in Viljandi

Strangely, since coming back to Australia, the part of Estonia that keeps playing on my mind is not Palmse, which was one of the most beautiful places I've been to in my life, nor Tallinn, which was quite a nice city with a brilliant fusion of ancient and modern. Nor was it Tartu, where I happily spent three days, and probably would have stayed for longer had I not been on a mission to see more of the country.

No, it's Viljandi. I was there for about 24 hours, and saw most of the place in one morning walk. I thought it was a nice enough town - nicer than many of the other towns I had seen, but nothing terribly thrilling or gripping...

Yet I keep thinking it would be a nice place to live, or at least stay for a summer holiday. Okay beach, nice lake, nice parks, nice ruined castle thingy... nice spirit. I want to see it when it's not raining - after all, it was nice enough when freezing cold and wet.



Thinking about it now, I realise I liked the 'feel' of the place - the folk music center, the castle that doubled as an out-door theatre, the puppet theatre (which wasn't showing anything during the time when I was there, dammit) and all that jazz. I'm used to small towns being a little bit country. This place was a little bit folksy - and fiercely proud of it.

It was nice. It was the kind of place where you could relax, but still be in the heart of something. You could listen to a concert or go for a long walk beside the lake. You could be part of a festival, or just sit in a park and read a book.

I think nice places don't get enough praise for simply being nice.

Some places just feel good. Viljandi is one of them.