The pine forest was very much like I remembered it, but it looks way healthier now that there are fewer people wandering around.
I also found the house where we rented the rooms for summer! I remembered the address, and I went right there, and I saw the roof of the house from the far, and I couldn’t believe it was that house, but it was! There are just a couple of houses on that street that were not replaced by the new ones sometime within these 50+ years, and that house was one of them!
Unfortunately, nobody seemed to be in since it was the middle of the workday. I wonder whether Alena still lives there!
We walked to Kursaal; I already knew that there were only ruins in place of the center of the cultural life of Narva-Joesuu. My feet almost got me to the right place; I was confused by a new fence and turned left a little bit earlier than I should have, and that was the only time I had to use a prompt from Grandfather Google.
It turned out to be not as bad as I thought; I see the attempts to keep it from complete deterioration, and I hope it will be restored and repuposed.
The day was exceptionally windy! I saw the winds in the forecast and took multiple layers of clothing with me. Still, it was not even the cold but the power of the wind. I went to the beach, and it was difficult even to approach it! The wind blew us back and threw the sand right into our faces!
When our cab drive drove us towards the cemetery, I looked left and saw something remarkable: the ruins which I used to limb on when I was a child, partially restored!
I had to get there (it was in my plans anyway!).
When I saw this sign, it suddenly clicked! I recalled that back then, I knew that it was “Inn Irene,” I used to pronounce it as one word, “pansionat-irene,” and I forgot it for fifty years. Now, I read in all details the history of the place:
And finally, a cohort walk along the Narova River shore
After that, without any additional adventures, we boarded the bus back to Narva. I should mention that there is a great bike path all the way from Narva to Narve-Joesuu, with nice rest stops (I even saw a bike pump attached to one of it!). And that’s a picture form our morning train – there are hooks for the bikes!
Here is the list of my blogs about my childhood summers in Narvea-Joesuu:
Hettie's Reflections 