The weather has held up all weekend, and it has been over 20 degrees, bright, fine and sunny. Today I walked out in a t-shirt, and I bought two pairs of summer shoes. I have to bring more summer clothes back from Paris.

Last night we all walked long way round to a tapas restaurant in a hotel the other side of the Old Town, it was great - there six of us, four of the team, plus our PD's wife, who is visiting for the week and one of our clients, a really lovely guy. After dinner, we went for a drink in the Old Town and his girlfriend joined us. Today they are taking PD and PD's wife by car to Parnu on the coast, as they were going to visit relatives and PD and wife had planned to go there by bus for a look around. I want to go there soon, before the summer crowds arrive - apparently it is a very nice town, but not in summer, according to our Estonian colleague.

Today I've been out again, to see a summer fair in a park near the wall of the Old Town - there were supposed to be spinners, but I didn't see any. Lots of other things though, and good food. Then I have been to the spa for a very long facial, nearly two hours - I have had skin problems the last week or so, and think I have eaten something that is not good for me, although I cannot figure out what. It feels a lot more comfortable now, after being zapped by the hydradermie machine.

Sad news that our beloved PD is leaving the company, we do have a new one, who is nice, but he is not the same! Same old reason that Leo left last year, hates the admin, which is huge for PDs now that we are part of a huge company. We were stunned when he told us and all practically burst into tears.

Next week is an easy week - two days in the office, fly to Paris, then I think I will take Thursday as an RTT, and Friday is a public holiday. We start workshops to validate our big report on the following Tuesday - it looks really great in Estonian, and we have all learned a few new words, but there are apparently some things in it that are not expressed correctly. We are going to have two rooms with two projectors and project both Estonian and English. Sasha and I run the sessions, and we each have a local colleague (not from our company but another consulting company) and a person from the translation agency. Plus the clients, who have to validate what we have written. What a zoo! To prepare for this, I am definitely going to the spa on Monday - if I work on Sunday after I get back here, this should not be a problem...

All in all, I am very happy in Estonia, I think I prefer it to Cyprus - it is true the language is much harder and sometimes the weather is not great, but there are a lot of compensations. I work in a great team, with nice clients and I have a great flat. I can go out in summer without killing myself walking in the heat, and the shopping is a lot better, no Ulla Popken, but lots of craft shops and reasonably priced shopping centres, a good supermarket just downstairs. Great public transport. Spa treatments are about half the price of Cyprus or Paris. Lots of NZ wine in the supermarket. Etc Etc.