Hotel Shnelli Tallinn

... room (the sofa) and enough money to buy basic groceries, she is working full time at the hostel. She is from Lithuania and has been working there for 4 days. Over a drink she tells me a little bit about her life in Lithuania. She is in school getting a degree as a flutist. She has only had a few glasses of wine in her life because it is too expensive. Amazingly she knows about Myers Briggs so we discuss her relationships. Interesting how different the worlds are but how similar.

... impression it leaves is forever. The entrance is lined with suitcases. "Which one will you chose?", she asked. 'You have a few hours to pack all you can take.' The knock on her door took her father and 2 brothers off to concentration camps. Her father eventually came back after 10 years in Siberia, her brothers were made to fight on opposite sides.

"The Soviet Union started preps for the terror before it occupied Estonia. The destruction of the national elite ...

... started looking & then noticed I could hear some English commentary - broken English, but understandable. A very elderly volunteer in the museum was explaining what happened to Estonia in WW2 to a young English female tourist. I edged over & asked could I join them. That was an excellent move! The old man had a sort of understatement in all he said, but then would sort of pause & let the sadness ring on. In 1941, when Russia was occupying Estonia, they conscripted 36,000 Estonians ...

... were run off, the Russian Orthodox church took over). We walked around old Tallinn on our own for a while and saw the residences of the French, Dutch, Russian, and Austrian ambassadors. We also saw the Estonian Parliament building which was formerly the Baroque Toompea Palace, and several other churches and historical buildings. Most are in the same style as we saw in Russia. Overall, the people
here were very upbeat and friendly. They are ...

... kinda over the rain soaked morning, so we parted ways. Carol and Bob back to the ship and Michael and I to look for a Monestary Museum he wanted to see. We wandered around, looking at the map, then looking some more and were about to give up when I noticed a sign for a restaurant that had the same word for Monastery {kloostri} on it as the Museum. [ www.kloostri.ee ]. It was interesting, but small and we walked around and then ...

... USA läänerannikul. 12.märtsil alustame teed kodupoole. 13.märtsi õhtul kl 22.55 oleme õnnelikult kodus tagasi. Kokku oleme õhus 60 tundi, autoga sõidame maha vähemalt 8500 km ning vee all oleme ka päris mitu tundi :-) Plaanis on aga veel surfata, snorgeldada, ujuda, päevitada, chillida ja hängida ja seda puhkust 110% nautida. Teeme palju pilte ja kui vähegi mahti, kirjutame oma seiklustest ka siin reisikirjas, millele lisame pilte otse sündmuskohalt.

Today we spent the day exploring the Tallinn. We took a bus tour that took us to the 1980 Olympic Stadium for sailing and showed us the sites of the old Soviet Regime block housing. Estonia's view their own history in four phases; pre-awakening, 1st awakening, Soviet Rule, and the 2nd awakening phase. The pre-awakening phase is where Estonia is a serfdom kingdom. Around the mid 1800s, the 1st awakening was started by singing and the serfdom kingdoms were divided up ...

... the same idea as a corndog) then they squirt in mayo and chili sauce and stick a hotdog/sausage in it. Since there's no open bottom, there's no mess. Brilliant! For dinner I had a "glacier latte" (Coffee with a scoop of ice cream) and some Scandinavian style pancakes rolled up with a minced meat concoction inside and served with sour cream. I was warned about white bits that look like cheese but are actually slices or cut up bits of pig fat, I ...

The Estoni*n Kroon ( Crown ) is often shortened in shop windows to EEK. I love th*t. It's the noise Mr MS m*kes whenever he sees me shopping :) We st*yed just outside the city w*lls of the old town *nd our first stop w*s the Alex*nder Nevsky C*thedr*l. A stunning building *nd, to the *nnoyn*nce of the loc*ls, often used *s *n im*ge of the city. They *re *nnoyed bec*use the C*thedr*l is Russi*n *nd they h*ve not yet forgiven their erstwhile ...