Hello from England!

Monday, October 11, 2004
Hello from England! It was sad to leave Russia… but a month there is the most you can get on a tourist visa, so we said Das VeDanya and took a bus to Tallinn, Estonia. I went to Tallinn a few years ago and it was one of my favorite places and this visit was just as good as the last time!

Tallinn has a medieval wall around the old part of the town and the city looks like a storybook. It’s just so cute! The only thing that was really different from last time (other than the prices!) is that they are now part of the European Union… which doesn’t really seem different at all. We spent a few days there enjoying the non-Russian restaurants and soaking up the medieval atmosphere; they really play up that aspect for tourists and the staff at many restaurants and cafes are dressed for medieval success! I am also now familiar with the tunes of that era as well.

We booked a flight from Finland to England so we took the ferry across the water to Helsinki. We only had a few hours there, so we quickly dropped off our bags at the station and ran around the city. There was a herring festival at the waterfront; did you know you can fry herring?

Anyway, we’ve been back in England now for about a week. We spent a few days with Rob’s parents and have been staying with his brother in London ever since. About twenty people I know came to London for the weekend for a wedding of a friend of mine. It was really good to see so many people that I know after not knowing a soul for so long! So, hello to everyone who came to London this weekend! Per, Pam, Laura, Beth, Carla, Claudia, Bridget, Pete, Karen, it was great to see you!

Anyway, to change the topic, Rob somehow managed to keep track of how long we spent traveling from place to place. Here is the tally from the time we flew from London to Bangkok to the time we arrived back here to London: 16 days on buses, 10.5 on trains, 2.5 days bouncing around in jeeps, 2 days in boats and 1.5 days in planes. That comes to a grand total of more than one month! It excludes local transportation, taxis and motorcycle rentals… because who could possibly remember to write all that down?

I have a few more destinations before my flight home to Boston at the end of the month, so you will be hearing from me a few more times. Also, I’ve posted the photos from Russia, Estonia and Finland if you are so inclined to check them out! You probably already know, but the website address is http://www.crazyhappenings.com

Until next time! Alison