Category: travel

Tallinn- Skating And More

I saw a skating rink on the way back to the hotel on Sunday evening, and sure enough, I wanted to skate. It was already close to 10 PM, so I didn’t do it right then, but I was hoping that they will open early enough in the morning. It turned out that they opened at 10 AM, and they had not only the skate rental but also all possible equipment, including socks and gloves :). I didn’t need them, so I just rented the regular skates. When I got on the ice, my first thought was that it was a mistake: since that was not an artificial ice, they didn’t do any resurfacing (although there is some “maintenance schedule”), so the ice was in really bad shape. Also, the skates were not sharp enough, and once again, my initial feeling was that it would be impossible to skate even for 30 minutes. I stayed just for the “check” mark – when else would I have a chance to skate by the 13th-century walls – and I moved very slowly.

Gradually, I started feeling more confident, even in the presence of grade-schoolers who were racing, bumping into the rink fence with full force, and immediately racing back :). I figured out how to manage on these bulky, dull skates and definitely took pleasure in the surroundings.

A view of the rink from the street
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Tallinn – Day And Night

Yes, I have photographed each of these streets at least twenty times. Still, each time, it’s new. No matter how many other cities I visit, there will always be a special place in my heart, with full knowledge that I will never understand it and that I only see what I am allowed to see. With all its shameless catering to the tourists, amber, wool, and roasted nuts, a Medieval modest beauty is just around the corner – yes, that corner. And this one :).

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Tallinn: Afternoon Activities

We went to the Estonian National Opera to hear an unlikely “My Fair Lady” in Estonian. The alternative would be to go there on another day, but it was way better to go on the actual birthday. Also, since today is a US holiday, I didn’t have to work, so we could plan a no-rush return to Helsinki.

There are several photos and videos on the Opera website, but almost all of them are with different artists than the ones we heard yesterday (the ones below look like the right ones :))

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Tallinn

At the ferry terminal
Still Christmas at the terminal
On the ferry
Arriving to Tallinn
A view from our room at the My City Hotel

After our last time experience with a Medieval hotel we decided on slightly more modern option and chose My City Hotel which is located in a 20th century building and decorated in the 18th century style. We loved it.

At reception they asked me whether it was my birthday, and presented mw with a cute little box of local chocolate:

The room had a normal desk, which is a rarity as we found the hard way 🙂

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Pre-birthday

My economy premium was completely useless because, as I mentioned, I skipped dinner in favor of longer sleep and could not sleep because of the pain. There was no breakfast in the morning because the arrival time was lunchtime, so there was just a sandwich (and who cares about a sandwich!) Enough about misery. I arrived on time, with no lines at the border control and no questions about protein powder in my luggage.

It was sunny and way warmer than in Chicago. We went to Kmarket to get some food, and Boris said we should get some ice cream, which we unwrapped right after we exited the store and ate while walking home. I chose a Geisha cone, and it had the whole geisha candy inside 🙂

At home, we had salad and runebergs, and I went straight to bed to compensate for a sleepless night.

I slept for 11 hours straight (Boris didn’t believe me when I told him that’s what I needed, but I actually slept from 7-30 PM to 6-30 AM). I am still a little bit lightheaded, but now I think I will survive the day of adventures.

Travels

I am on a move again, doing several new things and hoping that the net will be positive.

  • Obviously, I didn’t plan it, but I fell down on the icy stairs last Friday and hurt the bottom badly. I know it will take weeks to get over, and I should be glad it didn’t happen today. By now, I can walk, sleep, sit and work at my desk, and take public transportation, and the only way it hurt is the way you sit on a plane!
  • I am flying with a connection in JFK, which I avoided for years, but when I was looking for tickets for my original trip (planned for the New Year), the price was exceptional, and the connection looked great (no terminal change), so I gave in, also trying to get out of my comfort zone. I guess getting out of your comfort zone is good :).
  • Because of the usual mixup when the flight is “operated by” a different airline, I was unable to select the seats beforehand. By the time I was able to check in, I had literally the worst seat in the Economy Premium without any option to change (all others were already taken). That’s a minus.
  • When it was time to leave, I started ordering Uber. The price of the trip to ORD was $54 for Comfort (and just a couple bucks less for regular), and then they couldn’t find a ride for me for a couple of minutes. Remembering how Boris nearly missed his flight last time and realizing that today was Friday before the long weekend, I switched to a ride to Cumberland. The price went down to $30, the car was available, and the driver smartly navigated through residential streets to avoid the traffic. We made it to Cumberland a little bit later than projected, but I didn’t complain. That’s a plus
  • When I got down to the station platform, the tableau said that the next train to ORD was in 23 minutes! AAAAA!!! But then the train appeared ten minutes later, and not crowded at all, so plus at the end.
  • When the train was pulling into the ORD station, the American Airlines app decided to give me a mobile pass, which is a huge plus, but immediately notified me about a 45-minute delay!
  • I had a three-hour connection, and there was no more delay and the food in the lounge was good, so that was a plus.
  • No terminal change and hence no additional security checks in JFK was a gigantic plus!
  • They do not have a Finnair lounge, but their AA lounge was good.
  • It turned out that there is no position for me to be half-reclined without an acute pain, so I slept for barely an hour tonight, although technically I could have a full night of decent sleep (I skipped the dinner onboard, because I ate in both longes)
  • We are supposedly arriving on time, and if I will manage to compensate my lack of sleep, it would be great!

Smile!

The line for the passport control in ORD was the worst I ever stand in – I am not even going to estimate how long it was, but I was walking and walking, and still couldn’t find it’s end! To give the authorities a credit – they quickly put additional officerss to work, so it took me about 1 hour 15 min to reach the passport control (otherwise, it would be at least twice longer).

The office took my passport and asked: how are you doing? I replied as optimistically as I could: fine, I made it! It was clear, however, that nobody in felt happy after more than an hour wait. He lifted up the camera: let me take your picture! I looked into the camera, trying not to look super exhausted as I usually do on these entry photos. He said: smile! And since I kept staring into the camera, he repeated: smile! On the third time, I realized, that he actually wanted me to smile, and I smiled, first just a little bit, and then broadly, and heard ihis reaction: “Here we go! Good girl!”

Funny Story

I had a rather dramatic check-in for my October flight to Helsinki. As it sometimes happens when the first flight is not operated by Finnair, the trip locator changes for the partnering airlines, and you cannot find it until they send you an email that it’s time to register. And by that time, you can’t make any changes, like select your seats or order a special meal.

That being said, I could not order my low-calorie meal for my onward flight, but since I already had a trip locator, I could order it for my returning flight.

When I entered the aircraft on my way back, a flight attendant stopped by me, checked my name, and asked me whether I had a special meal, and I confirmed. But then, when the service started, another flight attendant asked me the standard “chicken or pasta” question. I said: special meal. She asked another attendant, and she was: did I talk to you on the ground? I said: yes, you did! Then both of them said that they are sorry and “one moment,” and then they returned with a very interesting tray:

A whole bunch of plates from the business class could all be considered “low-calorie.” They apologized again and then asked whether I also wanted a chicken 😀.

Ateneum

I am back in Chicago, and 200% of the time, I am busy, as anybody can figure out from my silence here. The previous post was drafted during my flight back and was not published because the in-flight internet connection went down in the middle of the flight, and I didn’t have time after that :). Still, I wanted to write a little bit more about what I saw in Helsinki.

Whenever I come to Helsinki, I immediately feel “everything is fine, and ok, and life is normal and orderly.” I know that my Finnish friends disagree with me, but we have different reference points :). This time, I worked every day, so it was not that much time to do something else. The only fun thing I’ve done was an outing with my friend Natasha: we went to the Ateneum Museum, which recently reopened after a major reconstruction.

The exhibit we saw is called Gothic Modern, and it explores the influence of Medieval art on 20th-century modern art. Each room is dedicated to one of the themes common to both historical periods: religion, life, death, sexuality, violence, etc. I didn’t know most of the Finnish artists who were part of this exhibit, and I even purchased an exhibit catalog with the hope of reading more! At some point, I stopped taking pictures because I realized I wouldn’t be able to remember what exactly had drawn my attention.

Munch
Max Klinger. On the Rails
Sasha Schneider. Feeling of Dependency

Getting back to the existing worries about the state of the economy and life instability. I would not say that the worries are unjustified. However, even now, even with all the economic uncertainties, I appreciate the virtual non-existence of homelessness, the accessibility of healthcare (yes, I know, but again – we have different baselines), and the fact that the buses run on schedule:))

Forgetting Things!

I checked the closets in our hotel room in Athens three times, and each time, I found something I had forgotten! First, it was one of the DRW t-shirts, then my Kamala Harris t-shirt, and then – one of the Postgres t-shirts I purchased at the conference.

Only when we were back in Helsinki did I realize that I had forgotten a DRW reversible umbrella! It was my favorite one, and I had been waiting forever for it to appear in our gear store, and now I had forgotten it! And I didn’t even need it in Athens; I just left it in the luggage, took it out, and forgot!

Also, I forgot my DRW light hoody in Boris’ apartment, but at least this one is not lost forever, and will come to me in three weeks!