One night I was dealing with my jet lag. I could get to sleep on time, but would wake up several hours later and lay there, wide awake, for a couple of hours. On about the third night of this annoying occurrence, I took my two pillows into the tiled shower and layed (laid?) down and read my book. After a couple hours Loy came in and said, "What are you doing in here?" It was all for love, Honey. Loy needs it quiet and dark when he sleeps, so I didn't want to wake him up in the hotel room!
These lions are on the crest of Estonia. At least I think it's the crest. We look at them and think they are such jolly lions--and all are waving "Hello" and smiling. Isn't that a nice crest for a country to have?
On the Wednesday of our trip week we took the bus back to Tallinn, the town where the airport was. There seems to be one touristy thing to do in Tallinn--Old Town. It is pretty much just what it says. The old part of town. Think cobblestone streets and lots of shops. It was cool, but very, very touristy.
We spent the entire day wandering through the town and the shops. I found my prize souvenirs--some teeny, tiny dessert forks (they always served these luscious desserts with tiny forks) and a linen tablecloth with ribbon embroidery on it. My mom would be so proud of me--it was on a clearance rack at 50% OFF!!! Sometimes you just can't deny your heritage...
We ate at an outside cafe where I had a wonderful pork roast meal. Loy went for sausage. We noticed a guy walking around, dressed all in black, holding a sign. Most of the greeters are the outdoor cafes were turning him away, but the one just on the other side of ours was empty. So he walked into that one, walked straight to my back, and stood there behind me with a sign that said, "Welcome to Estonia. Need money for vodka or beer." He just stood there! The workers at our cafe came rushing up and told him to leave (I'm guessing that's what they said, anyway. It was all in Estonian.) He didn't say a word. Just kept standing there. It was kind of freaky. Finally, it took something like four guys to get him to leave. But he stumbled down the street.
The first day in Tallinn we were still a group of five. The next day the other three left for different destinations and Loy and I were alone. I planned a little trip to a park surrounding the President's house. It was a beautiful park with lots of paths to walk. We walked down to the beach and then walked to the city center area. It was a great day to just relax and see the town. I was trying to find a laundromat to wash some undies and other dirties. No one seemed to know of any. The hotel kept saying, "We have a laundry service..." but I had looked at that and it cost something like ten euros to wash one pair of jeans!! I wanted to do the whole lot of dirties for that! Finally someone told me of a laundromat but I would have had to take a bus, then walk several blocks. So, after inventory-ing our undie situation, we determined we could make it to England with what we had.
Me standing by a big rock and the Bay of Finland.
The walking path through this beautiful park.
That evening Loy finished up his grading (yes, he actually worked while on this trip) and submitted it to Wesleyan. Then we were up at 3:30 a.m. to make it to our flight to England.
It was so great to be back to see our good friends from a few years ago. It felt sort of like we had never left. Highlights for us were mostly just seeing our dear friends. We worshipped together, had a potluck together, talked and laughed and reminisced. It's so good to be loved!
The after church potluck held at Celia's house. This was the perfect way to spend my birthday!!
At an old tower. Even British kids do bunny ears!! :) This is Caitlyn, Eryna, me, and Loy.
Luke used to love this boy. He called him "That Cute Little Guy" because, when we were here before, he was about 1-1/2 and wore little man clothes. His name is Judah Skinner and you should probably remember that name. He'll be famous one day!
I love British signs!! They are so darned descriptive!!! :)
The trip home took 30 hours or so. We got back to Lincoln at 3:00 a.m. It was a fitting bookend to our trip. The trip TO Estonia also took about 30 hours. And we got in there at 3:30 a.m. It's really fun to travel, but it's true...there's no place like home!!!
