Over the Gulf and Through the Medieval City

to Estonia we go! 

We took the bus from Pia's house to the train, then hopped on a tram to the ferry (actually closer to a cruise ship).  Four hours later we were in Estonia.  The Ferry ride was really cool as we were able to see the coast of Helsinki and all the small islands with homes and former forts. There was a beautiful view of the City if you could brave the cold and wind long enough out on deck.

View of Helsinki

Mom had a little trouble with motion sickness and did better once we went to the top deck.  The buffet was probably not the best idea for her, but Pia and Sarah enjoyed tasting all Estonian/Finnish cuisine. 

View of Tallinn

After a few hours on the boat we hopped a cab to our hotel, dropped our backpacks and started exploring Old Town Tallinn!

It's such an old City, we had no idea before we came.  There is a medieval wall that surrounds Old Town which itself is full of churches and museums, a town hall, and gorgeous old row homes.  It's super difficult to navigate as all the roads wind and intersect where you least expect it.  Thankfully we were able to use Alexander Nevsky as our point of reference since we kept accidentally ending up there.  Thanks Al, we're tight now.

Alexander (Al) Nevsky Cathedral

After a delicious bowl of pumpkin soup we ended up in Town Hall Square at a Christmas market! A real Christmas Market! With Glogg, handicrafts, a tree, and lights.  Sarah was thrilled.

Marzipan

Blueberry and Black Currant Glogg

Pia had been to a cafe in a parapet that overlooked the City but couldn't quite remember how to get there so we followed along the wall until we found it.  This cafe was worth the search.  We ventured up steep narrow stairs with chains as railings and across a wooden walkway that we hoped would hold and found ourselves with the most amazing view and a nice glass of gluhwein and hot chocolate.

After a nice break from the cold we headed back to our hotel.  Shout out to "Al" for helping lead the way.  More from Estonia tomorrow and back to Finland tomorrow night, after a quick stop for some Dramamine before the boat ride...

Jokerit

The Jokers is the name of Helsinki's KHL hockey team.  We at first tried to figure out if the name and logo were from Batman, but then discovered they had to be from a deck of playing cards since the team is 50 years old and the Batman movie is not...

Harri drove Pia, Otto, Sarah and I to the Hartwell Arena for the game.  We are feeling so fortunate that they are sharing their holiday with us.

Some of the hockey players appeared to be this tall!

The Finnish national anthem was sung beautifully (Mom's favorite part of any sporting event).
Pia had checked with one of her friends to find out where the best seats were and we had them, first level, center ice!

We were given cardboard papers the size of a placemat to accordion fold into a fan shape -- so we all had appropriate "noise makers". They worked great, but a bunch people clapping with fans didn't exactly warm up the arena :)

Oh yes, and there was the dancing "joker", with the dancers who moved around the arena after each period -- AND danced on the ice without falling!  We'll need quite a bit more experience before getting to the level of ice dancing, on purpose and not just accidentally as we try to stay on our pins.

Clearly Mom started this blog post as it describes everything musical about being at the hockey game without really mentioning the hockey.  The game was great even though the jokers lost.  The third period was super fast paced and one of the most exciting periods I've seen in a bit.  One of my favorite things in the world is the sound of hockey skates on ice.

"Hei boo boo, let's have a pic-a-nic in the National Park"

Hei (Hi, in Finnish),

Today we had one of the most memorable meals and hikes through one of Finland's National Parks.  We started our adventure at 10:00 and finished around 2:30PM (sunrise to sunset- ha!)

It felt as though we were in an enchanted forest . . . unbelievable how green the forest is in the winter . . . beautiful evergreen trees, birch, aspen and moss carpeting areas that weren't ice covered.

Aaro showing his strength

This was a real education in walking on ice up a hill, across rocks, bridges and through frozen, muddy wheat fields.  We should be certified in ice walking by the time we leave.  We hate to brag, but neither of us fell!

To be clear, this was a preemptive ice crab walk, not a fall :)

In all seriousness though, this forest and hike were absolutely incredible.  Just a beautiful landscape and it was so cool to see so many other hikers out in the snow covered park.  On top of it all, one of Pia and Haarri's neighbors who works for the Park Service came as our guide!

After a few hours of hiking we stopped for a luxurious picnic on a fallen pine tree (Yogi would have been jealous). Our Finnish friends brought seat warmers, coffee, tea, hot chocolate, salmon dip with garlic rye crisps, sandwiches, and Finnish candies for dessert.

Aaro clearly doesn't feel the cold, although he probably went 5 times as far after climbing over boulders.

Ice, mud holes or the creek?  hmmnnn 

Off to a KHL hockey game tonight! Sarah is the only one excited, but she's excited enough for everyone.