Departure and some last views of Estonia

Thursday July 10th was departure day for the last of us...4 a.m. wake up call and the sun was red on the horizon as we stepped out the door:

Have a good trip says the sign over the door to the gates.

I think most people are still sleeping at home based on this hallway but the coffee shops were open:

The airport is really very nice and they have created various areas for sitting and waiting so it is not all uniform airport furniture. We had some time to stroll and look at posters:

This gave me a chance to think back over the days after the festival swirl was over. We did not go far from Tallinn but did get a chance to get out to the nearby seaside town of Pärnu where we went to this open air market. Hanging on the rail are birch switches which are used while taking a sauna to get blood circulating. We had several saunas during our stay...it really makes achy joints feel like new!

It was strawberry time so we had to have some of them too...

Also some of these fresh cucumbers...they are freshly picked and soaked in a brin of some sort for 24 hours and taste like a cross between dill pickles and fresh cucumber...I think I ate about ten of them.

They also sell millions of flowers and these are Busy Lizzies or Impatiens...I just liked their  name in Estonian...makes me smile. My mom used to tell me I was "virk" when she wanted me to run and get her something in another room!!!

Of course they sell all sorts of smoked fish too and we got some of this fish which is called Tuule Haug which is a type of fish found in the Baltic regions and is a sort of needlefish very long and narrow. It is delicious of course but what I found most incredible was that the bones are...green!!!

Certainly makes it easy to find them!

Nearby there was a sort of Hanseatic Fair going on with all sorts of booths, food and entertainment. This group is called Kihnu Poissid from the island of Kihnu. Musicians and dancers and the most fun part was that this group has been to perform in Portland, Oregon!

I saw this ingenious buggy made from a wooden crate!

They also had beer makers, sausages and salmon roasting on spits

and this sign which tells you the seven deadly sins in case you need to know!!!

After everyone was done with the dancing and singing in Tallinn we did spend some time walking around the city more and meeting up with other family we hadn't seen in a while.

This is a corner of the Russian Orthodox church on the right and the rose colored parliament building ahead.

 We went down the steps of Väike Jalg down to the lower part of the old city which I really love a lot

I like this art deco building...always something new to see.

Quite a contrast, I think, with this Soviet era building where artists used to live:

Time to write a few postcards so we can mail them in the orange post box!

This is on the side of the marionette theatre...there are other buildings with sculpture coming out of the walls in interesting ways too but I suggest you might want to come visit and see them for yourself!

Maya and I headed over to the park which wraps around the base of Toompea which is the hill with the parliament so that the rest of the group could go into shops at liberty.

We both liked this sculpture of a person stretched out to enjoy the sun...Maya especially liked the big toe in front!

We walked back up the stairs to meet the rest of the group for some lunch.

Since the sun was still shining on July 8th we all went to visit the fabulous Open Air Museum in Rocca Al Mare

This museum is the site of all sorts of buildings gathered from all the regions of Estonia...mostly farmhouses, windmills but also an old school house and other buildings. 

It is set up like a sort of Williamsburg in the USA with people in folk costume at each spot and performances by dancers etc.

We had some real Estonian food at the pub where there was an exhibit of woven blankets with belt patterns...some were over 200 years old and still had bright colors...all plant dyes too!!

Inside pub with blanket exhibit

Outside the pub/restaurant JC, Ebe, Fred, Ragne

The sites are set up to show life in Estonia from early times through Soviet deportation etc. You can go into the buildings where we saw this farmhouse from Muhu and also the "dream farmhouse" of the 1920's...I love the patterns from both!

Of course you can't be in Estonia without a "swing field"(remember the song and dance about swings???) so we had to try out the typical Estonian swings as a family...it was great fun and everyone got a twirl...well...maybe not Ebe but she was cheering on the side!

Adam and Anton do a brotherly swing

The family gets the swing going Kaia, Ragne,Adam, Emmanuelle,Martin, Anton..Ebe and Fred watch

At the last song festival the president of Estonia was walking around and I went up with Ene to greet him...we both shook his hand!

Then...on our final family dinner together he was also dining at the restaurant!!!

There is Tallinn in the distance...we are at Noa a restaurant in Viimsi which is just around the corner from Tallinn.

This was the "in" braided hairdo of the summer:

Our departure was rather epic...we had a three hour delay in Tallinn and consequently missed our connection to Paris and the train we were to take to Avignon...since we are coming up to the Bastille Day celebration not a plane, or train available for a week!!!! We had to rent a car and drive about 10 hours to Venasque (2 hours of which were spent trying to leave Paris on the autoroute along with all French people leaving for the south!!!!) We did lots of singing en route to stay awake. We arrived close to 1 a.m.

And here we are this morning...

Time for me to have this cup of coffee...and enjoy the last few days of this very long and interesting voyage!!! A bientôt!