Another Day

This past weekend, my group and I spent our time in Talinn, Estonia. Leaving very early saturday morning to catch the 5am bus to Helsinki. I'm not very impressed with Helsinki. It very much reminded me of pittsburgh in a way. We walked around trying to find the harbor to make the ferry, but with our lack of swedish and map reading skills, we ended up taking a bus. Twenty minutes later we arrive at the north harbor. Lined with huge ship carriers and seagulls, the harbor has the atmosphere of an airport. Check-in, ticket scanning, gate finding, waiting. We hurriedly rush inside to escape the wind.

    The three hour ferry from Helsinki to Talinn was quite enjoyable. We mostly slept the whole way because with the slightest bit of motion sickness, sleeping is really your only chance to avoid, well, getting sick!!

Estonia. Beautiful old city. Never destroyed by fire or war, like most european cities. Cobble stones and red tin roofs, its what every american thinks european cities looks like! Coming back to Finland was hard, only because the beauty i found in Tailinn cannot be compared to anything else. I met a few new people as well. Three french girls and on dutch, two brazilian guys and one german. I love these people! I love the questions they ask and the answers they give.

We walk everywhere. Up and down hills, stairs and alleys to reach the highest point of the city so that we can gaze out at the most spectacular view, then, back down the stairs and through the alleys to find yellow and pink buildings with churches on every corner waiting for us. I wake up early sunday morning and sit on the window sill of our hostel. A huge window overlooking the entire town; a city full of color, looming between the sunshine and the morning fog. I crack the window open, just enough to smell and hear the city. At 9:00am all the bells of the churches ring at the exact same moment. Each one playing in a different pitch and depth, seemingly in harmony with one another. I close my eyes and listen.

Its wonderful.