So what did you do last weekend?

I went to Abu Dhabi. My friend was going over and I thought it might be fun to go for the weekend. So, Friday morning I flew out and I returned on Saturday evening. Why did I go to Abu Dhabi? 3 reasons: Ikea, On The Border Mexican Grill, and the swim-up bar at the hotel.

So I few over Friday morning on Etihad Airways, another new one, and got to Abu Dhabi about noon. The flight is only 40 minutes so it isn't far. Since I was only staying 1 night I figured that I didn't need to check a bag. So I used a bag that I got in Helsinki on the 31st of July and rolled up my big red duffel bag inside of it with my clothes and stuff. I had my purse too but I didn't check any luggage (the last time I did that was 7 years ago). So my friend picked me up at the airport and we drove into Abu Dhabi, about 30-40 minutes to the hotel. I wasn't able to check in since my room wasn't ready but i dumped my stuff in my friends room and off to lunch we went. In the hotel was a Chinese and Thai place that we ate at and it was good. Then, we went to IKEA!! We could actually see the sign from the elevator of the hotel, no I couldn't see it from my room. So we went there for a couple of hours.

I bought some organizers and a shelving unit to keep the yarn. I wanted to get some bookshelves for the apartment but I couldn't lift the box that contained the shelves so I figured I might be over on the weight. I had fun. Then we went walking around the mall looking for the True Value Hardware, yes Dad I know you are proud, but we couldn't find it. So we went to the top of the tower in the mall for 'coffee' which means a free ride in the elevator if you get something. I think I would have rather paid for the ride since the drinks came with a 16% service charge and a 20% view charge. It was then that I discovered that I had forgotten to put in a memory card to my camera. So I saved some to the camera, which I don't know how to get out, and went back downstairs to get a new memory card. I found one at Radio Shack.

After that we went to the pool at the hotel. So we "swam" up to the bar, it was so shallow that we could have walked, and I ordered a strawberry daiquiri, which they don't serve on the pool side. So I ordered something else, this lime cucumber drink that was good. After the pool we got dinner and then found where On The Border restaurant is in Dubai. That was day 1.

Day 2. My friend and I met at the beach that morning and we swam for a little bit and then went in. I got cleaned up and put all my stuff into my friend's room and then off to Dubai! We didn't go all the way there, just the the Jumeriah Beach Residence and we ate and ate and ate.... When we left the place I was sing the song "I feel piggy, oh so piggy, with empanadas, and enchiladas, and teas!" Then we drove back to Abu Dhabi and went to the pool.

Finished the pool, went to IKEA one last time and then flew back to Doha. The flight was fine but immigration in Doha was REALLY backed up and it took me an hour and 20 minute to get through passport control. Then home and back to work.

Tallinn-only 1 picture

So when I went to Tallinn I was there to finish the Occupation and Freedom Museum and because that is where you go to get the boat to Helsinki. Now, when my boss approved the vacation time his comment to a couple co-workers was that he didn't even know where some of the countries were located. One co-worker said that I only visit places that are whiter than I am and so through a couple conversations people at work were call it my Caucasian tour. Well, I found a Caucasian Restaurant! I didn't eat there but I thought it was funny.

Ok, so also on my travels from Poland all the way to Estonia, I needed a red pen. The typos or word errors were everywhere. This one below if my favorite.

I didn't know until this museum that thunder could cause a fire. I guess it is more dangerous that I thought.

Hiiumaa, Estonia-Part 2:AKA Almost Perfect

A view of the island near where I stayed.

View from 3rd lighthouse.

ME!!! and view from 3rd lighthouse. Yes, the is the only picture of me from the entire trip. I don't trust people with my camera and I don't speak the language.

The itty bitty lighthouse on the reef close to the mainland.

Hiiumaa, Estonia-Part 1:AKA Almost Perfect

Hiiumaa, is the second largest island off the coast of Estonia. I love this place. I wish i could have stayed longer there but I had a plane to catch. On the Northern side of the island are 3 still working lighthouses that you can go in. The first picture is on the 1st lighthouse I drove to see but I couldn't go up into it because they are closed on Mondays.


This was the 2nd lighthouse I saw and I went to the top of this one. The stairs were very deep, about 12-14 inches each. You could feel the stairs in your thighs by the time you got to the top. The next picture is of the view of the island from the 2nd lighthouse.

This was the third and final lighthouse that I saw. This one is on the northern most tip of the island and is close to the memorial for the ferry than sunk a while ago. They put the memorial there, the ferry was named Estonia, because it is the closest spot in Estonia to the place where it sunk. A tragedy but the lighthouse was really pretty.

There used to be over 400 windmills on the island and now there are only 35 working ones. This is one of them.

Tartu, Estonia

The last country that I spent time in was Estonia. The first town was Tartu which on the eastern part of the country and is the home to Tartu University, the oldest university in Estonia. The school took over the hill in the town and the first picture is of the old ruined church. Part of it has been restored to a museum or something. I could have climbed to the top of the bell tower but you would have to pay me to go up them.

When I first saw this building I thought the builders really messed up. Then I looked on the map and saw that it is the art museum so it is supposed to be artsy.

This picture is of the Town Hall. You can see the dark clouds behind it and shortly after taking the picture the heaven's opened and it poured. I was dry underneath an umbrella eating dinner. Oh, dinner was interesting. I ordered pepperoni and pepper pizza. The menu said it was sweet peppers, like bell peppers, so I figured it would be ok. Well, I took a big bit of the pizza (I was hungry and it looked really good) but holy jalapeno! A little surprise for the mouth.

So people have asked me what kind of luggage I used on the trip. Well, I used 2 backpacks. I used the backpacking pack, below, and then a school sized backpack. This was the pack before I left Tartu. The roll on the bottom is the duffel bag that the pack travels in on the airplane and rolled up inside of it is a rag rug, a couple table clothes and runner. The top part of the bag is yarn. I forgot to take a picture of the pack before I left Estonia but I'll describe it to you. It started like this and then I added two white laundry style bags of yarn to the sides. Then I bought another rag rug and that was across the front of the bag. The small backpack hung off the front of my body when I was moving locations. The pack started at 8 kg (17.6 lbs) when I left Doha and when I checked in in Helsinki the checked bag was 22.3 kg (49.3 lbs). No wonder I lost 4 pounds on vacation!

Riga-Part 2

This is the Riga Dome with the 4 largest pipe organ in Europe. I was so excited to see the organ and it was under restoration. I did get to go to a concert here. The concert was a mix of pipe organ, sax, and percussion. I thought it might be a little weird but it was amazing. The organ has over 6000 pipes ranging from 13 mm long to 10 m long (.51 inches long to 32.8 feet long). The organist also let out all the stops so I didn't just hear the music I felt it.

Ok, so I think this picture should be titled 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof' or 'Cat Take a Crap.' This was on a lot of tourist stuff and I found it by accident. It is amazing what happens when you just walk around town seeing what you can see.

Riga-Part 1

Ok, so I left Vilnius to go to Riga, Latvia and I took a bus, a nice bus. I read in the travel book that in the Baltic States buses are the best way to get around rather than trains. It was a nice bus and it was faster than the train and I couldn’t find information about the train service so buses worked. I found the hostel and I wasn’t too impressed with it. It was cheap but I didn’t feel safe there so I stayed 1 night and then found a hotel for the next 2 nights. I spent the few days there just walking around. I went to the Occupation Museum and that was good.

This is the park on the side of Old Town Riga. It is a small park but it was a beautiful place.
So on bridges in Lithuania and Latvia I saw these locks on them. These locks had names and dates carved on them but I didn't know what exactly this was. When I asked a person at the hotel she said that when people get married they put the lock and the bridge and then throw the key in the water. The marriage will last as long as the lock is on the bridge.

This is one of the churches in Riga. The supports are there so the building doesn't fall down, makes me feel good.

The next 2 pictures are views of Riga from the bell tower of one of the churches. They had an easy way to get to the top of the bell tower, an elevator. I appreciated it.

Vilnius-Part 2

So after I checked in the hostel in Vilnius I just started walking around the old town seeing what I could see. This is from one of the bridges that I crossed to get to the old town from the hostel. Pretty picture, isn't it. I think the bell tower is from St. John's Cathedral but I could be wrong.I saw the amazing Benedictine Cathedral, in brick Gothic style like St. Mary’s in Gdansk, and I walked in there and the right time. I walk in and around the church and then the heavens opened. It was pouring and I didn’t have an umbrella or a raincoat. I stayed in the church for a while until it lightened up and then kept walking. I found a place to eat and then went back to the hostel to wash clothes.

Vilnius-Part I

I flew to Vilnius from Warsaw on the second Sunday of the vacation. The Vilnius airport is tiny. As we were taxiing in from the runway we past small airplanes, the Cessnas and Cubs (or something like that). It was raining when we got off the plane and the ground crew was taking cover underneath the wing of the airplane. Kind of funny I thought.

So Old Town is mainly where I went so here are the pictures.

Vilnius Cathedral is an amazing white building that just pops out at you.
This is the hill of three crosses, or something like that, that you can climb to the top of the hill to see, I didn’t. Thank God for zoom lenses!

So I climbed to the top of a tower off of the old town, picture of tower is second, and the following picture is a view of the town.

Gdansk-Part 2

This is the Polish fort where the first shots of WWII were fired. Somebody rebuilt it, either the Poles, the Russians, or the Germans but I don't know. I thought it was pretty cool especially since I enjoy learning about WWII.

Yes, I went on a pirate ship. It was a shuttle service to the mouth of the river. I was on this ship, and I was on the other one that they had too.

Now, I knew that Poland is a Catholic country, but I didn’t know how Catholic. I saw nuns! Lots of nuns were walking around in their nun uniform, a habit, right? I snuck a picture of a few of them.

The inside of the bell tower from St. Mary's Cathedral.

Gdansk-Part 1

It was supposed to be an 8 hour train ride, it turned into 9.5 hours to go from Krakow to Gdansk. The hostel that I stayed at here was on the river, literally. Technically, my room was in the river. The place is an old converted work boat that used to house workmen that has been refitted as a hostel. Not a bad place and the location was great. This first picture here is a picture of the river from just up the river from where I was staying. Very pretty I thought.
The royal way, don’t ask me what it is, is the heart of the tourist part of town. The statue of Neptune is right by the town hall. Very pretty place and you can’t take a step without seeing someone selling amber. I’ve never been a huge amber fan but I like the stuff here. It was tasteful and pretty and they had it in GREEN!! Yes, green amber does exist and is really pretty. I bought 2 charms for necklaces in green, 2 in traditional, and 1 with both colors.

So I climbed to the top of St. Mary’s Cathedral- a Gothic style brick cathedral- and took pictures of the town. It was 407 steps to the top.

If you look on the river for the white boat that looks long that was where I stayed.
Did I mention it was 407 steps?

After I finished seeing the first camp I took a short bus to Auschwitz II-Birkenau. This camp was huge and I couldn’t take a picture to really show how large the place is. Many of the buildings here were blown up or burned by the retreating Germans but the outlines of the buildings are still here. You can see the chimneys that fill the field. I walked across this camp and then I walked around 1 side of it, the right side of the picture.

This last picture is of one of the 4 or 5 gas chambers. They are smaller than you would think would be used but comfort was not a concern of the Gestapo or the SS during WWII.

I always thought that if you are to visit one of the concentration camps it would be best to go when it is REALLY hot or REALLY cold. That way some of what the victims went through could be understood but those of us visiting. I picked the hot day. I drank 2-3 liters of water and never had to go to the bathroom. My face, arms, and the back of my neck were all very sunburned. Some of the housing for the prisoners were barns and 4 of them are open so that you could walk around and go inside of them. I couldn't go inside. It was so hot that I took 1 step inside, couldn't breath, and then went right back outside. I was hot, sweaty, tired, thirsty and icky while I was here for 1 day. I was only there for 1 day and not even a whole day. The reflection that it makes someone do....

Krakow, Poland-Part 2

A local farmer's market in Krakow. I really wanted to buy vegies cause they were so pretty! I didn't because I don't like to eat most of them.The Pharmacy Museum. I was the only person there and they had to turn on the lights so I could go through the Museum. I love personal service!

The second day that I was in Krakow I took the bus to the Polish (duh) town of Oswiecimiu. Most people know this town as the site of the concentration camp Auschwitz. Auschwitz I used to be a Polish army camp and is quite pretty with the trees and brick buildings. This was the work camp and the headquarters of the Gestapo. While many many many people died here is normally wasn’t because of the gas chambers. This camp caused death by working people to death. Many of the bunkers that were used to house prisoners are open as exhibits. They have the suitcases, the human hair, the pots and pans, and other displays of what the victims brought with them to the camp. The camp was smaller than I thought it would be, it didn’t take very long to walk around.

The infamous sign at the entrance of the camp.

A very quiet place, even though it is a big tourist stop.

Krakow, Poland-Part 1

This section gets 2 parts, one for the first day I was there and then the second, you’ll understand. The first day there I went to Wawel Castle, pronounce the ‘w’ as a ‘v’. I climbed to the top of the bell tower in the church and took some pictures of the town. I also went to the Pharmacy Museum and that was really cool. In fact, it was a major draw for me even going to Krakow.

Ok, so I’m not Catholic but I thought this was cool for Catholics and non-Catholics. This is the place where Pope John Paul II performed his first mass. The late Pope was HUGE in Krakow and it all made sense when I found out that before he became a Cardinal he was the Archbishop of Krakow.

The clock tower is in the center of Old Town Krakow and is a pretty building. I didn’t go to the top, one tower climb per day is good enough for me.