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.