Off to My Homeland!

     Last weekend I got the opportunity to take a short cruise to Stockholm, Sweden. ESN, a group that organizes fun events for us international students, put together a 3 day cruise around the Baltic Sea that took us from Tallinn to Stockholm and then back to Tallinn. There started out being just around 500 of us from different universities in Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia of course! We left port on Sunday afternoon and arrived to Stockholm the next morning at 10 am. Going on a cruise is so much fun, you've got free food, drinks, you get to go somewhere you haven't been before, and you pretty much have as much fun as you want. The only downside to these set ups is when you get to the destination you only have 6 or so hours to tour it. So when we got to Stockholm, which let me say is a very large city, we were only able to see a bit of it. Of course we saw the Old town and the changing of the guards, which were very neat. Walking through the old town was fun because it was all of these little thin alleyways and lining the streets were souvenir shops, cute restaurants, bakeries, and cafes! And of course walking through all the shops I noticed shelf after shelf full of viking hats, elk stuffed animals, viking boats, and traditional Swedish dolls. I really enjoyed the architecture in the city, it was so beautiful. Old and tall building with such great detail decorating the walls. For lunch we visited this Italian restaurant, which was known to be famous and indeed it was because inside the walls are covered with pictures of famous people who have visited. One for example was Stellan Skarsgård, who played Bootstrap Bill in Pirates of the Caribbean! Crazy! After we ate we headed for the shopping part of the town and visited a four story H&M, which originated in Sweden, so you know it had to be great :) We did some shopping and then by the time that was finished we had to get back to the ship. 

   Me in front of the Parliament building

      Now this time around the ship picked up international students from Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and Norway. You can imagine that it would be more than the first group and it was. We picked up 1,500 international student, which meant that 2,000 international students were abroad this ship. It was insane, crazy kids running around, some a lot more drunk than others, but all having a great time. That night the group had organized activities for us to take part in, like a comedy show, speed dating, etc. It was a pretty funny experience! The disco and dance floor were open until 7am! Unfortunately being exhausted from the night before and the day of touring Stockholm I only lasted till 4 :) The next morning we docked back in Tallinn and headed back to Tartu on a bus. I actually met a guy on the ship from Boise, ID! And he said he knew of my friend from school who is from Boise. Crazy small world to meet someone who is only a state away from yours across the other side of the world! Anyways it was an amazing trip, full of fun, too much for some because on the bus rude back home there was not a single eye open. Everyone was exhausted and passed out the whole 2 hours. That proves it was indeed a good time :) Visiting Stockholm was so nice, and because I was only able to be there for a little while it is all the more reason that someday I will want to go back again, maybe this time with the whole family! After all it is our homeland!

 The first blossoms I have seen thus far in Eastern Europe. Spring is finally coming!!

Germany Getaway!

Well I can now cross Germany off of my list of places I wanted to visit while in Europe, although I will say four days was not nearly long enough in such a huge and beautiful country. Jessie accompanied me on this trip ad we started off in Bremen, Germany. We were able to walk around the city for a few hours before getting on our train to Munster. Bremen is a beautiful city! Small, but very nice. We hopped on the train for Munster (my very first train ride and the first of many on this weekend getaway). When we arrived in Munster we were greeted by our friend Matt, who lives in a small village called Velen, an hour away from Munster. In Munster we walked around the town for a bit, got to see this really cool church, where during the reformation people against the Church were literally put in cages, which still today hang above the clock on the top of the tower! There was really interesting history in this town. Our friend Matt had a fraternity buddy in Munster and we got to visit their Frat house. A beautiful house with huge rooms compared to sororities and fraternities back home. It was very nice visiting with them and the best part about having Matt there to show us around was that I really didn't feel like a tourist, which is a feeling I very much dislike.

 Me in Munster at the main university building on campus

       That evening we went to Matt's house and his mother had made a delicious casserole, a home cooked meal :) the best tasting I had had since my Mom and Grandma's  manicotti before I left the States :) That night we drove to Dortmund to a club, which was surprisingly awesome! It had four rooms, each with a different kind of theme of music. It was a really nice nice of dancing and testing out those German beers!
The next morning Matt's mother made us an Easter brunch, and once again a home cooked meal eaten with a nice family the perfect way to spend Easter Sunday! Although I didn't make it to church, I still had the other best thing about Easter, eggs and bacon :) Oh and some quality family time- even if it wasn't my family! haha.

         If you look really closely you can see the cages located right above the clock where people were put and suffered under the hot sun until they died of hunger, thirst, or exhaustion.

       That afternoon Jessie and I headed out on our own to the beautiful city of Hamburg! We met up with a very nice guy who was hosting us in his home. He took us on a tour of Hamburg that evening through the Reeperbaun (pretty much identical to Bourbon Street) and the harbor and also this awesome place called the Dom. It was like the Strawberry Festival on Vashon Island, but without funnel cakes and a lot larger! It was very nice to walk around, we also rode this Ferris wheel and got to see an overview of all of Hamburg, so nice and lit up at night! The next morning (and all day) in Germany is a holiday, so mostly everything was closed. I am so happy we had Sven with us because he showed us a lot of cool things and we even got to go to a free concert! That evening we ate at the hofbrauhaus, (HB) and tried some Munich beer, it was lovely :) Then at midnight we hopped on our last train ride back to Bremen, waited 4 long, cold hours in the train station, then got on a  tram to the airport and finally got on our plane at 6:30 am. What a long four days! I am positive I only got around 15 hours of sleep in four days, but it was totally worth the sleep deprivation!

 An amazing ornate alter at the Church of St. Michaelis in Hamburg, Germany, so much gold!!

      Overall I really enjoyed my stay in Germany! It was especially nice to experience the country with people from the area. The whole not getting lost and being completely confused all the time was such a  treat! I hope to someday go back, but this time to the South of Germany, the Bavarian areas, like Munich (Oktoberfest). Those areas have more hills and mountains, which is what I am used to. In the North where I was, it was very flat and reminded me a lot of Ellensburg! I love the mountainous regions of the West Coast, so I can imagine that I would love South Germany. I can't wait until my next visit!
     As far as conditions in Tartu are, things are going very well. School is getting to be a bit more challenging, what with papers being due and presentation and reading assignments. But not too much to handle! The weather here is bipolar, a lot like whats going on in the states right now, we got snow here last week, 5 INCHES! In the middle of April. That is a crime. Now for the first time today it has  reached 60 degrees Fahrenheit! I sat in the sun all day, it was so nice and I hope that the rest of April is just as lovely. Next weekend is Seabattle, the infamous trip to Sweden via cruise  ship full of 2,000 international students from Latvia, Sweden, Tallinn, Tartu, and Lithuania. I am sure I will have lots to report after that trip! Until next time! Nägemist!!