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!!