It's hard to believe, but my time in Estonia is over.
It really feels like just yesterday that I said goodbye to my parents and friends in Oakland, CA, had a week in London with my sister Laura in London, and met my mentor Veljo Haamer for the first time. But low and behold, 10 months have passed, and I've accomplished a lot:
I had a lot of fun, I made many great professional contacts, I made some great friends from Estonia, Latvia, Russia, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, France, Italy, Germany, Austria, Scotland, England, Ireland and Portugal, I organized and hosted a conference on the future of wireless technologies, bringing together over 100 Estonians and presenters from 6 countries, I survived an Estonian winter, I tried real Estonian sauna and repeatedly jumped in a frozen river, and I thoroughly enjoyed the LONG days of the summer. I know I'll be back someday-- hopefully not too far in the future.
Over the past week, life has been crazy. Too put it succinctly, I've been
SO busy. From finishing up at work to saying goodbye to all of the friends I've made, to having a number of Americans visit me, I haven't had any free time. Every night I've been going out and seeing different people, but this hardly is a bad thing; it's a testament to all of the good things that I'm leaving behind here. I've built a great social network, and having my American friends Mike, Ryan, Marriah and Steve visit has given me a great opportunity to showcase it.
Last week, Mike and Ryan came up to Tallinn from Athens, Greece, and they stayed for 3 days before heading to Riga, Latvia. We had an absolute blast and they didn't want to leave. Then Marriah came out to meet her 1/2 brother Viktor, who is Estonian, and we met up a few times, which was fun too. And lastly, Steve came out on the 15th of July.
After a
harrowing experience getting to Tallinn including 3 delayed flights, 1 missed flight, and Continental Airlines losing Steve's bag containing his entire wardrobe, we've been having a great time. Steve's laughed throughout the whole ordeal, and I've been lending him clothes. Luckily, it seems that the airline has located his bag and we'll be able to grab it tonight when we arrive in Copenhagen.
In any case, Steve and I had a great time in Tallinn, and after a day and half where I tied up my remaining loose ends, moved out of my apartment, and did my best to pack up the
ridiculous amount of stuff I've amassed over the last 10 months, we headed to the Tallinn Ferry Terminal and boarded our boat to Stockholm, Sweden.
When we got to the boat, we were pleasantly surprised; it wasn't just a boat with a sleeping cabin and a buffet, it was a full-blown cruise with bingo (which we played, though we didn't win), 4 restaurants, a few bars and clubs, and even a cabaret with dancers and other performers. We had a great time, and for some reason the other two guys who were supposed to share a cabin with us never showed up, so we had our own room.
After a good night's sleep, we woke up, grabbed breakfast and a cup of coffee, and disembarked the boat at 10am, where my friend Maya (from Stockholm) was waiting for us. She was so nice to meet us, and she led us and my mammoth amount of baggage (which I don't know if I would have been able to carry had Steve has his own bag...but that's another story; thanks for your help buddy!) to a local bus which we boarded and rode a few stops, letting us off directly in front of her apartment.
After we dropped off our stuff, Maya led us into the city and gave us a brief orientation of where we were and where she worked, before she had to run off to her work at Jarmeus, a shoe store in one of the local gallerias.
Until 7pm when we met Maya again, Steve and I just walked around Stockholm and checked out a number of sights, including Stockholm's Old Town, the King's palace, and a number of other spots whose names are eluding me right now. When I put my photos online, I'll upload captions.
In the evening we walked 20 minutes or so back toward Maya's place and grabbed pizza at her favorite place near her house, and then in the evening went back to the center of Stockholm to grab a couple beers and see some of the nightlife. Because it was Monday night there, it was a bit quiet, but we still had fun. We checked out a place called The Soap Bar and another one called Bumblebee (I forget the Swedish translation, but it meant 'bumblebee' in English). Because beers cost 50-60 Swedish Kronor each (~$8-$9), we kept our evening short and enjoyed the walk back to Maya's place, catching up and just laughing a lot about the differences between Swedish and American culture, and catching up on all that had changed since our time together in Tallinn.
This morning we got up around 10, and Maya cooked us a traditional Swedish breakfast: porridge with milk and fresh bananas, softboiled eggs, bread and butter and coffee (always a must). After we were fueled up, Steve and I finalized a bit more of our transportation for our trip and confirmed plans with a few of the friends we'll meet along the way.
Maya took us back into the city and we checked out a few more sights, including a Medieval Museum (which was really cool!) and a bit more of the 'touristy' sections, before grabbing a bite and heading back to the train station.
At the moment, Steve and I are on a train from Stockholm to Copenhagen, where for $10 extra we were able to upgrade from 2nd class to 1st class. And believe it or not, the train is equipped with WiFi, which is free for 1st class passengers, hence the reason I'm able to post to my blog directly, despite travelling nearly 100 mph through the Swedish countryside. It's tremendous, and is a great preview of the world that I know is on the horizon: a world with complete connectivity, despite motion and mobility.
It's awesome.Soon we'll go across the Baltic Sea at its narrowest point over the
Oresund Bridge:
After this we'll arrive in Copenhagen, where we're staying at the
Cab Inn City Hotel. We'll be here for 2 days, and then it's Amsterdam --> Munich --> Milan --> Paris --> Oakland.
More from here soon, and hopefully I'll get photos online soon.
-John
