Adventure of the month

Um, nice try...but no. Uspenski Cathedral Shopping at the Kauppatori, aka Market Square Ice breakers, hanging out in the off-season Havis Amanda, she represents Helsinki and its rebirth Temppeliaukio Church, better known as the Rock church Sibelius Monument, honoring the composer Jean Sibelius Helsinki Cathedral The guardians of the Central Railway Station Even their construction barricades are cool!! I have to admit that when I booked my trip to Estonia, I did briefly consider the idea of doing a day trip to Finland. I went as far as looking up the schedules and the prices, but in the end, decided that with only four days to play with, I would be selling Tallinn short in favor of upping my Country Count, something I seriously try to avoid. I like to think that travel is more about really getting to know a place and a people than it is about checking items (or in this case, countries) off of a list. And then I got to Tallinn. As I might have ...

The Dome Church A stadium dedicated to Song Competitions Alexander Nevsky church St. Olaf, once the tallest building in the world, in the background Entrance into the Dominican Monastery St. Olaf's spire, up close Town Hall Russian cars from the Occupation Museum Not surprisingly, the Estonian Russians are less than thrilled with this display. Translates to Grandma's Place, this is a restaurant where Hillary Clinton once ate as first lady...I can only assume under a hail of gunfire. After a month of working in Amsterdam, I finally had a nice stretch of days off and a lot of possibilities. I could go the laid-back beach route and head to the Greek Isles or the southern coast of Spain. I could get all exotic-like and head to Tunisia. I could finally get to Berlin, a city that it feels like I have been trying to get to forever. Instead, I chose Tallinn. As in Tallinn, Estonia. I had heard all kinds of buzz of this spectacular and hip city, that...