Estonia: Country #30!

Estonia was my 30^th international stop.  I have been so blessed by my lifestyle allowing me to travel  

far and near around the world. Estonia, like most other countries, was amazing.  It was filled with welcoming citizens, good food, good beer, and lots of interesting cultural and historical experiences.

We rented an apartment in downtown Tallinn.  It was across from one of the only Catholic churches in Estonia. Unfortunately the cathedral as under construction so we weren’t able to explore the inside of the church. Nearby, however, was an old monastery (there are lots of these types of ruins in Estonia).

We explored the museum that showcased archaeological finds from the friary as well as the city itself.  It was closed in 1525 during the Reformation. After being a monastery, the building served some time as the city arsenal.  It later served as a school and hospital.  Starting in the mid-50s archaeological excavations began on the structure.

One the more unique finds in Tallinn was the city’s historical separation (long-term feuds) between the lower and upper parts of town (where rich vs poor merchants lived).  There were two paths connecting the upper and lower town, the long leg (a long, winding, gradually ascending path suitable for horses and carts) and the short leg (a steep ascent only suitable for walking).

Short Leg 

Gate to the short leg

Both paths were governed by a gate, strictly separating the two separate parts of town.  The gates were governed by the lower town and allowed the magistrate to control movement between different parts of town.  Strict curfews were enforced with the penalty often being jail time.

We continued exploring Tallin by visiting St. Nicholas Orthodox Church.  Some Estonians desired to

demolish it after gaining independence from Russia, but architects rallied to save the beautiful church for its history in the community.

After wandering around, we joined the free walking tour, which turned out to be pretty similar to my impromptu, undirected wandering around the town.  Our tour guide though was awesome! She was a little older than us and had a lot of stories from her family about Estonia during Communism and after the fall. 

Estonia is a TINY country. It’s entire population is 1.3 million, which is less than Metro Detroit.  Heck it’s about the same as the county that I live in (Oakland County is a little over 1.2 million).  Her pride for their culture though was really impressive and the country’s tenacity remind me a lot of Poland’s history.

Per usual, we asked her for an idea for dinner and ended up walking all the way to the other side of town.  I should mention my husband was a CHAMP with all the walking. I convinced him to walk a lot!

The restaurant  was a tiny brewery called Pööbel where most people were locals.  It was so good.  I even convinced Jeff to get dessert which was basically French toast sticks with a berry medley and honey.  Oh man.  It was heavenly.

 On our way back to the room, we stopped for a few beers along the way.  The first was Beer House where there was a giant group of Polish businessmen who basically had 8 fifths of vodka at the table and hundreds of dollars in meat.  They were having a darn good time.  My only regret at this point was never getting the fried cheese balls (I know, I know a terrible oversight).  We wrapped up the night in a rooftop bar that served a very strange mix of craft cocktails and Asian/Mediterranean cuisine.  Jeff got Kimchi and I got some avocado fries and chili mango weirdness. Katusekohvik was definitely and interesting place.

All in all a good day!

More Day 1 Pictures!

A Trip to the Lithuanian Summertime

Despite having been to Lithuania a number of times, all of my visits have been in the winter.  My first rip in 2010 was one of the coldest Januarys on record.  I've been there for Christmas and Easter as well, but never in May, when flowers are blooming and time can be well-spent outside.

I was so happy to see my cousins again!  They welcomed Jeff into their country (and home) the same way they welcomed me and that was amazing to experience. 

We spent some time enjoying a beer out on a patio.  After that, my cousins went home and Jeff and I spent a tiny bit of time walking around Vilnius.  I took him down the street to see Ostra Brama.  Inside the gate, which spans one of the entrances to Vilnius's old town, is a beautiful icon of Mary, which has often been the site of miracles.  This is evidenced by the many beautiful rosaries and other items left in the room in thanksgiving to the favor granted. Historically, these types of gates were filled with religious artifacts to help guard the city from attacks and bless travelers through the walls.

After visiting the icon of Mary, we went next door for Mass (which was actually said in Polish).  It's

(surprisingly) the first Polish Mass I attended since I moved back from Gdansk.  Shout out to GoogleFi for working everywhere. Mass in other countries is way better when you can easily pull up the USCCB's readings to follow along a little bit.

After Mass we went out to eat for some traditional Lithuanian food.  We ate at Aline Leiciai, which I would highly recommend.  While there, we learned that Lithuanian mead is delicious. Even better though, I tried some black currant wine. At Easter in 2010 I helped my cousin Rita make cepelinai so that was one of the main dishes for our meal (meat and potatoes...what could be better?).

On Sunday, we spent the whole day out in the countryside visiting family.  We started at Micheslavas's farm and then went to Renatas and Rita's parents estate.  The day was filled with food, family, and lots of fun.  After lunch, Armandas started playing music and soon the accordion, drums, and piano were rocking and Jeff even danced a little bit!


Visiting the Lithuanian countryside makes it apparent how beautiful this country is.  I highly recommend getting away from the city when you travel and seeing some natural beauty!

After dinner, my cousin Edvinas and his girlfriend took us back to Vilnius.  On our way back, we stopped at a small park and got to watch the sunset!

A most disappointing ice cream trip Day 3---Havana

After our delectable breakfast, we set out to explore the streets of Havana.  Our first stop was the

Museum of the Revolution.  We'd walked past it a couple times looking for dinner and stuff so it was easy to navigate.

The museum was interesting.  We'd soon find that the user design of Cuban museums is specifically for Spanish speakers.  About half of the exhibitions had English translations (badly) and there were no signs telling you where to go, only docents that yammered on in Spanish.

We were particularly interested in all the mentions of American aggression and contributions to the success of the revolution.  Take for example a mural of American presidents, one depicting George W. with a Nazi hat. It's always interesting to see history told from a different perspective, similar to when I went to the War Museum in Vietnam or Jeff went to the Atomic Bomb Museum in Nagasaki.

While we were going through the museum, we noticed some people gathering in the courtyard outside, including military men/women in dress uniforms.  So we found a window to hang out of (yes, no a/c in the museums, just windows) and watch the spectacle below.  From what we could gather, it was some sort of awards ceremony for workers.  We couldn't understand any of the Spanish but got a glimpse at a few of the awards given out.  You can see most of the event with a military ceremony, singing, and awards giving at the end of the blog.

After the museum, we walked over to the cathedral. We'd been outside the cathedral a few times, but it was always locked.  Luckily this time it was open.  I was VERY pleased that there were wraps that people were given if their shorts were too short.  The cathedral also emphasized the prayerful nature of being in church.

That being said, it was a gorgeous church.  The chandelier over the altar gave a regal sense to the altar, a reminder that Jesus, Lord of All, is present there at Mass.  The art in the church and statues, like the church we went into on Day 1 was also beautiful.

               

And then we walked some more.  The plan was to go to a boat ferry and take it over to the castle on the other side of the bay.  We got distracted though by another church.  Jeff's learning the wanderer nature and said we should peak in.  Turns out, it's no longer a Catholic Church, but the museum of religious art---and by religious, they meant Catholic.

I can't tell you how weird it was to walk through an old Franciscan church and see Catholic items as
memories of days gone by.  I've been to museums that had a few pieces or a section of church-stuff but it was really weird to be in an old church, which is now used for concerts and shows.

That being said...I sure am glad I took a few years of Spanish.  It came in so useful during our trip.  Without signs pointing you places, you have to ask for help a lot.  The docents at this museum kept saying it wasn't over and we could go up.  Finally she showed me the door cause I didn't get much further with the Spanish language.  And up we went.  Up and up and up.  I have never been so high in a bell tower before and the views were perfect.  It also had a LOT more breeze than the museum did so I didn't want to go down the stairs for a bit.

         
We had noticed on our map a Mother Theresa garden by the church, so I asked someone and they told us to walk outside.  I just misunderstood the direction and so we went the loooooong way.  Which turned out to be fine because next to the church, there's a tiny chapel.  We ducked inside and were surprised to find it was an Orthodox church, still in operation. When we went back outside, we noticed the sign that said Castro gave the church to the Greek Orthodox Church as a sign of good will.


We did find the Mother Theresa garden.  It was just a simple little statue near the entrance of the Orthodox church.  Id didn't realize she had come to Cuba and spoken with Castro and convinced him to allow the Missionaries of Charity to operate in Cuba.

It was starting to look like rain (again) and I was hungry (surprise) so we ducked into a restaurant for a snack and water (lots of water).  While we were there it did rain, but it cleared up pretty quick.  Since the weather still looked spotty, we nixed the boat ride and castle and decided to stay on foot, near restaurants and stuff. and we set back out again.  Next stop: The Rum Museum!


And so we set out again, winding our way through Havana.  And at the end of the street, on the right, we find...a church.  Surprise!  This is not the rum museum.  But what the heck, we'll see what it looks like...and surprise, it's another Orthodox church, this one Russian Orthodox.

We finally make it to the Rum Museum and get there about 30 minutes before the next English tour.  So we spent some time in the store looking at rum, but mostly enjoying the very cold air conditioning---our first taste of cool air all day.

The tour was good and our tour guide spoke the best English we heard the whole trip.  Learning about
the history of slavery in Cuba was very interesting.  Most of the tour focused on the process of rum making.

After the museum, we went back to the casa and took a nap.  Havana is very walkable, but we'd already walked at least 3 miles and we were staring down a 2 mile round trip walk for our dinner plans in Vedado.

We planned to walk down the Malecon to Vedado and head towards the ice cream park, Coppelia.  I

knew it was a more residential area, but we had some trouble finding a restaurant.  And then it rained---a lot---so we took cover at a bus stop with lots of other pedestrians.   We ended up eating at a paladar called Don Quinote, turned out to be one of the best paladars in the neighborhood.   We both got chicken, but one fried and one grilled and split it.  So delicious.

 View from the paladar   

So Coppelia.  We were expecting lines.  We were expecting lots of ice cream flavors (although every

board we saw walking up had different lists of available flavors.  What we didn't expect was only being allowed to use CUC in a bunker-type room with only chocolate and vanilla available.  The guy wouldn't even let us get two scoops---only one for Jeff and I to share.  Apparently only people with pesos get to eat upstairs in the pavillion where it seemed lots of fun.

On the positive side, we met a couple from Boston who had just arrived that day.  They were up for a little more exploration so we walked over the the

National Hotel and enjoyed some cocktails on the porch serenaded by much mellower Cuban music than yesterday.  Around 9:30, we decided to head over to the Jazz Club.  It's well-known in Havana for stellar shows and we were all interested in good seats.  For 10 CUC, you get in and get 2 free drinks.  After that the drinks were super cheap.  And the music was incredible. It was well worth a cover to get in.  Our only qualm was it was SO cold.

We took a really long walk back to the casa...and called it a night.


The ceremony outside the Museum of the Revolution:

Stories from our Cuban guide Day 2-Vinales

On Day 2 of our time in Havana, Jeff and I decided to check out Vinales, the countryside where tobacco is grown for the famous Cuban cigars. We also wanted some time to talk with real Cubans so we booked a roundtrip tour with an English-speaking guide.

I think we learned more about Cuba talking to him than I could ever from reading a guide book and it was well worth the expensive trip.

Before we go on to learn about Vinales---check out this breakfast we got every morning for 5 CUC!  Not pictured are the fresh fruit smoothies and all the fresh fruit you could ask for.  Mangoes in the Caribbean are just amazing.  Our Casa also had a half hour of free wifi access every morning, which was nice for telling our mothers we were still alive!

Our trip to Vinales started at 7:30 a.m. with a classic car for the 2.5 hour drive.  Despite the car's age (and failing shocks), it had some sweet upgrades to the radio and sound system!

 The roads in Cuba are pretty good and even in the middle of nowhere country roads, there are well-kept gardens in the median of the highway. There were also many many cops on the roads.  We asked our guide about them and he said they write tickets for not wearing seat belts and speeding, but also "stupid stuff" and didn't continue.  There were a few times during the conversations where Jeff and I couldn't figure out if he was being critical of the Cuban lifestyle or if he didn't realize how critical it sounded to our American ears.

While we were driving into Vinales, I noticed many of the farmers don't have modern equipment and are using livestock to drive plows.  Our guide said that many tobacco farmers make agreements with the government to sell more than the mandatory 90% of their crops in trade for better equipment for the farms.  

Many of the rural houses are still suffering from the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew last year.  We noticed that many homes don't have windows, only wooden shutters.  Our guide said that Matthew devastated parts of the country and the government doesn't have the money to repair them.

Our first view of Vinales was from a lookout attached to the region's premiere hotel.  Later, the guide would tell us it used to be a small place. After the "triumph of the revolution" (a phrase used frequently to mark time), Castro visited Vinales and noticed the hotel's stellar view of the valley.  He suggested to the owner that the government buy the land and build a much larger spa.  I don't think in the days after the revolution one could say no to a suggestion from Castro.

Not a bad view!

The first activity was the underground caverns.  They were discovered by a local farmer and nationalized for tourism purposes after the revolution.  There was a short hike and then about a 15 minute boat ride where the guides pointed out different rock formations and their shapes.

After that, we went to one of the tobacco sorting warehouses.  Learning about all the different tobacco processes really made me appreciate the price of a Cuban cigar.  It's mostly done by hand and requires a lot of time to allow the leaves to dry and ferment at various points in the process.  At the warehouse, women (only women work here) make about 380 pesos a month---which is as much as we spent on 3 drinks at the bar the day before. However, the child care is free and they are usually compensated with housing as well.  They get bonuses in CUC (worth 27 pesos) if they exceed the 6 kilo a week requirement for sorting.  Shockingly, everything is tracked by paper and pen there were no computers in any of the warehouses or farms for tracking tobacco types, quantities, or processes.

The warehouse is large and hot.

Tobacco has to be fermented to get color + flavor

The sorting process requires a lot of attention to detail

Post sorting it has to ferment a second time.

The restaurant we had lunch at was a self-sustaining farm.  It uses about 90% of its produce for the

My lunch time view

restaurant and donates 10% to local schools.  The grounds were breathtaking rows of gardening.  The amount of work to keep it is probably insane.  And the view for lunch was A+.

Lunch was massive.  We ate and ate and ate some more.  There were three different kinds of meat, assortments of veggies, and a delicious veggie soup.  Every time we thought we were done, they brought something new!  The food was delicious we tried a few things for the first time like taro root and candied papaya.  We left ready for a nap (although partially probably due to a healthy dose of Vitamin R).

During lunch, we had quite a few interesting conversations.  Religion is a touchy subject in Cuba.  Catholicism is on the decline while many protestant groups are growing. Younger Cubans like the Pentecostal services because of the music and vibrancy.  Surprisingly, Jehovah Witness and Seventh Day

Vitamin R

Adventists are also growing in Cuba.  The Jehovahs don't honor the flag or anthem or pledge and it is a touchy subject with the government, but they're mostly left alone.

Cubans aren't allowed to kill cows.  The guide joked that it's better to kill your husband or wife to kill a cow because you'll go to prison longer for the latter.  Cubans can get beef on the private market (it's imported), but they have to maintain proof of purchase in case their home is inspected.  Apparently inspections are fairly common.

So much food!

Our guide used to teach high school English classes, but he said it was very difficult.  Most students didn't want to learn English and he only made 7 CUC (or 189 pesos---around half the tobacco warehouse ladies).  He quit teaching and eventually became a tour guide (significantly more profitable).  Our tip exceeded his monthly government salary.  Before he became an English teacher, Cubans learned Russian as their second language,
but one day Castro decided they "must learn the language of our enemies".

Now that the tourism industry is picking up in Cuba, the guide said he often meets students who now wish they had paid more attention in English class because the best way to make money is in the tourism industry.  He said every month there are less government employees because people find ways to be involved with tourism.

Walking up to the storehouse for tobacco

After lunch, we went to the actual tobacco farm.  One of the farmers gave us the run down on what

happens to tobacco after it is harvested. He greeted us with "So are you here to learn about Cuba or to escape Trump?" We learned that farmers HAVE to sell 90% of their tobacco crops to the government.  The other 10% is for personal use (this guy smoke 3-8 cigars a day).  They aren't allowed to sell them outside of their local area either.

When we were done with the learning, he showed us how to properly roll a cigar.  We then got to smoke one that had spent some time drying.  They were delicious!  The Dutch guys that joined our tour didn't like the cigars at all though.

The second to last stop in Vinales was a botanical garden, started in 1919 by a pair of sisters.  They

Weird, old, one of a kind plant.

kept cultivating the land into a sort of museum of local plants.  There are a few extremely rare species, including one plant that has never been identified anywhere else.

View from the garden.

Lastly, we visited the Mural de la Prehistoria. Don't let the name fool you, the mural was designed in
1961 and took 18 people 4 years to complete.  It is 120 m long and pretty incredible.  The artist was a student of Diego Rivera, a neat little Detroit connection.

We departed from our guide in downtown Vinales.  He told us that he now realizes our governments are both stupid.  Working with Americans he sees how our two people can get along and that there's no real "enemy" among us.  It was an interesting (and bold) statement.

On the way back to Havana it started to pour.  Turns out the roads there don't have very good

drainage so they almost instantaneously flood.  Also turns out the car we were in had a hole in the floor boards and my feet got splashed a few times.  The view from our casa when we got back looked like a black and white filter had been dropped on the sea.

We waited out the storm for a little bit and once the sky cleared, took back out to the streets of Havana to find dinner.  We were looking for a paladar, or a privately-owned restaurant.  We found a group of about 5 tucked into a little side street and sat down outside.  The waiter told us proudly his aunt was cooking tonight and if we didn't like anything it would be free.  Well, there were things we didn't like about Cuba, but food was never one of them! It was delicious and thankfully it didn't rain more than a few sprinkles on us since we were outside with no umbrellas.

After the storm.

Our patio seats!

After dinner, we started a little bar crawl.  We would just wander down streets until we heard some live Cuban music and duck in for a daiquiri or mojito.  After a drink, we'd wander to the next place.  We stayed in one bar for more than one drink though because the rain started pouring again!

I love Cuban music.