Subject: Adventures in Pippiland
Date: 6/10
Anniversary greetings from the Gulf of Finland.
We're on one of our breakneck romantic jaunts, this time through northern Europe (the vacation part was a gift from Eric's mom -- THANKS!!!)
Our trip started with independent quick visits in NY: Eric visited his brother (David) & Ken's new vacation home in Montauk last Friday night. It was built in the 70's and fortunately hasn't seen any "improvements." The dining-living room contains no lhess than six globe lamps hanging on white wires from the ceiling. The wide pine flooring & fireplace-on-a-tile-pedestal scream Scandinavian ski lodge from an early pink panther film. After just one week of ownership, most every bedroom and deck is furnished. When they picked Eric up from LGA, their latest acquisition (everything is from craig's list, and under $100) was attached to Ken's parent's land rover's roof : a large chrome-and-smoked-glass dining table that cost them $100 (!). (sadly, El Paso's section of Craig's list thus far only contains 28 listings).
Due to a work commitment, Suzy couldn't depart until Sat evening. Her all-night flight via Las Vegas landed at 7AM on Sunday in NYC. In order to properly prepare her for our Scandinavian adventures, Sheila & Kathleen (sisters) brought her to visit Sheila & Scott's "Sons of Norway" lodge. The weather was hot and humid, typical New York summer. The Sons of Norway own six acres of prime Staten Island real estate where they hold picnics, weddings and an annual Norwegian festival. The lodge's centerpiece is a hand carved oak bar. These folk are major party animals given that the Sons' average age is 70.
We converged in Newark Sunday afternoon to catch an all-night flight to Stockholm so that Eric could attend a workshop Monday through Wednesday. Stockholm is a wonderfully beautiful and livable city consisting of a network of 19th century bridges connecting seven islands. The conference included a late-night cruise to Vauxhall (a massive decommissioned fort). We didn't return to Gamla Stan ("old city", the island home of our hotel) until 1AM. Remarkably, while the sun does set, it's never dark and this wonderful city never sleeps.
While Eric spent his days indoors, Susan explored the city on her own. Have folding bike will travel. She visited King's Island (former royal playground), the museum of modern art, well appointed neighborhoods, the many bike paths that follow the waterline and of course the major shopping areas (both local and high-end tourista). Skansen (a cross between Colonial Williamsburg and the Prospect Park) was hopping on Monday as the Swedes celebrated their independence from the rest of Scandinavia 1905.
People sang, danced and played lots of music, primarily ABBA.
Once the conference ended (midday Wed), we visited the Nordic cultural museum with new-found friends from the conference and then purchased tickets for the rest of our travels:
I hope your belts are fastened, since things speed up:
Thurs: Vasa Museum and Skansen: Against his engineer's better judgment, 17th century King Adolph insisted that his flagship "Vasa" should have three levels above the waterline. Thanks to this bit of hubris, the Vasa is still with us. Twenty minutes into her maiden voyage, a strong wind caught her sails, and after three good tilts, she capsized and sank into Stockholm's brackish and borer-free harbor, drowning many. She was discovered (in remarkably good shape) by an amateur marine archeologist in the 1950's. Vasa was dry-docked, and a museum was constructed around her. After spending much of the day there, we made a short visit to Skansen where we met up with Anna Freudenthal (a relative?) who will be joining us for dinner on Sunday. Afterwards, we hastily taxi'd off to our ferry to Tallinn.
Like David's new home, our "Tallink" ferry to Estonia still sails in the 70's. lotsa chrome, dim recessed lighting, and a bit more orange than sensible. Contrary to our guide book, the dinner buffet was less than mediocre but there was a lot of it. Our cabin resembles Star Island's accommodations, mostly clean, serviceable and worn. We do have a window and plan to sleep on the top bunk for added adventure. The evening's showstopper at the Nightclub was, you'll never guess this, Waterloo (by ABBA look a-likes in retro dress). The sound of newer Swedish pop music also has the ABBA sound. We imagine Benny and Bjorn still composing under assumed names. We attempted to purchase standing room tickets to Momma Mia, which has been sold out for months in Stockholm, completely in Swedish, but the clerk never heard of the concept.
It's now midnight, so therefore it's our 5th anniversary (kiss), and we ought to head off to bed. Here's a summary of what's coming up (stay tuned):
Friends,
At the time we started writing this missive (Friday evening), we were "back in the Baltic" in a short ferry crossing from Tallinn (Estonia) to Helsinki.
This morning (Friday), we left everything 'cept our cycles when we arrived in Tallinn at 11h and headed into town. The medieval walled cities of Tallinn have been discovered. Furthermore, they have been converted into tourist central -- complete with throngs of tourists. Every shop and restaurant has been recently made-over to be extra-cute. Waitrai are dressed in costume. Need we say more?
After lunch of two wonderful local soups (pea with roasted meat and sauerkraut with meat and sour cream. Oh did we say that Eric seems to be having less trouble with dairy here -- less antibiotics?) we decided to leave the walled city and looked for neighborhoods where people really live. Along the way (and rather symbolically), our first stop was the Occupation Museum. Its primary exhibit is a set of video presentations describing Estonia's occupation by Russia, Nazi Germany and the Soviets. The building is a nice piece of anachronistic modernist architecture containing artifacts of these occupations. The museum also contains statues of Lenin and quite a collection of soviet manufactured goods (everything from wall clocks to phonographs and automobiles)
To find a real neighborhood, one must cross through a walking tunnel under a broad boulevard that loops around the gentrified commercial district ringing the old city. Unlike the freshly preened shops in the old city which contain tourist goods, this tunnel's retail was more characteristic of what lay beyond - mostly closed and just containing a run-down shoe repair and locksmith shop.
Sadly, the well-maintained buildings we saw from across the boulevard were just a facade. One block back, and for countless blocks beyond, rows and rows of decrepit soviet- and pre-soviet era housing tell the true story. It took us quite some time to find a supermarket, whose sign in Estonian covers faded Russian lettering.
We and our bikes were the last to board our 90m ferry to Helsinki where we met Roman Yangarber, a grad-school friend of Eric's. He brought us to his home immediately on the outskirts of downtown. Roman, his wife Silja, and their daughter Elsa live in a two bedroom apartment. It's a bit cramped with two year old Elsa, but really lovely. Life in Finland with children is much easier than in The States. Playgrounds abound with art and crafts centers, cafes for parents, and free weekday lunch for children. We enjoyed an evening of cooking, talking, and eating, but unfortunately we slept late the next morning thereby compressing Saturday's plans.
Over dinner, Roman and Silja asked for some details about our Estonian ferry to Tallinn (Thurs night). Imagine our surprise when they determined that it is the very same drive-on-drive-off ferry that sank two decades ago, drowning hundreds. Now we know why the booking agent mentioned to us that we were to sail on their "older" boat (happily, the door interlocks responsible for that sinking have been replaced) -- and why its fare was so deeply discounted and the d cor has not been updated since it's pre-sinking glory days back in the cold-war 70's. Silja says that they offered free fare to encourage traffic for the first few years after it was salvaged and put back into service. Sinking tends to reduce a cruise ship's glamour.
On Saturday morning, we biked to a nearby park-and-community-garden containing many small cottages, each with a garden overflowing with vegetables and flowers. There are two of these communities in Helsinki. They were originally allocated to families during the foreign occupations so that they could grow their own fresh vegetables. This property is now prime real estate and there are continual battles to prevent them from being developed.
Silja headed home for Elsa's afternoon nap, sending Roman with us to forage for food in a wonderful two-story downtown market. After purchasing three cheeses, two fishes, two meats, a bread, a pickled beet, and sauerkraut, we found gifts for our moms, a recently born niece, and a great sweater for Suzy. Afterwards, we cycled back to our host's home for a late lunch.
Late this afternoon (Saturday), Roman took us for a final (and beautiful) bicycle adventure around Helsinki to catch our boat back to Stockholm. This boat, run by the Viking Line, is far more luxurious than the Tallink ship. Our Dinner at the elegant ship restaurant in lieu of the Costco sized buffet was lovely (and less expensive too!). Even our bottom deck cabin is nicer and roomier than the previous windowed cabin, and ir is conveniently located near our bikes parked just one floor above with the trucks and cars.
-> We're presently in a restaurant in Stockholm, and found an open network
connection, so I'll send this off now & we'll continue later.
Cheerios,
Eric & Suzy