Sting Take Europe Day 6

Day 6 was a very busy day.


Everyone was up early for a quick breakfast in the hotel lobby.  The staff here were kind enough to organize and set up the breakfast prior to our 6:00 am departure.  We are really spoiled here.  The staff did not have to do that for us, as their regular buffet breakfast starts at 7:00 am.


After breakfast and coffee (the Finns love their coffee), we loaded up the bus and all 42 of us headed down to the ferry terminal for the two hour trip across the Baltic Sea to Tallinn, Estonia.  The sea was relatively calm and the trip went smoothly.  The ferry was much smaller than the cruise ship we had taken from Stockholm, but was much larger than a typical Vancouver Island, B.C ferry.  Most of the team gathered indoors on the seventh deck at the bow and watched as we crossed the water.


As we arrived in Tallinn, it was easy to make out the Old Town, the newly developing glass skyscrappers, and much of the former USSR era housing.  These three styles contrasted greatly with one another.  We had no formal plans as a group, and again historical sight-seeing and/or shopping were the activities for the day.


As a brief overview, Tallinn is the capital city of Estonia.  It has about 400, 000 residents.  It was chosen the "European Capital of Culture 2011" and signs were posted everywhere to advertise this fact.  It is, and has been a key trading center between Western Europe and Northern Europe/Russia for a thousand years.  On the hill top, a fort was first built in 1050, and later controlled and rebuilt by the Tuetonic Knights.  I believe most of the buildings and fortifications we visited today at the Old Town were built between 1200 and 1600.  Really neat stuff.  Tallinn also has a palace that once belonged to Peter the Great from Russia.  More recently, the area was held by the Germans during WWII and was heavily bombed.  This was evident on many of the buildings near downtown.  It was later annexed by the USSR after WWII until 1991 when Estonia became an independant nation.  What is interesting is the huge Soviet influence in much of the town and it's archetecture.  Many buildings with Soviet emblems or statues are seen away from the crowded tourist areas.


The shopping was excellent.  Newer parts of the city are very commercial (outlet malls).  The shopping in the Old Town for crafts, jewlery and other stuff was really good too.


Many of the girls, and parents ventured up onto the bell tower of the Oleviste Church built in 1267.  The platform that they were on was 60 meters up.  Prior to 1625 it was the tallest building in the world.  To reach the top, we had to climb a tall narrow, winding, stone staircase.  Up top there was a narrow wooden plank to walk along.  Yikes.  I chickened out.  Watching the video taken by the girls was scary enough for me.  A book up top for registering visitors now proudly proclaims that The Sting was there!  Way to go girls!


Everyone returned to the ferry terminal with lots of stories, photos, shopping bags and memories.  The return trip was relatively quiet as most of the girls slept.  I am sure that our adults entertained our section of the boat however, with much laughter and many stories.


Returning to Helsinki (like coming home), we rode the bus back to the hotel and after unloading our goods, seperated for dinner at the many restaraunts around the hotel.


Tomorrow some of the girls are going to spend a day at school with their hosts, while others will be making one last shopping trip.  Early tomorrow evening we have a practice north of the city, and we have invited our Finnish friends to join us on the ice.  We hope to share some Canadian drills with them, and hopefully learn some Finnish ones too.  Back to ringette again!


My observations for Day 6:

• Anti-persperant is not universal, but should be.
• The Estonian people that we met seemed nice, but more reserved than the Swedes and Finns.  They appeared to be equally fluent in english as well.
• No matter how odd a person may seem - if he is over 40 and carrying a Bert doll in one hand - no one wants to mess with him.  Infact people will actually cross the street to avoid him.
• The girls are all really looking forward to meeting up with their hosts again.  I think they already miss their new friends.
• Finally, and this still amazes me, but despite the differences in language, culture, income, etc - kids are kids.  I ended up amongst a group of elementary kids getting out of school today, in a poorer section of Tallinn, and it was the closest I felt like home since leaving.  Pretty neat.  (Bert was put away by this time).

C.K.