Artsy weekend

On Thursday afternoon I had my first skiing experience. When I got home from school Piret and I walked to the nearby Nõmme forest where in autumn we went for our long bike rides. Now the tracks are covered with snow and the trees are tipped with white. At first skiing felt a bit strange but after a while I got going and it was a lot of fun. It was made easier of course by the tracks made by previous skiers. I managed for quite a while but towards the end I had a few falls. Overall it was a great first experience and I was glad to have Piret there to help me along and to laugh with me.

Helsinki in normal state

This weekend I was very glad to get the opportunity to go with Epp on a school art trip to Helsinki (Finland) and Stockholm (Sweden). So this is how the weekend went, Saturday was my host moms birthday but unfortunately Epp and I couldn’t be with her the whole day because of our trip. But we woke up early and after wishing her a happy birthday we were off to the ferry terminal to catch our ship to Finland. When we arrived there two hours later we went to three different art centers. The first was a modern Japanese art exhibition. The second was of Russian fairytale paintings. Lastly we went to a large modern art gallery, where I got lost a few times amongst all the people. It was strange to be back in Helsinki though, well to see it in its normal, non-Christmas state. The big piles of snow on the streets are now gone and there are not so many tourists. This time I could hear more of the Finnish language which is quite similar to Estonia, I found I could actually understand some things. Our time in Helsinki ended and we were on a different ship heading to Stockholm. We found our little cabins right at the bottom of the boat, way, way down at the bottom and then through a maze of narrow corridors which lead to a hall way of pink doors.

The sea in its winter state

That evening, Saturday the 16^th of February, Epp and I went to a restaurant on board to celebrate me being in Estonia for 6 months! The next morning we woke up, had some breakfast and shortly after we docked in Stockholm. As soon as we stepped out of the ferry terminal I noticed large rocky cliffs. They stood out so much because Estonia is so flat so to see cliffs again was quite strange actually. We then took a bus ride into the city to another art center (‘we’ being the 50 students who had come on this trip). The art center we visited was very big with a whole lot of different exhibitions inside. After this we had some free time so we wondered around Stockholm’s old town. From what I saw the old town is mainly one long cobblestone street with a whole lot of little ones branching off to the sides. Each lined with tall buildings mainly from the 18^th and 19^th century. Wondering around the old town we found a little statue and it is said that if you touch its head, you will one day return to Stockholm. So we found this little statue, touched his head and well I look forward to my next visit to Stockholm. We walked down the main street of the old town stopping in different little shops, sweet shops, book shops, tourist stores and then to a cute little coffee shop for a desperately needed hot chocolate. We were then back on the boat for an early dinner, the large group of us took up four tables.

Our cabins

This is the little statue, judging by it's size I'm sure you can guess it was quite hard to find.

Epp standing outside a cafe in Stockholm's old town

Monday was quite strange. I woke up feeling quite sick, late morning we docked in Helsinki and then boarded the next ship for the last part of our journey.  When Epp and I arrived home I was surprised to find someone sleeping in my bed . . . no not goldilocks, but Iris, the exchange student from Belgium. As it turns out she had a nature program up in Tallinn this weekend but she was feeling ill so she spent the night at our house. So Sunday night my host family found themselves taking care of two sick exchange students. 

Well yesterday afternoon Maris school had a similar playbox event like my school did. Mari was the host of this so we went to watch and support her. After the show though, she was off to her training. Then this afternoon she had a circus performance which we went to watch and then once again she was off to her training . . . busy girl.