Given it back

It is said that one of the most wonderful things about being a grandparent is that you can give the children back. It is a joy, with both sons settled, in relationships and mortgaged, that I can look forward to…

It could also apply to gardens.

I have had a greenhouse, an allotment, gardens wherever I have lived, even been a  member of a gardeners society. Now I do not even have a window box.

I have just spent five days in Suffolk with recently married and honeymooned Paul and Soph. And I went to help do their neglected garden.  I have dug, tidied, replanted, weeded and sowed.

I have had aches and blisters, and have toiled and sweated honestly.

But.

It is not mine.  I do not have to constantly upkeep it and water it.

I have given the garden back.

Nearly robbed?

Thought I was gonna get robbed and beaten up today.

Caught the train to Paldiski, a little port 20 miles west along the coast from Tallinn. Lots of greenery on the map and presumably some promising coastal walks.

Big wrong!!

Blocks and blocks of dirty Russian-built tenements.

No shopping centre; no pretty streets; no nothing.

Plenty of atmosphere.  All the wrong type.

I walked along from the station, all on my left was a container port and loading docks.. behind walls and razor wire.

I ended up walking over waste land to nowhere.

Past broken sheds and what might have been abandoned garages, dumped furniture here, rubbish there... hoped to find a walk – or a way out... looked behind me and there was a guy just standing looking my way... then two more... then they started coming my way across the waste land.

Now – I didnt leg it like a startled rabbit... but, lets just say I quickened my pace a little.

Of course, making my way back to the streets I got hopelessly lost, but I felt relatively safe again and eventually found the railway station.

Bet you cant find Paldiski on google Earth.

Home tomorrow!!  Yippee!!
Cant wait for a hot bath and a clean change of clothes
Not that I smell... much...

Little blue cup got lost!!

Poor little blue cup got lost!

Not in my room.

Not in my bag.

Lost.

I left him in the dining room for a day and a night, and someone tidied him up.

But back now!

Phew!

But. He didnt like his first time in a dishwasher.

But boy, is he clean.

Tallinn update

I´ve found some green grass!

Because the winters are so severe, regularly 20 degrees below, it takes the grass longer to recover after winter. The grass everywhere  is still dead and yellow.

Apart from that growing in a 6” bowl on the dining room table here at the Old House hostel.. It´s verdant and 4” high. Apparently it is an Estonian Easter thing.

Went to a beautiful big Russian orthodox church yesterday. I love the domes and the bright colours.  Inside was hazy with incense, the alter screen a bright mass of gold.  The priests were giving absolution to queues of worshippers and there was a deep, gentle, solemn chanting in the background. Magical.

Until I looked a few yards away to my right. There was an open coffin with a deceased old lady lying shrouded in white lace.

Apparently both funerals and weddings are conducted quite openly in these churches.

Today caught the bus to Pirita. Pah! Public transport conquered easily.  When I eventually did find the underground bus station...

Pirita is 6k along the coast and a beach resort. For me it rivalled anything I have ever seen before. Really!

On a cool sunny, April day, walking along a clean, dry sandy beach.  To see the old town of Tallinn in the distance across the bay in the Gulf of Finland.

And there were no waves.

And the sea was still frozen.  Amazing.

Tallinn

So, now in Tallinn.  And the hostel, well... still nothing to compare with AF Chapman and there are definitely some strange people here.  Grunts instead of hello; it could be a language thing.  It could be I`ve grown another head..
Tallinn is very pretty, very much like Dubrovnik with town wall and red roofs.
Thankyou here is tan an.... in Riga it was paldies... and already I cannot remember what it was in Stockholm.
Will wander aimlessly round the town tomorrow for eight hours or so and see how much more culture I can take then I`m heading for the countryside.
Then will be thinking about coming home... the countryside is so grey here... the grass has not grown at all yet and is very dead.  Not a sign of green.  Very strange.
Itś one thing that strikes you when you´ve been away... how green England is.

Down Town Riga

  In DTR there is a little bridge over a little lake in a liitle park that is covered in handcuffs.  It is a local tradition for married couples to be photographed there... and leave their emblem of bonding.
  In DTR there is a Russian Orthodox Church that is the bright and colourful church I have ever seen.. think St Marks in Moscow.
  In DTR there is a medieval underground restaurant lit only by candlelight and served by costumed waiters that serves medieval food from wooden plates. I recommend the grit pie.
  In DTR there is a market that is in four aircraft hangers.  Markets for meat, fish, cheese and fruit and veg.  And clothes and nic nacs.I spent two hours there, wandering and buying bits and pieces... me.. two hours shopping!!
  In DTR you can buy this licquer that tastes like venos with vodka.  They call it balsamic wine. I do not recommend it.  But apparently it is a cure all.
  But out of DTR; wander a bit away from the medieval buildings and pretty streets and it is bleak, dark and Russian.  A bit of a contrast.
Fascinating.
On me way tomorrow to Tallinn.  A four and a half hour coach ride; and I wont be sorrow to go.

Tsarevich

Well, this is the first time I've used a cirillac keyboard..
So, welcome to Latvia.  The coach to the airport in Stockholm cost me 12 pounds... the bus to the centre of Riga cost me one euro.  And I think that's some difference.
The bus brought me through the Russian area; block after block of towers living quarters.. high rise blocks, low rise blocks... OMG,  I wondered what I had let myself in for.
The part of Riga where FuntimeFrankie's Hostel is is the old town and that is ok.
Have signed up for a free walking tour tomorrow to get my bearings... then I'm going to a Russian firing range where I'm gonna let loose with an AK47.
Just another day.
Am rooming with two young ladies from Spain and Canada and a Spanish guy.
Am fine.  Stockholm was wonderful, loved it.  Need to go back when its just a bit colder...
Have had two local beers... maybe time for another...

Sex

I'm not narrow minded, nor easily shocked.
Last night was culture night here in Stockholm and a lot of the museums were free for a few hours.  Got my money's worth. Went to the National Museum jsut cos it was there. And was so thrilled at the galleries. Saw 3 Renoir, 2 Breughel, a Van Gogh and even a new Claude Monet - superb.
But.
There was an exhibition called Lust and Last.. it was all about the effects of eroticism on the everyday female place in the world. 
Now this is Sweden, and they have a reputation for being open minded, sexually open minded.Well! There were  pictures of naked women everywhere, and because the museum was free it was packed.. mostly with women... a whole section of prostitution.. but three particular exhibits got to me.. so embarassed.  One was a montage, a headless business man sitting at a desk surrounded by clutter with  a dozen naked female torsos suspended above him.. with exaggerated and hairy private parts.. I didnt know where to look.. well, I knew where to look--- just couldn't...
the second one was a film (presumably on a loop or she would have got very tired and sore) of a woman lying down in a forest glade, completely naked and well... it begins with m and its a word I can't say...
the third was a picture of a woman bending over backwards and dressed in bondage and looking into a mirror.. here we were asked who was watching who - trust me, I wasnt watching. I did not spend long at this exhibition, it was just too much for me.
Are the Swedish obsessed with sex? No.  But they are not afraid of it either.

My favourite colour

My favourite colour is blue. Of Course. And as I sit here on this hill, on this island full of EG my cup runneth over, so to speak. The sky is blue, right from edge to edge. The sea is blue, and theres a lot of it. Cos we're on a little island.  Only the trees all around us are green.   Green's not too bad.
I've been on a boat!!  Thats planes and trains and boats - I want to go on a submarine next!!!

Changing the guard at the Palace

The crowd was 5/6 deep, cameras held high above the heads, people on tiptoes or standing on pillar bases to get a better view as the marching band and the soldiers marched past; changing the guard at the Palace always attracts the tourists.
Some of the state apartments are open to the public and I paid my bit to go in and have a look, giant chandaliers, beautiful furnishings.. all very regal.
But we are not talking Christopher Robin and Alice here...
Ande King Carl XV1 is on the throne and this is  Kunlinga Slottet. The Royal Palace in Sweden.
Stockholm is beautiful; the weather very changeable; they say four seasons in one day and that is about right.
There is a special evening today when there is so much going on for free.. right up my street.. or along the canal... so to speak.

On board my yacht

Sorry...didnt you know I was on a yacht next?
Train journey from Copenhagen to Stockholm was interesting... I stayed in the dog cabin.  Bit smelly but fun nevertheless.  4 and a half hours journey past fjords and frozen lakes... YES.. frozen.  There's still quite a bit of snow laying here too.  Cant wait to go for a hike and see what it's like in the trees.. and boy, there's a lot of trees here.
It's howling a gale, I've been on deck to take some photos and nearly got blown overboard.
Am off back into centrum to check out food and what fun things to do tomorrow.
And yes, have already sussed a hot water source for constant  EG for my flask.
MY,W.

Roskilde

Took train to Roskilde today.  Travelling in a foreign country is so strange. He sold me a two zone card and told me to punch it four times in the yellow machine... what?  And are some of the seats reserved? There are some displays in Danish that suggest so... And of course, was the train going in the right direction?..
Roskilde Cathedral was wonderful.  All the Danish Kings and Queens are laid to rest there... I say laid to rest.. they are in ornate coffins displayed on plinths.. and the medieval frescos all over the walls were amazing.
Went for a hike along a cycle track (did 13k)..pah! too easy! Turned wrong deliberately and ended up lost in a Danish forest.. that's more like it... not that I could get lost with the cathedral spires visible for miles... but walking along the side of the road to town with the traffic coming in the wrong direction was interesting.

Went for a walk in Kobenhven yesterday evening before it got dark, aiming for the Kings Gardens... turned left through gates when all of a sudden was confronted by a soldier out of his guardbox blocking my way and looking menacing with his AK47.. "Halt!"
"Sorry... am I not allowed in here.."
"Do you have a military permit?
"Well no..."
"Then please stand outside the gate!"
How was I to know this was the entrance to Roserberg Castle where the Danish crown jewels are kept....

Little blue cup

Now feeling a cup such a long way from home. OK. So I'm getting my quota of earl grey.. which is my raison d'etre (well-travelled me is getting the hang of foreign languages).  But I'm feeling a bit cupboard sick. And sometimes wish I was back home with Whatever, Teddy Bears, MooCow and the Wickes Brothers.

First flight

So much for my first ever flight!
Supposed to be exciting, adventurous, exotic even.
I spent it in an overhead locker, stuffed inside a bag, stuffed inside a smelly old trainer!
Pah!!

Yeah right!! So I turned up, eventually, after getting totally lost in Copenhagen, at 630pm and beginning to become dusk, at my sleepinheaven hostel.  Only to be told I was too old to stay there. Cheers guys!! Heaven is only for the young.  Apparently the hostel was 18 - 35.  Now, there was no hesitation in the guy behind the counter.. didnt question my age.  He gave me a refund and an address and directions to an OLDER persons hostel about 15 minutes walk away.
12 room dorm and only me and a guy with an Aussie accent.
Slept fitfully.  Just like and old person.
Headache and tired. Just like an old person.
But.  Hey!!  It's a new morning now, the sun is shining. And there is a two and a half hour boat trip waiting for me around the canals... if only I can find Nyhavn boat port... its not far according to my map.
But I did not pack any Phylossan (fortifies the over forties). Ho hum.