Aili's conference was today so I booked a trip to Tallinn, Estonia for the day. It’s only a 1 ½ hour trip on the fast ferry – a big speedboat looking hydrofoil. Arriving across the Baltic Sea, you don’t get much of a first impression of the city – the ferry dock is an industrial looking concrete slab and sits next to a defunct coal fired power plant. But just down the access road and across a major thoroughfare, you see the main gate of the old medieval city. Once inside, you are immediately transported 400 years back in time. The old walls are intact and inside, the pastel colors of the Renaissance buildings gleam romantically. Around every corner of the meandering cobblestone streets is another gothic archway, Orthodox Church dome, cathedral, guild hall or sidewalk café. I made my way slowly to the town square encircled by locals enjoying lunch or an afternoon drink at the outside restaurants and cafes. I climbed the gentle slope to the Upper Town and stumbled upon the a massive Orthodox church, the crown jewel of the city. Next to it is some sort of colonnaded government building directly adjoining the stone watch tower of the old city wall. From the viewing platforms, you get a birds-eye view of the town - tiled rooftops, steepled churches, medieval walls, turreted towers and leafy treetops. You can also see the sprawling 'real' Tallin surrounding the old city with modern office buildings and new sports complex and residential apartment buildings. All-in-all, it seems quite a vibrant city with an amazing historic core. I bought some souvenirs and heading back to the ferry for the speedy return trip to Helsinki. I met up with Aili and her colleagues at a local restaurant and bar in a quaint old neighborhood just north of our hotel.

May 19 - Aili’s conference continued today so I wandered the town a bit, then headed to the contemporary art museum on the other side of the train station. It was stark white with an interesting series of ramps connecting the floors. The works ranged from abstract to post-modern and was mostly composed by Finnish artists. Many had a somewhat political statements and some seemed very experimental. I was intrigued to see small schoolchildren on a tour and being challenged to think about some quite controversial pieces - one in particular was a sculpture on the wall of Ronald McDonald hanging from a rope that stretched out in script to write a message of a person who was depressed and the doctor told him to go see the clown to cheer up and the patient said, "but I am the clown". Later, I had lunch back at a sidewalk café and read my book while watching the passers-by. I noticed a Japanese tourist taking a picture of a group of ladies sitting all in a row. I wondered why he was taking a photo of that particular group and notices all ten of the women had blond hair - welcome to Finland! Aili must feel right at home. For dinner, I met up with the conference group again and we headed to the Tractor Bar for a meal including reindeer and other Finish fare. We stopped at a couple bars on the way home - one atop a hotel high above the city, and another a tiny Russian bar for a shot of vodka and a beer as a final nightcap. Tomorrow we make our way to the airport and fly home… just when we almost got over our jet lag!