We had so much fun! We took a 3 night trip over to Tallinn, Estonia which is now one of my favorite cities. In the city, there's the original medieval town that started it, which if you're into history, is amazing! We climbed the towers, walked the cobblestone streets, explored the tunnels under the city, visited an Apothecary that has been operating since at least 1422, went to a museum in a hotel that the KGB had to leave FAST when the Soviet union fell and left their spy floor as is, ate amazing food, and walked until I thought my feet were permanently damaged. If you ever get an opportunity to visit Tallinn, take it! I can't wait to go back. If I know you at all, and you want to see the (900+) pics, pm me.
Have I ever mentioned how much I love Finland? It's such a gorgeous country, and Helsinki is vibrant, scenic and well put together. This visit, we went to the zoo, which is on a beautiful island. You can check it out here if you want. There may not have been as many animals or exhibits as say the Philadelphia Zoo, but the peace and serenity, not to mention scenery can't be beat. We had so much fun, and you take a ferry boat to get there.
We also visited Seurasaari Open-Air museum on another island. They took all the old buildings (homes, churches, businesses, boats, farms, etc,) and stuck them on an island. It was so interesting to explore the old places and see life how it was in Finland over the last couple of centuries. We also saw a play there, but it was in Finnish (naturally) so I waited til it was over and had Raine explain what I'd been watching for the last hour
The weather was perfect and we couldn't have planned a better day. We had dinner and drinks in Helsinki then went home to a South Park marathon. Perfection!Another island we checked out was Suomenlinna, which is a sea fortress. We explored it pretty thoroughly in April, so we just had a fabulous dinner, walked around a bit, and took in the scenery. We went to a small restaurant that used to be for military officers only, and is tucked away in a corner, and tourists don't find. Then we found a backroom and managed to stay completely alone, except for the waitress, and talked about our childhood and families over candlelight.
Of course we went to Linnanmäki
That's Helsinki's amusement park and is becoming a tradition for us. When I was around 12, my brother was in a rollercoaster accident on our school field trip. He was OK, very bruised up, but OK, when the car went off the tracks. I've been afraid of those bastard things since then, but Raine has brought back my love for them, and we go on them all when we're at the park. Good times.We also went bowling, shopping, clubbing, hiking, and just walking the city aimlessly. I had the most horrible, disgusting, cliche romantic moment of my life! We were hiking in the woods behind Raine's place. It was cloudy but seemed like it wouldn't rain....of course it did
The clouds opened up and rained hard as hell! We took shelter under a big tree (no lightning!) and made out like a couple of teenagers until it slowed down enough to escape a good half hour later I felt like I was in a bad RomCom, we laughed so much over that.We bonded so much more and got a glimpse of what life can eventually be like together. Our love just gets stronger and stronger, and we've even established our routine already, it feels so comfortable and compatible. We're so alike and compliment each other so much, I never really thought this happened in real life and everyone was just full of shit. I'm so glad to have been wrong about that and it just goes to show that you're never too old to learn something.
Now I'm home again, and I'm finding it difficult to belong in two different places, two different countries. Difficult, but OK. It's a weird feeling, and a little painful, but also nice that I have two homes and people that love me so much in both places. It feels safe. This time though, our conversations were back to normal right away, just tinged with a tiny bit of sadness, but no awkwardness or tension, just business as usual
That was a good place to get to.He's coming here next, for the first time, probably at Christmas. I'm the traveler and adventurous one, so I always go there. He's a homebody. It should be fun and interesting and I can't wait.
Sorry this was so long, and if you've bothered to get this far...Thanks!
And the Vanha Kaupunki (=Old Town) in Estonia is GORGEOUS! Been there a couple of times
Man it makes me happy to read that you like it here
I bet you would love Central Finland, the sceneries in here are even better than in the south!
I always think one of the advantages of being in an LDR is that you go places you never, ever would have thought of going! I'm glad to hear that Finland is like PA. That helps me know what it's like, since I'm in OH right now. It sounds beautiful, esp because I think that PA is gorgeous. Glad you had a great visit!