The Great Freeze - Part 5

So last was Riga and that takes us up to the part were we travel to Belarus. We'll start with how we even managed to get there because if you look at a map you will find that Riga is not so close to Minsk.

The night we got into Riga Igor found us a carpool ride from Riga to Minsk. Yes, they have this, yes it is safe and yes, you have to speak Russia to apply. :)
Our host was kind enough to take us to the "meeting spot," which as it turned out was not a very well defined location. To start our difficulty we were unable to find the spot that the guys driving had described. When we found what we thought was the spot we didn't see the van that we were supposed to go in. So we tried to call...except the phone number we had for him didn't work. Did I mention that the night before they almost canceled on us since they couldn't get a hold of Igor? For some reason they could not call Igor and Igor couldn't call them. An issue with the country codes was the culprit that we ultimately decided was the problem. Since we couldn't contact them via good old fashion phones we had to rely on our web connection. However, when you are in a parking lot somewhere in Riga it isn't like there is a Google wifi balloon sending you free signal everywhere so it turned out to be a bit of a problem. We did have a wifi hotspot available via our phones, but Igor only had the website available and logged on his computer that made things a tij more challenging in the communications department. I was trying to be patient but feeling a bit anxious about this whole situation now and worried that maybe we were going to miss our ride but, it all turned out alright, as it always does and we eventually did find the guys. To be far they were not really where they said they would be but hurray for phones and wifi hotspots!
The car ride, which we shared with two Ukrainian guys and a girl from Belarus living in Latvia was for the most part uneventful and easy, if not a bit cold. (At one point I took off my boots and stuck my socked feet into my gloves to warm them up). The drive was nice and I think Igor enjoyed the conversation however I didn't catch much (Russian). It always makes me more hopefully and more motivated when in these types of situations because I know if I just buckled down and worked harder on my Russian I could at least participate, however briefly.
After about 3-4 hours of driving we reached the Lithuanian, Belarusian boarder. We had no problems on the Lithuanian side although the girl checking our passports did think that Igor and I "make a good match USA and Belarus." Not sure what that was about but I took it as a compliment. Our crossing there was only about 10 maybe 15 minutes at the absolute most. On the Belarus side though it took quite a bit longer.. We had to go through several checks and rechecks. No offense Belarus but really?  Oh well. We guessed that they were not used to Americans coming in via car (cuz it is a bit odd I suppose) and according to Igor they gave him a bit of a hard time about my passport. They apparently scrutinized it pretty heavily but in the end they let us on through and about 2 hours later we were in Minsk!
We stopped by the bus station to see if we could get tickets to Zaslonova that evening (it was only about 5pm) but unfortunately there were not any buses for the rest of the evening that went there so we did what any good family would do and we called Igor's brother (you remember Vasil, not to be confused with uncle Vasil or Father Vasil) to come and get us. If you are thinking at this point, "hey but I thought Igor's brother lived in Moscow?" well you would have been right but they moved to Minsk about 6 months ago, so win for us.
In the morning we were off. We had some time to kill before our bus so we thought we would just jump on the metro and go to the center of town. We didn't have any cash which meant I had to tried to pull some out with my ATM card...turns out that I couldn't do it. I actually sort of knew this before we went since my banks said that Belarus is "on the black country list" meaning that none of my cards would work there. Don't worry I gave them an ear full about how they are making banking with the seriously inconvenient and I might have to go elsewhere. Anyway, enter the Savior bank card from England!!! I have had it since that year that I decided I didn't want to live in America any more and so I scampered off to play in England. I can't tell you how many times this card has saved my took-us, actually I can a total of 2 but that's not the point, it's amazing! So yeah we were able to get some money and get our metro tickets.
We found a mall and a since we are kind of coffee snobs now we decided that we would treat ourselves and Igor's parents to the present of a good coffee maker. Yes, that's right we found one of these bad boys in Minsk! it wasn't as good as the one that we have at home but it worked just fine.

We made it to our bus and then to Zaslonova put our bags down chatted for a few minutes with Igor's parents and then Igor went to school to find out what activities were on for the evening.
Our time in Belarus was a bit of a whirlwind and I will try to tell it as faithfully and as in order as I possible can but I make no promises that they are in the right series of events. We were there for almost 4 weeks, we did a lot and not a lot all at once. The overview is that it was wonderful and enjoyable most of the time.
The first couple days were spent just re-cooperating from our crazy walking city tours from the previous week and a half. We went to Igor's school and played basketball with the kids one evening. I got to play with the big kids this year and I even scored!! I watched Igor play chess with his old P.E. teacher and win. I watch Igor play volley ball. I know when I am really not good at something. I don't claim to be good at basketball but I do know how to play. Volleyball is a totally different story. Uncle David will be heartbroken but I don't even know the rules, let alone how to serve or really even hit the ball. So, instead of being a menus on the floor I decided to watch.
One thing about being an American in a place where you don't get many Americans is that you are sort of a novelty. Do you remember how last year we went and visited the English class and talked to them. They made us tea,  and sang to us, etc.? Well, we didn't do that this year but once the kids found out that there was an American around I was like a unicorn in a petting zoo. The kids, especially the girls, would sort of swarm around me. Usually they didn't talk to me just sat very close by and whispered to each other. Every once in a while though, one would get up the courage to ask me a question and I would do my best to answer either in really poor quality Russian or as simple of English as I could, to make sure they would understand.
You would be surprised how tiring it is to do that type of English speaking. I feel like I don't even speak the language properly after a while. I hymmm and haaa, umm and ahhhh as I try to think of simpler ways to phrase an answer or ask a question so they will understand. It would be easier to answer with a "yes" or a 'no' but I think that's cheap, especially since they were trying so hard. It was kind of fun though. I have learn more Russian over the last year and it made it a bit easier for me, if only a very little bit. I could hear them talking amongst themselves trying to figure out the correct way to ask the question, to ask what they knew how to, although probably not really what they wanted to know. Anyways, this type of creative alternative, simple English will come up again in our narrative later, so keep an eye out.
Back to our sports play. So I am crap at Volleyball (sorry Uncle David) but Igor is most definitely not from what I can tell and it was fun to watch him play. He played soccer a couple of times too but I didn't the first night because I did know what to expect and my foot had been sore (I fractured the tiny bone under the ball of my foot awhile ago and it still bothers me at times). 
One of the first days we were there we felt rather ambitious or rather felt brave. We walked to the sacred springs about 3 miles more or less away. For those of you who have followed over the years, the first time we went to Belarus in 2014 during the summer it was hard for me to get into that ice cold water. I did it on my second attempt but barely got in half way on my first. Well, because I think I am tougher than I actually am I decided that we should go back. Igor did do it last year with his friend Serge in the middle of winter and told me how difficult it was but you know me, I still thought I could do it.
We got a bit lost on our way there, ended up right out side of the military shoot range... had to ask one of the officers for directions lol oopse. Found our way back. Wished we had brought the yak trak snow and ice grips for our shoes that my dad had got us but if you saw how little we brought and how little room we had you would understand. Anyhow, we eventually made it, I was sweating by the time we got there because walking on ice is seriously tough work, feeling like this was it, I was totally got to do it...
I still believe that I could have gotten all the way. I want to lead with that. It's probably not true but I like to believe it is. What was my mistake you may ask? Well... I my mind it was the fact that I took my shoes off too early. Yeah, you heard me. In order to do this polar plunge you must be in your birthday suite or your swimsuit and let me tell you, if there is snow outside and the first thing you take off is your shoes, you are in a world of hurt. I did get my feet in...for about five seconds max and then quickly got out squealing about how cold it was, jumped on to the bench and huddled with my now burning ice pained feet, red as cold can get them.  Thus my failed and very sad attempt at the Belarusian sacred polar plunge.

@sacred springs

Igor attempting to warm his hands up after the plunge. Yeah he did it.

Polar Hero

Ok time for a short break. I leave you with this little guy. A new addition to the Belarusian Farm Family at Igor's grandmothers house. Enter Barshik the super energetic lovable kitten who likes to attack my feet.

yea, he liked the yarn

The Great Freeze - Part 4

So Riga. We left Tallinn for a 4 hour bus ride to Riga, Latvia. The bus was really cool it had tv screens in the back of all the seat, free coffee and tea on board and enough room to move a round a bit if you decided that you needed to get up. There was also a bathroom on board in case on emergency (I thankfully didn't need it). There were a bunch of Russian speaking people on board so Igor was right at home. we found the further we got in our trip the more Russian speakers there were.

We got into Riga around 3pm. Igor had arranged another couchsurfing host for us. This time it was an older couple who had decided that they really wanted to host young people visiting Riga. The husband, named Victor, was nice enough to pick us up at the bus station and drive us back to their place, where he had a whole meal waiting for us! Igor had some good conversations with Victor as we ate (he and his wife only speak Russian or Latvian, no English), but it was fine. It was a nice transition to get ready for our time in Belarus. :)

After about an hour of eating really good food and chatting with Victor and being entertained by his very cute dog named Kevin (yes, seriously, the dog had an English name), we were off to walk the earth again. The apartment was only about 20 minutes walk from the downtown and because Riga is split in two by a river, it meant that we got to walk over a really nice bridge to get there. On our way we ran into some people from Saint Petersburg who asked Igor, which bus would get them down town the fastest but obviously we didn't know so we waved good bye and off we went only to find that they had decided to follow us! I guess the thought it would be faster to walk until they saw the next bus stop. The didn't follow us for long and then Igor and I were at the city center in no time. There of course was a Christmas market here too but unlike the others that felt mostly frequented by tourists this one was pretty obviously where locals took their family on a Saturday evening to let the kids run around and have some good warm cheap food out.

Bridge to cross from one side of the river to the other

Riga City View

some famous cathedral in Riga

Something else that made this Christmas market different from the others was that they were cooking food in large Wak looking frying pans over open fires. The smell of wood burning fires and cooking food was enough to make your tummy grumble. We stopped and got some hot drinks from one of the vendors. This version was different than the other two that we have had previously as it is not made with wine it is actually made with the stuff called Balzam (Balsam) that is made in Riga. It's a black current alcohol that is simple delicious!

Anyhow, we did some more walking, stopped into the local Stockmann's (if you have been reading this is a large retail store that has a supermarket attached and has been one of our favorite food spots since Stockholm). Got a snack and ate it while sitting on a bench outside watching the world go by. After a bit we decided that it was probably time to head back to our hosts house and spend a little bit more time with him.

On our second day in Riga, Igor decided that there was a town not too far away that he had always heard about and since we were only about 20 minutes away by train, we went to Jūrmala. I could definitely see how the town would be a perfect beach spot in the summer. There were lots of very old style (Victorian like) hotels that lined the beach from and streets in general. The main drag of the town was full of shops and restaurants (mostly closed on this particular day). It was sort of gloomy weather when we were there. The wind decided to grace us with it's presents and this marked the first day my wind breaker rain jacket was actually really helpful (it would also come in handy later in the trip).

going to Jurmala

cafe in Jurmala

Victorian Resort I told you about

from the Dragon's view while being slain

river feeding out into the Gulf of Riga

We didn't spend long there just long enough to get a cup of coffee (of course) and walk around the town and down the beach a ways. I even found a pretty pink seashell that even made it home with me (it did break in half so don't be too impressed). We got back on the train and headed to Riga again. It took us a bit longer than it should have as I was again navigating and again had not be paying much attention to land marks etc the night before. But I definitely had a better handle on Riga than the other cities so it didn't take that long.

When we got in we walked back to our host's home his wife was home. Igor spent some time talking with her. We had planned to go back into Riga to eat at the Christmas market but Igor was a bit tired and didn't feel like going back outside (it was getting rather cold). I was hungry so I studied my map on my phone for a bit and then went off in search of food. I did finally find a pizza place just around the corner. So I just decided that was the easiest and because there were a bunch of drunk Russian guys blocking my entrance to the store down the street.

I took my pizza and  soda, went back to our hosts home. Ate at the little kitchen table and then went to bed (Igor was already asleep).

Overall I liked Riga. It was easily walkable and had a very different, unique feel from the other cities that I have been to. I wouldn't mind going back and spending a little more time exploring the city.

Some restaurant in Riga

The Great Freeze - Part 3

We had to get up early (6:25am) the next morning to make it to the ferry to Tallinn, Estonia, on time. It left at 8 and we needed to be there by 7:30. It was about a 40 minutes from Heidi's place. So we got out pretty quickly in the morning, said our goodbyes and we off on the next leg of our adventure.

This ferry was very similar to the one that we had taken from Stockholm, although a little smaller. It had free wifi, which was nice so Igor and I found a good place to sit in the dinning hall and did some work. Igor figured out how to get us free coffee and I figured out how to get us cheap refills. Overall I would say we are a pretty successful duo.

Unfortunately, we weren't able to find a couchsurfing host in Tallinn so I got us an airbnb apartment on the outskirts of the city that had a sauna in the bathroom, which turned out great! It was about 15 minutes walk outside the city center of Tallinn in the non-touristy areas that we like, so it really gave us a feel for the overall city of Tallinn.

We found our apartment, which was about a 40 minute walk from the harbor where we got to walk through old town and then about 10 minutes on the outskirts. We put our stuff down got settled and then since it was soo early we went out walking. We found the bus station so that we could buy our tickets to Riga, Lativa the last leg of this section of the trip. Igor got to speak Russian for the first time in a long time with the girl who was running the bus ticket counter. We got a good deal again by signing up for some club card program, bought out tickets and then it was off to the old town.

I will start by saying that it reminded us a lot of Brugge, Belgium with its medieval style fortifications and buildings but maybe a little less quint and more touristy. It was the first place that we found most of the people spoke Russian and/or English as well as their native language, everywhere else people mainly spoke their native language and English (no Russian).  There was a small Christmas market in the center of old town that we stopped at. Then we walked through a part of the old town called St. Catherine's gate.

Old Town

St. Catherine's gate

St. Catherine's Gate

more St. Catherine's gate

Christmas market

We wondered the winding streets of old town and were ensnared by a handmade chocolate shop. It lured us in with the smell of warm chocolate and the open floor plan where they were actually in the process of making chocolate to fulfil tons of Christmas orders. They said it is one of their busiest times of year. One of the girls was crafting models of the city out of chocolate while others were making chocolate lollipops. After talking with the girls in the shop for a bit, they let us try small cups of hot chocolate which were amazing!

We left the shop and shortly there after found another chocolate shop but we less impressed as there was no open area where you could watch them make the chocolate nor did it even smell chocolatey.

We finally decided to call it a night after it got dark and headed back to our apartment. We stopped at a couple of small shops on the way to look at what they had in the way of food and ended up at a large market much like Stockmann's near our place. We grabbed some food and some beer to have with our sauna later that evening. Igor picked out a bunch of rather interesting looking items from fish to other types of meet (we tried blood sausage in Sweden and really like that actually). Anyway, we got home and made some food in our very minimally equipt kitchen, and when I say minimally I mean it. One pot, one pan, one lid, and that was it. Granted we had a hot water kettle and a coffee maker (which didn't really work) but for two nights it was fine.

After dinner we had a good sauna experience after some technical difficulties in the beginning, including us tripping the breaker switch, me having to go next door and talk to the owners to make sure that we flipped the right switches back on. Tripping the breaker switch a few more times, and then finally coming up with the solution of not putting on so much water at once. So yeah, before and during our sauna we had some beer. Once out we watched an episode of the really interesting tv show that Igor found called Black Mirror.

In the morning we slept in, tooled around the apartment for a bit then Igor wanted to go check out this pretty big lake called Lake Ulemiste. We walked all the way there and it turned out that there was a large shopping mall right next to it. By the way, on the way to the lake, we almost got lost into some sort of factory and then found a bouldering/climbing gym! Too bad we didn't bring our shoes. Anyhow, we went to the mall, walked around, found that they had a coat check, where we could leave our heavy coats (HURRAY!).

This mall we read was designed by psychologists to make people relax and enjoy their shopping experience with specific types of lighting and music, ect. The best part of this mall, which in my mind makes it the best mall in the whole world...it had a slide from the second floor to the first floor. So of course we did that!  We also found Igor a replacement for the adapter that he left at on the ferry the day after he bought it (remember?) lol. Found some cool chairs to hang around in. Got some tea, lunch and then each got a special fresh made waffle with yummy stuff on top. Igor got vanilla ice cream and a bunch of other fancy extras on his, it was some special Christmas one. I got banana and nutella. They were both delicious. As we walked we found a virtual reality (VR) booth. So Igor had his very first VR experience (I didn't do it, thankfully, as it make Igor feel nauseous for quite awhile afterward).

Swinging in our hanging chairs

Igor in the VR box

Playing Terminator

We left the mall and headed over to the lake. We walked for a bit looking for a spot to get at the actually lake but couldn't find one. We even went over to where the water treatment plant was (as Lake Ulemiste is part of Tallinn's water supply) and asked but they lady there didn't speak English or Russian so we kept walking. We finally decided that we should head back, which meant we gave up on seeing the lake up close and went back towards the center city. We found a nice coffee shop at some point in some mall that we wondered into unknowingly and got a cup of tea, coffee and split some staff recommended yummy cakes.  Then we took off to the port area just to walk around. We snapped some pretty good photos, I even got one of Igor pulling out his camera (a rare thing).

Tallinn port

Igor caught in the act of photoing

At some point we finally made it home; I did some laundry, while Igor fixed the sauna and made some food. I realized that there was no drier so hung up all our wet, clean, clothes in the sauna that was starting to heat up. FYI this is a really good way to dry cloths, it worked perfectly and really quickly! We had dinner and as I was checking on the clothes I noticed that the sauna was probably ready.  I messed up big time though, because once I saw that the sauna had made it to 80 degrees C I turned down the temperature. We got in and it progressively got colder until I fessed up to changing the temperature. Once we sorted that out and after some remarks about how he was going to freeze to death in the sauna lol we got the heat back up. I only stayed in for a short while Igor stayed in much longer, determined to make it 90 degrees C in there...he achieved it after tripping the power once. :)

Igor went to bed fairly early and I stayed up for a bit working and writing the blog. Then I went to bed too. And that folks was how we spent our time in Tallinn. We liked Tallinn, but I think my favorite so far is still probably Stockholm but the people in Helsinki we liked better. Igor's favorite was and is Helsinki.

Next up our bus ride and time in Riga, Lativa!