We went to Estonia together!	But first, we stopped in Paris.	We took a nap under the Eiffel Tower.
Then we walked around a bit.	I want to have a front door like this one day.	We took the metro almost everywhere.
We went to the Louvre.	Here's what the Louvre looks like on the inside.	We were intrigued by paintings that evoked the notion of flying saucers. Look closely at this one... you'll see it. "Annunciation Triptych" by Carlo Braccesco 1490 - 1500
This crucifixion scene tells the entire story from preparation to resurrection. But what is that up in the sky? "Les Mysteres de la Passion du Christ" by Antonio Campi, 1569.	I mean... right?!	"St. Francis receives the stigmata" by Beccafumi
Yeah, they have big paintings too.	"Mona Lisa" by Leonardo da Vinci, 1503.
The proportions of this woman intrigue me. "Portrait of Mademoiselle Caroline Rivière" by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, 1806	This piece is likely the work of potters of ancient Boeotia (Greece) sometime in 7th-6th century BC.	We were super excited to see hieroglyphics!
An inscription found with this piece explains that the king prayed to several gods during a drought. He credited Hemen the falcon god for flooding the Nile and expressed his gratitude with this object, circa 1069 - 30 BC.		There was a lot to contemplate here!
I just love this.	Unusually shaped heads! From 1800-1500 BCE.	More strange faces...
We saw an actual mummy! It was really creepy.
Did you know that the Egyptians also mummified non-human animals? This is a real mummy of a cat.	A falcon mummy	A sculpture of a giant head with an elongated skull. Priit for scale.
Being a Leo, I like lion things.	After all that walking, we decided to treat ourselves to the special vegan tea service at La Bauhinia in the Shangri-La Hotel.	This is what it looks like inside.
Whenever one of us got up to go to the bathroom, a waiter would run up and move our table so we wouldn't have to strain ourselves in any way. This was the staircase to the bathroom.		Yes, it was 80 Euros. But a bargain compared to the 1000 Euro per night (starting price!) rooms. And after what felt like miles of walking at the Louvre, we guessed that we deserved it (it turns out that we did, I just confirmed).
These are the grand cru teas (named like highly coveted wines). They are listed in order of altitude! I really wanted to "taste the terroir"... but the impression was that of regular old tea.	I don't remember exactly what these were, but they were delicious!	From L to R: Chocolate hazelnut cup with gold leaves, raspberry chocolate something, a mini cheesecake with strawberry gelée topped with a vanilla cookie.
The entire spread of caloric sin!	These were the savory bites... little sandwiches with different fillings.	Two types of scones – warm and served with fresh vegan cream.
For a second, we thought maybe we'd save some for later. That second ended.	Outside the Shangri-la, here is Priit feeling like the King of Paris, thanks to the soft piano music, white glove treatment and intense sugar high.	After La Bauhinia, we stopped at this all vegan market to stock up on snacks for our travels. They had the best veggie bratwurst from Germany. We bought something like 12 sausages, 10 tofu sticks, a bag of dehydrated veggie chicken, a few cans of something, some bags of ready-to-eat french grains and beans, faux fois-gras, a few types of vegan cheese, and a bunch of things I don't remember.
Small. Smaller. Smallest cars on Paris street.	We were in Stockholm long enough to get on the wrong train in the wrong direction, ask for help, walk to a veggie restaurant and then uber to our ferry. This is a picture of my super-ambitious map of all the places I thought we might go (before I realized Priit had no idea how to read the signs).	As it turned out, our sole Stockholm destination was a vegan Swedish buffet. At this point, you might be wondering how we can eat this much. We don't have an answer for you.
Oh Stockholm, why do your people walk so funny?	While waiting for our uber ride, we tried to take the perfect togetherie (selfie X 2).	Then Priit got silly.
And some parading Swede photobombed us (I wish I could say that more often).	As we rode through Stockholm on the way to our ferry, this bizarre American song about a girl named Alice played. I've never heard it before, but apparently it's HUGE in Northern Europe. It's been playing there non-stop since it came out in 1977. Priit and the Swedish cabbie sang it and were appalled that I didn't know the words.	It's a beautiful city, I wish we had seen more of it.
The ferry leaves Stockholm around 5PM and arrives the next morning in Tallinn.
During the ride out of Stockholm we passed a ton of these tiny islands, some of them were so small they just had one house. Apparently, there are 30,000 of them!	Priit is trying to find "liquid courage" in this non-alcoholic beer so he can more confidently speak to the ferry staff in Estonian.	Some swanky photo of the inside of our swanky ship.
The swanky hallway.	This isn't our room, but it looked something like this. The furniture folds out into a bed.	There were some swanky concerts on this thing! A big club-like atmosphere here, some other cabaret-style room, and a soulful singer-songwriter who played angst-y 90s grunge rock.
Instead of indulging in the alcohol binge (and subsequent hangover) that appeared to be mandatory on board, we chose to sit back and relax in this luke warm hot tub while gazing out the window and listening to the soulful sounds of America's Got Talent blaring through the staff's television.	This swanky buffet came with unlimited drinks, a freebie that led to several loud passengers, a few near-fist fights and at least one official arrest when the ferry docked.	We can see Tallinn in the distance!
Anticipation is building!	Tallinn looks like a fairy tale.	Reunited with the Umbsaars, we stopped for tea.
Then Tõnis had to go back to work, so we followed him.	Working for a startup in one of the tech captials of the world means that Tõnis has the coolest office I (or you) have ever seen.	It has a meeting room filled with balls!
The obligatory ping pong table.	And scooters. In case you grow tired of the day to day ennui of walking.	Swings. For real.
These chairs provide a sound-proof zone so that when you sit in them, you can really hear yourself think.	Shhh. He's thinking.	And now, he's lounging in a giant hammock on the roof.
Taking a break from the office tour.	The aforementioned break wasn't enough for some of us. Luckily, there are napping pods.	They really went the extra mile to make the bathroom avatars anatomically correct.
Yes. A sauna.	Outside Tõnis' office.	All that high tech awesomeness lives right next door to this guy, who uses a broom made out of branches. Yeah, that's a thing.
In Turba, the village where Priit grew up, kids still play in the street. Not like derelict kids with bad parents, just regular kids with good parents. It's quaint like that.	It has one store – this is it.	The town is famous for its peat bogs. This is the old railway station that used to ship the peat to Tallinn, where it would be burned up and used as a heat source.
This is the post office.	Most of Turba looks like this.
The next day, we went to this little seaside resort town named Haapsalu.		Most of the restaurants were closed for winter, but we managed to find a few shops.
	And this restaurant, which served delicious freshly baked bread.	Then we strolled around the old castle grounds.
	Historical photo of the resort town from the early 1900s.	The next day, we went mushroom hunting in the forest.
Look at these snazzy rain boots Tiina let me borrow! It is important to look good when mushroom hunting (so the mushrooms will want to come home with you).	We didn't find many mushrooms, but we DID find a ton of cranberries (and some other berries I don't know the name of in English) in this bog!	Just, you know, hanging in the bog.
My favorite vegan restaurant in Tallinn.	Modern building in Tallinn – I believe this is the university. They had robots mowing the lawn! Like roombas, but lawnmowers.	Hospital pharmacy in Tallinn... I snapped this photo for Carlie.
And here's a pic of a real Estonian pharmacist (trying to make it sound exciting)!	The War of Independence Victory Column	The old walled city
	I loved walking around vanalinn (old town) Tallinn.
This is Toompea, the beloved House of Parliament.	Right across from Toompea sits this old Russian Orthodox church. To me, it is symbolic of the ever-present threat of Russian influence.	This little guy was popular with all the tourists. He posed in all the photos.
Even this one (Priit on the left)!	Look at that view!
This is the main square, filled with restaurants, craft stalls and antique shops.	This is it! The oldest continuously operating pharmacy in all of Europe, est. 1422.	In the middle column, instructions for making your own 16th century Klarett (in English)!
Tincture and oil press, 1749.	Water distillation apparatus, used for the preparation of medications and for cleaning instruments. Early 1900s.	Arsenic, Cyanide and Opiates
	See, it's still operational!	Sea buckthorn is common in Estonia. You can even buy it as a juice in the gas station. I've just started to notice it in expensive herbal products in the US. But it's not new... Estonians have known about its health-giving properties for centuries!
Birch trees are everywhere in Estonia... read about the health benefits in paragraph 2.
Pharmacists grew their own ingredients.	An old microscope	Dried medicinal plants were kept in a well-ventilated attic in wooden boxes or chests.
		Agar-agar = vegans use this seaweed product as a gelatin substitute. I wonder what the pharmacists used it for?
I'm all for herbal remedies, but sun-bleached dog feces and dried toads? No thank you.	Spiritometer - I wonder how it works?	Instrument used for making pills
I think that is the pharmacy in the background of this photo.	I just love these buildings.	A picture made entirely of amber! There were lots of shops selling amber in the old town, but Heiki and Tiina told me that it's not really an Estonian thing. It's more Latvian.
There were a lot of artists on this cobblestone street.	This is where Estonia's singing revolution took place.	Priit is reinacting it.
	This is the TV tower that was almost invaded by the Russians as they tried to regain power over Estonia in the early 90s. Thankfully, the two engineers inside threatened to set off the alarm system which would release a toxic gas (killing any invaders but also themselves)! The Russians waited outside in tanks and if they had taken the station Estonia might not be free today. Then Estonia declared its freedom and was recognized internationally so the tanks went home. It was a very close call!	On our drive to the southern part of the country, we stopped to look at this. What used to be the home of a rich German Baron, later became a school. It is where Heiki and his aunt studied... and she is currently the oldest living alumni of the school!
The creek in front of the school.	Interesting sculptures we saw inside the art room of the school.	We literally just walked into the school and started looking around. None of the teachers asked why we were there, or even acted uncomfortable. You can do that in Estonia!
	This is the cellar outside the school. I liked the architecture of it.	We ate in a vegan restaurant in Tartu (the big university town in the south). It was called "Upside Down" and if you look carefully, you'll see the fake grass and upside down plants and mushrooms hanging from the ceiling. The floor was blue and had clouds painted on it.
Then we drove even further south. This map shows all of the points of interest in Lõuna-Eesti (South Estonia).	We visited Vastseliina castle, which is situated on the border of Old Livonia.	The chapel in the castle contained a little prayer altar and people came from all over Europe to pray here because a miracle happened here.
This explains how and why people took pilgrimages back in those days.		Here's the story of the miracle that took place.
That creek marked the border with Livonia.	Inside the turret of the castle.	Mis sa hiilid, Ema?
	Just look at the view outside!	We were really high up!
	Inside the castle museum, Priit tried to capture exactly the same dumbfounded expression as the wax model.	That's the one!
We went to see where the World Heritage-recognized Seto people live.	Here's what the Seto people look like.	We stopped for lunch at a little place inside a Seto traditional village.
It was getting chilly outside, and inside the restaurant there was a wood stove that heated up this bench. Heiki took a little rest before lunch.	Here's the wood stove. Heiki is in the background.	Priit went outside to make calls on his cell phone. Old village, new technology. I liked the contrast.
The restaurant felt like we were in somebody's home (I'm pretty sure we were!).		There was cute little handmade artwork everywhere.
Because of all the rain, Estonia has a lot of mushrooms!	The Saatse Seto Museum	Inside the museum
	A little poisonous snake we found by the outhouse next to the museum.	Driving through Russia for a quick second. I was scared! That clearing of the trees represents where the border patrol goes or something.
As a non-Russian citizen without a visa, you're allowed to drive or ride... but if you stop you'll get arrested!	I was so worried... what if we got a flat tire?! Thankfully the Russian adventure lasted only a few minutes and then we were safely back in Estonia.	Back in Tartu, we stopped at a supermarket for snacks. This pro-vegan message was spotted on a car outside. I think it means, "I am vegan. I love vegan food."
The sunsets were really beautiful. It's so difficult to really capture it in a cell phone pic. But Priit tried! I found about 100 of these on my phone after the trip (I was car-napping at the time).
By then, Külli and Madis were back from their trip to Turkey, so we went to their house. Right away, Priit found and rode the dirt bike.		We visited Heiki's aunt and she showed us a lot of old pictures.
Heiki and Tiina's wedding. Glad to see he is wearing kikilips (bow tie)!
	We went to see the new grounds for Priit's cousin's demolition derby, and this mural was spotted on an abandoned building nearby.	We got to take a VIP tour of Külli's knitting factory!
Different looms make different patterns and are used with different colors of yarn.		Respooling takes a long time so they use these giant spools.
You can see the pattern emerging below	The loom in action	This is the finished edging that was created
Here's me with the Boss Lady herself! I'm wearing the scarf she got me in Turkey.	Viktor took us on a tour of the old German Baron's estates.	We wandered through the city center of Tallinn on our way to meet Priit's friends for lunch.
I tried to dive into every retail store I could find... because at this point, the weather was starting to get colder and I was unprepared!	Feeling much warmer at this point (in my new subarctic-rated sweater), we went out to dinner with friends in this Pirate-themed restaurant. The entrance is there behind us.	Inside the pirate ship
This is the castle tower where Priit's entire family surprised us with a party!		Mor information about the castle
	Inside, two guides took us through a time machine (elevator) that showcased a different era on every floor.	They showed satirical videos and made us dress up in costumes.
These two talented guides acted out every character from every era!	This was the room where we "got married"	We ended here, where there was a dinner waiting for everybody! And the two guides/actors became our waitors.
I headed back to Los Angeles (Tallinn-Paris-Reykjavik-Los Angeles), while Priit stayed behind for a week to catch up with friends and family.	Tallinn Airport's mission is to be the "Cosiest airport in the world." I didn't dare climb into one of these sleeping pods at 4AM. If I did, I knew I would certainly miss my flight!	This airport library wasn't open that early... if I had seen it, I would have better understood the coziness!
If the Tallinn airport is the world's cosiest, Reykjavik's airport has to be the most hipsterest. The entire airport smelled like fresh wood, craft beer and espresso. It made me want to visit Iceland.	This was the most popular coffee/juice bar in the Reykjavik airport.	Adorable tourist shop that sold Icelandic gourmet treats. There weren't too many vegan ones... I considered bringing home some Icelandic moss (good for making vegan gelatin-like desserts), but I knew I would never actually use it so I just appreciated it there on the shelf!
Cold Iceland. Hot coffee. Makes sense.	Flying over Greenland, I was excited to see glaciers. They still exist!	Greenland = very icy, not too green.