Week 48 - Lithuania and Estonia

After a yummy breakfast, we started the day with a walking tour of the old town of Riga. Our tour guide was funny and knew everything about the days under the Soviet Union and everything they'd done since. It was beautiful but they don't shovel their snow and it was hard walking on the cobble stones. After a yummy lunch at a place normal Latvians eat at, we had a braiding class that was not super successful with a teacher who didn't really teach, just handing out supplies and written directions. I did find some souvenirs at the shop it was at and after going to a regular yarn shop where I only bought a single skein of yarn, we all went to a welcome dinner at a wonderful restaurant on the river with windows all around. We got to know our fellow travelers a bit, which was nice.

Anne and I went to an early breakfast then walked to the castle on the river before heading back to the hotel for a knitting class with our designer for the rest of the morning. Anne and I got sandwiches for lunch then we were off on another walking tour - this time of art nouveau houses, which Riga is know for. We went to a farmers market type thing (they said it was a Christmas market but not so much) then we got 30 minutes in a fabulous craft store that had the entire second floor of yarn. It was super cheap and I had to be an adult and limit what I bought but I did stock up on some needles. Anne, Celine and I had supper at a Swedish restaurant by the hotel, which was delish. I could not fall asleep that night and was still up at 2:30. Jet lag was nuts this trip, maybe because we were 8 hours off Nebraska time, which was more than I'd ever dealt with.

Wednesday was a travel day. I was shocked to see that the main highway between Riga and Estonia was one lane in each direction. Apparently the road to Russian in the east is much bigger. We stopped for lunch in a restaurant in a little village, at a cute shop in the middle of nowhere and then a wool mill. Tallinn was completely different from Riga - much more modern and busy. Our hotel was in the center of a bustling, bright downtown area rather than the old town we stayed in in Riga. We had supper in a restaurant by the hotel and settled in for an early evening.

We woke up to light snow but it wasn't particularly cold. We went to an Estonia heritage park where they had buildings from all different time periods in Estonia's history. One was an apartment unit from a collective farm and they had each of the 4 apartments set up to represent pre-Soviet, Soviet, post-Soviet and modern. It was fascinating. We had a tasting of Estonian food and walked through gently falling snow. It was magical and one of the highlights of the trip. We went to a museum on the way back in an old palace. When we got back to the hotel, we went across the street to the mall and had pizza in the food court. It was a wonderful day.

The snow was less magical on Friday, when we had a walking tour of old town. The wind was whipping and it was bitter cold. Our tour guide took pity on us and took us to a cafe for hot chocolate to warm up. We went to the Christmas market that afternoon and it was completely underwhelming. There were only 30 or 40 booths and most of them had food or booze and the few that were selling things were not handmade. It was not what I expected. We did some shopping on our own on the way back to the hotel, where we warmed up before heading back to a restaurant that overlooked the market, which was all lit up and very pretty. It went downhill from there.

I was halfway through dinner when I started feeling icky. Before long, I was puking in the restaurant bathroom. I went back to the hotel and spent the next 12 hours in and out of the bathroom on the toilet with the runs while simultaneously puking in an ice bucket. I haven't been that sick in I don't know how long. We had a class scheduled for Saturday morning but I skipped it and curled up in the fetal position and willed myself to keep immodium down. It took 3 to stop the cramping. We had to check out of our rooms at noon but weren't leaving for the airport until 1:30 so we sat in the lobby. I made the mistake of eating a yogurt that Celine had picked up for me. I puked it all up in a trashcan at Estonia TSA as they threw our knitting needles in the trash. Not pretty. 

At least that was the last of it. I slept the entire flight to London and we took a train to the city then a taxi to our hotel. Our room was tiny but clean and I fell into bed and slept like a rock.

I had made plans on Sunday to meet up with my friend Maria, who was with me in Orleans on my junior year abroad. I had warned her that I'd been sick but was OK to meet. We met them at Paddington then took the tube to a Finnish Christmas market in a Finnish church. We had some coffee and cake there then went to a pub for lunch. It was right on the Thames so had gorgeous views and it was great to catch up with Maria and her husband, John. I managed to eat some mashed potatoes and sausage but not much yet it felt like I'd eaten a side of beef. We walked a bit then said our goodbyes. 

Our friend Sue was coming into town to hang out for the evening. We met her in the hotel bar and ended up staying there all night, chatting and knitting. I opted for ginger ale instead of alcohol. We didn't stay up very late (Sue had an early train home the next morning) but it was fun to see her and she was fine with not eating. She's a stick who is not motivated by food. 

So not the best end to the week. The timing wasn't as bad as it could have been but I hadn't been that violently ill for decades. We had 2 more days in London before we'd fly home and I had high hopes that I'd be better quickly.