Tallinn Vacation part 4

2 for 1 today as we got the kids to bed early and I crapped out of the poker tournament pretty early. More on poker later, that might be a novel until itself. I will post the pics tomorrow.

Today we climbed on a portion of the old city walls and dumped boiling oil on unsuspecting passersby. There were also 3 towers you could climb up but the stairs were so narrow and windy it got a bit claustrophobic and very tiring. Carrying Sophia is a treat and each time I stopped for breath she would in her royal manner say 'no stop Daddy, more climbing now Daddy'. I assume these guys must have had their armor up in the towers all ready to go. I know they were tiny in the olden days but there is no way a guy with a shield is going up/down those spirals. The views were cool but the main point was to tire us out for the big ascent up St. Olaf's church.

This church (click here for the background story, you will hear it 92 times when you come to the city so get it out of the way now) has an 'observation platform' open to the public. The platform is 124 m (I think thats 360 feet or so) up and its narrow, windy stairs the whole way. Olden times people had small feet and made small stairs. Not only did I climb the thing which is impressive, I did it carrying a 30 lb kid which is also impressive but I also did the ascent and descent both almost totally on my toes. My calves actually fell off when I got back on the ground.

The real Hell though is that I am really, really afraid of heights. I have considered hypnosis and things before but never actually pursued it. I get anxious on glass elevators, am very uncomfortable near windows on buildings much higher than 15-20 stories etc. I think Jackson has inherited (is is genetic?) this as he shows real reluctance when it comes to heights. He is a daredevil in all other kid playing arenas but get him a few feet off the ground and he freezes up with a look that shows the specific feeling I recognize when I get panicy up high. I decided to go up this thing because from the ground the platform looks quite wide and I thought it would be a good moment for him to make the climb and then walk out there w/ me to show it can be overcome. This is getting a bit Hallmarky so we will jump to the scary bits. For the 'platform' they put up a 4' high railing around a sloped section of metal roof. To keep balance, there is a 5' wide board running all around the platform. It is not possible to pass someone unless you or they lean their body up against the fence (!!!!!!) and making the turn at the corner was so tight J nearly ripped his jacket squeezing through. I took a few pictures and he and I will consider this our Himalaya for some time. In fact please refer to him as Tenzing from now on.

Impressed with out bravery, we visited the church itself downstairs. Originally the place was Catholic so it has all the ornamental touches you would expect. Much of it has been painted over or buffed away by the Baptists who now meet there. I can no more imagine a Baptist congreation in this huge hall than I can imagine me tight rope walking 50 stories up in the air. 1 nice Baptist touch was to put speakers all throughout the pews so that you get high-decibel hell, fire and damnation no matter where you sit.

A cheap Greek place for lunch which was fine but when we ordered the 'Kebab looking things there in the picture' the Dad from My Big Fat Greek Wedding came flying out of the kitchen screaming 'its souvlaki'. In Greek restaurants they have fried cheese. That is a double down of 2 great things.

Next up is Fat Margaret (the old city tower not the 600 lb. model from those Spencer's gifts calendars. I know, I haven't been in Spencer's in about 20 years but they are bound to still have the same calendars and I am sure there is someone called Fat Margaret there.) and the Estonian Maritime museum. The tower was a tower, then a jail and now is a museum of very random ocean related accessories and ship models that in many cases have nothing at all in common w/ Tallinn. Not much of note but Sophia was in rare form really cute-ing up the inevitable old ladies at each floor. One lady in particular who was 2' tall and I thought blind, grabbed Tina kinda roughly by the arm and dragged her over to an old 47 mm deck gun from a Russian torpedo boat. She had us put the kids on the gun (by that I mean sit on the barrel about 5' off the ground) while she ran in circles pushing the gun around on its well-greased bearings. 1) I can't believe the thing still turns and 2) watching this millennium aged woman pushing my kids on a Russian gun merry-go-round officially counts as the randomest and funniest moment of the day.

Off to shop for more warm weather clothing to take back as gifts to our friends and family who live in some of the hottest parts of the US ( I just go where I am told).

Lite dinner at a jazz club that was setting up for a late crowd so we had the place to ourselves. Back to the room to drop off the family and I went to play poker. I will do a post on the tournament tomorrow hopefully but it was all done in about 90 minutes and I finished 8 of 18 when the top 3 spots got paid. Not great or awful play on part and not bad or good cards just kinda blah and all for $40 so really not bad.

Tina right now addressing postcards to old people in our family who like getting postcards stamped in foreign countries. I would say this is a bit lame but I just noticed that the stamps they gave us are from the 2004 Athens Olympics and have a naked dude on them. We are sending our older relatives a greeting from Tallinn and a picture of a little Greek........Tina edits these sometimes so I better just leave it at that.

So that catches me up and we are now in real time going forward. I may post some things prior to the trip but will put them in chronological so its easy to follow.

Final note for today is that my brother and his wife had a kid April 1st (US time). It ended up bing a c-section but Mom and baby are doing well. Cole Aricson Baker, 9lbs and 21". We have a few pics and Sophia is really jazzed but doesn't like the look of the umbilical stub and has asked me about 12 times to have it removed. Looking forward to meeting him when we get back in July.