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Sunday, September 17, 2006

A visit to Tallinn

I am back from
Tallinn, a city with a very special history. Over many, many centuries, Estonia has been occupied by different countries such as Germany, Russia, Sweden, expressed in all the buildings: medieval walls and towers, a Russian Cathedral, wooden houses….

The old Center is beautiful and impressive. But Tallinn is catching up with modern times. The city is a mix of many cultures and centuries though they are building modern offices and shops everywhere. There is noise, sand and dust at almost every corner. Tallinn is not only Skype-City, there is space for much more companies!

I loved being there amongst other Skype addicts. I only met great people and the kindness of the Estonians really touched me.
I talked to special people and about one I will blog soon. Unfortunately my luggage was left behind in Tallinn. KLM told me and others, that there wasn’t enough fuel to transport the entire baggage. The article about my special person is in my suitcase…

The food is special, tasty. I loved trying different dishes. Also their Liköör is nice!! I didn’t drink too much, I needed a clear head for the conferences!

The
Reval Hotel Central was comfortable, a huge room with a huge bath, almost the size of my own entire bathroom at home.
We were well looked after and I gathered a lot of knowledge.

It was strange to be back in Holland again. Where the weather in Tallinn was warm but bright, in Holland it is hazy and humid.

And typical Dutch: waiting on the airport and train stations again. But whilst waiting for the train in Amsterdam-Sloterdijk, I nearly got married!

I was sitting on a bench next to a beautiful Asian lady when a Turkish family arrived. Their youngest son was a child with the Down Syndrome and he was adorable. He asked if he could sit in between and yes, of course.

He talked about their trip home, that he would probably fall asleep when at home because he was tired. He asked what I was doing there, where I came from (ooohhh….. Schiphol airport, planes!!!) then asked the Asian lady what she was doing (working on her Pocket PC) and then he started to point from her to his father and vice versa.
His father asked him what was wrong and he replied: “You can marry her!!

We all laughed. He went on: “Marrying is very easy you know. Just hook your arm in hers and you are married
Then he took my arm, hooked his in and smiled at me: “This is how people get married

So, we are married now? I asked him. “Noooooo……. you also need to kiss!! But….. (big giggle) that is not what I am going to do now!!

Then their train arrived and we said goodbye to him, thankful for his happy attitude whilst waiting on a boring station.

But he suddenly turned around, blew me a kiss and said: “Bye sweetheart…”

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