Monday, July 17, 2023

Washington-Munich/München-Riga-Tallinn

Tallinn (Picture taken by Charlotte/Charlotte hat hier fotografiert)

Peter drove Charlotte to the airport early Saturday morning.  She had a normal flight to D.C. and met Jonathan in the airport for lunch.  But then, bad luck struck: Storms prevented her flight to leave on time from Dulles and she arrived in Munich much later than anticipated.  She missed her connecting morning flight to Tallinn and had to wait until the evening local German time before she could fly on a different flight to Riga and from there to Tallinn.  First she was told that she would miss her flight from Riga to Tallinn, but then that flight was also delayed and she was able to catch it.  She arrived after midnight in Tallinn and had to find a means of transportation to her hotel.  The hotel was locked and her phone did not work in Estonia.  She sent us an e-mail asking us to call the hotel for her (there was a phone number you had to call after hours).  We called the hotel and they finally let her in.  Then there was a problem with the key to the room she is sharing with another girl and it took ages for her to get in.  She managed to a get a few hours of sleep before her ballet intensive started.  We talked briefly with her via Google Chat today and were glad that she has finally settled in (though the hotel food is atrocious).  What an adventure!

Good bye!
Auf Wiedersehen!

Peter hat Charlotte früh am Samstagmorgen zum Flughafen gefahren.  Ihr Flug ging nach Washington, wo sie mit Jonathan im Flughafen zu Mittag gegessen hat.  Leider gab es dann Unwetter, so daß ihr Flug nach München nicht pünktlich abfliegen konnte.  Sie sollte früh in München ankommen und gleich nach Tallinn weiterfliegen, doch den Anschlußflug hat sie verpaßt.  Sie mußte den ganzen Tag im Flughafen verbringen.  Man hat ihr einen Flug nach Riga und dann nach Tallinn angeboten und dann hieß es, daß sie den Flug von Riga nach Tallinn nicht mehr kriegen würde.  Doch auch der Flug von Riga nach Tallinn hatte Verspätung und so hat sie ihn noch bekommen und ist dann nach Mitternacht in Tallinn eingetroffen.  Sie mußte dann eine Transportmöglichkeit zum Hotel finden, was nach einigen Anläufen auch geklappt hat.  Doch das Hotel war abgeschlossen und man sollte anrufen.  Leider gehen unsere amerikanische Handys nie im Ausland und so hat sie uns einen E-Mail geschickt, damit wir das Hotel anrufen und sie reingelassen werden konnte.  Auch dann hörten die Probleme nicht auf, weil ihr Zimmerschlüssel nicht paßte und erst nach einigen Versuchen konnte sie endlich ins Bett fallen.  Viel Schlaf hat sie nicht bekommen, weil am nächsten Morgen ihr Ballettkurs angefangen hat.  Das war heute.  Sie hat uns später mit Google Chat dann angerufen, damit wir wußten, das jetzt alles im Großen und Ganzen in Ordnung war (das Essen im Hotel scheint aber sehr schlecht zu sein).  So ein verrücktes Abenteuer!  

I drove Miriam and Flora to a free summer art class today and while they were crafting, Veronika and I went shopping and to the library.  This afternoon, Veronika and Flora had their last choir practice before their concert on Wednesday.  We have a bad air quality alert again, due to the wildfires in Canada.

Smoky skies
Rauchiger Himmel

They are adding a wing to the hospital where Veronika and Flora were born.
Sie bauen an dem Krankenhaus an, in dem Veronika und Flora geboren worden sind.



Library door
Eingang zur Bücherei

The terrace was open today.
Die Terrasse war heute auf.




Heute habe ich Miriam und Flora zu einem kostenlosen Sommerkunstkurs gefahren und bin dann mit Veronika in den Supermarkt und die Bücherei gefahren.  Nachmittags hatten Flora und Veronika ihre letzte Chorprobe vor ihrem Konzert am Mittwoch.  Wir haben wieder Rauchwarnungen und schlechte Luft hier, weil es in Kanada immer noch brennt.

Choir practice
Chorprobe

Veronika's Sunday cake
Veronikas Sonntagskuchen

There is a mushroom growing in my cactus flower pot!
Bei meinem Weihnachtskaktus wächst ein Pilz!




6 comments:

  1. Tallinn looks beautiful. I'm sorry Charlotte had such a difficult start to the intensive. Flying has been so confusing and stressful lately. I guess we need to be thankful that all arrive safely at their destinations, albeit late. I hope all goes smoothly now, even if the food is so terrible (that's a shame). I'm truly looking forward to hearing about Estonia, a country I know nothing about and so should at least read a wikipedia article tonight . . maybe . . though it's late and I should get some sleep. The choir practice and art class sound very nice and Veronika's cake looked very good . . was it a lemon cake? And the mushroom growing amidst the cactus is very interesting!

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    1. I think it is very pretty and lots of the old Soviet things have disappeared. I think there are many strikes going on in European airports. Charlotte said there were lots of angry Germans in Munich, cursing, yelling, and crying. We were very relieved to hear that Charlotte had made it to her hotel. We even contacted my cousin once removed in Munich in case she had to spend a night there. Apparently the fridge in the hotel was broken and that caused the food to be so bad. Now the fridge has been repaired, but I am not sure the food has improved. But at least it is not raining! It was supposed to rain all week. Estonia has many medieval buildings and is an interesting little country.
      Tomorrow is the concert at the county fair. In all those years (over 20), we have never been at the county fair, but tomorrow we will go.
      It was a fruit cake with a lemon sauce. It was really good.
      The mushroom is very strange. I plucked it and put outside. I don't think it can be good for the cactus.

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    2. Oh, I'm glad it wasn't raining! I think Veronika likes lemon sauces, her meatloaf had a lemon cream sauce. Both sauces sound very good. We used to go to the county fair near my sister when the girls were younger, and then they became too busy with dance concerts. I'm glad we were able to attend when they were little . . maybe we can do so now that they are older! How good that you could finally go, and it really looked wonderful!

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    3. I never thought about those sauces, but you might be right! The lemon cream sauce went with the Savoy cabbage, though, not the meat loaf. I think I did not write that quite right. It is nice that your girls also remember county fairs. Especially all the animals are good for small children. We took Jonathan to a county fair in South Bend, IN, but Peter does not remember that.

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  2. What a start for Charlotte, thank goodness you were able to phone the hotel for her, she must have been exhausted. I hope she manages to find alternative food options or that the food situation improves, she will need sustenance for all that dancing! You've had a busy week or so with lots of fun activities, it must have been lovely to join Peter on his trip rather than staying at home. Sorry to hear about the wild fires, they are occurring in Europe too, most noteably Greece with raging temperatures in France and Spain. I hope you've had a good start to your week, love San xx

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    1. It was quite crazy! I don't think the food has improved so far. She was supposed to get breakfast at the hotel and then buy her own food for the other meals, but yesterday she did not even know where to buy food! She could not find a grocery store and also no cafés. She did get pizza from the ballet people (it was a welcome picnic), but they won't feed her again. I sent her a list with places that should sell food and I do hope she will find them. I heard about those high temperatures. They even shut down the Acropolis! I have to do lots of driving this week because the girls are doing art and then there is the choir concert, but so far so good I hope your week is off to a good start as well.

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