It’s time to take the ferry back home to Stockholm.

The drive from Tartu to Tallinn is over two hours, but with all the extras, we need to leave Tartu around 6 hours before the ferry leaves.

Car check-in closes an hour before departure, and we want to be checked in at least half an hour before that deadline. Half an hour to navigate through Tallinn. Leave about an hour for lunch somewhere. And a five-hour project with a very strict deadline (we really, really don’t want to miss the ferry, after all!) needs at least an hour of extra slack for unexpected eventualities, such as a cycle race we once ran into just outside Tallinn.

Normally, though, we arrive in Tallinn with that extra slack hour unspent, and spend it in Kadriorg park in Tallinn. The park is so close to the ferry terminal that we can be reasonably sure there won’t be any major surprises there. Today it was pouring down so an hour at the park was not an appealing option. We ended up spending the hour in the parking lot of the ferry terminal.

Adrian’s turn to feel bored.

Ingrid feeling bored and twiddling with her plaits.

Adrian with his best friend Artur. Adrian totally adores him. Artur is all he talks about when we go to Estonia.

Artur is 10 years older than him and infinitely patient. They play Legos together; they go on merry-go-rounds together; they play Kingdom Rush together; they steal cookies from the kitchen for each other.

Tartu’s “Hansa days” festival. The activities were fewer this year compared to when we last visited; the market appears to be the main thing now. So we browsed the market and bought some nice things, as well as craft bread and craft ice cream. The area we enjoyed the most was around the old observatory, where the kids did some rocketry-related crafts and we helped/watched a scientist build and fuel and launch a rocket. (It was very loud and very fast.)

The kids topped off the day with bungee cord trampoline jumping. Ingrid learned how to do backflips. I was miffed that I was wearing a skirt and couldn’t give it a try.

An outing to Alatskivi manor.

I remember visiting the manor some decades ago. At that time it was derelict, although still structurally sound, and only traces of its grandeur were visible. Now it has been restored inside and out, and made very visitor-friendly.

There were many splendid rooms to explore (with chandeliers hand-blown in Murano!). In the basement we enjoyed an exhibition about some of the key jobs and roles in a manor, from valet and coachman to governess and housekeeper. The kids got to dress up in period(ish) costumes and waltz around the ballroom.

Every summer during our trip to Estonia, we visit an adventure park. It’s become a tradition almost, and it’s one of the activities we all look forward to the most. There is one park in Tartu (smaller but very conveniently located) and another one in Otepää (larger, more exciting). We went to Otepää this time.

Last year Ingrid was just a few centimetres short of the height limit for some of the routes in Otepää and she has been really crossing her fingers that she would be tall enough this time. And she was, barely! The last two routes (out of five) were physically quite challenging for her.

But not psychologically. She wasn’t afraid of the heights at all, not even at the final piece de resistance where we saw grown people sitting for minutes, near tears, building up their courage to make the jump. (It’s literally a leap of faith across a wide gap, holding on to a rope, aiming for the safety net on the other side. Not like in this photo where you glide across along a wire, but a free swing.)

1. I’m pushing Adrian to go to the men’s room on his own, rather than to the ladies’ room with me.

2. He hates the hand dryers in public restrooms because of the noise they make, and shakes his hands dry instead.

The old school dryers weren’t too bad, but modern ones are often way too loud even for my ears. The Dyson Airblades are the worst ones I’ve encountered. We both flee when someone starts using one nearby. I understand that they are good for the environment but I truly wish they didn’t exist.

Our traditional annual visit to the Ahhaa science centre. In between other attractions, we attended a workshop about blood pressure (and tried measuring each other’s blood pressure, with varying results), and the kids saw a chick hatch. The most fun they had was, I think, the building area, just like last year. Adrian took it very, very seriously.

Ingrid joined her friend for her riding lesson, while Adrian and I waited and watched.

It rained.

Adrian found a bench to climb and balance on.