After yesterday’s sightseeing, we went for a walk today, at Bodmin moor. The Cheesewring draws the biggest crowds, but I found the other, similar pile of rocks next to the Cheesewring more pleasing to the eye. But I guess it’s less exciting since it looks somewhat less ready to topple.

Even more interesting than any of the rock formations were the dozens of old, abandoned mining buildings dotted around the landscape. All still standing and looking strong (albeit roofless), over a hundred years after they were abandoned. I wish I could have seen each and every one of them up close.

Today also turned out rainy. Not so much that it really bothered us, except during lunch and snack breaks. Sandwiches get soggy when it rains on them. And once we got down from the moor, “wet” also meant “muddy”. Very muddy. Ideally we’d all have had rubber boots for this walk, but there’s a limit to how much you can pack for a one-week trip… So we came home with thoroughly sodden feet.

The weather forecast promised cool temperatures and rain all day today so we went to the Eden project and their giant bubble greenhouses. Even in there it was almost cold. Luckily there were some dry spells in the afternoon so we could see some of the plantings outdoors as well.

Rocky beaches and coves is what Cornwall is all about, for me. Carnewas beach and the Bedruthan Steps are probably the most spectacular example. A steep and narrow, winding staircase takes you all the way down from the clifftop to the beach. At low tide, it’s a lovely sandy beach where you can poke at mussel colonies and stranded jellyfish. At high tide, the beach is under several metres of water, and so is the bottom of the stairs.

Two views of the same beach, taken 4 hours apart:

We’re in Cornwall!

Back when Eric and I lived in London, we used to go on walking/driving holidays in various parts of Great Britain. We did Cornwall, Wales, Scotland, the Lake District, etc. Cornwall was one of my absolute favourites, and I’ve been longing to go back for a while. So here we are, in Cornwall for a week of walking and sightseeing.

Today we were sort of tired so we opted for sightseeing instead of walking, and visited Tintagel castle.

We flew to Newquay for a week of walking and touristing. It’s been a tiring day. An early morning flight, delays, transfer at Gatwick, lugging all the baggage around, a hurried lunch… This awkward combination of deadline after deadline and dead waiting time in between, and crowds and queues and cramped seats and one loud announcement after another (and you’re not even allowed to wear headphones during takeoff which is of course the noisiest part). Exhausting.

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 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.)