Restless Prairie Girl

I'm continuing my blog series on my trip to India back in early 2007.  To read the previous post click here.    Thursday January 25 th  , 2007 -    After a light breakfast at our hotel in Jaipur  we toured the Jantar Mantar which is a collection of nineteen astronomical instruments built by the founder of Jaipur in 1734.  It is a World Heritage Site.  Then we walked over to the City Palace.   On the ride over we had seen the  Hawa Mahal (Palace of the Winds) which sits beside that palace.   It is such a striking building and I recall monkeys scrambling all over it though it doesn't show that in this picture.   On to the City Palace! which dates from the 18th century.  While there was some beautiful artwork I commented in my journal that it wasn't all that exciting.  Of course, I had to pay for this picture but it was worth it!!!  Could not resist this shot of the pigeon on the elegant chandelier!  After the short tour of

After four great days in Helsinki it was time to head over to the last destination on my Scandinavian adventure.  Estonia is technically not part of Scandinavia but is considered a nordic country.  I decided to add it on as it was so close to Helsinki.  I debated visiting Latvia and Lithuania as well but I decided almost four weeks of living out of a suitcase was long enough.  As it was I was getting to the point of thinking "London, London, London".... I bade a fond farewell to my awesome Airbnb host Ani and made my last ten-minute trek to the metro station for my last trip where I disembarked at the Central Station.  I managed not to get misplaced at the station this time (yay!) and headed outside to hop the tram that would take me to the ferry port.  Helsinki has four different ferry terminals so I double checked I was heading to the right one!   I'd never have seen this chappie if I hadn't gone on this particular ferry... Remember him?  I am glad I too

My fourth and last day in Helsinki dawned and being June 21st it was Midsommer.  I was knackered from three busy days so I had a pretty relaxing morning sitting on the balcony with Ani drinking coffee and setting the world to rights.  Ani then walked me over to the seaside park and promenade near her flat so I wandered a bit and sat on a bench by the sea for a half hour or so.  It wasn't the most exciting seaside promenade I've been on but better than what I've got at home!  I love any opportunity to be by the sea.  I don't think I've ever seen a swan by saltwater.  There was a decent beach if I'd been so inclined...I wasn't.   I popped into the nearby convenience store and got a 24-hour transport pass as my three-day pass had run out.  Back onto the metro to the Kallio station and then hopped on a tram to get to the Hakaniemen market.   I had a quick trip through the market planning to come back later to "get serious" about sho