5 June: THIS HAS BEEN A STRANGE DAY. At the tourist information centre I ask where I may find out about my grandparents' residence from the 1920s to '40s. They direct me to the Ministry of the Interior. I'm not admitted to see anyone in person, but the security officer in the lobby gives me a number and points to a wall phone. The woman on the other end speaks English in a halting Russian accent. She keeps asking, "Why do you want to know where your mother lived?" Don't these people have any mothers to understand my motive? Or are [View Full Entry]

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4 June: FIRST FULL DAY in Tallinn, my mother's hometown. I buy a book of bus tickets at the local supermarket, then pile onto one of the trolley buses going the 3 km into "Old Town." And I do take my verbs seriously -- in spite of the busy car traffic (I have already seen one thoroughfare with six lanes each way!) the buses and trams are packed, and not just during rush hour but at 11 am and 9 pm! When I immigrated to Canada 41 years ago, my arrival in Montreal happened to coincide with Expo 67. This time [View Full Entry]

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2 June: VICTORIA TO CALGARY in a Canadian-built Bombardier jet. I'm surrounded: next to me a young mother with her contented seven-month old daughter, behind us another babe in arms. I take care not to have the little drooler pat my dress pants with her wet hands. These clothes will have to last a while yet. After a couple hours' waiting time for my connecting flight I'm off in a Lufthansa Airbus 330 on a nine-hour crossing to Europe. 3 June: FRANKFURT INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT is rambling and drab; certainly doesn't compare to Paris, London, Chicago. Trying to get useful i [View Full Entry]

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ESTONIA AND GERMANY by plane, train, ferry and bicycle... And only a week until lift-off, yet still so much to do! Sounds like a common lament of travellers, doesn't it? My trip to Europe is meant to be a voyage both into the past and the future. Early this year I stumbled across the website of an international theatre festival, "Theater der Welt", to be held in Halle, Germany in June. My discovery provided the impetus to wanting to see what's out there in the world of theatre and other performing arts. It took some meticulous planning, but I've managed to [View Full Entry]

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