The Journey to Europe

So… my journey here, to Sweden, was thankfully relatively uneventful. We had a good 8 hour flight to Hong Kong, with some delicious food! Mum and I couldn’t believe the quality of the food on Cathay Pacific! Amazing. There really isn’t much to write on this leg of the journey other than the guy sitting next to the window… did not pee the entire journey! That amazed me, he must be a nurse!

​Side note, Danae has become a low key flight stalker! She knew exactly where we were, when we landed and the seats we were in! Freaky! So I thought to myself, we could just do it and suck it up but then I thought, “hey what is the harm in asking?!”. So I went to the counter and asked what it would cost for a seat change, mind you this was like a minute until boarding the fancy business class people, but I didn’t realise. Maybe that’s the trick, get them in a moment of weakness, to get what you need! Anyway, they said it would be 400HKD each but then, given the time pressures and my pleasant smile, they said, “don’t worry, we can give them to you for free”. I was so grateful!! Mum and I felt very grateful we were given better seats, which turned out to be really cool, more on that shortly.

​When we got onto the flight, turns out we were sitting next to an Estonian living in Australia and she has promised to give us the names of some of the amazing shops in Tallinn, the secret ones, that sell Estonian Käsitöö items that mum and I are obsessed with. She shared stories about her childhood as, what we called, a “competitive dancer” and she has danced in many Tantsupidu’s (Dance Festivals). I tried to convince her to join our dance group, or connect with the one in Brisbane… and our National Choir!! Let’s see what happens! The other thing that I am grateful for on this flight is I had the most delicious salad! It was a good little insight into Nordic food again and inspired me to create it when I get home, super tasty and super healthy!

I remember when we were flying over Eesti I was SOOOOO excited! The flood of emotions that I felt I was so close to home that I could feel it all welling up in my throat! I had a little tear run down my cheek because I felt so connected to Estonia and was feeling so grateful that I was so close to the nature, the forests, the people, the culture and all the things I value about this country. I have not been back here since 2019, for a very different holiday. This time, even though we are stopping in Sweden first, I am so full of joy and groundedness, I can almost feel it all over my body. I can not wait to explore it again, with a different lens, different way of thinking and with different intention. 

​We got to Helsinki after a 15ish hour flight. We flew around and under Russia and Ukraine, as I assume they are no fly zones. It took longer than normal. When we got to Helsinki, we went through the strictest boarder security I have ever seen! But hey, safe is best! Mum coincidently sniffed out the amazing Kalevala shop where she instantly spotted the most amazing piece of jewellery, where she would have had to take out a second mortgage to be able to keep for herself! We then made the final journey from Helsinki to Stockholm. It was short, uneventful AND our bags arrived! We were so happy to finally be in Sweden after a VERY long journey!

The first words I said to mum when we got off the plane was "Mum, we live in Europe now, I am not doing that again". She graciously accepted it and we planned out my career as an Academic, a Nurse and working for the Estonian Government (more on that later) as she was in total agreement with me.
​Marissa xx