London-Berlin-Tallinn

I just got back from a long weekend in Tallinn, Estonia. I had the best time ever and over the next couple of days I'll share my experiences. The start of my vacation was slightly ominous but things went so well that it ended up being just the fun of travelling.

I was a bit worried about my flight as bad weather in London during the week had meant that many flights were cancelled or delayed so I had my fingers crossed that things would go well. And things started out well. My flight took off on time (Friday, 6:45am). I was pretty knackered as I'd had to take the Terravision Bus to Stansted Airport leaving at 4:20am. Instead of knitting, I was napping. Then about an hour into the flight, a very friendly pilot warned us that we would have to land in Berlin as the plane was experiencing technical problems. He tried to assure us that it was not an emergency landing but as easyJet did not have engineers in Tallinn, we had to land in Berlin. As you can imagine, most tried to put on a brave face but no one wants to hear that the plane you're flying in is experiencing technical problems.

Things went well, and we landed in Berlin without a problem. When the plane was landed it was making a very funny noise and we figured that's why the engineers were called. We then sat on the plane for around half an hour and then the pilot informed us that the engineers had taken pictures of the problem and taken it back to headquarters to check the manual. Hmmm... we thought, the engineers need to check the manual? Then the pilot informed us that he was in talks with easyJet headquarters to discuss our 'rescue package'. So we sat and sat... It was freaking hot on the plane. The door was at least opened so we got a little air.

I marvelled at the fact that few people had things to do - so of course they fretted. I had heard that Tallinn was a popular location for stag parties and that was pretty obvious at the number of men travelling in groups on the plane. They of course had begun drinking and were very annoyed that drinks were not being served while we were stuck waiting. Happily for some of them, a few had brought The Sun to read and discuss; I got to listen to which of the glamour models were good looking and who weren't all that.

I was no longer sleepy so I pulled out my knitting and started Breathe Deep. A couple of hours later, the pilot told us that our plane could not be serviced but luckily there was an empty plane in Berlin so we were able to take that plane. We were then put on buses while the other plane was serviced and readied by the cabin crew. The buses meandered a bit on the runway, I guess to keep us entertained. We then boarded the plane and landed safely in Tallinn. What a way to start a vacation!!!

I managed to nearly finish one of the mittens and completed the second one in the few hours I wasn't sightseeing, shopping, dancing, drinking.



Pattern: Breathe Deep by Kirsten Kapur

Yarn: Malabrigo Yarn Merino Worsted (Glazed Carrot) approx. 0.8 skein

Needles: 4 mm / US 6 circular

I gifted these mittens to my friend (and host) as a thank you for putting me up and entertaining me in Tallinn.