Exploring the island and great news!

Today was a busy day. We got through some of the key attractions: Kaali meteorite site –Angla windmills, Panga cliffs, Odalätsi spring, flounder farm, a bunch of churches. These sites were nice but they are not worth the trip to the island. The nature is beautiful. But locals are selling off their forest. Maybe tomorrow will bring more surprises.

Another other interesting element of contrasts. One of the guides we got at the Information office had an entry about Tehumardi Memorial to commemmorate one of the bloodiest battles between Russian and German soldiers during WWII. Memorial looks like a giant sword with some faces cut in the handle part. Russian guide mentioned that the faces of brave soldiers who lost their lives during the war. Given the exhibits at the castle a day earlier, which brave soldiers were they? This offers some clarity, but does not help to resolve the conflict. Here is a more politically correct version.

One exciting thing about today's travels was that there are insane quantities of wild strawberries and blueberries everywhere. We never had so much in our lives. Even Isabella started to string two words together: “more wild-strawberries.” And when those were not coming fast enough she helped herself. We even found a different kind of wild strawberries – they were just as the other ones but the flavor was more like strawberry preserves – and very sweet. Irina says it is another wild-strawberry variety that grows on the fields. The berries were hard to separate from the stalks. And the stalks were very talk. Berry picking was delightful.

Some more highlights were Dan going for some coins in the Odalätsi spring. The water temperature was slightly above melting. There were not major finds but the hunt was worth it.

Now to the good part. In the evening, while we were at the pool, Georgia started to swim on her own!!! Yesterday she swam with a small arm floater she found at the pool. It should not have held her weight but we decided not to say anything then. And today she forgot to put in on when she jumped in and just kept going. This is soo awesome! This is like her first day walking. She is very excited about it. And she discovered that she can also swim on her back too.

Tomorrow, we will continue our trek South. Not sure about Internet access – will try to connect as we go. Will upload all pictures afterwards. So come back and reread the blogs.