Instead of the usual extra post about food, I'm posting about beverage. Since we don't drink alcohol (and therefore didn't partake in any Russian vodka), you might be wondering what there is to say. But Jacob and Mike were on a quest to try every new/interesting soda they could find. The above "apple lemonade" was recommended by our tour guide (Heli) in Tallinn, and it was delicious. She said it's based on an old Soviet recipe.
The most enigmatic beverage-related story comes from Russia, where Jacob and Mike kept buying some kind of stale-bread soda (above). They found it revolting but for some reason continued drinking it. I tried a couple of them--it was awful.
The diet Coke in the above picture is apparently the absolute most delicious Diet Coke anywhere. Both Jacob and Mike are Diet Coke aficionados, and they have declared the Diet Coke in Russia to be the best ever. (I did taste it; they'll be disappointed to hear I thought it just tasted like Diet Coke).
There's no photo, but we encountered a soda with an amazing taste resemblance to the US candy Smarties (Fizzers in the UK). It was amazing. And we drank lots of Fanta, especially in Finland. There's the ambiguous "exotic" flavor above (delicious); and then there was this grapefruit Fanta below that was super-yummy.
Michaela, who technically had never consumed anything other than breast milk, is sampling a couple of her dad's favorites below: mate (the South American tea); and, you guessed it, Diet Coke.
Instead of the usual extra post about food, I'm posting about beverage. Since we don't drink alcohol (and therefore didn't partake in any Russian vodka), you might be wondering what there is to say. But Jacob and Mike were on a quest to try every new/interesting soda they could find. The above "apple lemonade" was recommended by our tour guide (Heli) in Tallinn, and it was delicious. She said it's based on an old Soviet recipe.
Mike has 2 things I don't have when it comes to taking photos: talent and a really good camera. So here are a few of his photos from our recent trip to 
The Uspenski Cathedral is the largest Orthodox church in Western Europe.
We took a little ferry out to Suomenlinna ("Castle of Finland"), an inhabited fortress built on 6 small islands. In addition to Suomenlinna, there are many islands in Helsinki with houses and restaurants on them. It's really beautiful boat ride into Helsinki's harbor.
We trekked over to the Sibelius monument, which honors the famous Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. The monument itself is really interesting--an abstraction of over 600 organ pipes. Sibelius is pretty cool too.
We were totally blown away by St. Petersburg. We wanted to go because we thought it would be cool to go to Russia, but I don't think we expected such an amazingly beautiful city. It's spectacular! 
We wish we had more time to spend there, but even getting there for 3 days was complicated because of visa requirements and transport considerations. On our overnight ferry (which we took both ways), all 6 of us stayed in a microscopic, 2-bunk cabin. Good thing we're all friends!
The Peter and Paul Fortress is where the city began in 1703. The above church with a really tall steeple is in the center of the fortress.
(The above photo is Michaela on Jacob's head while Mike secures the Bjorn for Jacob.)
St. Petersburg is also a city of palaces. In the above photo you can see the Winter Palace behind us. (Don't you love Gavsky's crooked sunglasses?) The next photo shows it from the other side, Palace Square. 
We took a boat excursion to 
In Russia it didn't really get dark at night, which tricked us into staying out much later than we otherwise would. We also stayed on the top floor of the hotel, where there were skylights. So I think Gavsky (ГАВСКИЙ) was a bit confused about the daylight/night-time situation. But he is such a good traveler and did great on this trip.
