Here is a picture of my friend Kerttu, me, President Arnold Rüütel and his wife Ingrid at Tolbooth Tavern, Canongate, Royal Mile, Edinburgh. There were just over 20 of us - MacEstonians - present, plus the President's entourage, and the president spent an hour in the pub before returning to his hotel.
This is Doug, the very friendly publican with a choice of five beers (my personal degustation session on previous Thursday).
You can see some more pictures of President's visit here.
Vacation alert 2006:2 - Sweden & Estonia:
I'm off again. On Friday night I'll fly to Stockholm, where my Edinburgh-based Swedish friend Annika is getting married on Saturday. I'll wander around th Gamla Stan during Sunday, before flying to Estonia in the evening. I cannot wait - I haven't seen my family and friends since early January, and K. since our trip to Paris in May. It's a short trip - a weekend in Stockholm followed by just nine days at home, but I hope to find time to do some of the usual stuff - beating myself with fresh birch branches, eating wild yellow chantarelles and wild strawberries to my heart's content, driving around the beautiful countryside and that kind of things..
16 comments:
And did the President say anything to you that was worth remembering? And I hope that you will find time to come to Tartu while you in Estonia. I'm sure that an old friend here who is expecting a baby in September would like to see you again.
Wow! Pints with the president! How exciting Pille :) And more vacation days...I'm green with envy :)
How exciting!
I love how he met you all in a pub--very down to earth.
j
Wow, yes, how very exciting! I was just laughing at the absurd idea of the president of my country inviting me out for drinks before a meeting with Queen Elizabeth... Then again, yours looks like a perfectly reasonable old chap! ;)
Pille you are amazing! And your President is really cool. I am sure he needed a stiff drink before meeting the Queen.
Hurraaaaaaa!
Pille, how wonderful to have a pint with the President! WOW!
It's like... 'How was your day?' 'Oh, i went for a pint with the President'.
Really great! Now, i want to have a pint with you :)
How are you going to top a night out with the President.
Hope that you enjoyed your trip to Sweden and Estonia (what a busy month you have had!).
I would like to 'tag' you for the latest circulating Meme - if you don't mind. Please go to this posting for all the details.
How fun, Pille, to be able to spend time with your President. Very nice!
Have a good time on your latest trip!
Paz
Oh Pille, that sounds great and I am sure that the very hour with "your" present will always stay unforgettable ! I am glad for you. Have a great trip and take care, angelika
hi pille, cool post (almost surreal ;)) as for stockholm and homecoming, i really can't wait to read the full report, birch branches and all!
How exciting!!!
It must be the best pub night, Pille :) Hope you're having a great time!
Pille, you're famous! Rain's cousin Jeff (USA)
i find it quite extraordinary that your president takes the time to go out with some local expats - i can't think of any other president who would even think of something like that, let alone pull it through. The Austrian president certainly wouldn't and for some reason, I can't see Condoleeza spending the evening in a pub with fellow countrymen either...
Welldone, Arnold!
Pene - well, the President wasn't actually too bad, and his main message was trying to lure the young Estonians back home:) As it happened, I didn't manage to come to Tartu (again), and neither did I meet Virve, though I did speak to her on the Skype, and _almost_ met her hubby. September maybe?
Joey - both the presidential pints and the vacation were lovely, so you're allowed to be green:)
Jasmine - the current President is a very down-to-earth man, and obviously our tiny MacEstonians network is deemed to be worthy of a high-profile visit;)
Melissa - _sometimes_ it pays to be from a tiny country of only 1,4 million inhabitants indeed!
Chloe - LOL!
Spinning Girl - kui Sa oleksid Edinburghis olnud, siis oleksid ka kohtumisele võinud tulla!
Mae - not sure any of the presidential shine rubbed off on me, but then I did sit next to him for the whole hour, so who knows:)
Anna - I'm sure I'll think of something. Maybe a rock star?! Or your Queen? Thanks for tagging me, I'll try to get my act together asap!
Paz - my trip was wonderful, and as I am slowly moving back home, bit by bit, then there will be more trips to Estonia in the coming months..
Angelika - a meeting with our previous President, Lennart Meri (who sadly passed away earlier this year), would have been surely more memorable, but I thought it was lovely of him to take the time to meet us.
J - believe it or not, but I actually skipped birch branches this time. It was around 30Celsius back home, and I really didn't feel like sauna at all. Next time, I promise!
Jennifer - so sorry to have missed you, but glad to hear you got a glimpse of the Queen instead:)
Pamela - indeed!
Keiko - well, it definitely was a pub night to remember:)
Jeff - I'm glad you found your way to my blog:) Hope you're doing well! Don't know about being famous (not so difficult in Estonia anyway), but it surely was weird to see my name in all those press releases!
Johanna - it was nice of him, wasn't it? I guess coming from a tiny-tiny country (just 1.4 million residents), we tend to stick together a wee bit more?
Amyjames - the story in the newspaper was about a day-time pub visit - we met the president for a late night pint around 9pm:) And I got to sit next to him for the whole hour, as I was coordinating his meeting with the local MacEstonians group:)
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