Today is my grandmother's birthday. On this day in 1948 my father snuck out from the home and broke his leg while tobogganing. It was a big moment for the family while in the german camp. Ema had to take a job at the hospital in order for them to treat Dad's leg, and then they would not let them leave (because they needed her to work as a nurse). They eventually escaped and caught up with grandfather and Tom. Anyway, Ema could not let her birthday pass without reminding my father of his mistake when he was 8, so I figure I will carry on the tradition.

Had our first meeting with the gallery yesterday, planning out the opening for Friday, organizing the paintings. Turns out that Julius reproduced many of the paintings he had to leave behind during the war, so there are near duplicates of several paintings already over here. Here's a photo of the original Pikk Jalg. And yes, it is an entrance to the fort that is Vana Tallinn. Pretty amazing actually. The parliament and government offices are still within the great stone walls.



started meeting relations too. Liis I met once before in 1993, but I had not met her husband Kalle or her mother Tiiu before. Liis father's mother was my grandmother's sister, which makes Liis some sort of cousin. Tiiu is also a well known Estonian artist, and some of her work is up at the same art gallery. this link shows some of her work at the haus gallery.

http://www.haus.ee/?s=otsing&otsingus6na=pallo-vaik