The weight is over.

The 12+ hour KLM redeye from Singapore back to Europe was a breeze. We got bulkhead exit rows, with no one seated between us and managed to sleep pretty well. We did have a minor spar with a salty old Russian broad in the row behind us. First, when her bare foot appeared on my armrest a few hours into the flight and rested on my arm. One passive-aggressive move with my elbow and it was gone, with some minor grumbling overheard behind me. But an hour or so before landing, Jeff tried to recline his seat a little, and the woman decided to shake his chair. She wasn't even seated directly behind him. Anyway, Jeff turned around and called her on it. She called him selfish. He called her rude. It was over in seconds. I'm just happy I never saw or felt her bare foot again. Yuck.

So one heavily discussed detail of our itinerary that has kept Jeff and I traveling light has been the weight limit imposed by our 18 minute helicopter transport from Helsinki to Tallinn. The tickets were super cheap, happy fares to be exact. And only about $15 more than a 2+ hr ferry ride. The only catch is that our luggage can't weigh more than 10 kgs (22 lbs) or we pay 5 euro for each extra kilogram. This had us a little concerned. We knew that every gram we acquired might come with a stiff penalty.

Now, the moment of truth was upon us. How much could all those hotel soaps and stuff possibly weigh, right?

In a valiant last ditch effort, Jeff unloaded a slew of Entertainment Weeklies in the Copterline lobby. Those counter gals will soon know more about Brangelina and the fall TV lineup than anyone in Estonia. I think he threw in a few Economists as well, for balance. In the end, it turned out to be all for nothing. As we started chit chatting with the agents about the weather, Jeff placed his luggage on the scale. We expected alarms to sound. Brows to furrow. At the very least, an audible gasp. But nothing. Not a peep. And they didn't even weigh my luggage!

Crisis averted.

I would have died (and not just of embarrassment) if my heavy bags brought the copter down in the Baltic Sea.


Jeff bows cautiously to keep his curls out of the copter's blades.


There were seven seats taken, out of 12 total.


But we were the only geeks snapping photos.


Tinted windows made photos tricky, but you can just make out the ferry that we didn't take.


As the hot Estonian businessman who sat next to me races to get out of my picture, I race to keep him in it.

Once off the copter, we checked into the Ikea-like Hotel Reval Central Barbie Dreamhouse. It was cheap and modern and clean, but i felt like i could have lifted the hotel up with one arm if necessary. We then headed to the old town, and were carbing up in no time.


The savory pancakes were rich and delicious.


The potato balls were just Ore Ida.