TALLINN, ESTONIA–Early this morning the Wooster/OSU geologists left the Estonian island of Hiiumaa on the ferry from the port of Heltermaa (58° 52′ N, 23° 3′ E; seen above). After a 90-minute ferry ride, we landed on the Estonian mainland. We looked briefly at some quarries near Pusku south of Haapsalu (the limestones were too dolomitized for our liking) and then made the two-hour drive to Tallinn. After negotiating the most miserable intersection in Europe (which is under perpetual construction), we at last gassed up our cars and turned them in to the Sixt rental agency. There is nothing quite like the feeling of returning vehicles safely after such a long trip — it is only topped by returning students safely to their homes, of course! We are now in Tallinn for two nights. Bill and I have an appointment with the chief curator at the Institute of Geology in Tallinn as our students take a day off in the city. We are all staying at the St. Barbara Hotel near Old Town — a place beloved by many past Wooster students (depending on whether we have drunk Russians serenading us from the street all night.) I like that the building stone is a beautiful local Ordovician limestone.
