Freedom

I woke up this morning in Estonia and I’m now back at my desk in San Francisco at 4pm PST. I’m tired but in a manageable way. I was lucky to sleep about 4 hours on the flight and woke up at 8am PST. I tried to get work done on the plane but the wifi wasn’t being compliant so here I am back at the office. World travel is pretty amazing isn’t it?

Speaking of world travel, I had a great tour of the KGB museum which is in the Viru Hotel in Tallinn yesterday on my bonus day. Our tour guide was someone who grew up and lived through the occupation by the Soviet Union. She had some amazing stories to tell. The Viru Hotel was built by the Soviets as a way to attract western tourist and money. As you can imagine, the entire hotel was bugged by the KGB which was a surprise to no one.

Everyone was effectively monitored coming in and out of the hotel. Staff and guests were always being tracked. Non-compliance to their archaic rules could mean heavy jail time. The tour was a small glimpse into life during the Soviet occupation. It was well… brutal.

Our guide told many stories of what life was like. She and her parents would collect colored plastic bags as something for a special occasion. Apparently, black plastic bags were commonplace, but colored ones only came from western countries so the locals would save those for special days.

Perhaps the most bizarre thing I heard was that bananas were banned as they had come from western countries and the Soviets were trying to limit as much western influence as possible. Yes, bananas.

This was all just about 35 years ago. I’m glad I had the extra day to check out the museum as it made me realize just how precious freedom can be. Let’s not take it for granted.