Timothy David Pratt is the newest member of the family, my very first nephew. Three weeks ago today, this little guy became a part of this world, and he's already making it a brighter place! He is a blessed child who has been born into a loving family that takes great care of him. My older brother, Aaron, is the father with his loving wife, Sara, as the mother.
My brother met Sara while they were attending Calvary Chapel Bible College Europe. Sara is from Finland, and so when they got married they moved to Finland where my brother leads worship for a Calvary Chapel in Turku, Finland. They now have three children: their two daughters, Emily and Isabella, and now their first son, Timothy!
So, we set out on our little adventure to Finland to visit Timothy. We packed up the car and left Ukraine on Friday, at four o'clock in the morning! From there we set out to Poland, the first country that we drove through. After about three hours at the border, we were into Poland and on our way into Lithuania.
Our trip through Poland was relatively uneventful, with one exception...the car died. While we were parked next to McDonald's, the car battery died and it wouldn't start up again. We gave it a little bit of time, and then tried to start it again, with no success; the battery was really dead. Eventually, we found the owner of the car next to us and we hooked up some jumper cables and then we were back in business.
We continued along with no more difficulties as we arrived in Lithuania. The weather was absolutely beautiful. We even stopped at a gas station to have a small family picnic. After our picnic we packed up, took some pictures of the bison, and we moved on to the hostel where we stayed that night.
Our night in Lithuania was amazing! We parked and unloaded our baggage at the hostel where we were staying, and then we went out for a nice evening walk through the center. We just walked around, observed the people, and kept our eyes open for neat cafes, or anything unique that we don't have at home. The weather made it very enjoyable as there was just a soft breeze blowing through as we walked around the street.
Along the street were many interesting monuments, such as the large chair that I'm sitting on here. There were many statues and even an old-fashioned looking movie theater. There was also a very beautiful church which is in the picture above. We enjoy any opportunity we have to get out of the car and just walk around, take pictures in front of fountains, or do anything to stretch our legs after the long car ride.
We got up in the morning, got some breakfast, and then we took off. However, we did have a slight complication leaving Lithuania...our GPS broke. So before we could leave, we had to find a mall, go to the electronics store,and buy a new GPS system.
We got the GPS installed and then we were back on track. Another lovely day with great weather, not a cloud in the sky. We drove through Lithuania and arrived in Latvia. You know you've had too much experience with this kind of lifestyle when someone has to ask, "What country are we in again?"
While we were going through Latvia we ended up driving along the sea and decided to stop there and have another little picnic close to the water. The sound of the waves along the beach was an amazing sound, very refreshing and peaceful. Yet again we took some last minute pictures, packed up the van, and drove on to Estonia.
Estonia! Traveling through this country was definitely an experience. We arrived at the hostel that we had reserved and it wasn't exactly what we had been expecting. The room was very small; in fact there was hardly any room to fit all of us and our luggage. However, the size was not the only problem that we observed in our room. Some of the lights didn't work, part of the ceiling in the bathroom was falling apart, and last, but definitely not least, someone had left a pair of underwear on the heater next to one of the beds! So, it was definitely an experience. But we have stayed in worse, so we stayed there as was planned.
We all agreed that we hope to visit the city again on our way home, during the daytime, when most likely there would be less people on the streets partying. While we were walking around the city the emotions I felt were bittersweet; on one hand, the city was amazing and I wanted to see everything. But on the other hand, there were many people out who were drinking and some of them were even very loud, making it harder to completely relax, as it is important to be aware of everything that is going on in those situations.
We all had a great time and I look forward to going back through Estonia, and all of the other countries that we traveled through.
Finland at last! I had been here five years ago when my first niece, Emily, was born. I really enjoyed the time I had here and I've been hoping to return ever since. The country is beautiful and I find everything here to be very fascinated. I would be interested to learn more about the culture and hope at some point, to spend at least a summer here.
So, after three days of long hours in the car, a ferry ride, and lots of snacks on the road, we were finally at our destination, and I got to meet my amazing new nephew, Timothy David Pratt!
God bless you all,
~Alex R. Pratt
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