After days of sunshine, it was an overcast morning in Helsinki harbour as we bid a fond farewell to Finland.
We left Helsinki on an early ferry to Tallinn to be ready for a full day of Peace Running in Estonia.
After picking up a few new team members we were off to our first school.
Peetri Lasteaed Pohikool was our first stop, where we were welcomed with some traditional dancing from the students.
Preetidutta teaching the actions to the World Harmony Run song.
Finding a student who knows in which country they play the bagpipes- Scotland!
And finding Peace where we always have it- in the heart
Our Estonian co-ordinators presenting teachers with poems on Peace for the school. "Peace is the oneness-bridge between my satisfaction and the worlds satisfaction." - Sri Chinmoy
The students creative artwork on Peace.
Like in Finland, many of the schools in Estonia have running tracks so we all ran together with the Peace torch.
Our next stop was Juri Gumnaassium, where we did our presentation to 2 separate groups of students, who were bright and eager to join our presntation.
Uddyogini's country is always one of the easiest- Kanagaroo's are from Australia!
"Run, Run, Run, Run, Run, Run"
This school has a teacher with a unique running background- she is one of 3 triplets who all represented Estonia in the marathon at the Rio Olympic games in 2016.
Our team captain Sadanand was delighted to meet a fellow marathon runner.
We've found apples everywhere the last few days- even on this fountain!
Around 40 excellent runners from Kiili Gumnaasium joined us to carry the torch the last kilometre to their school.
When we arrived the school choir beautifully sang for us a couple of popular songs in Estonian.
One of the songs they sang translates as: "I need your beauty, I need your life, I need your soul, need your beauty, I need your peace.
Oliveria always gives the students joy with her Mexican smiles- and is easy to guess for them.
Finding Peace inside once again.
The school gave us some gifts, including a jar of local honey and some tea made from locally picked herbs. Thank you so much, we'll remember our visit as we enjoy these.
The students always love the cards we give them and are excited to compare which countries they have.
Peace is a universal language.
Thank You Kiili Gumnaasium for such an enthusiastic reception.
After a group photo..
its time to run again.
The Peace Run video was being shown in the school reception.
A friend of our team member Roxanna came along to the ceremony and was happy to hold the torch with her son.
Our day finished in Turi, where we met with some local runners for the last 4km to the town centre.
It was nice to run with you and we always appreciate help carrying the torch.
We were greeted by more traditional music to round off our first day in Estonia. Thanks to all who ran with us and held the torch today, we were struck by the sweetness, eagerness and kindness of the children and of the rich cultural heritage of Estonia.
