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Home >> Icicle Village Resort Leavenworth News Room >> Olympian Travels
Travels with the Leavenworth Olympian - "Ahh.. Estonia" - Torin Koos Photo Story January 2008 ere's a photo story trying to capture the scene out here on the road, now in Estonia.
Ahh.. Estonia By Torin Koos
Ahh, the Swedish Countryside. Plane delays and missed connections, especially on a multi-ticket, international trip isn’t something to usually get stoked about. With a cold, clear Swedish day, desire for fresh air and a bullet train stop in the airport made the six hour delay to Tallinn, Estonia a blessing in disguise. In minutes, green countryside gave way to oceanfront property.
Maybe it’s from having never strolled through Paris or London or Prague, but with its bridges and building made of brick and pewter and trimmings topped in gold (yes, gold) Stockholm sits atop my list of most scenic cities. Walking through this archway, a thought occurred to me – here I am, traveling to Estonia, with this detour to Sweden’s capital. Only I hopped the train in Sigtuna - Sweden’s old centre of commerce and politics. So why the move? Estonian raiders pillaged the joint, occupied it for some time, and overthrew the archbishop Johannes. So there I am, en route to the homeland of Baltic raiders, but checking out the lands they tormented first. Into it.
My introduction to cobbled streets came watching cycling’s Paris Roubaix, a race affectionately known as The Hell of the North. With the grime and weariness wearing on the riders faces you couldn’t help wondering what stages of Dante’s purgatorio they currently inhabited. The first of Buddha’s four noble truths is, “Life is Suffering.” Joseph Campbell said something similar to the all life is suffering credo. Where one suffers also is the place where one finds meaning in their lives. “Suffering. Isn’t it great?”
So here we are, bouncing beyond the Buddhist wheel of becoming. Perhaps one day we are a bright, shiny Maserati. Other days maybe we’re a two-wheeled commuter that’s a little worse for the wear, but still beautiful in its own way. So what’s really important? The skeleton keys I’ve rustled and ransacked keep coming back to the need to actively seek the adventure out, trying to find out what can be known but not quite told. “It’s important to live life with the experience, and therefore the knowledge, of its mystery and your own mystery,” says Campbell. “This gives life a new radiance, a new harmony, a new splendor.”
(this photo courtesy of Shaky Fecteau productions)
“The big question is whether you are going to say a hearty yes to your adventure,” asks Campbell. “The adventure of being a hero?” replies Bill Moyers. “Yes the adventure of the hero – the adventure of being alive. This is the soul’s high adventure.”
~Torin
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Torin Koos
is a member of the National A Team for the United States and a World
Cup, World Championship and Olympic competitor. If you are interested in supporting Torrin Koos we will be happy to pass your information along to him. Your partnership will help support the lifestyle needed to keep the dream alive. As an athlete, Torin hopes his Olympic journey inspires the community to participate in the free air lifestyle, the same customers that come to visit the Leavenworth area.
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