Matkamme alkoi aikaisin Wappuaamuna... siis, kun muut kokosivat voimiaan mennäkseen Ullanlinnalle tai Wappusillikselle tms. Me siis suuntasimme Polomme (JEU-329) kohti Länsisatamaa ja Tallink Starille. Koti oli vuokrattu Dimitrille ja Olgalle... Hannin tarkastama juttu, että ovat ihan OK!!! ... siis toivotaan, että KOTI on kunnossa, kun palailemme. Niin... emme muuten pääse kotiin ennen syyskuun ekaa, sillä Dimitri ja Olga aikovat asua siellä vielä koko elokuun. Me hyyryilemme Dobu-paralla... Niin, lauttamatka sujui ihan loistavasti. Aloitimme muuten jokin aika sitten Anttiheikkilän mukaisen proteiinidietin ja nytkin aamulla massut olivat täynnä munakasta ja muistaakseni pekonia... niin ei tarvinnut turvautua Tallinkin sapuskoihin. Muuten aika hieno lautta... siinä [View Full Entry]

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Three Baltic capitals, three UNESCO-protected Old Towns. So what does this actually mean, acquiring UNESCO-recognition? In short, any country can suggest a place it wants to have included in UNESCO's list of word heritage sites, and if accepted, the place is recognized as being of outstanding natural or cultural importance, being seen as "our legacy from the past, what we live with today, and what we pass on to future generations" (UNESCO website). In other words, each site is thus seen as being in the interest of the international community to preserve for future generations. Currently, there are about 850 World [View Full Entry]

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From Sweden I hoped on a ferry to Tallinn the Capital of Estonia to begin my journey through Eastern Europe. First off I have to say that the ferry had to be one of the weirdest experiences so far. The trip is sold as a cruise for families, but the main reason people go on it is for the duty free because things are so expensive in Sweden and Norway. Once the boat set off the line started out the door to and you could see people coming out with as much tobacco and alcohol they could carry. Then there was [View Full Entry]

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On telling friends and family that Vicky and I were off to a tour of the Baltics (well, Estonia and Latvia anyway) taking in not just the tourist/stag party Meccas of Tallinn and Riga but also heading out of the capitals to the largely ignored towns of Tartu and Parnu we were greeted with a raised eyebrow and the "uh huh, ok...." response of uncertainty. This reaction sums up the position the Baltics has taken up (and remains to hold) despite the current four year membership of the European Union and is a stark reminder of its time spent on the [View Full Entry]

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Emailing between Estonia and Germany. April 2007. Mel: I am in the Old Town inside the town walls. It is georgous. Lots of shops and bars but you have to look carefully for them because the signs are subtle and don't ruin the scenery at all. I did not have to carry my own bag into the city because the airline lost it. There were stacks of bags around the baggage collection area which they lost yesterday and the staff were walking around with yellow slips the owners filled in with descriptions of the bags. They did not look like they [View Full Entry]

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What started as a day-dream at work, became a crazy reality last week. I started my trip with a visit to Dublin with some of my friends from Prague. A girl we met during our teaching course lives there now, so we stayed with her for a couple nights. Then I took my one-way flight to Finland! It seemed like a good idea at the time, but as I was landing in Tampere, I realized that having nothing planned was going to be more stressful than I thought. I knew that I had 6 days to get from Tampere, Finland back [View Full Entry]

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Ma armastan sind, Tallinn! [View Full Entry]

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March 2005 The jewel of the Baltic is probably Estonia’s capital city, Tallinn - it’s got a combination of the sights, history and that general party spirit. Whilst it’s possible to start feeling this Old Town fatigue in this part of the Baltic, Tallinn’s is possibly the pick of the bunch. It might not be as big as the Vilnius version, but it has that dramatic visual impact not found elsewhere. The most striking feature is the defensive wall, a large part of which is still complete dating from the 1500s and is capped by 18 of the original towers with [View Full Entry]

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Tallinn 5th to 8th October On arrival at Tallinn airport, I decided it best to get a taxi from the airport as i did not fancy a magical mystery tour of the surroundings. This proved to be wise as my hostel was tucked away in a series of medieval passages that I would never have found in the dark! On this occassion I had opted for a private room in the hostel and this was nice given that I had to be considerate to other people in my previous destinations! I did not waste any time leaving the hostel to sample [View Full Entry]

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Tere. Greetings from Estonia. Two days ago we boarded a train in Russia and seven hours later we arrived in Scandinavia. Estonia, whilst a neighbour of Russia's, is closer in culture and style to her Scandinavian cousins. Finland is only 48 nautical miles to the north whilst Sweden is a six-hour ferry trip to the west. Estonians are Lutherans - no gilded, ornate, coloured decoration in the churches here. Not that many of the locals practice their religion. That was beaten out of them by fifty years or so of Soviet occupation (with an occupational interlude by Nazi Germany), prior to [View Full Entry]

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