Häid Pühi (Happy Holidays) from Tartu, Estonia!!! Well it certainly has been a while since I’ve been in touch with most of you, and as you can see I'm still in in the Baltics in the beautiful little country of Estonia. I’ve been here since the start of September so I’ve had a real opportunity to get to know what life is like here. Now that I think back on the last four months I really have done a lot of cool stuff. It really too hard to capture it all here but some of the things which stand out for [View Full Entry]

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I thought I should ask the pretty girl working at a medieval cart in the heart of Tallinn's old town. "Yes" she replied without hesitation, "if you have your paper and brushes you may begin." I looked at her blankly then repeated, "No, I would like to take a photograph." "Not at all" she responded "just take out your brushes." Huh, now I was really getting confused "Er, I mean with my camera." while pointing at said apparatus for added emphasis "What?" she exclaimed with a frown "I don't know what you are talking about. Weird people!" Finally the penny dropped, [View Full Entry]

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I know, random, huh? Who goes to Estonia? Is it really a country? Well it is. And I did. This small little country is located right at the top of the "Baltic States" (Estonia actually prefers to be included as a Nordic state, not Baltic... but usually people group them with the Baltics), just West of Russia and South of Finland. It also had a coastline on the Baltic Sea (naturally). We flew there from Prague and got put up in some pretty nice hotel rooms. It rained pretty badly the first night, and everyone was a little jet-lagged, so we [View Full Entry]

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Saelt veri folkid!! Vid erum lentum i Tallinn i gaer eftir eina letta og svefnlausa nott i köben, kiktum med Beysa uta lifid og forum svo til Kaspers og krössudum thar, vöknudum svo 20 minotum adur en taxinn atti ad koma nadum samt badir ad sturta okkur og pakka flestu (gleymdi einum helv... poka) adur en taxinn kom. Eftir thad var brunad uta flugvöll og drifum okkur i röd (bissnes class) sem var baedi stutt og gekk fljott fyrir sig en vorum sidan sendir i eina lengstu röd sem eg hef nokkurntimann stadid i 1 & 1/2 klukkutima seinna vorum vid [View Full Entry]

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So hard to decide where to begin! Tallinn is such a surprise considering it’s our first step into what was an eastern block country and after some of the beautiful places we’ve seen it was great to be able to be awe struck again. See Dad, I’m not as much the cynical bitch, as you think. I love these old cities protected from the outside world by their 16th century city wall. The cobbled streets and wonky building and lanes you can get lost for hours in! Yes even the local who have to dress up in their corney old fashioned [View Full Entry]

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The mystery location you were all so eagerly awaiting was a little farm known as Loode Talu on the Tagamõisa Peninsula of Saaremaa Island, Estonia. Estonia is a lovely place full of vast tracks of land, both literal and figurative; verdant forests, lakes dotting the countryside at regular intervals, and very attractive women - Stockholm still has it though. It's little wonder that there is so much greenery to see, however, given how proud Estonians are of it. They seem to put a good deal of effort into maintaining it. I know you were hoping to hear about Tallinn, but it [View Full Entry]

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I was up bright and early this morning for our expedition around northern Estonia. I was greeted at the front desk with some good news - my bag was in the country and being sent my way! Woo! The Dutch guy who owns the hostel wrote a guide book (THE guidebook in the Dutch speaking world, apparently) to the Baltics and was going to be showing us some cool places around the north in his funky old blue minibus. You always seem to get a good mix from Youth hostels - today was no different. Accompanied by an older Taiwanese lady, [View Full Entry]

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Last night was very pleasant, even if I was completely knackered due to my exploits the previous night. Maarit was very understanding and pointed out that it was Sunday and that her friends weren’t around for going out anyhow! Today we walked through Tartu on the way to the bus station. We visited Barclay square, where the Soviets rounded up all their political prisoners and transported them in cattle trucks to the gulag, or worse. We passed the music school from which was emanating classical music being practiced. We listened to that as we hid under a bridge to shelter from [View Full Entry]

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Today began with a hangover… Again. This seems to be becoming a pattern here in Tallinn. I was aiming to meet the Aussie girls at the bus station at about quarter to nine, but by the time I had been on an anti-hangover mission to Mc Donald's for a “Big Tasty” and made it back to the hostel to get a cab, the 10 o clock bus we had agreed to catch had already left. Never mind! I caught a taxi from the hostel and chatted with the driver in Russian about how Russian language is used in the Baltics these [View Full Entry]

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So, the adventure really begins! I was up at 5.30 this morning to catch the plane from plymouth to Gatwick and then onto Tallinn here in Estonia. I made the trip fine, however, my baggage obviously wasn' t so fortunate and hasn't made it as far as Tallinn... After filing my lost baggage report at the airport, I attempted to find my way to the hostel. I took a bus that looked important and hoped for the best. The bus took me through some pretty ropy looking neighbourhoods and past numerous sex shops and what I assume are brothels down to [View Full Entry]

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