29 June: MAINSTAGE PROGRAMS at Theater der Welt are turning out to be almost exclusively new creations and works in progress. While there have been some disappointments, I have also experienced sublime moments that will, no doubt, do what I hoped for in coming here, namely provide inspiration for my own artistic work. One observation that recalls theatre experiences from my youth: There have been looong applauses following most performances -- not the phony standing ovations, but the sustained multiple-curtain-calls types you rarely see in North America. Can you imagine enthusiastic clapping without letting up for more than five minutes? Well, they're doing it here! It's outright heart-warming to see, with the troupe of actors or dancers obviously moved by such a response embracing them! I have seen everything from a much touted and hugely complex, ... read more

20 June: HOTEL ESPRIT in Halle is advertised as small three-star with pub/restaurant below. I walk through a small roof top garden to get to unit #7, a small, cozy, bright room with single bed, desk, TV, and well-stocked bookshelf (German, of course). Being on the other side of the deck in what looks like an addition constructed above the restaurant's storage area, gives me added privacy. However, there isn't a phone, fridge or microwave oven as I had in Estonia, and the internet capability it had advertised doesn't exist. "The buildings down the street all have WiFi, but not here; even our business is on dial-up internet," is all the explanation I get. This town was rocking with the pulsating rhythms of African, Asian and Latin American percussion last night. Theater der Welt got its ... read more

FINAL IMPRESSIONS about Estonia. The other day a lone sea gull approached me when I was eating a sandwich in Tornide väljak (square). The bird seemed a little more reserved than its western cousins -- somewhat like the Estonian people who seldom look you in the eye or acknowledge you, a stranger, in the street. However, in the countryside, when I cycled past a group chatting by a fence or in front of their farmhouse, and raised my hand in greeting, one or two of them would usually give a curt nod in reply. There are many more blondes here than I had expected, although I've noticed that on some of them the roots are showing. There are also many more smokers (often young women) in public places than you'll see in North America. Perhaps the ... read more

13 June: Today I'm getting a private tour of this town's most popular theatre company, Tallinna Linnateater (City Theatre). The company's veteran designer is my guide. It's his birthday, yet he spends an hour and a half taking me through some of the 26 (!) buildings surrounding a square that house this company's many venues, social and meeting rooms, library and offices. The main building of this large complex was first mentioned on records of the 17th century when it was first purchased and remodelled by a prominent merchant, but it didn't have its beginnings as a theatre until 1967. Since then, more than $50 million has gone into restoring the aged and war-ravaged structures to their former glory, and the various theatre spaces are amazing to behold by someone like me who comes from a ... read more

10 June: IT'S OVERCAST with winds gusting SSW to force 9 and no let-up forecast for tomorrow. Yachts are tucked in at the docks rather than venturing out into a blustery head sea. I decide on an inland route for my bicycle tour, hoping it will be more sheltered there. I take one of the so-called EuroVelo routes -- a paved road with little traffic that suits me just fine (although, later I veer off to thread my way through farmland on a dusty gravel road). I pass farmsteads with the inevitable old stone buildings utilized as a shed, barn or even main building. The island's history dates back more than 6000 years when seal hunters first used Saaremaa as a base. That's pre-bronze age, long before the Egyptian empire! I come across the site of ... read more