Blogs from Estonia, Europe - page 42

At the End of October i end up in Estonia for Energy 2007, it is for the first time when i am taking part in a conference organized by 3 countries and i can say it was a great feeling trying to figure out where delegates are from only by listening to their Language. Well it was also hard because the Lithuanian Delegation was making a lot of Noise. AIESEC Vilnius cleaned the house taking all the possible awards in this conference and now they are set to kick the best out of this year, congratz guys and i can say i am really proud to be close to AIESEC Vilnius. Now, the team of facis was very diverse, 2 facis from Slovakia, 2 from Lithuania, 2 from Estonia, 3 from Poland, 1 from Latvia and ... read more

Our memories of Tallinn - Playboy advertisements, old buildings, casinos on every corner, lots of souvenir and handicraft stores, strip clubs, cobbled streets, very fancy cars (Porsche, Audi, Hummers), little old ladies selling knitted products, amber jewellery... Total contrasts everywhere. It was a beautiful city and interesting. After a wonderful break in the UK with my sister and brotherinlaw, and friends in London, it was time to get travelling again. It was much harder to get going after so much nice company, food and accommodation, but it was time to go. And we have the benefit of knowing we are going back. We flew to Helsinki and then caught a ferry over to Tallinn, the capital city of Estonia. The ferry was like something out of the fifties. It was set up like a cruise ship ... read more

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 which there was a period of approximately twenty years of independence, before which Imperial Germans were in charge, before that the Russians again, then the Swedes, the Germans again, the Danes... you get the idea. ... read more

The historical city of Tallinn is pretty much untouched (bar the odd renovation or paint-job) since the middle-ages. As a result, the medieval buildings, misshapen cobble-stones, houses bunched one upon the other, impressive town-halls and churches that appear half western, half eastern, are most evocative and intriguing. To describe it as Disney is to do exactly the wrong thing, undermining its authenticity with a commercial brand, so I’m sorry, yet it is like something from the pages of a fairy story, down to the old well in a street off the main square where you can imagine Cinderella going about her daily chores, or the little side-streets and taverns where Gepetto might have gone about his business or had a pint. We of course are by no means the first people to have discovered it, the ... read more

Dear All, Our travels have taken us via London to Eastern Europe. Apologies to all of our friends in London, but we sent those photos home on our computer, so none could be uploaded on to our blog. We had an awesome time catching up with mates in London, and wish them well. We have made it to the Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania... all quite similar but with their own individual charms. Here are the photos from our journey through these countries...... read more