Hello!Well, if the title weren't too obvious, I spent this past weekend in Tallinn, Estonia, 8 hours away from St. Petersburg. Most people don't know a whole lot about Estonia let alone where it is located on a map. It's almost comparable to Suriname. Who knows anything about these tiny, tiny countries?! Well, you should know about them because they are absolutely beautiful!
Estonia is located on the Baltic Sea (hence why it is called one of the Baltic States with Latvia and Lithuania) and although the country had been occupied by Germans, Swedes, and Russians (part of the USSR) for its entire history, it is now an independent nation. Tallinn, the capital, is the biggest city in the country and the most preserved and protected medievel city in all of Europe. Old Town Tallinn is just gorgeous. It reminded me a little of the town square in Poland but because Tallinn was smaller (and I came from Russia), it was almost like a fairy-tale! And...wait for it...people there are so friendly and most importantly, most speak English!
We arrived in Tallinn around 3pm on Friday and were served the most delicious lunch. It was the first time in the past 2 months where I have actually been full! Then, we set out on a walking tour of the city, specifically the Old Town. Even the gloomy weather couldn't spoil the beauty of the city. (It is times like these when I wish I was a better writer...but I will try). The city is both medieval and modern but the medieval persona certainly overpowers the modern. The streets are narrow and filled with souvenir shops of traditional Estonian handicrafts, mainly wool mittens and marzipan figurines. We spent a few hours walking around and then returned to the hotel; Emily, my wonderful roomie, wasn't feeling very well so we just stayed in the hotel after eating dinner. We had to get some sleep before our busy day!
On Saturday, we spent the morning on a bus tour of the city. With every moment, I fell more and more in love with Tallinn and the Estonian people. Our tour guide was the cutest little lady and it was obvious that she was very proud of her country despite its rather sad history. In Ethnic Studies a few weeks ago, we learned about the Estonian Singing Revoluti
on of 1991, where the Estonian people gathered and as you can guess, sang for their revolution from the Soviet Union. I just love when you learn about something and then you get to see where it happened! We had a quick stop at the Song Festival Grounds and then headed towards my favorite part of the tour, the coast of the Baltic Sea! I can say that I've never been standing on a beach in my winter coat but I did it on Saturday. It was too beautiful for words.
on of 1991, where the Estonian people gathered and as you can guess, sang for their revolution from the Soviet Union. I just love when you learn about something and then you get to see where it happened! We had a quick stop at the Song Festival Grounds and then headed towards my favorite part of the tour, the coast of the Baltic Sea! I can say that I've never been standing on a beach in my winter coat but I did it on Saturday. It was too beautiful for words. After our tour, we had the afternoon to explore. A few friends and I wanted to get something to eat. We found a small restaurant right on the town square called Olde Hansa. What a fabulous place! We all enjoyed a honey beer and soup (Andy got to eat bear meat sausages!) and tried to breathe in the atmosphere of medieval Tallinn. Afterwards, we walked around Old Town and just had to go into every souvenir shop because they were simply the most adorable things you have ever seen. It was honestly so nice to see people smiling and speaking English...the perfect vacation from Petersburg. In the evening, a small group of us walked around the old town again, looking at the city at night before settling in a cafe for some treats (Lemon beer for me!)
In the morning, we quickly packed our things and unfortunately, we had to leave Tallinn. We drove to the border city of Russia and Estonia, Narva, and did a tour of the Narva castle after eating a filling lunch. After our short tour of the castle, we were told to go back on the bus because we needed to get through Russian customs and get to Petersburg before the metro closes (at midnight). Little did we know that we would sit on the bus for 5 hours at the Estonian border. By the time we went through customs, the thought of catching the metro was completely ridiculous. I was more worried about the darn bridges going up and being trapped from my island. Luckily, we made it home! We even got to watch movies in English on the bus! A great end to sitting on a bus for so long!
I was almost sad to leave Estonia because I knew that leaving would mean going back to a world of the Russian language. This past week has been a small hurdle in regard to my language comprehension and a small break from it was just what I needed. My frustration started on Wednesday when the water in my house just decided to not work. After bathing in the river in Suriname, I just need to shower. When I see one and I can't use it, it is just frustrating. My friend Allison was nice enough to let me use hers and I can't thank her enough. I don't really know why such a little thing bothered me so much. Then, all of the instructions for the weekend were in Russian and I couldn't understand most of it. But, nevertheless, now I have water in my house and I can speak English with my friends. Everything is good again. I am very excited to go to Moscow in two weeks...and then Scotland for travel week!
Until later,
HD
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