The Third Phase: The Baltic - Part Four, Estonia

Estonia

Estonia is culturally so different from Latvia and Lithuania to the south that they don't like being referred to as part of the "Baltics". They prefer Nordic instead, feeling kinship with their neighbors to the north. Tallinn, the capital, is a major draw for Finns from Helsinki. It's only about a 2 hour crossing and the booze is much cheaper here than their hometown. There are party ferries on weekends that do the round trip in a day. While relations are good, there is some Tallinn fatigue with the partiers.

Our initial draw was the UNESCO World Heritage Site in the center of Tallinn, the capital. It is one of the best preserved medieval centers in Europe. Since the thirteenth century it has been ruled by Denmark, Sweden, the Teutonic Knights, Russia and the Soviet Union. The medieval indigenous population of Tallinn (then called Reval) and northern Estonia was the last European pagan civilization to convert to Christianity in the fourteenth century, following the Livonia Crusades. Many still adhere to the traditional "nature oriented" mystical beliefs instead of the new one.

Model of historic Medieval City Center, pretty much intact today.

The grey building on the right were the KGB offices during the occupation and is now a museum.

Exhibits in basement cells explain how and who they tortured in the population.

Much of the historic city wall is still intact.

View over the historic core, from church on hill

(in model to the far right)

Our young city guide frequently referred to citizens as "Estonia speaking Estonians" or "Russian speaking Estonians". The later make up 24% of the population, most living in the east near the border. While the younger generation is accepting the Russian speakers, the older generation has not. Many of their relatives were sent to Siberia for a minor infraction, or no reason at all other than a cruel whim. Our guide's father, who speaks fluent Russian, refuses to speak the language to any Russian taxi driver. Yet, she claimed most Russian speakers do not support the invasion of Ukraine.

Russian Orthodox church was to be torn down after independence,

but lack of funds prohibited it. With a sizable Russian population it has now been restored.

There is no loved lost for their former occupier.

The main square at night where a group of Swedish "footballers" were making a rowdy evening.

The country is now often referred to as E-stonia, due to its embrace of high tech. It is recognized as the "most digital society in the world"; Skype was invented here, there are more start ups per capita than Silicon Valley, it has one the world's best internet coverage, every citizen gets a digital ID card which can be used for signatures, and cash is very limited as everything can be purchased with a tap, on and on. Due to its growth in high tech, the area along the port near the medieval city is rapidly being developed. Due to its proximity to the historic district, the old town is not just a tourist attraction, but used by the businesses and employees as a destination.

Lots of new construction along the waterfront near the ferry terminal.

Delightful pedestrian areas and an emerging restaurant scene out of the Medieval core.

Former prison along the water awaiting repurpose (we hope) or demolition.

Walking outside the core and tech development is a substantial collection of wonderful old

wooden residential buildings from the nineteenth and early twentieth century.

We rented a car in Tallinn to drive through Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Our drive took us east along the north coast of Estonia on the Gulf of Finland toward Narva on the Russian Border.

Our driving route took mostly the red Main Roads between our major stops.

(Tallinn, Narva, Tartu, Riga, along the coast to Ventspils, Liepaja, Klaipeda, and the Curonian Spit, and finally Vilnius)

We stopped at Lahemaa National Park on our way to Narva. This entire coastline on the Gulf of Finland from Tallinn to St. Petersburg is lowland and very swampy.

Lahemaa N.P. hike through the woods to the bog.

Lehemaa N.P. and the bogs.

After our hike, we stayed in Kasmu, a small town along the coast which is primarily a second home or vacation area during the summer. We clearly missed the season. Though we had a delightful lunch, we later found all restaurants were closed for dinner. We texted our host about where to eat and she offered to make us a salmon for dinner. After "checking in" to her lovely cabin she gathered firewood for our sauna. Robin then volunteered that I would make the salmon dinner, which the host readily accepted (as did I). We had a delightful evening with her; finishing off a bottle of Champagne (or two) with salmon roasted under onions, garlic, tomatoes and herbs, while she sautéed local chanterelle mushrooms recently foraged.

Our cabin on the Gulf of Finland

Our host gathers firewood for our in suite sauna.

Our host cooks chanterelles

while Bill's salmon rests under aluminum foil.

Gulf of Finland from our host's property.

After leaving Kasmu we drove to Narva on the Russian border before heading south. Narva is only 95 miles from St. Petersburg, and the population is predominantly Russian. Robin has never been to Russia and we've had a long-time goal of taking the Siberian Express for a 10 day train journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow to Vladivostok on the Pacific (I want a Dr. Zhivago winter trip - Robin not so much, though I got her Laura's fur hat). Under current circumstances it looks unlikely in the next decade, so we wanted a Russian experience. It was once a beautiful neoclassical city but after the Soviet bombing of WWII, and their rebuilding, there's not much here to explore except historic forts. But it was only a couple hour detour on the way to our next stop Tartu.

The sixteenth century Danish fort in Estonia facing the Russian Fort across the border of the Narva River.

Since the Soviet's dismantling, inflammatory banners hung by soldiers taunted each other across the river.

Tartu is the oldest city in the "Baltics" and considered the intellectual center of the region. It has the oldest university and is the second largest city in Estonia. Thus, it has all the youthful character of any university town. Tartu was awarded the accolade of European Capital of Culture for 2024, and the city was in the process of much refurbishment.