eesti

So guess where I went this past weekend? That’s right, Estonia!

Now, I had always wanted to visit a Baltic State. I had no real reason, but I thought it would be really unique to do so. Luckily I met a friend who is second generation Estonian, and her parents owned an apartment in Tallinn (which is the capital). So needless to say, I took her up on her offer.

So jump to this past weekend where I and three other friends visited Estonia. We arrived rather late on Friday night (about 11pm), so we just hung around the apartment. Hillevi’s (whose apartment it was) mom was also there for the weekend, so she made us some Estonian cuisine. The biggest dish they serve is blood sausage, which is exactly as it sounds – sausage with blood. In all actuality, it was extremely delicious.

Saturday we went and visited the Old Town. Because we were about a mile outside of the Old Town we got to walk for a bit through the outskirts of town (Tallinn is really small. I think the population is only about 400k, and the entire Estonian population is a mere 1.2 million or so). It was really a unique sight, as there were old houses from the turn of the previous century, soviet style complexes, and empty lots all strewn together. At first I was abhorred, but then I eventually discovered a certain charm to it – kind of like Baltimore and Worcester.

Old Town was absolutely beautiful. Essentially, it’s an old medieval fortress on a hill. And what made my appreciation of it even greater was that it was not uber-touristy. Sure there were some tourists (e.g. me), but not a plethora so that things were tacky. We spent the day wandering around, visiting museums and churches and whatever else caught our eyes. We saw this great exhibit on Bernt Notke’s morbid “Dance of Death” at the Niguliste Church, along with this contemporary Estonian painter Navitrolla’s studio. Be sure to check out both artist and work of art, as they are quite unique.

After several more museums and visiting the Christmas Market at the town hall square (which was built in the 1400s!), we decided to kill some time at a cigar lounge. That’s right, I went to a cigar lounge in Tallinn, smoked Cubans (hooray items that aren’t contraband everywhere else!), drank some brandy, and discussed the economy. I felt quite Victorian.

Saturday’s dinner was provided by Hillevi’s mom (as the slang-idiom goes: “we got the hookup!”), and I had more blood sausage. My friend Matt had the pork knuckle (another Estonian staple) that I was too timid to attempt, as I am not barbaric enough.

But the highlight of the entire trip was going to these cellar bars in Tallinn. That’s not to suggest that drinking is my fondest memories, but there was a level of ambience at these places that I had never experienced before. They were essentially speakeasies, as there were no signs demarking them – just a staircase into a basement door. The insides were essentially medieval cellars with electricity. No tacky décor, no loud and obnoxious music, just people sitting around talking. They were listed as “Dive Bars” in this guidebook I had, but that is a clumsy and improper title.

On Sunday Hellevi and Matt flew back to Copenhagen leaving Abbie and I on our own in the city. We went and visited the Open Air Museum, which was the reconstructed Medieval Estonian Village (think Plymouth Plantation, only way less tacky). There were hardly any other visitors there, and it was a really nice day so it was quite enjoyable to walk around open spaces in nice weather.

Because we had to depart Tallinn at 6:30am on Monday, Sunday night was quite uneventful. That did not stop me however from walking around the neighborhood. I saw more of the same three neighborhood elements as I mentioned earlier. All in all, I was kind of disappointed that weren’t many Soviet relics remaining, but given as Estonia was occupied by the USSR for over fifty years, I suppose its not surprising.

So on Monday we both got up, with some help from Hillevi’s mom, at 5:30am and hopped on a cab to the airport. We departed at 6:30am, and got into Copenhagen at 7:30am. To make matters more depressing/frustrating, IT WAS STILL DARK. Nevertheless, I arrived at school just before a class and handed in the big paper that was due. After that class I had to take a culture test in my Danish class. A couple classes later I attended my Danish friends Christmas party, before retiring home and passing out at midnight. I’ve had some long days in my old age, but that ranks up at the top.

Nevertheless, I really enjoyed Tallinn, and want to go back to visit it and the rest of the country. Everyone else should do the same as well. It is really fascinating to see how far they’ve westernized since they became independent fifteen years ago. Oh yea, and it is really cheap there too. So if you want some exotic place to visit that isn’t too heavy on the wallet, I highly recommend Estonia. Personally, it’s been the icing on this entire amazing journey I’ve had in Europe.

as always, photos are here