Tallinn,Estonia

We left St. Petersburg around 6:00 p.m. and traveled 160 nautical miles to Tallinn, Estonia, (the capital) arriving early morning on Tuesday, August 27^th.  Estonia is about the size of Denmark, or twice the size of Massachusetts.  It has a population of 1.3 million people, has Estonian as its official language, although Russian is also spoken, AND is the originating country of Skype.  Did you know that?  Our guide said that they are so computer/digital world literate that you can be deep in the forest and still be connected to WiFi.  (I didn’t try it out so can’t attest to that first hand.)

They have 1,500 islands – most of them very small.  Estonia (and Finland) continue to gain land mass, mostly in the form of islands.  Something about the land continuing to rise, but I can’t remember why.  (I’ll Google it when I get home.)   They have seven months of snow, and only six hours of daylight during the month of January.  (Sounds like Fairbanks, Alaska to me.)  September 1^st is always the first day of school for all levels.  Their mandatory school is 12 years and each of those years they are required to take skiing. 

Estonia was occupied by the Germans in World War I and the Russians after World War II.  They declared their independence in 1991 by what was named the “Singing Revolution” when 2 million people (the Latvians, Lithuanians, and Estonians) joined hands and sang their national songs, creating an unbroken chain through the 3 countries, with the final hand touching the “Tower of Power.”

Tall Herman Tower (“Tower of Power”) 

connected to Toompea Castle, the seat of Estonian Parliament today.

Back of Palace - Front was being renovated

Palace Gardens

Their version of a furnace - ceramic tile box with a place to insert wood.

Kadriorg Palace, Peter the Great’s Summer Palace, built to remind him of Paris with a duplicate of the Venus de Milo standing in the entry way.  It is surrounded by a large park which was provided by him for the local inhabitants as a place for them to enjoy.

(Gardens, Back Side, Furnace)   

   Alexander Nevsky Cathedral (Russian Orthodox)

                             Dome Church, St. Mary’s Cathedral (Oldest church in Tallinn, and it’s Lutheran – as are most of their churches.)  There are medieval tombs inside and 60 medieval coats of arms hang on the walls.