HOME

Big Ben
Chunnel  
Colosseum
CN Tower
Eiffel Tower
Empire State
Golden Gate
Grand Canyon
Great Wall
Hoover Dam
Lng Twr Pisa
Mt. St. Michel
Mt Fuji
Niagara Falls
Pyramids
Parthenon
Petra
Statue Liberty
Stonehenge

For a Eastern Europe country that´s only been independent for just over a decade, Estonia´s 1.5 million residents are doing OK.  Tallin´s remarkably cleaner and more modern than I would have thought.  Its Old Town area has several international restaurants among its souvenir shops and churches.  Oh and by the way, the Old Town is also a UNESCO World Heritage site.

I take a bus tour around the city and meet some friendly Helsinki university buddies on a weekend trip.

Eva, Kai and Frederick give me the scoop on Helsinki life.  Shout out to the Helsinki gang: if you´re reading this and I got something wrong, email me and I´ll correct it!   Turns out that many Helsinki residents take weekend trips to talent to roam the Old City and explore its history.  Oh yeah, and don´t forget, to stock up on cheap beer and cigarettes.  Estonia´s prices are about a half to a third of Helsinki´s.

Another church in Old Town

Sing a Song
This outdoor amphitheater was wear Estonia had one of its earlier song contests.  Turns out that early Estonians got together to sing a national song, which helped unite them as a country.   That turned into a song contest against other Baltic states every five years.  The amphitheater usually seats 30,000, but when Michael Jackson came a few years ago to play, they jammed it to 80,000. 

On the ferry ride back to Helsinki, the in-cruise movie is appropriately enough, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.  It´s very cool to see Indy also adventure-hopping the globe.

After the quick day trip, back to Helsinki, and then another day trip to the rustic charm town of Porvoo.

Orthodox Cathedral, remnants of Russian control before Estonia won its independence.

I see this girl outside the Old Town Hall wearing traditional garb...or so I think

Turns out Analie and her friend are promoting a medieval restaurant nearby.  I haven´t had medieval food, so I try it.

This is NOT traditional Tallinn food, just what you can get at a medieval restaurant there:  that´s a piece of rye bread with an assortment of spreads, including pate, cheese and cow tongue marmalade (very spongey, but sweet).

This turreted wall protected the old town, now a tourist area.

Tallin talent watching the concert.  

One of our great exports - get your clubbing clothes here.