Thursday, July 16, 2009

Welcome to Estonia and Giveaway Continues!

Thanks again to everyone for their comments. Reading them all made my day!! Please keep posting comments not only because you are all so nice—but also to enter my giveaway. (And by the way, I purchased the souvenir today that will be included in the give-away!!

Thanks also to my daughter Camille who is posting for me. I write and email it to her and she posts it-- since it takes forever to upload pictures onto the internet here on the boat. Thanks Camille!! You are a sweetheart!!

So here we are in the country you have all been waiting to learn about . . . Estonia!! :)We really did not know what to expect when docking here, but we have really enjoyed it.

Estonia was one of the Baltic States belonging to the Soviet Union until 1991 when it gained its independence. They now have an elected president and an “e-parliament” meaning it does most of its business via the internet. The official language is Estonian, although only about 1 million of its 1.4 million residents speak it. The language is from the same family as Finnish—which basically means it is very hard. One other interesting fact is that it is one of the few Soviet dominated countries that maintained its Protestant religion during domination.

Our first view of Talinn—where we docked—was of what was once a medieval town.

But from up above you can see a good mix of both modern and ancient.

We decided to get on the “Hop On, Hop Off “ bus for a tour or the city. And yes we really are in the picture below, you just have to look hard to find us (me and my three daughters as my husband took the picture).


When we “hopped off” we enjoyed walking the cobblestone roads and admiring the variety in the architecture. We saw quaint little churches to large Russian Orthodox cathedrals.



Kristen was thrilled to find a man who was the tall, strong and silent type, but alas, she had to leave him behind.


And I loved this picture of the man sitting outside his store reading the newspaper.

I have yet to write about Sweden but will do so sometime, and tomorrow we are off to St. Petersburg, Russia—and will be there on the anniversary of the day the last Russian Tsar , Nicholas II and his family were murdered. Should be interesting.

12 comments:

Unknown said...

the pictures are beautiful!

the best part of travel you have all the pictures to refresh your memories even years later!

looks like everyone is having fun!

still hot here! 107* not noon yet..

1 more chance for "JOY"...gramee aka Lindajoy..lol

Neil and Meredith Larson said...

pick me, pick me!

Anonymous said...

Hey I'm having a giveaway too! You'll have to check it out. Beautiful photos. I need a man like that too :)

Momza said...

My good friend, Kelly, has a son who just returned from the Baltic Isles mission.
He loved every minute of it.
Love the pictures too!

Lisa @ Pulsipher Page said...

The city looks so charming- it's a shame they had to build tall modern buildings. How's the food?

Rebecca Irvine said...

Beautiful pictures! Looks like you are having nice weather to boot. Looking forward to your upcoming posts!

Handsfullmom said...

Beautiful! What a great opportunity for you.

Anonymous said...

I love it! It makes me wish I was going to all the same places!

Heidi said...

Ooh! Ooh! I have been behind on my blogging and I have missed all of your trip! Going back to check it all out!

Unknown said...

Oh my gosh...it looks beautiful there. I would have never thought it would be so pretty. I'd really love to go there!

Donise Price said...

It is so nice that you can keep us all informed while you travel. And then think, when you get home, it will be all done! No more having to try and remember just what you did and where you went.

Jenny-Jenny said...

Looks like you are having a blast! great pictures!!