So what do you know about Estonia?  Not much?  At first, me neither. The capital Tallinn is a very cool and very beaut-iful place.  Estonia was part of the Soviet Union until 1991 when it seized an opportunity to declare its independence from the Soviet bloc.   As the Berlin Wall fell, the Estonians saw their chance to bail out.  Estonia was always a place with it own unique identity, language and aesthetic.  The estonian language is similar to Finish.  In fact ,Helsinki  is only about 50 miles away across the gulf of Finland (map).

Estonian rule has changed hands multiple times over the centuries, from the vikings to the communists, Estonian people have maintained a strong sense of identity and pride.

Tallinn consists of an older walled town and the modern city which has developed around it.  The walls and guard towers still remain and the old town itself is a nearly perfectly preserved example of medieval northern european urban design.  It can be compared to Munich or Krakow (from what I have heard).  The free market economy here is very mature and my visit was to have a look at how this very outdoor minded population shops for their gear and how our product is presented at retail.

We had a great dinner at a restaurant called “Old Hansa c.1400”.  This was a medieval themed restaurant with traditional estonian and baltic cuisine.  There was no evident electricity in the entire place and every room was lit by candle.  They did an excellent job of hiding all the modern amenities from credit card readers to plumbing and the modern kitchen facilities.  Our waitress spoke estonian, english, belgian and german... possibly more, those were just the languages at our table.  She also joined in occasionally to sing with the musicians playing period medieval instruments.

Overall, I loved the very modern almost, scandinavian design aesthetic that sat comfortably adjacent to the unspoiled medieval old city.  There was such a sense of style here that has clearly been intact for centuries.  My hosts and guides were great fun and I look forward to meeting up with them again.  I would love to go back to estonia and take advantage of its large unspoiled forests and vast wetlands along the Gulf of Finland.

See pictures of Tallinn, Estonia HERE