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5. mai 2006
Very rough guide to fascinating Estonia
I wrote some quick notes about...
...my native country. As it came out rather long, I won't waste it on just one friend, but copypaste it here for the whole world.
MY SUBJECTIVE AND ROUGH AND QUICK GUIDE TO ESTONIA
Some ways to spend you summer holidays
There are several interesting areas to go. As the language is different from all you know, it's probably not very easy to get close contact, but people are still mostly helpful and usually friendly. Younger generation speaks English fine, older ones might know German instead of it.
Overall: many sources, for example
http://tourism.ee/en/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estonia
http://www.viroweb.com/estonia/
http://www.estonica.org/
And here are some highlights (check the map and put together some circuit; the main transport axes in Estonia are in triangle Tallinn-Pärnu-Tartu, coming from Valga and Võru in south and crossing Viljandi on Pärnu-Tartu route).
1
SETUMAA / VÕRUMAA
(South-East)
They speak different language (similar to Estonian) there. Interesting melange of Fenno-Ugrian culture with Russian (and maybe even Latvian) influences. Orthodox church + pagan religion. Part of Setumaa is occupied by Russia, another part by Estonia. Places: Võru, Värska, Obinitsa (no asphalt road there!), Rõuge, Mikitamäe...
http://www.hot.ee/setomuuseum/ (there you can eat, I think)
http://www.hot.ee/setotour/englich/index.htm
http://www.erm.ee/vanast/naitus/punavalge/
2
LAHEMAA NATIONAL PARK
Lahemaa is Estonia's largest national park and offers waterfalls, bluffs, forests, and nature. In Palmse, on the eastern edge, you can find a Baroque house dating from, and furnished in the style of, the 18th century, and a restored 17th century distillery. Lot of birds and wild nature. Near the capital, Northern Estonia.
http://www.lahemaa.ee/?id=670
3
NORTH-EAST
That's where the oil shale mines and power stations are. Interesting cities Jõhvi, Kohtla-Järve and Narva (the latter is the Russian border with huge fortresses facing on each sida of the river). Lot's of jobless people, HIV etc in that region, but it's still safe to walk around in day time; just in case don't camp for night in wilderness). Sillamäe is a very interesting town also with stalinist architecture; used to be a closed city, not shown on Soviet maps (currently it's blossoming with a transit port there).
http://www.kaevanduspark.ee/eng/index.htm (mining museum under ground in Kohtla)
http://www.ep.ee/?lang=en
4
THE ISLANDS
Latvia and Lithuania unfortanately basically don't have island. Estonia has several small ones and two big ones: Saaremaa and Hiiumaa. Accessible by ferries from Rohuküla, Heltermaa and Pärnu (different starting point for each, check the map). A small and culturally well preserved is Kihnu island (ferry from Pärnu). Ruhnu is cool also, although i've never been there.
http://www.saaremaa.ee/
www.hiiumaa.ee/
http://www.kihnu.ee/eng/
http://www.ruhnu.ee/english.htm
5
PEIPSI LAKE, Eastern Estonia
Very close to Tartu, one of the oldest university towns in this region of Europe. Visit the area between Varnja, Kolkja, Kallaste, Mustvee - Russian starovery (old believers) escaped there in 17th century and they've maintained their ways.
Drive from Tartu in the direction of Kallaste and Alatskivi and turn to the lake (east) in Koosa, head to Varnja, and from there keep near the water. In Kolkja check out the fish and onion restaurant (Kala- ja Sibularestoran; that might be full often). Up to north by the Peipsi shore you'll discover beatiful sand dune-like beaches in Alajõe area.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Believers
http://www.starover.ee/
http://kolkja.edu.ee/muuseng.htm
http://www.tartumaa.ee/?setlang=eng
6
SOOMAA
(the Marshlands)
A wet area with untouched nature. You can go canoeing there. It's between Viljandi and Pärnu, in Western Estonia.
Soomaa people call the flood period the "fifth season" For getting aroung during that time they use an archaic watercraft called a 'haabja' (dugout) – a boat that has been carved out from the trunk of an aspen tree.
http://www.soomaa.com/ (commercial site)
http://www.soomaa.ee/?setlang=eng (official site)
7
BARCLAY DE TOLLY MAUSOLEUM
Not many people find that interesting morbid-cult object in Jõgeveste, near
Barclay de Tolly lead Russian army against Napoleon. His remains are embalmed and put into the mausoleum built to a design by Apollon Shchedrin and Vasily Demut-Malinovsky in 1832 in Jõgeveste (Valgamaa, Helme vald). The mausoleum is worth to see and the manor house also (actually there are lot of nice manors in Estonia); just a nice stop for an hour of so.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barclay_de_Tolly
http://www.mois.ee/vilj/jogeveste.shtml
These were the things that came to my mind.
Don't forget to taste smoked fish ("latikas", "siig", "koha" are the names of the leading fish; "rääbis" in Peipsi region is even more delicious, but for several years it's prohibited to fish it as its population is falling drastically).
If you manage to get your hands on "hansa" in Võrumaa or Setumaa, try it too (after driving). Although it's not allowed to sell it or even produce it, traditional and often delicious whiskey it is:)
Depending on the season try berries, pickles, apples etc. In the nature feel free to pick and eat berries, if any available.
Estonian national food is not easy to find outside the capital, but look for it or if the restaurant people are communicative, ask them to suggest something. The cuisine is a melange of German, Russian and Fenno-Ugrian traditions. Russian ravioli (pelmeenid) and red soup (seljanka) are often the best choise in a bad bar for a quick snack.
I also suggest to buy and try Estonian joghurt (jogurt), kefir (keefir) and other milk products in shops. Most of them are really good. By the way, we make a lot of salads with sour cream (hapukoor) and potatoes - that kind of white salads with meat, fish, chicken etc are available in bigger shops (as a take away also).
Posted by afanasjev at 05.05.06 01:47
Comments
And it's especially without major towns and cities as the friend ask for it!
Posted by: V at 05.05.06 01:52