Estonia Facts and Photos

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Estonia Facts and Photos

This is a country of about 1.5 million people on the very north parts of the land regions above Poland, Belarus and Romania, etc. Finland is above the country, Russia is to the right, Sweden is to the left, and Latvia is directly below.

It is at about 58 degrees latitude above the Equator and the Capital of Tallinn is about exactly the same distance above as Stockholm, Sweden. There is about 1500 island in the Baltic Sea or part of Estonia; this appears to be a major port city for this region of land mass.

This is a former state or part of the Soviet Republic and got its independence in 1991, a great location to start or stage a Tran-Siberian Rail trip, or to just cross over into Moscow or St. Petersburg Russia.

A person just needs to wave his passport and get a stamp to enter Estonia, very easy and painless. Easyjet.com serves the Tallinn Airport from Berlin, and is a quick jump taking 1 hour and 45 minutes.

Not so much facts.
This appears to be some form or there is area of Medieval Architecture, and maybe there is a fort of sorts. Medieval or the Middle ages is referencing Europe from 350 to 1450.

The older the city there normally is some type of moat, gates, drawbridge, wall, fortress created to stop invaders, and only by a siege type attack method could they be taken. Modern weapons seem to have stopped cities or countries from creating a Fortress environment, as bombs from airplanes do not care about walls.

It will be fun to inspect the Viru Gates to see or look around, maybe there was a canal or moat in the past, maybe a large drawbridge, or large gates, and I should be able to find remnants of a gate I believe.

“The name Tallinn comes from the Estonian Taani Linn, meaning “Danish castle”
Encyclopedia Encarta

This naming of the place Danish Castle would make sense if you stop believing the world has borders, or there are lines between countries. The idea of clean, crisp lines between countries, where you must receive a Visa to enter is maybe only in my opinion the last 100 years. Before this, you would or could have been a Danish Fisherman or Navy coming or meandering around in the Baltic Sea.

Forget there are borders to countries, imagine you are in a wooden boat sailing around in the Baltic Seas about year 500, you would go anywhere and everywhere you wish, not caring about borders.

This is the Viru Gate or the entrance to the Old Town of Tallinn, Estonia, cobblestones, and very quaint, comfortable and slow, a wonderful walk in the morning.

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Reader Submitted Comments | Deleted Comments (0)

Juri Estam said on Friday August 11th, 2006 01:39:00 PM

A couple of essential corrections here. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were no more voluntary parts of the Soviet Union than Norway and France were constituent parts of Nazi Germany (no one would write "France - part of the Third Reich"). The three Baltic countries were unique in World War Two as independent European countries that were conquered (by the USSR) and stayed occupied for half a century. We did not become independent in 1991, but rather the Russian occupation troops left with their tanks thereafter, and we returned to independence. As concerns Danes - they were our very first oppressors and occupiers (they came with sword and fire, arriving in 1219). Alas, our borders were not strong enough to have excluded these invaders. There were large pitched battles against the Danes and German crusaders for decades until we submitted (Estonia's Ancient War to Retain Independence). The philosophy of no borders has a nice idealistic tune to it, as long as you are not constantly subjected to having to repel aggressive boarders, as Estonia has had to for decades. Give me borders any day, if the alternative is living in subjugation. Juri Estam Tallinn

Juri Estam said on Friday August 11th, 2006 01:45:00 PM

A couple of essential corrections here. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were no more voluntary parts of the Soviet Union than Norway and France were constituent parts of Nazi Germany (no one would write "France - part of the Third Reich"). The three Baltic countries were unique in World War Two as independent European countries that were conquered (by the USSR) and stayed occupied for half a century. We did not become independent in 1991, but rather the Russian occupation troops left with their tanks thereafter, and we returned to independence. As concerns Danes - they were our very first oppressors and occupiers (they came with sword and fire, arriving in 1219). Alas, our borders were not strong enough to have excluded these invaders. There were large pitched battles against the Danes and German crusaders for decades, until we submitted (Estonia's Ancient War to Retain Independence). The philosophy of no borders has a nice idealistic tune to it, as long as you are not constantly subjected to having to repel aggressive boarders, as Estonia has had to do on and off again for eight centuries. Give me borders any day, if the alternative is living in subjugation. Juri Estam Tallinn