The sad truth is this. If you were born a LONG time ago… and you happened to come into this world via Estonia…. you were pretty much crap out of luck.
People have lived here in Estonia for 11,000 years or so. But the country didn’t show up on world maps until about 700 years ago. Way up here in the Baltic / Nordic Region.
Unfortunately, the Estonians have been second-class citizens in their own land for a long dang time. In the 13th century, the Germans and Russians kept overtaking this land. They would charge high taxes for land, essentially making these people indentured servants. Serfs, peasants… many starved.. suffered persecution… and on and on.
It just droned on, again and again, until very recent history. Perhaps one of the worst eras was during WWII, More than 30,000 Estonians were abducted from their homes and sent to Russian Prison Camps until 1949. Many were killed.
Today. Those Estonians are a proud and sturdy people. We were in Tallin today. It truly is a little fairy book town. The fog was heavy today, so we could not see the surrounding beauty of this area. But the town was quaint, and old, stony, and…. wellllll….. Estonia-ish.
We ate like Estonians Nobles or something. With a Russian influence. In just one meal, our table relished in Beef Stroganoff, Lamb Dumplings, Salmon Pie, Chicken Kiev, Fish Stew, and great bread. Oh yes we did.
The rain made for a difficult photo day. Difficult walking around day too. But we made it back to the boat. On time. Tonight, we saw a great show (called “The Man From Mars”) in the main theatre. A husband and wife Cirque Team. Super talented.
My personal lesson for the day is appreciation. For people. This wide, wide, world. History. Culture. Diversity. Everything, from a cup of hot water from a friend…. to an artist hand sewing a coat. And even for Estonian Fruit Flies. The lowest on the chain of command. But they keep their little chins up… in hopes of finding a great rotten apple. Now THAT my friends… is appreciation.
“Learn everything you can, anytime you can, from anyone you can – there will always come a time when you will be grateful you did.” — Sarah Caldwell