From Tallinn to Helsinki

After four nights in Estonia, we arrived back in Helsinki at noon today taking the ferry back. During winter, the entire Baltic Sea from coast to coast is frozen over and thus we had a big ice breaking ferry as opposed to the usual speed boats which take half the time. Looking out at the endless sheets of ice, it felt as if we could walk from capital to capital. We spent two and a half days in Tartu, the second largest city and the rest in Tallinn. Perhaps the most impressive thing on the trip was that large parts of Tallinn and most of downtown Tartu had free wireless internet. With my friends PDA, we could surf from almost anywhere. Estonia has been rapidly changing since my first visit in 2000. I had some interesting conversations with Russians and learned about the problems they face in Estonia being treated as second class citizens with different passports even. Perhaps the most enjoyable was feasting on Georgian food in Tartu and Azerbaijani food in Tallinn. I have a wealth of pictures that I’ll upload when back in Germany in two days. I don’t have a usb cable here. Until soon!