The Medieval Old Town in Tallinn.

The history of Tallinn is incredibly rich. The first fortress was built on Toompea (the cathedral hill) as early as the mid 11th century. In the middle ages, the town was part of the Hanseatic League. It lay on the cross roads between the Northern Europe and Russia, and prospered enormously. 
Today, the Old Town is visited by thousands of tourists each year. And with good reason - it is well preserved and presented, and since the late 1990s it has been a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site. 
For a while, we forgot the modern glass and concrete buildings and paved tar roads and wandered the narrow cobblestone streets and alleys of this beautiful medieval part of Tallinn.

An observation platform on Toompea. Later we would climb up to the steeple of St. Olaf's church the children are looking at here.

Inside St. Olaf's church. The steeple of the church was the tallest edifice in the whole of Europe at one time.

Of course, we had to climb to the observation platform of the steeple to see the height for ourselves.

The view from St. Olaf's toward Toompea.

An interesting find in the Old Town.

This house was built long before Christopher Columbus was even born.

The Kadriorg Palace

Estonia has plenty of places that claim to have been visited by one of the greatest Russian czars Peter I.The Palace at Kadriorg in Tallinn is not a place of a legend, but a proof of Peter the Great's love for his wife Catharine to whom the palace was built. The palace and the park that surrounds it even got their name from Catharine or Kadri for short in Estonian. The rooms in the palace are magnificent, and the gardens in the back are beautiful. Today, the palace serves as an art museum. 
What made our touring of the palace and its grounds so special - we spent the morning together with a missionary family. What a blessing!

With Peter.

In one of the rooms in the art museum, the children were allowed to touch sculptures.

Saara with Poseidon. 

Voru Folklore Festival

Our time in Estonia had a beautiful ending. We were able to take part and enjoy different cultures right in our own town. The annual folklore festival brings in different groups from all over the world. For us it was fun to meet the Irish dancers from Wisconsin. We also saw the Portuguese dancers, but missed the performances by the Polish and Turkish groups. We did get a large dose of Estonian folk dancing and, at the end of the festival, I and the kids even got to try some Irish dances. 
I feel the children were so blessed to be able to participate in both the song festival in Tartu and then the dance one in Voru. What a rich cultural experience!

The Irish dancers from Trinity Academy. 

The Turkish delegation.

The Polish dancers.

And the Portuguese.

My little dancer with lots of big dancers.

At the fair's market with 'kannel' (an Estonian lap harp).

A little of Estonian dancing ...

... and Irish.

Saara learning an Estonian dance.

Sangaste Castle and Chruch

In Estonia, the landed gentry had always been foreigners.The people who worked on their lands - the peasants - were Estonians. The relationship between these two classes was generally strained and unfriendly. The Count of Sangaste, however, was an unusual exception. He loved the locals, and the locals loved him back. He cared for his people and was respected and honored in return. 
It was his home that we visited one day. Because of many years of neglect and then misuse during the war and the Soviet period, the castle had suffered much. But in recent years a lot of the lost glamour of the castle has been restored. Also the story of the Count and his relentless work developing Estonian agriculture has been revived. Andrew and Saara learned a lot about rye and how important it has been to this country.

The Sangaste Castle

For us, it was a surprise to read that the Count was homeschooled at first.

The 'hunting hall' still has the original fireplace. The count's children used to play in front of it, and the side of the fireplace still has the notches that were carved in to measure the height of the kids. The hall is used as a restaurant nowadays.

The ball room. It is hard to imagine that the Russian soldiers kept their horses in this room during the war.

The winter garden had not only pretty plants, but also a few very loud parrots.

A machine to sort grain.

The library. Beautiful place.

The rye for which the count is best  known for.

Sangaste Lutheran church.

Jaaniraotu Bird Park

It was a sunny and warm Sunday afternoon when we pulled up to a farm that invites people to come and look at the vast variety of birds and small animals they have. For us, it was a lot of fun to see so many different birds up close - anything from chickens to peacocks. I was happy to find the descendants of my Dad's pigeons living there. 

Canadian geese

Chinese geese.

Ostrich

Ostrich 

Black swans

Budgerigars

Amazon parrot

Long tail rooster

Estonian national bird - the swallow 

Frillback pigeon

My Dad's pigeons were tumblers.

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