{"id":2067,"date":"2011-06-08T19:58:46","date_gmt":"2011-06-09T02:58:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rayivey.com\/wordpress\/?p=2067"},"modified":"2011-06-08T19:58:46","modified_gmt":"2011-06-09T02:58:46","slug":"spring-forward-day-80","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.rayivey.com\/wordpress\/spring-forward-day-80\/","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"rss\"<\/a>\"instagram\"<\/a>

Tallinn, Estonia
\nMay 31, 2011\u00a0<\/h2>\n
\"Colorful<\/a>
Colorful apartment buildings<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I love Estonia. I knew Iwould.\u00a0 Especially compared to Russia, which is struggling mightily to extricate itself from the deadly nihilistic momentum and decay of the Soviet years.\u00a0 Smaller states, like smaller ships, can turn around much faster.\u00a0 And all three of the Baltic states have nice, peppy economies with lots of money coming in from high tech and tourism.<\/p>\n

\"Cool<\/a>
Cool art nouveau facade in Old Town<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

During my long (but comfortable!) bus ride, for the entire Russian portion the roads were appalling, bumpy, patched, full of holes, bad intersections, etc.\u00a0 The first mile into Estonia it was clear we were in a different world.\u00a0 Not only were the signs in letters I could read, but the highways were smooth as glass.<\/p>\n

\"You<\/a>
You think this camera was easy to drag all around Europe?!!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I was a little rattled when I arrived at the venerable St. Olav Hotel at midnight. I guess I need to read hotel reviews more carefully.\u00a0 The St. Olav is charming, all right, but it\u2019s a historical building.\u00a0 Old.\u00a0 Rickety.\u00a0 No elevators.\u00a0 I had to schlepp my 562 bags up rickety, leaning staircases to my room on the fourth floor.\u00a0 Actually I had to do it twice, because the first time Iwent to the wrong<\/em> fourth floor.\u00a0 Yeah, like that.\u00a0 And the room, while large, is pretty spartan:\u00a0 no closet and no air conditioning<\/em>.\u00a0\"cool<\/a><\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
A new Estonian friend.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Plus it\u2019s right <\/em>in the middle of Old Town, which sounds great until you realize that this means that you\u2019re on a street that\u2019s never<\/em> quiet.\u00a0 There\u2019s a bar next door.\u00a0 Yay.<\/p>\n

Still, I managed to laugh about all of it and had a good night\u2019s sleep.<\/p>\n

\/\/\/<\/p>\n

This morning I had a lovely breakfast in the capacious and charming breakfast room and then headed out to do some pre-exploring before Milana arrived in the afternoon.<\/p>\n

I first walked out to the harbor to get my very first glimpse ever of the Baltic Sea.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Between the harbor and the beginning of Old Town is a very moving and beautiful memorial to the 852 commuters who died when the Estline Baltic ferry mysteriously sank on September 28, 1994.\u00a0 The memorial is a simple but dramatic broken line or arch.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The Broken Line: The Memorial to the 1994 Baltic Ferry Disaster.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I sat down on a bench to soak it in, and couldn\u2019t help noticing an older man sitting two benches away. He was clearly mourning.\u00a0 I wondered who he had lost.\u00a0 A wife?\u00a0 A child?<\/p>\n

The awful thing about this event is that Estonia only has 1.5 million people, so virtually everyone had a connection with someone who died on the ferry.\u00a0 It hit the country very hard.<\/p>\n

I sat down in front of it and thought about what an awful day that must have been when a routine Baltic ferry suddenly and swiftly sank.\u00a0 I noticed an older man sitting two benches away from me, quietly gripping onto prayer beads.\u00a0 He was clearly thereto mourn.\u00a0 As he left I had a tentative conversation with him, and he had enough English to make it clear that yes, he did lose someone on the ferry.\u00a0 But who?\u00a0 Wife?\u00a0 Child?\u00a0 So sad.<\/p>\n

\"Mourning<\/a>
Mourning at the Ferry Memorial<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\/\/\/<\/p>\n

So here\u2019s the difference between Russia and Estonia:\u00a0 In Russia, police beat the shit out of homosexuals who dare attend a peaceful Pride demonstration.\u00a0 In Estonia, the tourist map they hand out for free at the hotel has a big ad for the local gay spa, complete with photo of a glistening naked torso.\u00a0 I love the Baltics.<\/p>\n

\"This<\/a>
This statue celebrates the achievements of the East German Women's Olympic Team.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I also love that, despite all the beautiful churches (lots of flavors:\u00a0 Baptist, Lutheran, Orthodox, Catholic), the Estonians are the least religious of all the populations in the EU.\u00a0 Go go secularism!!<\/p>\n

\/\/\/<\/p>\n

I\u2019m enjoying hearing the sounds of Old Town as write this.\u00a0 There\u2019s a street violinist who just performed a jazzy rendition of \u201cNew York, New York\u201d before moving on to some more classical charts.\u00a0 Ooh, now he\u2019s on to \u201cLady Madonna.\u201d\u00a0 Think I\u2019m love.<\/p>\n

\"Happy<\/a>
Happy Villagers<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

My Personal Favorite Memorials<\/h4>\n