Estonia: Castles and Manors

Posted December 1, 2014 by admin
Estonia

Tartu

Estonia

21 August 2014

Estonia, rich in history, much of it bloody history, provides the traveler with a variety of unique sights and sounds.

The oldest Stone Age settlements date back 10,000 years.

Finno-Ugric tribes from the east, probably from the Urals at about 3500 BCE, mingled with the Neolithic peoples and settled in present Finland, Hungary and Estonia.  They left behind their language system, so different from the surrounding Indo-European languages.

The Vikings arrived in the 9th and 10th centuries.

Lake Peipsi: Rainbows

Posted December 1, 2014 by admin
Estonia

Aarde Villa

Sääritsa

Lake Peipsi

Estonia

August 21, 2014

“How did you find this place?”  Thomas asks me.   “With great difficulty,” I respond.

Since this is my very first day driving with a GPS device, I am having some trouble learning the subtleties.   Plus that sweet lady up in the satellite hasn’t a clue when, unexpectedly, a main road is closed on the route to my destination.  Even my maps have no indication of this small town that lies somewhere between Mustvee and Kallaste.  So I read my guidebook, follow my nose, and ask directions of a couple of teenage boys who speak good English.  Eventually, I find my way down a narrow country lane to the Villa.

“No, no, that’s not what I meant.  How did you know about this place?” asks Thomas, an astonished Estonian. 

Tallinn: The Human Touch

Posted December 1, 2014 by admin
Estonia

Tallinn

Estonia

August 17, 2014

My fellow phographers,

My friend and professional phographer and guide, Ralph Velasco offered this advice, "Find the human touch."

So after indulging my own proclivity for architecture and landscape, I follow Ralph's suggestion.

As per my typical routine, I find a quiet spot and try (unobtrusively) to shoot the natives.

If I am “busted” I give them a peek at the screen. 

Luckily, here in Estonia, the natives are mostly cheerful, and anxious to strike a glamorous pose. 

Helsinki: Summer Sun

Posted December 1, 2014 by admin
Finland

Helsinki

Finland

August 12, 2014

Hei,

Many years ago I had an American-Hungarian friend.  She insisted that Hungarian was “different” and resembled no other language in Europe.  Since I was a young man who thought he already knew everything, I doubted my friend’s characterization of her language.

Hungary lies in the middle of Central Europe.  Certainly the language is in some way similar to her neighbors’.   Surely Hungarian is related to Slovakian Slavic, or Romanian Romance, or Austrian Germanic?

Well I was dead wrong!

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