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Please have a look at the other photo collections while I am working on this part.
Latvia
Lithuania
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Our trip starts in Estonia. One of the reasons that the pictures took so long for publishing was, in fact, the weather. The weather was, well, not really inviting at the start, and then I actually lacked a bit of motivation to browse through hundreds of photographs with various shades of gray skies. So Tallinn, Estonia's capital, was covered by a thick cloud layer and weak light, also with rain on the first days, but it got much better from then on.
Estonia, and Tallinn in particular, have lots of interesting spots, though. Estonia was governed for a long time by the Teutonic Order since the middle ages. You can find many traces from these times, and as a German, I was surprised to find so many relics of German in the language itself (unlike Finnish, see my reports about the polar lights in Finnland), also in German names, German texts under statues and paintings, or in coats of arms.
Overview
This map shows our journey across Estonia. It starts in Tallinn (at the top), takes us west first to the town of Haapsalu, then to the island of Muhu with the village museum, and then to Estonia's largest island, Saaremaa. From there we set off on a hike on the neighboring island of Vilsandi. From Saaremaa we went to Pärnu, the summer capital, over lunch, before we left Estonia south towards Latvia a short time later.
Sightseeing tours
Before I present the photos, I would like to introduce some of the tours that we took at various stops on the trip. This also makes the background of the photos clearer, which can be found below.
Tallinn
Before 1918 (and unofficially to this day), Tallinn was known as Reval; however, whether the name truly originated from a roe deer and its fall from Toompea Hill is likely impossibleto prove. Nevertheless, at the alleged site of the fall, there is a small park featuring a statue of a roe deer. The name Tallinn, however, is more easily explained: Taani refers to the Danes (as Estonians do not use the letter D), while Linn signifies a castle or fortress—yet another nod to the city's eventful history.
The architecture still exudes this medieval flair: narrow, steep lanes winding up to Toompea Hill, half-timbered structures, ancient churches, and the old city walls of Reval. Then, in contrast, there is modern Tallinn—specifically the Rotermann Quarter—which underwent a complete redevelopment at the turn of the millennium. Where dilapidated industrial buildings once stood, one now finds a large cinema, a host of pubs and shops, and a vibrant gathering place for people of all ages.
The first two days were dedicated to the capital; the map illustrates our walks through the Old Town (click to enlarge). The blue path marks our official morning sightseeing tour, during which we walked from our hotel—passing the Town Hall Square—up to Cathedral Hill (left) and concluded our tour at the Independence Monument (bottom). From there, we walked (red path) in smaller groups northward, crossing the Town Hall Square to reach the famous Café Maiasmokk, where high-quality marzipan is available for purchase. Afterward, we headed to St. Olaf’s Church—climbing to the top—before making our way back through the Old Town. I then climbed up onto the Tallinn city walls near our hotel. In the evening (magenta), we went out for dinner (not shown), then strolled through the Rotermann Quarter (right); subsequently—approaching from the north—we traversed the Old Town one last time by night before returning to our hotel.
Vilsandi
The island of Vilsandi is part of Vilsandi National Park, which comprises numerous smaller islands in addition to Vilsandi itself. Vilsandi is inhabited—albeit primarily by just a few researchers—but it has no actual settlements. Visitors are transported to Vilsandi by boat, which must maneuver its way through the cluster of small islands.
On Vilsandi, one can experience an abundance of unspoiled nature—if only the weather had been a little nicer (though, at least, it stayed dry)—while following long hiking trails that lead to a solitary lighthouse situated at the island's westernmost tip (built in 1809). Traversing a forest in the center of the island, we eventually made our way back to the harbor, where the boat took us back to Saaremaa.
Pärnu
Right on cue, the weather demonstrated that it was capable of something other than that neverending, damp grayness just as we arrived in Estonia’s "summer capital", treating us to the long-missed sunshine.
Pärnu is, of course, considerably larger than the sightseeing tour map would suggest; the entire area across the river has been omitted from it. It has a population of around 50,000 and was founded in the mid-13th century by the Teutonic Order under the name Pernau. It is a renowned seaside resort—a status it maintained throughout the Soviet era, when it served as a popular spa town.
We explored the historic city center, found a nice spot for lunch, and strolled past the Art Nouveau Villa Ammende on our way to the beach—a genuine sandy beach, right here in the far north. Afterward, in the afternoon, we continued our journey southward by bus, eventually crossing the border into Latvia.
Photo collection
Please wait until the other two parts (Latvia, Lithuania) are completed.
Estonian language
As with my other trips, I am always interested in the local languages, and Estonian is fascinating in several aspects.
Estonian is closely related to Finnish, as you can see with the first numbers already:
| Number | Finnish | Estonian |
| 0 | nolla | null |
| 1 | yksi | üks |
| 2 | kaksi | kaks |
| 3 | kolme | kolm |
| 4 | neljä | neli |
In fact, "null" is borrowed from German (which got it from Latin ultimately), whereas Finnish got it from Swedish.
Estonian features a rich case system with 14 cases (compare German with just 4 cases or English with 2). These cases replace the prepositional constructs in the Indo-European languages.
Where the German cases refer to the questions for
- wer (who), wessen (whose), wem (to/for who/whom), wen (who objective)
the Estonian cases ask
- who, whose, of what, into what, in what, out of what, to where, on what, from where, for what, up to what, as what, without what, and with what?
and modifies the word accordingly. For instance, toomkirik is the cathedral, and a sign on one photo showed the form toomkirikusse. This word as such translates as "into the cathedral".
This is in fact a challenging grammar for Into-European speakers, be it German, English, French, Norwegian, Greek, Italian, Czech and so on.
Luckily, Estonian is easy to read for us Germans. The writing is phonematic, that is, each letter represents a sound, and most of the letters are well-known in European languages. The only exception is
- Õ (O with tilde, that is, a wave above), for instance: õhk (air) oder even doubled: Urmas Sõõruma (the architect of the revovcated Rotermann quaters).
This letter somewhat sounds like a mix of o and ö in German, as if someone from Saxony with a broad accent says "Boot" or "Not". Roughly said, you have to pronounce "o" with retracted lips.
Also mind that double vowels indicate length (not like o vs. oo in English, which changes the sound), and double consonants also mean a long sound.
So all that is left to say for me is: Ja nüüd nautige minu pilte Eestist!
Partly translated with the assistance of Google Translate
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In this part I present the last three days (Tuesday-Thursday) in one go, as we have fewer interesting single places but lots of pictures of the landscape.
On day six (Tuesday) we visit the upper-right edge of the island, the Ponta de São Lourenço. Our bus takes us along the east coast where we pass below the runways of the airport, then drops us about halfway on that headland.
On that hiking trail, we can discover fascinating rock formations. The path slopes up and down slightly, not too difficult. When you turn back, you can see the airport in the background, with its runways set on concrete pillars.
Casa do Sardinha is a welcome place of rest for some of our group; the rest tries to get to the ultimate point on the Pico do Furado.
After that we walk back to the bus stop, where the bus takes us to Pico de Facho, a small hill east of Machico. Then we head for the beach; pick the sunscreen from the bag, it is about time ... well, if there were not those clouds. As mentioned, Madeira is not exactly known for its sandy beaches, there are only a few, and they are artificial: The beach of Machico is built of sand from Morocco, as most other beaches. After some 90 minutes we pack our bags and return to our hotel.
Day 7 (Wednesday) ist our last day with a travel programme. Before noon, we have a stop at the Pico dos Barcelos, a hill within Funchal, which offers us a great panorama of the city and the environment. Some minutes later, we continue with our bus trip on the ER 107 road towards the middle of the island, heading for the entrance to the hiking trail to Curral das Freiras (Pen of the nuns).
Again, an impressive trail with steep rock walls and deep drops, taking about 90 minutes to walk. We reach Curral das Freiras, have a lunch in the restaurant Vale das Freiras, and have a look inside the chestnut museum that is located next to the restaurant. Our bus brings us back to our hotel, some of us ask to be dropped of in downtown Funchal to do some shopping.
Day 8 is the day of returning home. Some of us have their flight in the afternoon which allows us to go for a short walk around the hotel and have a final lunch.
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In this part I present the important points of the days 4 and 5 together. We have some longer bus trips and hiking so that there are not so many good pictures. Also, there is not too much to talk about.
On the fourth day (Sunday), our bus takes us right across the island. We start at the fishermans' village of Camâra de Lobos and the continue to the stepp cliffs of Cabo Girão, featuring a lookout with glass floor platform. After another break at Ribeira Brava we travel towards the middle of the island, having a stop at the lookout north of Serra de Água.
The first big item on our list for today is the Vereda do Fanal, a hiking path. Located at the northwestern end of the plateau Paul da Serra, we finally get some stretched-out landscape ... if there were not that fog (actually, the clouds). Sometimes, the air gets clears and sun passes through, but the fog does not disappear until we reach our bus again. At least the trees served for a spooky scenery.
We carry on towards the north coast where we have a short stop for a view, then reach Porto Moniz in the northwestern corner of the island. This city is know for the natural swimming basins, formed by solidified lava.
After some bathing and a quick lunch we start our way back, stopping near the waterfall Véu da Noiva (Bride's veil) and having a Poncha drink at the Taberna da Poncha.
On the fifth day (Monday) we start for another levada hiking, this time along the Levada do Furado in the east of the island. As with all levada paths, this one is easy to walk, but you should have a safe step when looking down. The start of our path is a trout farm.
The whole track takes us about 4.5 hours, but there are many impressive sights towards the coast. Shortly before it ends, the levada splits up, and we follow the Levada da Portela. At the end we have our afternoon snack in the restaurant Portela a Vista.
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The third day of our vacation is dedicated to the capital of Madeira, Funchal. The name comes from the fennel which the purtuguese navigators found here in abundance. The name is correctly pronounced as [fũˈʃaɫ], somewhat like English "foo(ng)-shull".
Before we reach Funchal after departing from our hotel in Caniço de Baixo, we have a stop at the Cristo Rei statue.
In Funchal, our bus drops us off at the Santa Catarina park. Right before it, we encounter the statue of Empress Sissi, or officially called Empress Elisabeth of Austria. After a short walk through the park we get to the street Avenida Arriga which leads to the centre of Funchal.
First we take a detour through the municipal park (Parque Municipal do Funchal) which is famous for its exotic plants and trees. After that we proceed on the road to the Funchal cathedral (Sé do Funchal) and then reach the market hall. There are really lots of fruit and vegetable stands, and in the back part there is the fish market.
We continue walking a bit to the east, then turn around and head for the bottom station of the Funchal-Monte Cable Car. It is indeed a fascinating ride over the rooftops of the city; after a while we arrive at the top station and have a look at the church Nossa Senhora. Well, it is not our actual goal: Rather, we take a ride downwards with the famous toboggan drivers. This ride is about 2 kms long and is already done since the beginning of the 19th century, when it counted as public transport.
Lastly, our bus picks us up and brings us to the Botanical Garden. We are walking back and forth through the flowery environments, and enjoy a look over the city from two lookouts on the western end. We take a coffee at a small café inside the garden and leave it shortly after. The first director of the garden was "Engenheiro Rui Vieira"; this word appears every now and then in Funchal. But it is not a name, it is the Portuguese word for "engineer", which is used as a title here.
Public pictures
