Copenhagen, Estonia - June, 2011

I had a business trip to Stockholm, and the 9 hour time difference is a bitch, so I like to go over a couple days early to get over jetlag. Since I've been to Stockholm several times, I decided to go somewhere different on the weekend before. So I have been wanting to go to Estonia ever since meeting an Estonian couple in Japan... Flew in to Copenhagen, and spent the night there, rather than wait 6 hours in the airport for a flight to Estonia. I thought it might be nice to have a day to see that town; heard great things about it... It wasn't until the flight over, and they showed a tourist video, that I remembered that I had been there before! You know you've been traveling too much when you forget you've been to a country!

Anyway, had a rare sunny day in Copenhagen, and the time I'd been there before on a layover to Stockholm, I only had a few hours, so had taken an open top bus tour, and it was a day threatening to rain. This time, I had a rare sunny day, and it was like a whole different city!

The Nyhavn area:


Saw several of these colored elephants; I think they are some sort of art exhibit...



After wandering a bit, I took a 1 hour boat trip around the canals... yes, we fit under that bridge...











The Little Mermaid...













Next morning, off to Tallin, Estonia!

Tallin is a quite boring city, having been under Soviet control for so long, but it has a medieval center, Old Town, which has been very nicely restored. It was just lovely. I had booked an apartment right on the main square of the Old Town, and to my surprise, the weekend I was there, was the end of a week-long Old Town Festival, and for 3 days, I was right in the center of all the activity, music, contests, etc. There were restaurants lining the square on 3 sides with tables overlooking the stage, so I could just sit and have a drink or coffee or meal and watch... then go upstairs to my apartment to refresh, check email, etc. The weather was lovely, about 70 degrees and sunny, although I needed a light jacket at night, and although their summer is brief here, the days were long.

The building in the middle of this picture was where my apartment was... the stage to the right...

View from the Indian restaurant of the square with a reflection of the lamp...


Town Hall...









This Russian Orthodox Church was gorgeous, inside and out... I snuck a few pictures inside...

Just as I was tired of walking around in the heat (a bit warm this day), I came across this bizarrely decorated church, which was having a free organ recital... the music was lovely!





The Medieval Parade...











I climbed to the top of this tower...

Inside the tower...









A video of the girls on the conference bikes:




The highlight of the festival on the last day, was the Flower Dress Festival... this was a contest where dress designers create dresses made of flowers, vegetables, even snails! And the models dance as well as model the dresses... fascinating!






This poor kid didn't look too happy at having to touch a GIRL...



Ancient grave stones...

Lots of other entertainment throughout the 3 days... I had to do a double-take when I heard this song start... a kind of rip-off of I'm Open, and the guitarist had a kind of Eddie look going on...



Then we got treated to the top 3 left in the Estonian version of Idol... Here is the one who eventually won, Liis Lemsalu: