...it's been a full 6 days here in Tallinn so far, and I decided to get the posts rollin while I'm not falling asleep while reading my book for the 5th time this week. It's been crazy busy and exhausting to say the least, but it's also been very enjoyable and fun.
We flew in last Thursday afternoon to Tallinn airport and settled into the hostel which would become our home for the next 10 days or so. After settling in, we strolled through downtown Tallinn and into the Old Town, where the medieval wall still surrounds the cobblestoned streets lined with shops, places to eat and bars. The weather was gorgeous, sunny and a pleasant 65 degrees (quite the change from the drizzly 40 degree Houghton days...) We eventually located a traditional Estonian cuisine place, had a free shot of Shnapps in a cute little glass, then enjoyed a goblet of cider and some tradish food. I had a yummy pork chop, which hit the spot. We also shared a sample platter, full of pickles, pickled herring, traditional bread, fish spread, and more.
our little Schapps!
Sample platter
Tallinn!
Friday we all woke up and grabbed a quick European breakfast full of bread, cheese, little sausages and even herring (I haven't had any yet, though), then headed off to our first lecture, given by Erkki Bahovski, Communication Officer of the European Commission representation in Estonia. Can't lie, I think that we were all dozing off due to the combo of jet lag and a hot day, but I still found it cool!
Then we enjoyed a walking tour through Old Town. Then it started pouring rain so that was fun, and we had to end early. After piling onto a bus, we made it to some international student thing where we got food, drinks, and watched some dancing.
Some old skool dancing yo
After that, me and my friends Katelyn and Hailey as well as the others in our group, hit a few bars and met some really fun locals. We ended up having a rather enjoyable evening.
Saturday and Sunday were spent exploring Tallinn under the hot sun, which was incredibly enjoyable. Ate lots of good food and soaked up some much needed vitamin D.
Chillin' on the Gulf of Finland
Streets of Old Town
Monday was back to reality. Lecture at 10AM about the e-goverance system in Estonia from Dr. Arvo Ott. It's so crazy how practically no one knows where or what Estonia is and yet they are so technologically advanced. They are in fact one of the leading countries as far as technology goes - free WiFi everywhere, and 1.2 million of its 1.3 million citizens have these ID cards that give them the ability to access all of their records and even vote online. It's truly remarkable.
Next we toured a design company, Velvet, which was neat, and by then we were all so exhausted that we immediately went back to the hostel and cooked ourselves dinner then worked on our client reports (presenting on Thursday!) and crashed so hard.
Today, we got to visit with Erkki Bahovski again and the representation of economics at the European Commission. Then we were lucky enough to meet with Mr. Valso Randpere, member of Parliament, to discuss his work and such. After that we bussed on over to Enterprise Estonia and learned more about Estonia's economy and technology.
Now we're sitting in the kitchen, talking and waiting for the sky to get dark so we can sleep. The sun goes down at 10:30 every night, and comes back up by 4AM every morning. It's insane, but I've slept so hard here.
Here's some of my favorite meals I've had so far too, of course! Can't forget the food!!!
Oh wait, that's not food but I mean the cider is definitely an Estonian specialty.
Blueberry&Strawberry sorbet on a cookie
Amazing pasta!
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