Of old, trees and stones shared the same reality as animals – humans could treat with all, as living beings imbued with a soul. In other...

I could barely swing the pickaxe into the soil for two wild cherry saplings a friend gave me, to grace the summer cabin. Toomingas  are...

My favourite river in Estonia would be the treppoja , a clean waterway that cascades into the Baltic sea over a series of widely...

An Estonian walks along a field, the westering sun behind him, and he sees in front of him a lengthening shadow. He’s limping a bit, and...

Among the more entertaining figures in Estonian myth is a real person in peasant culture, the rehepapp  or the dryer and thresher of...

This was a question put to academics at a botanical field station in western Estonia, and they laughed. “Not at all” was one view, citing...

I am now admitted to a select group of sauna brothers in Golden Bay. Observing “Estonian rules” in evening twilight – no clothes, towels...

Ski jumping would be one of the more death-defying winter sports ever conceived.  Andero Kapp takes it in his stride. Fixing 2.56-metre...

Like the Mona Lisa and the Taj Mahal, the fishermen’s sheds at Altja are smaller than expected, still impressive. Five of solid timber...

A wooden comb dated to 150 CE at a Danish site has the oldest known runic inscription, harja,  said to be a man’s name. Well, it might...

To understand Estonia’s history in the lead up to the first independence, I took an interest in Russia’s Tsars. Knowing these characters...

Oak, birch, pine, hawk and lynx, spring, beach, sea, cliff, hill, sand and island - typical Estonian surnames today. For peasants,...

Knit patterns for a long time preserved Estonian tradition, during the long centuries of foreign rule. On leaving Otepää, our family gave...

“Oh mother river, where still flowers the tongue of an ancient time, where its song and string sounds still call after us.” Words of...

You’ve seen them all; they are tall and have a light on top. Although a trip around Estonia’s lighthouses would not be without merit....

Wandering around the old town of Tallinn, its size is striking, even for Mediaeval merchants needing a fortified port and entrepôt. Stone...

Estonia’s national stone is limestone, although as quarry men will tell you, most countries prize their calcium carbonate. Fair enough...

One day around 3500 years ago a piece of space rock burst into flame on hitting the Earth’s atmosphere, disintegrated, and plummeted into...

I had not heard of Konrad Mägi until cycling to the shores of the saadjärv. This is one of several long, thin lakes separated by moraine...

Pitching a tent among Baltic pines, the sea nearby, blueberries in season; what could be better? Drinking water, but I’m not complaining....