Explore Estonia

100 blogposts in, and to collect what Estonia and its people uniquely offer to the world. This tough little country has hung onto its culture, language and traditions, despite centuries of foreign invasions and occupations, while over the last 34 years swiftly adopting western, liberal democracy, and the best of digital technology, mixed in with a can-do attitude. What have the Estonians done, and how have they earned their place in Europe, and in the world? In the style of t

Everyone loves a werewolf story. To English speakers, werewolves are dangerous, unpredictable, and incredibly difficult to combat. Neither quite animal, nor quite human, they are unearthly and supernatural. In JK Rowling’s Harry Potter series, professor Remus Lupin had been bitten by a werewolf, and every month for a week at the full moon would involuntarily transform into a vicious predator. Only by taking a magic potion could he retain his human mind while transformed. This

Among Estonian girls’ and women’s names, Liivi holds a special place; it honours a Baltic territory that no longer exists, and a Finnic language  that is all but extinct. So, what is there to celebrate about Livonia? Going back to the early 1200s the three Baltic States we know today were divided between northern Estonia, ruled by Danes, and lands to the south, Liefland and Courland, occupied by land-grabbing, German-speaking, crusading orders, operating with Papal blessing,