Explore Estonia

If there is something in the Estonian language that joins the speaker and listener more closely with the natural world, how does this appear in everyday life? I have noticed care taken to avoid expressing over-confidence, and a tendency to downplay. I have spoken at length on this topic with friends, and maybe there’s some clarity. For centuries Estonians have lived amid uncertainty, whether of the forces of nature, or among other human beings. To be definite on anything invi

As the fields roll by, and time in Estonia passes, stalky buckwheat has come into creamy flower. and the canola is fading out into green. Baby storks are half grown, and look too big for their nests. Lilac, orchid and dandelion flowers have run their course, and in the forests wild strawberries are ripe and juicy, blueberries make their appearance in forests, and cloudberries have in bogs. In one pine stand, we find enough chanterelles for a hearty dinner, and, in another, mo

This is a Soviet-era story of one man’s passion for inventing rose varieties in a country of short summers, and heavy winter snowfalls. Vello Veski wrote the definitive monograph on Estonian Roses in 1972, and his legacy runs to several recognised cultivars. Roses hold a fascination in popular culture, and among devotees the world over. Love is a red, red rose, we are told, and The Name of the Rose, a best-selling novel by Umberto Eco. In Sufi lore, love between the nightinga