Explore Estonia

The Estonians I met during my travels were initially astonished at the idea that I might buy property in the old country. Why, was the first question. Who knows, the Russians may invade and then your asset will be no more. It’s true there is a lot to think about before taking any further steps. It has become a fashion to restore old farmhouses and surrounding buildings, the barn, woodshed, sauna house, potentially a well, and a cellar, dug separately half into the ground to k

“What land is this / there is not single mountain / only forests, cut down, and boggy meadows / But the people here are awestruck / and strange are the lines of their song.” The first verse of a song Siiri Sisask wrote and performed in 1998, the tenth anniversary of the start of the Singing Revolution that heralded Estonia’s reindependence in 1991. I travel to northern Estonia, to a remote outdoor concert ground in fine weather, to see and hear a diva, and expecting to hear M

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