Travelog
This diary tracks our progress along the Silk Roads, with episodes appearing in date order, most recent first. You can get to earlier entries by turning pages at the bottom of the screen.
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- Written by Ellen Winter
- Category: Travelog
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- Written by Andy Stone
- Category: Travelog
We are in Tallinn now, capital of Estonia whose money (Kroona) is internationally identified as EEK, which for some silly reason amuses me. Well, Tallinn is wet, cold, foggy - and absolutely fantastic! Im sure Poland is a great place, certainly it has its own beauty, but for me it just didnt feel good and Tallinn is such a wonderfully liberating place to be in contrast.
Both countries were subject to control and opression in the last century firstly by Germany and subsequently by Russia and have now both gained independence. It seems to me, based I must say on very little experience, that Poland have now chosen to subjugate themselves whole-heartedly to the opressions of capitalism instead while retaining the soviet bureacratic systems, as where liberation in Estonia seems to have focused more on a reestablishment of their own unique cultural identity and a shrugging off of the communist yoke. Both places make me think that discarding communism is not the same thing as embracing capitalism. Interestingly this is a nation that won independence from Russia not through blood but through song! From what I understand, towards the end of the eighties massive, organised singing protests were held across the country until the Russians finally gave in - now thats cool!
The country is very flat apart from the hilly south-east, and Tallinn in particular is very scandinavian for a Baltic country. You can see it in the buildings very much and also in the quiet, slightly more orderliness of the people here. It seems to be a very open and trusting environment and we have not yet seen signs of the hoards of British stag parties that Tallinn now has a reputation for. Many of the larger buildings are from pre-Soviet Russian influence which adds a tinge of opulence here and there - as you can tell I am already a big fan of Estonia!
Our host Annely is very nice and has kindly taken time to show us around today. We are staying with her again tonight and tomorrow staying in a hostel for 3 nights, in the centre of the old town. Much needed RnR before We get to Mother Russia on Thursday, when I expect it to all go, well, unexpectedly! We also met on the coach from Warsaw a really great lady called Maria from Estonia who is leaving in a couple of days to work the summer in Alaska looking after huskies and horses , but who has recommended some good places for us to visit while we are here.
Brimming over with happiness once more!
- Details
- Written by Andy Stone
- Category: Travelog
- Details
- Written by Andy Stone
- Category: Travelog
We arrived in Krakow on Monday and have found ourselves staying with an eccentric yet friendly and animated couple in their very plush appartment near to the middle of town. Although grand and beautiful (largest medieval town square in europe) I am havng a good but somehow unfulfilling time here. I don't know if I'm still Czech-lagged (!) or whether I am less compatible with the Polish temperament but something is missing.
It could be that we have realised this week that in order to make Mongolia for the Nadam festival (11 July) we need to pick up speed - this has meant not only cutting our time in Krakow (we now leave on Thursday) but also we are now skipping straight through Latvia and Lithuania to Estonia where we shall spend maybe a week. One of the early lessons has been that it is more rewarding to stop at less places, but for a longer time at each. Estonia looks too briliant to miss and Latvia and Lithuania are close enough to home to visit any time I guess.
Today we walked around Wawel Castle. Many areas cost seperately to get in, so we chose just the treasury and armoury. The treasury was certainly intresting but the biggy for me ws the armoury - this was the closest I'm ever likely to get to the stocking up stage at the beginning of a Dungeons and Dragons campaign! I thought that all that stuff was mostly fantasy, but they had it all here at the castle in full DnD style - maces, crossbows, flails, all kinds of ornate and plain swords, chain mail, scale mail, splint mail and full plate. Horse armour, gauntlets, daggers and pole-arms of all kinds (one had so many bits it must have been the very munchkinly Swiss Army Polearm!). The items were generally either home side (Polish) or away team (usually Hungarian or Turkish) and the detailling really was very fantasy indeed.
We also walked along the river to the Jewish quarter, or rather ex-Jewish quarter, where a huge number of people were firstly displaced and then exterminated. Studying the background was sobering to look at so many old photographs of so many families that were lost forever, and the afternoon was good preparation for tomorrow's trip to nearby Auschwitz - somewhere I feel compelled to go to but I am looking forward to it with no small amount of trepidation.