Estonia Travel Guide
1/16/2008 at 9:00 AM
Tags: Contests, Languages (all tags)
Any language that gives cute names to national tourist attractions--like Kiek in de Kök--is a language we're prepared to love, and the language we're talking about is Estonian. Strictly speaking we have a feeling that Kiek in de Kök isn't a correct part of the modern language, but there are still oodles of cool-looking words in Estonian.
So we're more than happy that the Estonian government has launched a Beauty Contest for Languages. The whole contest idea apparently came about like this:
The idea for the contest arose out of an Estonian story that the country's language was once crowned the second most beautiful language in the world after Italian. The winning phrase then was "soida tasa ule silla" which means "go slowly over the bridge".
The contest will involve kids from around the world recording a phrase in their language of seven words or less, and judges will decide which language sounds the prettiest. It's all timed to coincide with Estonia's 90th birthday as an independent state, so we can presume that some cute Estonian phrase will rank highly in the winners' list.
Related Stories:
· Estonia Announces Language Beauty Contest [Vagabondish]
· Estonia Travel coverage [Jaunted]
· Tallinn: Let Me Kiek in Your Kök [Jaunted]
[Photo: Not A Ballerina]
by amandak
3/12/2007 at 10:30 AM
Tags: Baltics, Africa, Restaurants, Drinking (all tags)
While African cuisine doesn't rate quite as highly on the "know it and love it" scale as, say, Chinese or Indian, we do need to nourish our stomachs in a multicultural way. So next time you're traveling through the Baltics and pop by Estonia's gorgeous capital Tallinn, take the chance to check out the tasty African Kitchen.
Not only are the prices great, but there are also plenty of interesting dishes, and definitely things you'll never have heard of. What we love is the equality-based cocktail menu: 23 countries of Africa are represented, each getting a cocktail named after them. The Algeria, for example, is full of strawberries, strawberry liqueur, cherry brandy and vodka (yum!), while the Libya mix has Jack Daniels and cream sherry topped up with treacle and fruit juices.
None of them have much to do with their namesakes, but they'll put you on the tasty path to inebriation nonetheless. If you're not sure whether to choose between a Madagascar or a Mozambique, the African Kitchen are quick to point out that "traditional" cocktails are available too. Grab a Rwanda for us while you're there.
[Photo: Cremo]
Related Stories:
· Croatian Cocktails Take to the Skies [Jaunted]
· Tallinn: Let Me Kiek in Your Kök [Jaunted]
by amandak
11/27/2006 at 10:22 AM
Tags: Baltics, Tourist Attractions, Lists, Estonia (all tags)
The 2007
Lonely Planet Bluelist is full of what these big travel guide publishing types think will be hot (and not) in the coming year has an interesting selection of cities in its Top Ten: all three capitals of Baltic countries Estonia, Lativa and Lithuania make the list, among others. One of our favorites is Estonian capital
Tallinn, and according to Lonely Planet there's more than one good reason to head there:
The flair of the streets is decidedly fashion-forward, with boutiques bearing the imprint of rising Estonian designers, in contrast with centuries-old artisan traditions. The capital also boasts the largest wine cellars in the Baltics and plenty of medieval settings in which to imbibe.
Imbibing is well and good, but we can do that at home too--we recommend catching a distinctively Estonian sight, like the
Kiek in de Kök, a 15th century cannon tower renowned as one of the most powerful towers on the Baltic coast. You'll find it on the Toompea Hill, still part of the medieval Old Town of Tallinn, and we love it especially for its name. Apart from the fact that Kiek in de Kök sounds damn cute, the meaning is also great: "peek in the kitchen", because that's what the guards could do into neighboring houses.
[Photo: dgaponeko]
Related Stories:
·
Cities on the Rise [The Australian]
by amandak
8/01/2006 at 9:40 AM
Tags: Estonia, tourist attractions (all tags)
The southern Estonian town of
Tartu is a good stopover if you're doing a Baltic city hop, lying as it does mid-way between Tallinn and Latvia's Riga. It's a university town with all the young people's trappings that go with it, but be on your guard at
Tartu University. It's the home to a long-used
Student Lock-Up--fortunately now only a tourist attraction.
In previous centuries misbehaving students got locked up here for hours, days or weeks at a time, depending on the seriousness of their crime. Turning up late for class too often gave them just a couple of hours of captive time--still enough though to contribute to the artwork and poetry inscribed in the ceiling and walls. But not returning your library books on time could score you two days lock-up just for a first offence. Talk about tough love.
[Image via jbelluch/Flickr]
Related stories:
Web Cams in Tartu [Tartu City Government]
by amandak
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