So after my 3 week long vacation I decided that it wasn't time for me to settle down quite yet... So last weekend I went to Tallinn, Estonia! I went with about 300 other International Students from all over Sweden. We all met up in Stockholm and took the ferry over to Tallinn for the day and returned the same day... making it a three day adventure. The ferry ride was 13 hours long, taking into account the 1 hour time difference between here and Estonia.

Basically the trip was called the ESN Sea Battle 2007. It is an excuse for all exchange students to take a weekend trip on a ferry boat and drink their nights away, to be blatantly honest with you. So, that is what everyone did Saturday and Sunday night on the ferry. I, however enjoyed hanging out with a few of my friends who did not get inniberated and sat in the company of the others. It was a fun time on board the ship and sun deck and later giong to the Discotech. We arrived in Tallinn Sunday morning around 10 am and immediately went on a city tour guided by Estonian Students who speak excellent English. Our tour lasted about two hours- seeing all of the city and the old city walls surrounding it. We took a gander up a hill to get a gorgeous view of the city. Tallinn was nothing like I had expected. Estonia becoming free in 1991, the state and city of Tallinn itself is doing very well. There are still signs of communism on the outskirts of the town, but in general it is the same as it has been all through history. The main city is surrounded by the city wall- from the 17th century I believe. I think it was about 6 km all around too. There are little shops and markets built in to the walls and on most of the towers they have changed in to living flats or restaurants for historic keeping.

The 1980 Olympics held in Russia actually had the sea events in Tallinn. We were told that for broadcasting purposes they painted a row of houses with color to make Tallinn seem more interesting than it already was- it was so cool to see that actually row since it was done only for TV purposes and normally they would have been the typical gray stone. A main reason why most of the students went on this trip is for the cheap alcohol in Estonia..... their supermarket right outside the ferry sells dirt cheap alcohol!

Our tour guides were nice enough to take us to an Estonia restaurant for lunch and stick with us the rest of the day- showing us what they think is see-able and worth it for just the day. We had a wonderful time here, seeing all the beautiful sites and learning a bit of the history. I highly recommend going here for anyone who is interested!

Enjoy the pictures! Again, no comments on each of them, but if you're wondering... just ask! Thank you!