Estonia is another country somewhat wary of Russia. It was formerly part of the Soviet Union and like a number of other members gained its independence in 1991.
Again, we had a shore excursion that took in the picturesque parts of the city and the remnants of the old fortifications, in addition to a visit to a restored fishing village, displaying historic buildings and rural lifestyles.
Estonia has a particularly strong choral tradition.
According to Wikipedia:
"In 1869 Johann Voldemar Jannsen established the Estonian Song Festival while the nation was still a province of the Russian Empire. This festival was considered responsible for fostering an Estonian national awakening. After that, the new tradition was born and the festivals are still held every five years."
We were taken to the Tallinn Song Festival Grounds that were rebuilt, as we see now, during the Soviet period.
But this largess came back to bite them in 1988 when a famous Singing Revolution took place in these grounds that contributed to the overthrow of Soviet rule. The grounds are now used for musical events of all kinds and have hosted stars from José Carreras to Andrea Bocelli and The Rolling Stones to Lady Gaga (a list too long to mention here).
There are numerous churches in Tallinn - most empty and as they are mainly Lutheran, they are quite plain, in accordance with the Jewish and Protestant (original) second commandment (not creating graven images etc).
It's a bit academic because according to an international Gallup Poll: Estonia is one of the "least religious" countries in the world (ahead of Sweden and Denmark), with only 14 percent of the population declaring religion to be an important part of their daily life.
Yet, it has the fourth lowest crime rate in Europe (less than half that of the USA) and a correspondingly high safety index and no one seems too miserable - unlike those in many of the world's most religious nations. See: Gallup Poll finds: the poorest Nations are the most religious.
Tallinn Town Hall provides both an interesting museum and a lookout over the town (not to mention modern toilets)
As mentioned above, we took one of the ship-sponsored outings into the countryside that took in a restored fishing village with heritage cottages. and some local food for lunch.
