Estonia

It’s such a cool place

Last night an old roommate of mine texted that Estonia had been on The Bachelor and that “it really does exist.” The second line referred to her fervent belief when I lived with her that I was making up Estonia as a country.

I will give her that Estonia sounds like a made-up place, like it should be the country’s name in The Princess Bride. (That country is Florin, in case you, like me, were then asking yourself — “what actually is that country?”) But Estonia is a real place, and it is lovely. Now I have Estonian heritage, so maybe I’m biased, but these are some of the reasons why people should visit:

1. When they were in the process of leaving the Soviet Union in 1991, the country held a massive singing demonstration where 1/4 of the population gathered in Tallinn to sing national songs together. If you want to know more, there is an excellent documentary called “The Singing Revolution.”
2. They are way ahead on the tech curve. This is the country that invented Skype and offers a digital passport.
3. They have a strong love affair with nature. An Estonian relative told me that people check out what kind of fruit trees are available when looking to buy a house. The country has islands and beaches, and it somehow made sense to hear how another relative had breakfast over a bog one day.
4. They have a love affair with saunas. I was asked if every American house had a sauna. I don’t know of any American house that has one.