The university city of Tartu is said to have a vaim or spirit to it. And yet when we visit Estonia’s second city, set astride the...

November is the worst month, we are told, cold and dark and no snow. December has on average 18 hours of sunshine, also no good. Snow is...

Hundreds of Estonian place names end in “of blood”. A sign seeking blood donations plays on this oddity - “Estonia has 650 locations...

Estonian winters were too long for Juhan Liiv. He wrote melancholic poetry, comparing the processes of nature with that of his own...

Falling rain, visible in the car headlights. I saw the roof of my wooden cabin lying upside down in one piece on the ground. The wind had...

Sitting down to play Yefim Bogoljogow in Salzburg in 1943, Paul Keres  was into his third nationality as the tides of war swirled around...

Hailing from Haapsalu, Ilon Wikland  illustrated more children’s books by Astrid Lindgren than anyone, though not Pippi Longstocking....

According to legend, marzipan made its first appearance at the pharmacy in Tallinn’s townhall square, created by accident in the 1400s....

45,000 arrive at Parliament in Wellington, flying the red, black-and-white Māori sovereignty flag, and waving placards announcing tōitu...

On the occasion of Esto community Christmas, I altered my recipe for potato salad, of Swiss origin, for that of Estonian tastes and...

“When you hear the secret words, arise, sword, and kill … collect the debt of a murderer and fulfil the wish of your creator,” Ilmarinen...

Clouds are gathering fast as we pitch our tent, at an RMK campsite beside the pühajärv , the holy lake. Unused to thunderstorms back...

As for Alice in wonderland, so for New Zealanders visiting Estonia, parallel worlds obeying different laws. What we call pests and weeds...

More than a year ago we arrived with our bikes at Lennart Meri airport, where family and a friend met us, and drove us into western...

“I grew up among junipers and stones,” an old poem says, “they are my brothers and sisters, those without names.” We cycled through alvar...

Hunting for Napp headstones in the Otepää cemetery , I took a note of last names. Besides the nature-based ones listed in an earlier blog...

Of old, trees and stones shared the same reality as animals – humans could treat with all, as living beings imbued with a soul. In other...

I could barely swing the pickaxe into the soil for two wild cherry saplings a friend gave me, to grace the summer cabin. Toomingas  are...

My favourite river in Estonia would be the treppoja , a clean waterway that cascades into the Baltic sea over a series of widely...

An Estonian walks along a field, the westering sun behind him, and he sees in front of him a lengthening shadow. He’s limping a bit, and...