Through the looking glass
As for Alice in wonderland, so for New Zealanders visiting Estonia, parallel worlds obeying different laws. What we call pests and weeds...
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bernienapp
Nov 123 min read
The best of Estonia
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...
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bernienapp
Nov 52 min read
Junipers and stones
“I grew up among junipers and stones,” an old poem says, “they are my brothers and sisters, those without names.” We cycled through alvar...
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bernienapp
Oct 283 min read
How Estonians got surnames
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...
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bernienapp
Oct 203 min read
Where stones are still alive
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...
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bernienapp
Oct 112 min read
Planting wild cherries
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...
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bernienapp
Sep 212 min read
The stepping brook
My favourite river in Estonia would be the treppoja , a clean waterway that cascades into the Baltic sea over a series of widely...
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bernienapp
Sep 93 min read
Unearthing an old devil
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...
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bernienapp
Aug 312 min read
The thresher
Among the more entertaining figures in Estonian myth is a real person in peasant culture, the rehepapp or the dryer and thresher of...
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bernienapp
Aug 213 min read
Are Estonians indigenous?
This was a question put to academics at a botanical field station in western Estonia, and they laughed. “Not at all” was one view, citing...
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bernienapp
Aug 142 min read
Estonian sauna in NZ
I am now admitted to a select group of sauna brothers in Golden Bay. Observing “Estonian rules” in evening twilight – no clothes, towels...
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bernienapp
Aug 62 min read
Into the void
Ski jumping would be one of the more death-defying winter sports ever conceived. Andero Kapp takes it in his stride. Fixing 2.56-metre...
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bernienapp
Jul 272 min read
The sheds at Altja
Like the Mona Lisa and the Taj Mahal, the fishermen’s sheds at Altja are smaller than expected, still impressive. Five of solid timber...
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bernienapp
Jul 162 min read
Combing for clues of ancient Estonians
A wooden comb dated to 150 CE at a Danish site has the oldest known runic inscription, harja, said to be a man’s name. Well, it might be,...
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bernienapp
Jul 43 min read
A time of Tsars
To understand Estonia’s history in the lead up to the first independence, I took an interest in Russia’s Tsars, also a key to...
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bernienapp
Jun 222 min read
What's in a name
Oak, birch, pine, hawk and lynx, spring, beach, sea, cliff, hill, sand and island - typical Estonian surnames today. For peasants,...
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bernienapp
Jun 132 min read
Hidden meaning in socks
Knit patterns for a long time preserved Estonian tradition, during the long centuries of foreign rule. On leaving Otepää, our family gave...
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bernienapp
Jun 13 min read
Nightingale of the mother river
“Oh mother river, where still flowers the tongue of an ancient time, where its song and string sounds still call after us.” Words of...
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bernienapp
May 232 min read
Seen one lighthouse
You’ve seen them all; they are tall and have a light on top. Although a trip around Estonia’s lighthouses would not be without merit....
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bernienapp
May 143 min read
A town built of salt
Wandering around the old town of Tallinn, its size is striking, even for Mediaeval merchants needing a fortified port and entrepôt. Stone...
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