More days in Estonia

We have been busy around here getting ready for family members to arrive and for the days going up to the festival.
Here is a link my cousin sent me if you want to go in and see some films and many more pictures than I have:
http://estonianworld.com/culture/three-new-videos-demonstrate-the-estonian-song-and-dance-celebration/
If you have ever had a conversation with me about Estonia you know that I am crazy about the Laulupidu and Tantsupidu ....
There are posters all over the city showing photos of past festivals and the theme this year is A Time of Touching...it is the 145th year celebration. There is a row of blue posters there on the right.

One of the posters actually has Ebe and her partner! So great!!!

There are not only posters but many other products have taken on the folk theme with special packaging like these Kalev chocolate bars....notice the detail even to the edge of the wrappers...

I thought they were fantastic. Don't know if I'll be able to eat them even! Kalev is Estonian brand of chocolate.
Then there is this ice cream wrapper too...Eda says we will get some since it has Kama jahu in it which is that breakfast flour stuff I love! Yum...then I can save the wrapper! The quotation says it wants to make you sing!

The tall radio tower there in the distance was the site of a stand off in 1991 between two Estonian radio operators and Russian soldiers with tanks!!! They wanted to cut off radio transmission to the country.

This was in the early days of independence and you can see all about it in the film "The Singing Revolution."The Estonians succeeded in the stand off with no shots fired and the tower is now a type of museum and you can visit it like the Eiffel Tower!

Ride up the elevator...the screen shows where you are on the tower.

Arrive at the door....

Open the door and there is Tallinn, the Baltic Sea and surrounding areas.

You can step onto the floor window and look down to the ground! I love the design you see!

You can go outside and walk around the tower too and if it is chilly there are warm wraps provided.

In the same area near the tower which is Pirita, there is the seaman's outdoor museum with great views of the Tallinn skyline and some typical Estonian buildings from early times with thatched roofs.

There is also the swing which figures in Estonian songs, stories and poetry...a type of platform you stand on and pump with your legs. It can go amazingly high. I also like the way the fence is angled...I think it is a snow blocker as well as a fence.

We took a quick trip south to Viljandi to wish my cousin Mare Happy Birthday! Viljandi is the home of a folk music festival which every year brings in musicians from all over the world for four days of performances inside and outside.

They have built a special hall for some of the performances with a a cozy café restaurant that has a view of the lake. The lake is the subject of a song called the Viljandi boatman and tells the story of a boatsman who once rowed a maiden across the lake. She had beautiful blue eyes he will never forget!

In the park there is a huge kannel sculpture which is a lap harp played by Estonians and a tree with folk designs carved into the trunk.

Driving through the countryside we saw many storks in the fields.

They build nests on poles and it is pretty good luck to have a stork nest on your property.

How about this friendly sign on the back of a milk truck? It means "Hello!"

Time to get everyone off to practice! Hope you have a chance to see some of the video I mentioned earlier!