Tallinn Estonia

Tallinn Estonia feels like you have stepped back in time to one of Europe's oldest and best preserved medieval towns. It is the same land size as the Netherlands but population only 1.3 million.
It is has storied past of many wars and conquests but it is a great example of preserving history while building a modern city. The economy of agriculture and forestry is now supplemented by IT research and development by such companies as Virgin mobile..Branson doing world class IT development using cheap labour. The university is famous for Medicine and IT grads sought after word wide.
Independence in 1918 from Russia . It was just one of the Scandinavian and other european countries wanting to control Estonia a walled city 2.6 mi and 44 towers protecting the harbour on the Baltic.
We toured the beautiful Russian orthodox church dating back to 1400s all real gold leaf heavily decorated ...people stand..no pews. A service was in progress and we were able to see Estonian women in ordinary prayer dress.
Lutheran is the base religion but few citizens attend today.
In WW2 Estonia was aligned with Russia and Germany until Germans invaded Russia and the subsequent end of the war. Estonia went back to communist denomination where the citizens lived under an oppressive regime in poverty and limited movement until 1989. We saw the KGB building where they intercepted citizens from churches.
Most fun was touring the guilds of the ancient city. Guilds where crafters and vendors of every type. It was a lovely afternoon seeing felting, spinning, leather making, knitting,quilting,stitching, woodworking and so many other guilds dating back centuries. No wonder these counties have exceptional craftsmen, people are trained from cradle to technical school.
As the war ended when Germany invaded Russia Estonia was under Russia..the people remained very poor..could not leave or travel until until 1989 with the uprising where citizens formed the Baltic chain joining hands and singing..... ultimately overthrowing the government resulting in their freedom in 1991 for the Baltic countries..
Other notes:
second highest consumption of beer per person in world after Czech Republic
57 pc tax
Low unemployment. 1pc
Social benefits..are poor compared to other countries ...but.after the war there was no financial base..and mafia ruled...with help from Finland and Sweden..they now have a very low crime rate and hard working economy.
Families subsidized to have children to increase population
Earn 800 per mo after tax
Rent apt 450 euro plus electric etc
Olympics Moscow 1980...sailing was held in Estonia harbour...Read more