Whose religion is correct? We didn’t find out in Estonia.

Gavin and I spent last weekend in Estonia and Finland – two places we’d wanted to visit this year. The capital cities – Tallinn and Helsinki – are only 50 miles apart by ferry, so it was easy to combine them into a single trip. I’ll cover this trip in two posts so as not to give either place short shrift.

Estonia is a small country of 1.3 million people that lies across the Baltic Sea from Scandinavia. Estonia has only existed as a country for the past 100 years or so; the strategic location has meant it was occupied by Denmark, Sweden, Russia, and Germany for much of the past thousand years.

[googlemaps https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m18!1m12!1m3!1d4264266.780543083!2d15.966814198967116!3d58.54231252538229!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!3m3!1m2!1s0x4692949c82a04bfd%3A0x40ea9fba4fb425c3!2sEstonia!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sno!4v1524590693385&w=600&h=450]

If you know anything about Estonia, you probably know that it’s among the most technologically-integrated countries in the world. Estonia has declared internet access to be a human right, and almost all government services (including voting) can be conducted online or via an electronic ID card. Estonian developers have been the brains behind Skype, Hotmail, Kazaa (a peer-to-peer file sharing application of the Napster era) and Transferwise (an online currency converter). Its technological advancement and proximity to Russia make it an important strategic member of NATO and the EU. It seems like a pretty nice place to live.

So who visits Estonia? Based on my experience looking for a hotel, the tourist base is bi-modal. On one end, there are many run-down hostels offering beds for backpackers at a cost of ~$10 per night. The other extreme consists of $200+ per night luxury hotels in the old town, that presumably serve tech titans in town on business, or those looking for this experience:

As we didn’t fit either of these demographics, we ended up at the moderately-priced, Soviet-era “Kalev Spa Hotel and Waterpark.” The waterpark was closed.

Tallinn’s old town is a UNESCO world heritage site, having been well-preserved (and rebuilt) through centuries of occupation. The architecture is notably much different than the Scandinavian countries, which reflects the Russian and Slavic influences.

It was beautiful, and we spent a lovely morning wandering the narrow streets and perusing stores selling linen shirts, wool sweaters, and felt hats.

A highlight was seeing an Estonian band play traditional music on the balcony of the nation’s Parliament building, in front of a large crowd that was waiting to enter the building. Across the square from the Parliament was a beautiful Russian-style Eastern Orthodox Church.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wje78CrTnF8?start=7&w=560&h=315]

We did not know a lot about Estonia before arriving, so we made it a priority to visit the Estonian History Museum.  The museum failed to give a full-throated defense of Estonia, with a permanent exhibit entitled “11,000 Years of Survival.”

Its mascot was the ghoulish “Spirit of Survival.”

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnag-3gaSDw&w=560&h=315]

The exhibit was vaguely organized around “eight important questions about the history and people of Estonia.”

Some of these questions, like “Who are Estonians,” seem like an appropriate jumping off point for a deep discussion of the nation’s culture. Others, such as “How did a country yokel become a townie,” seem of lesser importance (and confusing — who is the country yokel in question?). And some of the answers seemed to be unrelated to the questions.

The museum’s second exhibit, entitled “Whose Religion is Correct?” was equally ambitious in scope. However, it was more narrowly focused than I expected, as it only covered the the Protestant Reformation. As such, the two religions in the running for “correctness” were Eastern Orthodoxy and Lutheranism. Estonia is not a particularly religious country, but 89% of Estonians who ascribe to religion choose one of those two.

Disappointingly, the exhibit left the central question unresolved, opting instead to allow museum visitors to leave open-ended responses about the importance or unimportance of religion in their own lives.

Estonia is definitely worth a visit! But be forewarned that it may leave you with more questions than answers. Is it a haven for sex tourism? Is there nothing better to say about this place than “it survived?” Is Martin Luther relevant in modern-day Estonia? Why are the hats curly? How DID a country yokel become a townie? And where is the waterpark?

Next up: we take the ferry to Finland.