I never thought I would say this, but I'm absolutely floored by your video. Noone as of yet has described my hometown in such a way - the sensualism, the research, the insight! You've put so much effort in one relatively short video. Kudos to you, Sir, you are a Prince among men!

Wow really nice city! I will add Estonia to my travel list! Btw I m from Tokyo Japan

Wow, this looks like a place I would love!

I learn more at this channel than in geography class

Thanks for another great adventure Mike! These get better every time

You have captured the atmosphere of Tallinn really well. I say this as a Tallinner, a 14th generation Tallinner. And a good choice of music. You have clearly done your homework, as opposed to most KZfaqrs. You should stay here for longer and check out some other towns here (like Tartu, with the university from 1632 and among top 500 universities in the world), Pärnu, Haapsalu are just a few I recommend, my personal favourites. And estonian nature is a surreal experience. We have a lot of it, it is almost entirely public property (all beaches and shores have to remain open for everyone by law) and if you are ridiculous enough to build a home there then you just have to let people come into your front yard. You cane be in nature in 30 minutes from Tallinn city centre, so it is very accessible. We have declared our animals to be Estonian citizens and we have their holograms in our passports. Wolf is the national animal, officially. But you will not see a wolf here. Fortunately we have enough nature so they can keep away from humans. But if you do want to se them, and other animals, we have special cabins in the woods equipped for waiting for them. Mostly used by photographers but anyone can come. There are feeding places at these cabins to lure them and cameras that anyone can watch on the internet. Some people have already named some of the animals, who come there regularly and some animals in the forests have personal camera:) 50-75% of our territory is forest (depending on how exactly you define a forest). It is well preserved. We respect our nature, it is a basic part of our upbringing to leave nature be. It is illegal to annoy birds or animals (that includes all birds and animals, also pigeons, gulls etc, those who some people consider pests), especially during nesting periods. We have bogs. I recommend them. Do not worry, you will not sink in because they have wooden trails. By the way, j in Estonian (Balti Jaam) is pronounced like Y in Yes in English) And g is pronounced like g in pig. Not like g in gem It was quiet because it was Sunday night. All the screaming idiots are already too tired after 2 days of partying. Honestly, I hope all the partying took place somewhere else, not the Old town. Sunday and Monday are quite quiet and they they start all over again. We do not really consider ourselves Baltic. We feel solidarity and respect for Latvia and Lithuania but we are culturally and linguistically very distinct from them. The Baltic languages are Indo European, like English. Estonian is Uralic, like Finnish. Kalamaja is the favourite of many Estonians. these simple wooden houses and their simple gardens with apple trees and lilacs (very Estonian trees/bushes) area reminder of the First Republic (though legally there is no such thing as first or second republic, it is all one since 1918 and we are 106 years old). It reminds us of our great grandparents. It may be hard for foreigners to understand why parts of town like Kalamaja are so special for us. It is because they trigger a lot of nostalgia. And they are by law considered to be "places of atmospheric value" so is is illegal to build something out of place there). Very recently the houses there did not have bathrooms or toilets in every apartment and they would be heated by their own stoves. This is not the case anymore but I would actually love to live in a house like that for a while because of the memories. I would love to heat my own place with firewood and maybe some elctrical radiators. The Russian church on Toompea is definitely not loved by Estonians, no question about that. First and foremost, we have a very understanding that the Old Town will not have new buildings in it. Today it would be against the law. This is why you could feel that the town is so well preserved and kept within its walls. It was always a conscious effort to keep it that way. That Russian church, however, was built only in 1900, too new for the old town. Also, a Russian orthodox church, in the middle of the Gothic mediaeval town.. really? It is disgusting. And it WAS built as a sign of Russian power here back then. It came very close to be taken down, once in the first period of independence and again in the second period. Somehow it has remained. Probably people have not wanted to take down a church. It is a church, after all. All others monuments to Russian or Soviet regime have all been taken down or at least removed to special museums and military cemeteries. there are loads of Russian orthodox churches in Estonia. Russian orthodoxia is the second religion here after Lutheran. And nobody has anything against them. Most of them are cute small wooden churches pretty much in forests. They are fine. But this is monster there on Toompea hill that should be there. I would remove it. Not destroy it, it is a sacred place for many. But removed and put up in some other place. Toompea has the office of the Prime minister. The office of the President is not in the Old town at all, it is in Kadriorg, a really nice baroque style park on the seaside, built by Peter the Great for his wife Catherine the Great for her to stay during visits to Tallinn which Peter the Great loved. It is the only nice Russian legacy we have. Toompea has always been the place of the power. The fortress there was built by the Danes in the beginning of 1200-s right after they took over this place. Before that there was probably an Estonian fortress here but the archaeologists have never really been able to find the exact sight. Now it is the place that has the tower (Hermann tower) that has our flag´. The flag that is on that tower has always been the statement of who is in power. So now, as you can see, it is us who are in power, finally. The flag is always raised at sunrise and taken down on sunset, accompanied by the national anthem. Every single day, except for Midsummer eve, then it stays there for the night also, for the entire 10 minutes of night time we have on that day. The Dome church (the white one, not the stupid Russian monster that was built in 1900 as a symbol of russification) was always the seat of the bishop, so also a place of power. And yes, today all the Government offices, including that of the Prime minister, are there. And a lot of embassies. The ones who can afford it there. In history, it used to be the place of the rural aristocracy. They lived in their mansions in summer and came to Toompea for winter. Because in the harsh Nordic winters it was easier to be social when living so close together. Legally Toompea was not a part of Tallinn. Tallinn was a merchant town ruled by the Lübeck town law since the 13th century. Toompea belonged to German merchants and Lübeck law did not apply. the two parts of town never got along and there was a wall between them as you could see. The Dome church was built in 1200s, in the beginning. Not the 12th century as you said. In the 12 century this was a quiet place with nobody here to build stone churches. We were not Christian at that time. There was a really nice play about that time staged also in Toompea- a philosophical meditation of a Danish king who magically arrived here before anybody conquered anything yet. And he talks about how how it feels like to be here when there is nothing here yet. And all the time the audience can see all these iconic buildings from the windows that the Danish king is talking about that are not there yet. Tallinn before it became a city. (What actually was or was not here before, nobody really knows. Most probably not, probably the Estonian ancient fortress was a bit further away) Notice how there i no security in front of the Parliament building. This is very characteristic of Estonia. No security almost anywhere, at least not that you can see. And nothing ever really happens.

As somebody who spends every summer in Estonia, I can absolutely recommend Tallinn. It's a perfect blend of Historical and postmodern Art Vibe. You shouldn't miss the Telliskivi area though - it's a bit like Berlin Friedrichshain, with a lot of top foods and tap rooms.

I was there and i loved it! Greetings from Portugal 🇵🇹

@7:08 The tower of Oleviste kirik was the tallest in the world when it was built. @7:50 Toompea Hill was always the part of Tallinn where the foreign power occupying Estonia resided at any given time through history. Lower Tallinn was where the Estonian people resided. @17:46 You should look up an older photo of this building.... from the 1990's. 🧐 @18:11 Comfort food used to be plate meals with 1) a protein 2) a starch 3) salad 4) a different sauce on each! Estonian Rye bread came standard on the side. And NNNNOOOO substitutions... I would want to pair one protein with the other starch... swap potatoes for rice. My wife (Estonian) would always remind me: "No substitutions!" (Yes yes, Chief Didier from the film "Last Holiday"... "No substitutions!" And the first time I saw the film was on the plane ride back to USA from Estonia.... I watched it TWICE!) Good documentary film. Bravo for making it to the Estonian Open Air Museum.

Estonian here. Pirukas is pretty much just a catch-all term for baked pastries. Almost any baked pastry can be called a pirukas. I guess the only exception to this is cakes, we just call them kook

Outstanding video, well narrated. Very nice production. Also accurate information, can confirm.

Martsipan. Dude buys a whole loaf and just goes for it 😀

Another beautiful video! Impressive well done! I will be in Tallinn and Helsinki for eight days in two weeks. Thanks for sharing your experience.

Dude I wanna go there now

you might me the next Rick Steves, at least your voice has the same calm and precise timbre while providing accurate historical information

good job

Have you been to Edinburgh? It’s packed with ancient history and architecture. Lots of creepy medieval cemeteries and narrow alleys and underground streets

hey, actually fyi the presidents´s residence and office is not located in Toompea but actually in Kadriorg :))

Please go to: *-Europe:* Edinburgh (Scotland), Belfast (Northern Ireland), Carcasonne (France), St. Petersburg (Russia) *-Asia:* Kyoto/Heian (Japan), Xian/Changán (China), and Gyeongju (Korea) They have old medieval and even ancient towns too

Really good video of Tallinn!

Onion domes: in 1721 sweeden sold Estonia, Karelia, Livonia to Russia Nystadt Treaty, and German knights forced catholic religion to local Pagans, we are the very atheist country. Preferably we go to cemetery instead of the church, burn fire in the wildernes and go to sauna in the wild is the best. Once every two years we get together en masse and sing dance folk too.😊

go to lasnamae beautiful place

Living in Tallinn, you realize it is dante's secon circle of hell where sinners of lust souls are cast about in a restless, unreasoning wind.

"Estonia's old onion domes"? Those came to be only since the 18th century during the Russian imperial rule. Estonians are not an Orthodox nation.