爱沙尼亚／Estonia

老实说，在爱沙尼亚边境被扣留了将近三个小时，我立刻后悔到这里来，心想，早知道就听另一名背包旅游者的话，不去爱沙尼亚首都塔林，直接从圣彼得堡坐火车到拉托维亚算了。在被关卡人员折腾得半死后，很怀疑这么让人费神的地方真的值得去吗？不过最后还是庆幸有到塔林去。
After being detained at the borders for almost three hours, I must say I immediately regretted my decision to go to Estonia. I was thinking that I should have taken a fellow traveler’s advice and gone straight to Latvia instead. Arriving in the capital city of Estonia, Tallinn, almost six hours behind the original schedule, I was sure that this place will not be worth all the hassle and efforts. In the end, I was glad that I made it to Tallin after all. It was definitely worth all the hard work getting there.

一同被“扣留”的韩国女孩原本是要到波兰去，但因为赶不上其他长途巴士，最后决定跟随我游塔林。一抵达塔林就感到迷惘，因为巴士站距离古镇和我预定的青年旅舍有一段距离。就在我们站在路边，尝试搞清楚该搭什么车到古镇时，一名爱沙尼亚男子自动上前问我们需不需要帮忙。结果我们就这样很幸运地“捡”到一个免费导游，不但领我们到青年旅舍，之后还带我们小游了古镇，最后还带我们去吃东西，让我立刻对爱沙尼亚改观。
The Korean girl who was also detained at the borders was actually heading for Poland. Having missed all her connecting buses, she decided to check out Tallinn together with me. Upon arriving in Tallinn, we felt at a loss since it was already night time and we were not sure which tram to take to get to the Old Town, where the hostel I’ve booked beforehand was. Just as we were still trying to figure things out, an Estonian guy got off the tram he was on and asked if he could help us. Guess heaven decided to take pity on us after such a torturous time at the borders and sent an angel in disguise to help us. Not only did he guide us to the hostel, he even took us on a little tour of Tallin and brought us for some food. It was a great start to Tallinn and totally erased all the bad feelings that I had from the borders check.

真的很喜欢塔林的古镇，非常有中古时代的味道。我们入住的青年旅舍就坐落在古镇中心，也同样很有味道。和其他的旧房子一样，房间超大，天花板又高。最喜欢的是这里的厨房和饭厅，居然是在地下室。
With a medieval feel to the whole Old Town, it was hard not to like this city. The hostel we were staying in was located in the heart of Old Town, in a typical old building, with big airy rooms and tall ceilings. What I liked most about the hostel was the kitchen and dining room, which was located in the basement.
古镇到处都是古中时代的建筑，像是这个市政厅，就有几百年的历史。
You can find lots of buildings with a hint of the medieval times in them, like that of the town hall, which has a few hundred years of history. 这个可称得上是世界上最小的教堂。这个像信箱的呢，听说如果从缝隙里看进去，若看得到自己眼睛的反照，就没有什么罪恶要忏悔的，如果看不到眼睛的反照那就得找神父告解了。
This small building actually contains what could possibly be, the smallest church in the world. This slot found on the outside walls, was said to be used to determine if people have sinned. Apparently, if you peep into the slot and do see the reflection of your eyes, then you have not sinned. But if you do not see the reflection of your eyes, then you have sinned and should quickly look for the priest to make a confession. 这个城墙可是原汁原味的，虽然有部分被破坏了，但已算是欧洲保存最好的旧城墙之一了。如今城墙的一部分被改为小摊位，卖一些纪念品和衣服等。
This city wall that you see is the real deal. Although parts of it was damaged, including one part which was bombed by the Russians so as to make a direct route to the KGB headquarters, a large part of the wall still remains. It is one of the best kept old city walls in Europe. Right now, a small part of the wall has turned into a side street filled with stalls selling clothes and souvenirs. 而这个墙上的纪念牌其实是古墓上的盖，在被挖掘后，把安置在这墙上以便好好保留。
The plaques that you see on this wall are actually those of covers from old coffins. After these are discovered, they are kept on this wall to be preserved.这里的很多建筑虽然都重新粉刷过了，根本不像是什么老建筑，不过每个建筑不管是里面还是外观，仍然都非常有特色。
Although many of the buildings here have had many new coats of paint over the years, looking nothing like an old building, but be it the inside or the outside, many of these buildings have unique designs. 就连在街上卖小吃的也打扮得很有中古时代的味道！这个小吃是由蜂蜜裹着的杏仁。
Even the stall in the street and the cheerful lady behind it, have the medieval times’ touch. The snack you see here is honey coated almonds. 塔林不只是古镇吸引人，连周边我也非常喜欢。虽然是爱沙尼亚首都，但塔林却没有其他国家首都那样的吵闹和喧哗，有的只是一份幽静。无论是爱沙尼亚第一个开放给平民百姓享用的公园，还是周边的住宅区，都显得相当宁静。
Not only do I like the Old Town, I love the other parts of Tallinn too. Although this is the capital city of Estonia, it is not crowded or noisy like the other capital cities. There is quietness to the surroundings which makes one feel relaxed at all times. Whether it is the first park open to the public in Estonia, or the neighborhoods, you will find that it is peaceful everywhere. 我们加入了一个脚踏车游，去了一些平时游客很少会去的地方，好比说爱沙尼亚的总统府。原来爱沙尼亚真的很小，人口只有200多万（比新加坡少了将近一半），所以连总统府也是小小的。我们还骑到了总统府的门前，跟门卫打招呼呢！
We joined a bike tour which took us to some spots not frequented by tourists. One of the places where we stopped by was the Presidential Residence. It turns out that Estonia, with a population of just slightly over 2 million (almost half of Singapore’s population), is such a small place that, even the Presidential Residence is small. Not only is it located in the heart of the city, you can even go right up to the door and say hi to the guards. 然后还去了俄罗斯沙王彼得大帝在这里盖的夏皇宫。
Then we saw the summer palace which the Russian Tsar Peter I the Great built.另外，还去了每隔五年举办歌唱季节的露天歌舞剧院；听说每次都会有至少三万人聚集在这里参加歌唱季节。
We also checked out the open air theatre which hosts the famous singing festival every five years. These singing festivals are so popular that they attract more than 30000 people each time and you can find 3000 singers on the stage at one go sometimes.然后还到了塔林港口去参观，才知道原来芬兰与爱沙尼亚之间的距离有那么小，只要乘坐一个半小时的渡轮，就可以到了。脚踏车游的向导告诉我们，因为一般芬兰人的收入比爱沙尼亚人多三倍，所以芬兰人非常喜欢到塔林来消费；在港口的这些大百货公司和高档餐厅都是针对芬兰游客而开的。可惜的是，这些游客花的钱都不是入爱沙尼亚人的口袋，因为这里的商店大部分是由外省人开的，其中绝大部分是俄罗斯人。
We also went by the harbor in Tallinn and learnt that Estonia and the Scandinavian States are so near to each other that it takes only one and a half hour to reach Tallinn from Helsinki by ferry. Our guide for the bike tour told us that, because the salary of an average Finn is about three times more than that of an Estonian, the Finns love to take the short ferry ride and do their shopping at the Tallinn Harbor. As such, you can find lots of high end restaurants, big shopping centers and supermarkets at the harbor. Alas, most of these restaurants and shops are owned by foreigners, with a large number of them being Russians, so all the tourist bucks do not go into the pockets of Estonians. 最后，我们自己再爬上一座小山，眺望整个塔林。放眼望去，宁静的古镇和清幽的城市，让我们俩都竖起大拇指，说声：“好美丽的城市！”　　～伟
Finally, after the bike tour, we walked up one of the little hills overlooking the whole city. The serene surroundings reminded us once again, how glad we were to make the trip to Tallinn!　　～wei