Estonia 🇪🇪 @ Tallinn Sept 2026 | Capital of Estonia | Baltic Region | Amber | Mindfulness LinkedIn

Estonia: When Grey Skies Taught Me to See Beauty Again ...... After returning from my journey around the Baltic Sea, I have added three more countries to my life map. Before this trip, I had visited 71 countries. Now, Estonia has become part of my 74-country journey, bringing me closer to my wish of reaching 80 countries while I can still walk, see, taste, and feel the world with my own body. The Baltic region has always carried a certain mystery for me. It is Europe, yet it does not feel like the Europe I once imagined. Its culture is quieter, deeper, and in many ways more restrained. The Baltic countries have lived between many powers — Nordic influence, German trade, Swedish rule, Russian and Soviet shadows, and finally their own independent identity. Perhaps this is why the Baltic Sea region feels different: it does not shout for attention, but it carries history in its stones, churches, streets, and silence. Another reason I was drawn to the Baltic was amber. I have loved amber for many years, and Baltic amber has always felt almost legendary to me — ancient sunlight preserved inside fossilised resin. At first, I thought amber was mostly found from the sea. Only after this journey did I learn that much of the amber known today is recovered from land deposits, while only a smaller part is washed up by the sea. This changed my understanding. Sometimes what we believe to be true is only part of the story. When I first arrived in Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, the weather was not beautiful. The sky was grey, the air was heavy, and everything before my eyes seemed dull. My first impression was not strong. I wondered whether Estonia was not as beautiful as I expected, or whether the weather had taken away its charm. But after returning home and looking carefully at my photographs again, I discovered something different. The beauty was there. I had simply failed to see it clearly at that moment. Perhaps my mood had followed the weather; perhaps my eyes had been covered by the grey sky inside my own heart. Through editing the photos, I began to recover the angles, the colours, and the quiet dignity I had missed. This made me think deeply: does the heart change with the environment, or does the environment change with the heart? We are never completely separate from the world around us. Every place, every sound, every cloud, and every person affects how we see. When we see darkness, the world may not truly be dark. When we see brightness, it may not mean everything is light. What matters most is to keep a clear mind — to distinguish truth from illusion, reality from emotion, and not be carried away too easily by the surroundings. Tallinn’s Old Town is one of Europe’s most beautifully preserved medieval cities. It is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is known for its cobblestone streets, city walls, towers, merchants’ houses, churches, and the atmosphere of an old northern trading city by the Baltic Sea. (whc.unesco.org) Walking through the Old Town, one can feel the layers of history: Danish, German, Swedish, Russian, Soviet, and finally Estonian. It is not only architecture; it is memory built in stone. The Town Hall Square has long been the heart of the city. Around it are old guild houses, narrow lanes, cafés, and medieval buildings that remind visitors of Tallinn’s past as an important Hanseatic trading city. The city walls and watchtowers still give Tallinn a strong medieval character, while Toompea Hill offers views over the red rooftops, church spires, and the Baltic horizon. (visittallinn.ee) Beyond the Old Town, Tallinn also has many meaningful places: Kadriorg Palace and Park, built during the Russian imperial period; the Seaplane Harbour Museum, which reflects Estonia’s maritime identity; the Song Festival Grounds, where music became part of Estonia’s national spirit and the Singing Revolution; and the quiet coastal areas where the Baltic Sea meets the city. (web.visittallinn.ee) Estonia may not immediately reveal itself. It may not be a country of loud colours or dramatic first impressions. But if you slow down, if you look again, you may find that its beauty is calm, historical, and sincere. For me, Estonia was not only another country added to my list. It was a lesson: sometimes beauty is not absent — sometimes we are simply not ready to see it. This journey reminded me again of the philosophy I now treasure: life is not only about working, earning, and waiting for the future. Life is also about using our limited time wisely, seeing the world while we still can, and collecting memories before our bodies can no longer carry us. I do not travel only to count countries. I travel to understand life, and to remind myself and others: treasure time before time becomes only memory.