Talin, Estonia is absolutely beautiful. A hidden gem that no one talks about.
I’m an ignorant American, so when I looked at the map I kinda figured Estonia would have some really strong Eastern European vibes, but I was shocked how Nordic/Scandinavian it was. Incredible infrastructure, extremely walkable, fascinating history as a major Baltic Sea trade route, tons of old medieval architecture…
And the people were so friendly! The language is beautiful, the education system is top notch, they have a great national parks system, they’ve pumped out a ton of tech startups, they’re vehemently anti-Soviet (I love that they celebrate their Independence from Russia beginning in 1920 and consider the Soviet years an occupation). The topography and flora is really beautiful. Silent forests covered in pine needles, bogs, lakes, rivers and a gorgeous coastline.
It’s just the coolest place and I wish more people visited.
Edit: Oh, and Pub Kompressor serves the best damn pancakes/crepes I’ve ever had.
If you think about it, latitude wise they’re closer to the Nordic countries. Estonia (and Latvia and Lithuania) have quite close ties to the Nordic countries both in terms of history and politics. Culturally, there’s also some overlap in terms of food and way of life.
Thank you for mentioning Estonia though! Makes my heart happy.
I did a 6 week study abroad trip to Prague in 2009 in college, and it was the best experience of my life. One of the things I like is how the city is organized into districts (Prague 2, Prague 8, etc), and so as a visiting student I could judge how far something was when someone said “that’s in Prague 9”.
Also, obviously the beer. I distinctly remember being stunned by the fact that beer is quite literally cheaper than water. Here in America, water is like the free thing that you order when you don’t want to spend money. But when I was in Prague, water was not free, it was the nice stuff that came in Perrier bottles and was poured into a bespoke glass. Whereas beer was absurdly cheap. When I was there you could get it for the equivalent of less than 1USD for a pint. It’s probably more now.
Not to mention all of the beautiful buildings. Prague is one of the few large European cities that managed to get out of WW1/WW2 virtually unscathed, and has a ton of very old buildings. Vyserád Castle is excellent and is not as known about as Prague Castle. I highly recommend it.
Since 2015 lots of smaller craft brewerys, pub micro brewerys… poped up in Czech Republic. Beer culture is slowly shifting that way.
So when you get here don’t drink some mainstream beer (Pilsner, Staropramen…) find something better.
Can you still buy Pilsner or Staropramen for less than a dollar (I guess about 20 czk)?
You can find really cheap beer in cans/bottles for around 10 czk. I don’t drink it (look at my post history).
In pubs it is around 35 czk.
I am in EU city right now.
I guess the question would be then, are you planning on staying in your city?
It’s cliché, but Amsterdam. Been there twice and I need to go back.
All I want to do is walk and bike around, eat, drink, and then chill in my row house before doing it all again the next day…
I’ve lobbied for years to get transferred there. Still trying.
Ghent, Belgium
