a fairly new country, but with one of the best-preserved medieval cities in the world

Estonia, that is, where I've just spent a couple of weeks - with its old capital, Tallinn.  I was quickly pushed out of Tallinn, as a British band were playing a concert there and all of the accommodation was booked up - I found one hostel with a vacancy, but was not prepared to pay 100 Euros for a bunk bed in an 18-person mixed dorm - so my travels around the country started with a bus and ferry ride to the largest of Estonia's 2,200+ islands, Saaremaa.

The main 'sights' on this island are its lighthouses, and I took a trip to visit the most southerly one, Sõrve.  Also its tallest, at 52m and (I counted!) 246 steps, with some nice views.  I looked around the peninsula for birds and other wildlife, and saw a grass snake (my second in the Baltics!), and heard a distant cuckoo, but most of the wildlife seemed to consist of snails and ants - I've seen more ants in Estonia than in the whole of the rest of my life, I think.  Thankfully, they don't seem to be aggressive!

I also visited the Kaali meteorite craters, formed some 7,500 years ago, and wandered around the largest town on the island, Kuressaare, visiting its old stone bridge and its (restored) 13th century castle.

Then I crossed the country to Narva, the third-largest city/town in the country (56,000 people) and the least Estonian, being right on the border with Russia.  Its architecture did look more Soviet than Estonian, it's true, but the town was worth visiting for the two fortresses staring at eachother across the Narva River, joined by the so-called Friendship Bridge.  Just a pity there wasn't some kind of 24-hour visa available to cross to the other side, as I have to say that the Ivangorod Fortress on the Russian side looked far more attractive than Narva Castle.  But I think the arge display of Ukrainian flags on the Narva Castle wall next to the bridge showed why that is not possible!  This is the 16th century Ivangorod Fortress, viewed from the park beside Narva Castle.

Then, finally, I made my way back to Tallinn - another trip on the LUXExpress buses that I've enjoyed so much here, with their free on-board drinks machine (cappuccino, Earl Grey tea, hot chocolate...), good wifi, and a seat back screen with so many choices of music, films, etc.  During my three trips on these buses I watched two films I'd missed first time around - Blood Diamond and Schindler's List - both of which I really enjoyed, with the odd glance out of the window at the seemingly endless pine and silver birch forests.

Tallinn is an amazing city - apparently with 13th century origins (when the crusading knights of the Teutonic Order built a castle). Soon afterwards, it became a major hub of the Hanseatic League, its wealth demonstrated by the opulence of buildings such as the churches and merchant houses, which have survived to a remarkable degree despite the ravages of fire and war in the intervening centuries.  I visited churches, monuments, museums and an art gallery, and the old stone passages under part of the city walls, but largely just walked around, marvelling at the old buildings.  Apparently these were not valued by the Soviets, and whilst the country was part of the Soviet Union many of the old city walls had houses built next to them, flats in their interiors ... but now they have been restored to their original style and are really impressive.

I also took a trip out to a 5.5km 'bog walk', along a rotting wooden boardwalk over a restored peat bog ... and looked at a falling down abandoned stone convent building,and a rotting old wooden shipwreck, and walked around a couple of parks including a beautiful Japanese Garden.  All-in-all, a great country to visit.  Despite the fact that the temperature has not risen above 19°C during my time here!