Windsor Castle: Some Castle in England with an AWESOME dollhouse

OK, OK so Windsor Castle is more than "some castle in England" being that it's housed monarchs for centuries but seriously the best thing about Windsor Castle, for little girls *cough* and moms *cough*, is Queen Mary's Dolls House.

This thing is ridiculous. It was originally planned as a gift for Queen Mary (of the 20th century) by one of her neices but it quickly turned into a major project to promote the craftsmen and historical traditions of England. It is filled with custom made miniatures by some of the world's most well known artists. Cartier, Faberge, Daulton China, Rolls Royce, even writers such as Rudyard Kipling and A.A. Milne. You name it, it's in there. It has working elevators, electrical lighting, even working plumbing. There are miniature exact replicas of everything you would find in a "normal" upscale home at the time. It's just amazing. I could have spent hours looking at it. In fact, Maya and I went to see it twice because we loved it so much. If you're ever at Windsor Castle be sure to go to see the dollhouse and for 4.50 GBP you can also pick up a book about it in one of the gift shops which tells it's history and has some great close up shots. Since you aren't allowed to take photos when you're in there that's really the only way to get a lasting view.

You can also go online and find some illegally taken images that other people have done. I like the book, though, because it's quite complete and gives you information that you would never get from someone else's grainy blurry illegally taken photo. However, since you guys can't see the book, here are some of the said illegal images I found of it to give you an idea of it's wonderful display :
http://www.nsrider.com/gallerymain/England/dollhouse.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sangster/237745019/

The Man Behind the Curtain

It's been unbelievably busy since my last post. Tallinn wasn't necessarily my FAVORITE place but overall it was a really nice, relatively relaxing trip.

The best part of the trip by far was getting to meet a gentleman named Mark Rybak. He is the cousin of one of Josh's friends from college and he actually grew up in Tallinn during the Nazi and Soviet occupations. He was very gracious in letting us ask him all kinds of questions about what life was like "behind the iron curtain." I am a huge history buff so it was fascinating to hear his views and often surprising. He said that, for the most part, life in Estonia was fairly normal for him. He knew that there were things he was missing out on but I didnt get the sense that he had bad memories of that time. That's not to say things overall were roses and candies, but it wasn't necessarily the life of a USSR citizen that I had envisioned. he now lives in Tel Aviv, Israel but is working in Tallinn to help them document the history of the small Jewish population of Estonia. Unfortunately, the majority of Mark's family, as well as the majority of the Jewish community in Estonia, were killed by the Nazi's and there is very little remaining of the Jewish cultural history there. Mark is working to help create a museum dedicated to those who were lost so they won't be forgotten. I say, good luck to him and I hope to go back to Estonia one day to see it.

Tallinn, Estonia: A Quiet City With a Difficult Past

We've been on travel for the past five days and this is the first chance I've had to get on here and write about it! A terrible error indeed! This trip has felt like two or three trips all jumbled into one as we flew into London, spent one day at Windsor Castle and Stonehenge; one day in Britsol where we got to meet the fine folks at Trunki (!!!!!); and then we headed off for Tallinn Estonia. Since the other places we've been are pretty typical on the average travelers itinerary (well maybe except for the meet up with Trunki) I'll stick with Tallinn for now.

Tallinn is an old city that has been beset with invasion after invasion over it's time. In ancient times it was the Romans and the Vikings. In more recent times it was the Nazis and the Soviets. Tallinn seems to be trying hard to cut ties with it's interloper past and prove that it is a city, and a country, of its own. During WWII it was first taken over for a short time by the Nazis who then lost it to the Russians. The people of Tallinn certainly seemed to suffer under the Russian occupation with many people being sent off to Siberia, foreign Russian workers brought in to "russify" the area, and a take over of their economy. After the fall of communism in Russia, though, Estonia worked hard to get back on its own two feet and looked to make itself more like the west. Today Tallinn is quite a popular tourist spot for many Europeans and Scandinavians and it seems to be doing well for itself.

There are some drawbacks to all this popularity for tourists at least. Namley the cost of things. Now I didnt expect to come here and be able to go on a giant shopping spree but when it's $10 just for a fridge magnet I'd say teh price of things has gone a little overboard. Granted we've been hovering around the prime tourist trap areas and I would expect some level of inflation but really, comon, $10 for a magnet? I saw a hat I could easily have made for myself selling for $35! Ouch! The food is good and our hotel is once again exceptional thanks to TripAdvisor.com (my new favorite website) but everything else has been a hit to the pocketbook and almost a turn off.

There are good parts though. There are parks EVERYWHERE, Maya loves all the old cobblestone streets and there is some really beautiful architecture here. I've been impressed with the beautiful wood carvings here. We went in one church that was covered with intricately carved wooden plaques made whenever the patriarch of a prominent family passed. Also, many of the buildings have beautifully carved doorways and walls. Maya loved the Estonian Hisotory museum and we found a great many coffee shops and sweet stores to pop into for a break from the cold.

Over all Tallinn has been a nice break from the business of back home. Despite not being able to buy my VERY IMPORTANT useless bric-a-brac at a reasonable cost I would say Tallinn is nice if you want a little taste of history with some lovely walks and beautiful scenery.

Here are some of Josh's beautiful pictures as always