I've got lots of photos of Estonia on the Net . These are a little different due to the subject matter
A few Estonia photos from 2007
As I was leaving Tartu and got on Rt2, I picked up this hitch-hiker.
I'm well aware that young girls
hitch-hike long distance all over Estonia. She gets in, and as she does I
ask her if she speaks
English ( naturally she does ) but seems a little surprised to be riding with
a non native. I ask her
were she was going and she said "just this side of Tallinn". Well...
that's a two hour trip, (but where
I was headed also) I enjoyed her company very much, because like most
Estonian girls I've talked
to, she was extremely bright. Spoke 4 languages and her mother was a physician.
We stopped for gas and it was raining a bit. I asked if I could take her picture.
This is
what's so funny: This girl had been oh so serious for an
hour during our conversation. She answered
all my political and cultural questions with ease. But when I pointed the
camera at her, she turned into
the biggest girly girl you ever saw! Anyway...
I found it to be charming, to say the least.
THIS COULD HAVE KILLED US ALL....
The airport you see above was home to the Soviet 132nd Heavy
Bomber Aviation Regiment, and it was so top secret
that Tartu was closed to the outer world for the next 50 years until Estonia
gained their independence.
It was even forbidden to say the name of the base out loud. The base had Tu-16
and Tu-22M nuclear weapons
carriers. (TU-22M (Backfire) strategic bombers ) and was considered one of
the top major threats to the
United States. The funny thing is that during all of my stays in Estonia,
I was within sight of this
Base but couldn't see it due to the tree line. It had the longest runway in
Europe during it's time and
supported some very nasty weapons. My friend Kadri grew-up within site of
the runway and remember the
bombers flying daily. That's my car on the runway. I have many photos of this
facility but will only post these few.
TU-22M (Backfire) strategic bomber
As you can see by this old Google scan... this was one huge facility! If you have any questions, e-mail me.
Finally, I leave you with this shot of the baltic coast near sunset.