Winter in Estonia - Skiing

Estonia is a very popular resort for Skiing!
But as the highest mountain of Estonia is only 318 meters high, we are talking about Cross Country Ski!.
This sport is very popular in Estonia, and on the last Winter Olympic Games, all Estonian gold medals were in Cross-Country Skiing!

In Tallinn, there are many winter tracks for Cross-Country Skiing. Renting of the full equipment (boots, skis and poles) is available for good prices (usually 50 eek), and if you have your own equipment, you can just come and ski as long as you want for free!

Nõmme Sport Center (Külmallika 15) - Nõmme Sport Center is open every day (08.00 - 22.00) and has 4 tracks for cross country skiing in Winter (from 1 km till 5 km). The access is not easy by buss or public transport, but has well kept and illuminated tracks, and places for beginners to practice. See the temperature and amount of snow in Nõmme (in Estonian).

Pirita Sport Center (Rummu tee 3) - Pirita Sport Center is open everyday (10:00 - 20:00) and has 2 tracks for cross country skiing (2km and 4km). With easier access by public transportation, but not so easy tracks for beginners. See the temperature and amount of snow in Pirita (in Estonian).

By the way, did you know that every winter, the FIS (International Ski Federation) hosts the Cross-Country Ski World Cup in Otepää, the "Winter Capital" of Estonia?

Do you have any other good places to ski in Tallinn? Tell us in the comments!

Winter in Estonia - Ice Skating

One of the pleasures of winter is to engage in Winter Sports. In Estonia, you have many places where you can try Ice Skating all year around, but only during winter you can try ice skating in open air, like in frozen lakes in town, or if you are more adventurous, in the frozen baltic sea. (Yeah, it freezes, and usually each winter there are official driving roads from the mainland to the islands).

Jeti Ice Hall, near the Ülemiste Center, has many indoors ice rinks available for Ice Skating, Figure Skating, Curling and Ice Hokey.

The Linnahall Ice Hall is a ice skating rink closer to the city center, but open only on Fridays and weekends.

The Old Town Outdoor Skating Rink is open only during winters, but there you can skate every day of the week from 10:00 to 22:00. You can even check out how many people is skating with the Skate Rink WebCam.

In Tartu, there's Liuväli, a full size skating arena in LõunaKeskus, with the best ice rink, but you have the check the schedule, not all the hours are available for ice skating, as they have Hokey trainings and Figure Skating.

But if you are looking for more, why not Ice Skate on the Frozen Baltic Sea? 360.ee offers Ice Skating in Big Open spaces, like many of the Estonian big lakes or in Baltic Sea, between Haapsalu and Vormsi. Be prepared to skate for more than 4h, more than 20km, in a wild and beautiful scenario, surrounded by ice and Estonian Nature. See what kind of adventures you can do in some of their online pictures (Estonian language required)...

... Or you can check my pictures when I was skating in the Baltic Sea!


Do you have any comments on Ice Skating in Estonia? Leave your opinion below on the comments!

Head Uut Aastat!

That's Estonian for Happy New Year!
Or if you want in Russian, С Новым Годом!

And if you want to see how is a winter day in Estonia,
this was the Last Day of 2008 in Tallinn!


31.08.2008: Temperature average -1°c, day of 6h and 12min (sunrise at 9:18, sunset at 15:30).

More info in TimeAndDate.com and weather.com websites.

Estonia and Brazil - Tallinn Winter Tropics Festival 2008

Tere!

Since 1992, the international community in Estonia has grown a lot! Also the relations between Estonia and Brazil flourished, with many Estonian traveling to Brazil, and Brazilians coming to Estonia.

Many Estonians are learning Portuguese (with Gustavo), practising capoeira (with Lauro), listening to Brazilian music (with Denise and Jay in Clazz every Tuesday 21), and even eating in a Rodizio (All-you-can-eat meat) Restaurant (Ipanema Rodizio), among many other things.

This weekend, the First Brazilian Music Festival is happening in Tallinn. Brazilian vibes, with international attractions.


Tallinn Winter Tropics Festival!
(Tickets sale online)

Check out more about the biggest attraction, Elza Soares, anthological samba and bossa singer, awarded "Best Singer of the Millennium" by the BBC.

See you all there!

City Transportation - Tallinn

Tallinn, Estonia capital, has a good and integrated public transportation system, composed of city Bus, Tram (electrical train on tracks) and Trolley (electrical bus).

A travel ticket can be used in any of those systems, costing 13 eek (beforehand from kiosks or shops) or 20 EEK (from the driver). You can also by a 10 ticket package for 90 EEK. Students with valid identification pay less (6 eek beforehand, 12 eek from driver).

If you will use the public transportation a lot, you can have better prices if you buy a daily pass, 10, 30, or 90 days pass. This can be bought in paper at the kiosks, or if you have an Estonian-ID, online from pilet.ee.

Please, buy tickets before using public transportation. Every now and then, some private security personal enter checking if you have a valid ticket. If you use your ID-card, just handle them, they check in a small machine in front of you. Support Estonian economy, and don't get Tased, bro!

You can get the timetables, stops, and travel directions in the Sõiduplan site of Tallinn City Portal. More info in the Tallinn Tourism site (also a great page, full of useful info in English).

Now, for informative fun, you can check a little of the History of Public Transportation in Tallinn at Tallinna Ühistransport. Did you know that Trams in Tallinn are celebrating 120 years of operation in 2008?