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My Trip to Scandinavia/Eastern Europe
Scandinavia&Eastern Europe
Benbest2004-03-28 15:27:30
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a problem. In front of the train station's closed currency-exchange office there were quite a few currency traders (most of whom were from Russia or the Caucasus). Naturally, they charged an exchange rate which was more costly than the office. I asked Juri to talk to several traders in order to get the best rate. All the traders quoted the same rate except one, who offered a slightly lower rate. Before a transaction could be performed, however, another trader started yelling, and informed a "boss" who came-over and chewed-out the deviant trader. The deviant trader's rate immediately came in line with the standard one. I traded currency with a dealer who had not been involved in this commotion (at the standard rate, of course). When I later teased Juri that he should go into the currency business, he replied that he would get beat-up if he did.
Juri located a hotel for me which was decent, and yet cost only $8 per night. He then proceeded to show me around Tallinn. Tallinn is swarming with tourists, in contrast to Lithuania and Latvia. Estonian language is very close to Finnish and, with Helsinki just a short boat-ride across the Gulf of Finland, there is a constant influx of Finns who are seeking inexpensive entertainment. Estonians are also influenced by Finnish television. Although Estonia is still a very poor country by Western standards, it is noticeably richer than Lithuania. And there is much more commercial activity on the streets.
Estonia is larger than Switzerland, yet it only has a population of 1.6 million, less than half the population of Lithuania. In Lithuania only 20% of the population is Russian, whereas nearly a third of the residents of Estonia are Russian. Juri said he could speak Russian from the time he was 7 years old, and his fluency was evident from his conversations with Russian-speakers. Juri denied claims by the Russian Government that Russians are a persecuted minority in Estonia. He thinks
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