Day 4: Epic Parade is Epic

The day off. Sorta. Nothing to been done before the parade and the following Song Festival. And that is somewhat true. But not really.

For lunch, I met up with a Finnish friend who was visiting Tallinn, Marita, and her daughter, Kristiina, and son, Ossi, which went great. We went to a medieval restaurant with an interesting menu and I unwittingly got a salad. All was not lost. Most the salad was topped by four kinds of great meat (all juicy or spiced or generally tasty) and you know I don't mind salad anyway. During of which we discussed the legal system of Finland, because Kristinna happened to be a lawyer.

Also, met up with the Estonian local again and her friend from Denmark for the parade. She gave me background information on various parts of the parade including the meaning and history of certain sections of the country. There's Americans and Canadians that participate in the song fest. The parade lasted from 2 pm to 6 pm, putting the parades in the U.P. of Michigan to shame. FOUR HOURS.

Such a parade can only lead to a pretty epic choir, correct?

You bet your pasty it does.

It's hard to describe a choir of over 26,000 singing together and I think this may be the only place in the world that one can experience such a phenomena. It's like the entire populations of Houghton and Hancock coming together and singing the Copper Country Anthem (whatever that is). But there is an extra beauty behind this if know a little of the Estonian history. This is a reprensetation of Estonia, people from all over the country, rising with one voice.