THE SINGING REVOLUTION TOUR OF ESTONIA

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1 THE SINGING REVOLUTION TOUR OF ESTONIA Estonian travel agency Astellaria is happy to invite you on The Singing Revolution Tour of Estonia. In 2009 the 5-yearly national Song Festival of Estonia is taking place, which means that the beginning of July will be a wonderful time to visit this small yet diverse country. You ll get to spend a week in Estonia s seaside capital Tallinn, which boasts one of the best preserved old towns in Europe. In addition to attending the phenomenal Song Festival that attracts singers, you ll also be able to witness the famous Dance Festival with more than 5000 dancers, and of course enjoy tours of the historical city and other highlights of the country. All of this takes place in the comfort of a deluxe tour package giving you the very best of what Estonia has to offer. Dates: July 2 nd - 9 th 2009 Expected Size of Group: people Form of Travel in Estonia: Premium standard coach Cost: 1090 EUR with double/twin occupancy 350 EUR single supplement Half board (includes 2 meals a day) Includes tickets to listed sights Gratuities not included Excludes airfares to/from Tallinn! Tour Operator

2 Day 1 / Thu / July 2 nd Arrivals Day Arrival at Tallinn Airport, transfer to Swissotel The Swissotel is one of Tallinn s newest luxury hotels and is located in the heart of the city, within a walking distance from the old town and a quick drive from the Song and Dance Festival sites as well the airport Welcome Drinks & Briefing at Hotel Day 2 / Fri / July 3 rd Discover Tallinn & the Dance Festival Walking Tour of Old Town Enjoy one of Europe s most charming and well preserved old towns, also referred to as the Smaller (and Better!) Brother of Prague. The tour includes entries to the Lutheran Dome Church of St. Mary the Virgin s and the Russian Orthodox church of Alexander Nevski Lunch at Restaurant Ribe Ribe is simply one of the best balanced restaurants in Tallinn, combining excellent French cuisine with a touch of Estonian Time to shop! Tallinn is a great place for shopping from exclusive fashion brands to traditional handicrafts and exclusive artwork to design jewellery. We ll firstly take you to Tallinn s newest and trendiest shopping area Rotermann Quarter and will then let you off the hook to conquer shopping centres and boutiques in the whole city Transfer to National Dance Festival Enjoy dance concerts with 5000 participants dressed in national costumes who have trained to give orchestrated dances over the area the size of a football stadium! Dinner at Dance Festival site (on own). Return to hotel after dance concert.

3 Day 3 / Sat / July 4 th Song Festival Opening Day Visit to Patarei prison the Soviet Alcatraz Patarei complex has served many purposes since it s founding as a sea fortress of Imperial Russia in the 19 th century. During the Soviet period, the prison was a more or less permanent home to political dissidents, recidivists and, those to be deported. It also featured an execution chamber. This tour is not for the weak at heart! Lunch at Meriton Grand Hotel buffet restaurant Procession from city centre to Song Festival Grounds A procession from the city centre to the Song Festival Grounds takes place in the afternoon, which everybody is welcome to either attend or just observe. It s an impressive march with thousands of merry-making participants in folk costumes from across Estonia. Return to hotel on own Transfer to Song Festival Grounds If you did not choose the 4km walk to the Song Festival Grounds, you can now get a transfer from the hotel straight to the Song Festival Grounds. You will be seated in the VIP area of the concerts for a comfortable and close-up experience Opening Ceremony and Concert The Opening Ceremony of the Song Festival features a joint performance given by all choirs attending the event that is an expected singers! The event regularly witnesses a spectators and it s an uplifting experience to be among them. Other than that, the first day of the Song Festival focuses on the more serious kind of choral music in Estonia, which should be a particular treat for lovers of classical music. Dinner at Dance Festival site (on own).

4 Day 4 / Sun / July 5 th Song Festival Closing Day Optional tour Meet the makers of The Singing Revolution (pending) We re working on securing an exclusive, optional tour that will only be available to the customers of Astellaria Travel Agency. James and Maureen Tusty, the two filmmakers behind the acclaimed film The Singing Revolution, are planning a visit to the Song Festival in 2009, possibly to shoot a new film. They will share stories about the making of The Singing Revolution, and will likely be able to show you some behind-the-scenes activity for the making of their new film. They will meet with us at the Museum of Occupations and share production stories along with first hand accounts from one or two people in the film who personally participated in the Singing Revolution. This event is looking likely, to be confirmed in April. Cost: 60 EUR (see special offer below to get 20 EUR or 40 EUR off!) The Singing Revolution film Most people don t think about singing when they think about revolutions. But in Estonia song was the weapon of choice when the Estonians sought to free themselves from decades of Soviet occupation. The Singing Revolution tells the moving story of a people s non-violent and dramatic march to regain their freedom--while helping to topple an empire along the way. The documentary feature The Singing Revolution has played in theatres in over 140 cities across North America. The film has also screened before the EU Parliament, the US Congress, the White House staff, and various international events. Now on DVD and soon to be on a television station near you, The Singing Revolution filmmakers have been tireless in their drive to share this remarkable story of hope, freedom and human achievement. SPECIAL OFFER: There is no better way to prepare for the trip than to view The Singing Revolution film before flying to Estonia. The New York Times compared this film to Casablanca and made it a coveted Critics Pick. After viewing this film, you will have a much deeper grasp of Estonia s history and will experience much more meaning out of the places we visit on our tour, and of the song festival itself. We have arranged for a 15% discount if you order the DVD and companion book as a package before April 15 th. Go to to learn more about this film and to purchase either the home version DVD and book or the 3-disc Collector s Edition (with many extras) and book. This discount applies only to the DVD and book packages that are listed under Special Offers, and only if you order before April 15. When ordering, use the code Astellaria to get your 15% off. Attention! 20 EUR will be credited towards the cost of this optional tour if you purchased the home version DVD and book. If you purchase the Collector s Edition and book, 40 EUR will be credited towards the tour. To get your credit, you must your purchase receipt from singingrevolution.com to uve.poom@astellaria.com.

5 Time at leisure, recommendations given for lunch Transfer to Song Festival Grounds The second day of the Song Festival is known for its merrier melodies and, for instance, includes songs from known Estonian films and plays. In order for you to fully enjoy the concerts and recognise some of the tunes, we ll send you a CD with a compilation of Song Festival music well in advance of the trip! Closing ceremony Return to hotel Time at leisure in the evening

6 Day 5 / Mon / July 6 th Tartu - The City of Good Thoughts Today we ll go on a longer day-trip to Tartu, which is mainly known as the City of Good Thoughts due to the presence of the 377-year-old Tartu University Transfer to Tartu Tour of Tartu After the 2h30min coach ride we ll get acquainted with the historical centre of Estonia s south that is home to a beautiful old town, numerous parks, lots of wooden architecture, and Estonia s main university. There will also be some free time for looking around the town on your own. Lunch will be served at one of Tartu s nice cafés that are popular with the students as well as the professors of the university. We ll then proceed to a barge ride and concert on river Emajõgi. Tartu was the place where the unique Peipsi barge was born and used for centuries to trade between Russia and Estonia. On the barge we will listen to a concert, and meet up with the university s professor for a brief lecture on Estonia s educational system Return to Tallinn Time at leisure, dinner on own.

7 Day 6 / Tue / July 7 th Artistic Treasures of Tallinn National Art Musem Kumu and Kadriorg Park The suburb of Kadriorg is home to numerous museums and beautiful wooden architecture dating back to the 18th and the 19th century. We ll firstly visit Kumu the Art Museum of Estonia that was voted European Museum of the Year in In addition to artwork Estonian artwork from 18 th century onwards, what also deserved attention is the buildings architectural solution. It has literally been built into a limestone hillside and was nominated by the famous Chicago Athanaeum as one of the most outstanding buildings of Lunch will be served in the museum s restaurant. Afterwards we ll proceed to the Kadriorg Palace and Park, which were commissioned by Peter the Great to fulfil the function of Russian tsar family s summer residence. Today the palace houses as a museum of European art and the park is one of the most popular recreation areas in Tallinn. Return to hotel by Time at leisure in the evening, recommendations for dinner provided

8 Day 7 Wed / July 8 th Lahemaa National Park & Manors Departure to Lahemaa National Park, which is known for both its nature as well its inhabited areas, in particular the manor houses and fishermen s villages. Our day includes visits to a number of diverse sights. Viinistu village has a rather remarkable history. It was on the verge of extinction before an Estonian expat Jaan Manitski (who made his money as manager of the Swedish band ABBA!) returned to his birthplace. The village now hosts Estonia s biggest private art collection owned by the same man, which is interestingly located in a Soviet era fish processing factory. Lunch at Altja Fishermen s Village - a traditional Estonian lunch will be served at an authentic tavern in the picturesque seaside village of Altja. Palmse Manor is one of the best preserved manor house complexes in Estonia and today functions as a museum characterizing life of the Baltic- German nobility in Estonia. Return to hotel by Farewell Dinner at Restaurant Vertigo Vertigo is one of Tallinn s most metropolitan fine dining restaurants, and happens to be located very close to the hotel. We ll enjoy an Estonian cuisine farewell dinner at the restaurant to wrap up what we believe will be an absolutely amazing experience for each participant of the tour. *** END OF SERVICES *** Day 8 Thu / July 9 th Departures Day / End of Tour Individual taxi transfer to airport.

9 Interested? Get in touch! We ve put together this tour for everybody who would like to thoroughly experience Estonia but has limited time to do so. We hope that the program has encouraged you to join the trip-of-a-lifetime, as a song festival of that scale can only be seen again in For signing up please fill out the Singing Revolution tour registration form at Astellaria Travel Agency s website ( The registration deadline is March 27 th When you sign up, we ll ask for a 300 EUR deposit within a week after registration. The full sum will be charged by April 30 th. In case of cancellation, we can provide a 100% refund before May 15th and a 50% refund before May 31st. No refund will be possible after that date. Payments can be done by credit card (Visa/MasterCard) or bank transfers. Our representative will contact you to execute the payment. In the unlikely event that the minimum capacity of 20 people will not be filled, we reserve the right to cancel the tour by April 1 st. In this case we will return the advance payment in full or use it towards a tailored tour for you. We also recommend you not to book your flights prior to that date, unless you d alternatively like to use the payment towards a custom-tailored trip. Should you like to tailor your own trip, please contact Mr. Uve Poom from Astellaria Travel Agency. We ll be happy to provide all relevant services for your Song Festival Weekend in Tallinn, and hope that the itinerary above inspires you to determine your preferences! As we currently have a booking standing with Swissotel Tallinn for the Song Festival weekend, literally the busiest time of the season, we can probably accommodate wishes that may not be possible with other companies. If you have further questions about the tour, please feel free to contact Astellaria Travel Agency s representative via song.festival@astellaria.ee or phone during office hours in Estonia (Estonia is located in the GMT+2 time zone). Person in Charge: Mr. Uve Poom song.festival@astellaria.ee Phone : Address: Narva mnt Tallinn, 10101, Estonia