Estonians continue to rank as the third tallest people in the world. It is hard to beat people from the Netherlands who have topped the rankings for many years now. The average height of an Estonian man is 183.3 cm, and 168.7 cm for women.
The tallest man who ever lived was Robert Wadlow (1918-1940) from the United States. He was over 8 feet tall and stood at 2.72 metres.
Winter came early this year to many parts of Europe. The low temperatures and reduction in sunlight means we need to take extra care of our bodies to ward off any nasty infections. Bolstering our immune systems is vital during this time of year so increasing the consumption of vitamin C and green leafy vegetables with fat soluble minerals is essential.
Traditional medicines have been used in Estonia since ancient times. There are many valuable plants found in the Estonian forest which have been tried and tested and are known to strengthen the immune system. Blueberries, cloudberries, sea buckthorn, rose hip and birch tree juice are some of the best natural remedies Mother Nature has to offer.
Fermented cabbage (hapukapsas) is also a very important dietary staple for Estonians during the winter. It has multiple health benefits including fibre, vitamin C, improves digestion and protects against inflammation.
Every Estonian has their own home remedy for curing various ailments. We all know honey and lemon tea is good for a sore throat but there are many more. For me, I strongly recommend eating a chunk of ginger each day to eliminate leg cramps (while sleeping) and for a annoying cough I find eating 3-4 mandarines (in a row) provides relief.
The world's first motorised taxi cab was built by Gottlieb Daimler in 1897 and began operating in Stuttgart in June 1897. The vehicles soon became popular and began operating in Paris in 1899, London in 1903 and in New York in 1907. In Estonia, gasoline-powered taxicabs were introduced in 1906.
Up until 1932 most cars on the road in Estonia were taxis. This was because people
lacked the ability to use the car only for private drives. Fares were originally agreed with the driver before the taximeter system was introduced. By 1940, there were about 3600 cars in Estonia, used for both public and prviate use.
The Rail Baltica project is a vital undertaking that will create a rail link between the Baltic countries and Central Europe. The new rail corridor was set to open next year but due to financial delays, it is not expected to debut until 2030. Once operational, Rail Baltica will finally re-integrate the Baltics into the European rail network and create a modern, high-speed rail link travelling through Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to Poland. The line will enable high-speed trains to run up to four times a day from Tallinn to Warsaw at a speed of 250km/h.
The Rail Baltica project marks the symbolic return of the Baltic countries to the European family - until the Second World War the Baltic countries were already connected to their European neuighbours with 1,435 mm wide gauge. When the three countries were occupied by the Soviet Union, their rail infrastructure was changed to be in line with the the wider Russian gauge of 1,520 mm rails.
More information about Rail Baltica can be found here.
New data has been released showing Estonia's current well-being statistics compared to other OECD countries. It's an interesting read. Further information can be found here.
