| Aug 30 | post-conference excursion to Lahemaa (sorry, fully booked)
Lahemaa National Park was established in 1971 among the first in the former Soviet Union to protect typical landscapes of Northern Estonia: the coast of the Gulf of Finland with peninsulas, the Baltic glint, alvar meadows, mires and bogs, forests (70 % from the total area), erratic boulders (340 - 584 cu metres); historical buildings, villages (Altja, Käsmu, Võsu etc), manor houses (Palmse, Kolga, Vihula, Sagadi), churches (Ilumäe, Esku, Käsmu, Leesi, Loksa) and other objects with historical, cultural and architectural value.
We will stay at Võsu arriving late on Friday, the 30 August 2002 and spend the next day exploring the ancient landscape of bogs and mires (planking path but sturdy footwear recommended), the human-influenced alvar meadows and coastal cliff. Stops are made in the old manors Palmse (current centre of the National Park), Sagadi and Vihula to view the estate landscape of primarily the nineteenth century; the old fishing village of Altja; the captains' village of Käsmu from the early twentieth century and the industrial (Soviet) village of Loksa with the remains of submarine and missile bases in the Pärispea Peninsula. A picnic lunch will be consumed along the way, probably in Altja. We will leave Võsu on Sunday (1st September) by the main road arriving in Tallinn by midday.
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