TALLINN - St. Petersburg, Helsinki and Tallinn - page 219

Ecolines (tel. [phone] or mobile [phone], www.ecolines.net ) and the spiffy Hansabuss
(with onboard Wi-Fi, tel. [phone], www.hansabuss.ee ) . The bus station (autobussijaam)
is at Lastekodu 46, a short taxi ride from the Old Town, or a few stops on trams #2 or #4 to
the Autobussijaam stop (direction: Ülemiste). Not much English is spoken at the station;
reserving online is recommended.
From Tallinn to: Rīga (12 buses/day, 4.5 hours, no train option), Vilnius (2 buses/day
at 10:00 and 22:30, 10 hours), St. Petersburg (11 buses/day, 6.5-8 hours; also possible
by overnight cruise—about 1/week, 14.5 hours, www.stpeterline.com ) , Moscow (take the
overnight train—daily at 17:20, 16-hour trip, www.gorail.ee —or fly). Americans and Ca-
nadians must obtain a visa to travel to Russia and need to plan long in advance (for more
information on visa requirements, see www.russianembassy.org or www.rusembassy.ca ).
For the latest bus and train schedules, see the helpful binders at the TI or consult Tallinn
in Your Pocket .

Estonian Survival Phrases
Estonian has a few unusual vowel sounds. The letter ä is pronounced “ah” as in “hat,” but
a without the umlaut sounds more like “aw” as in “hot.” To make the sound ö , say “oh”
and purse your lips; the letter õ is similar, but with the lips less pursed. Listen to locals
and imitate. In the phonetics, ī sounds like the long i in “light,” and bolded syllables are
stressed.

English Estonian Pronunciation

Hello. (formal) Tervist tehr -veest

Hi. / Bye. (informal) Tere. / Nägemist. teh -reh / nah -geh-meest

Kas te räägite inglise
keelt?

kahs teh raah -gee-the een -glee-seh
kehlt

Do you speak English?

Yes. / No. Jah. / Ei yah / ay

Please. / You're welcome. Palun. pah -luhn

Thank you (very much). Tänan (väga). tah -nahn ( vah -gaw)

Can I help you? Saan ma teid aidata? saahn mah tayd ī -dah-tah

Excuse me. Vabandust. vaw -bahn-doost

(Very) good. (Väga) hea. ( vah -gaw) hey -ah

Goodbye. Hüvasti. hew -vaw-stee

one / two üks / kaks ewks / kawks

three / four kolm / neli kohlm / nay -lee

five / six viis / kuus vees / koos

seven / eight seitse / kaheksa sayt -seh / kaw -hehk-sah

nine / ten üheksa / kümme ew -hehk-sah / kew -meh