Julia Altshuler wrote:

> Dave Smith wrote:
> >
> > Curious ain't it. But if it helps at all, we had to wait a long time for it
> > :-)
>
> 5 centuries?

Not quite. It was a strange experience. Our table was on a raised platform on the
street in front of the restaurant. We had a very pleasant waitress who took a
break from work by coming around to the far side and talked with us for close to
half an hour.


> But seriously, I'm also interested in whether you had any trouble
> finding English speakers. Were you generally able to understand and
> make yourselves understood?

We had no problem finding English spoken in Tallinn. The only person I
encountered in Sweden who did no understand english was in an ice cream shop.
English was not a problem at all in Denmark, with one exception. When we to visit
my father's grave we talked with the minister at the church who insisted that we
had to go and see the chairman of the church council. I was reluctant because I
know that he doesn't speak any English, and that he would babble away in Danish.
Previous experience was that he would carry on and on. Sure enough, that is what
happened. He was quite frantic that he could not get hold of anyone to come over
and translate for us. He ended up phoning the minister and she translated over
the phone. We were just about to make our escape when his neighbour came over and
we were able to explain that he had to get going.

This was my fourth trip to western europe in the last 15 years and I have never
had much difficulty finding people speak English. The only places that was a
problem was in Italy and Belgium. In Scandinavia, Germany, France and Holland,
almost everyone speaks English, and most of them speak it very well.