Another bright, beautiful day and we were off and running shortly after 8 a.m. We met Katherine at “Fat Margaret,” the rotund tower near the sea shore (or more correctly, near where the sea shore was in the Middle Ages — it’s several hundred yards inland today) that was the main protection for the city gate. This is where traders from far and wide came into Tallinn with their goods in the 14th century and later.
It’s still where hordes of cruise ship passengers enter the Old Town today, in their groups of 50 or more, following a local guide speaking Russian, German, French, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, or sometimes English. We had an early start, so avoided them for awhile. But they caught up to us soon enough.
Following our trusty Rick Steves guidebook walking tour stored on Katherine’s phone, we had our attention called to a few sites that we had walked by several times without realizing their significance. Then we followed Rick’s directions into the “Upper Town.” Katherine’s hotel is up there, so she was familiar with it, but we had not yet ventured there. This area was where Danish, Swedish, and German traders lived, apart from the native Estonians, in earlier centuries — and also the site of a huge Russian Orthodox church, built by the czars in the early 20th century, just to remind the Estonians who was really in charge.
The population of Estonia is about 60% tall, slender, very blond Scandinavian type people, native Estonians closely related to the Finns, but also those descended from Danes and Swedes who ruled here for several centuries. Roughly 40% are ethnic Russians, most of whose ancestors arrived within the past century, first under the czars, and then in huge numbers under Stalin. Many of these don’t even speak Estonian.
When we ate out with Katherine on Sunday evening, the empty seat at our table was taken, in typical European fashion, by a Russian woman — an administrator at a university in Moscow in town for a conference (the restaurant was full and there were few other seats). Her English was excellent, and she shared that we were probably more welcoming to her than if she had sat at a table of Estonians. There is tension among the two populations, more open now than in the Soviet era.
There was a mass underway in the Orthodox church, but we entered briefly and stood in the back. The tour continued to a couple of wonderful scenic overlooks that we might not have found without guidance. The cruise ship tours found them, however.
After completing the Rick Steves itinerary, and doing a little bit of shopping, we returned to the Old Town market square and had an early lunch with Katherine before she had to get back to the festival for afternoon and evening concerts. Then Mark and Mary set out to catch some museums and churches. We had purchased “The Tallinn Card” which gave us free access to about every church, museum, and attraction in town for 24 hours. I doubt that “The Tallinn Card” folks bargained on any two people hitting as many places in one afternoon as we managed:
We did the Holy Spirit Church (a really old Lutheran relic in the Old Town) and the National Historical Museum (better than expected), the KGB Museum (the old joke was that if you were locked in the basement you still had a great view, because you could see Siberia from here), and St. Olaf’s Church (whitewashed and made plain by the Anabaptists).
We continued down to the sea, past a huge Soviet era prison, to the Seaplane Museum — which oddly contains only one seaplane, but a lot of other maritime stuff, including Estonia’s one and only submarine, acquired from the British just after independence after WW I, and then taken over by the Soviet navy. It was a pretty interesting place, but we were growing weary, so we elected to take a bus back to Old Town.
A few minutes sitting on the bus revived us a bit, so we sat a bit at the bus stop and waited for a tram to Kadriorg Park on the east side of the city. Sitting on the tram revived us further, so we walked a bit through the park to Kadriorg Palace. This is a mansion built by Czar Nikolas I as a cozy little summer dacha. It’s had a long history since then, but is now an art museum (though not a terribly interesting collection, so we moved through quickly).
We walked farther to the mansion of the Estonian head of state. It was built in the Soviet era. He should have kept the czar’s house — but maybe it’s better on the inside.
Walking farther, we happened upon the Peter I Museum. It seems that Nick built his pile on land that his great-grand-daddy had purchased from the widow of a merchant back during the war with Sweden, when he needed a spot for a bit of R and R. It’s a very unassuming little house, but quite fascinating. Who would have known?
Next was the KUMU, a very new, modern, museum of Estonian contemporary art. It’s a good thing we needed a place to get out of the afternoon rain shower, or we wouldn’t have stayed as long as we did. Maybe our mood was just bad because, by this time, we were totally spent. But we sure got our money’s worth off of that Tallinn Card!
After a tram ride back to Old Town, we decided we could handle one more museum, so we went to the one just across the street from our apartment, St. Nicholas Museum of Ecclesiastical Art. This was a 14th century church bombed out in WW II. It was restored, but after the restoration, there was no longer any need for it as a worshipping congregation. Yet is was full of six centuries worth of treasures. It was fascinating! We are so glad we found the energy to make one last stop.
After a bit of food and refreshment, we retired to the comfort of our apartment. We have seen a lot of Tallinn today, and we enjoyed it immensely.
It’s still where hordes of cruise ship passengers enter the Old Town today, in their groups of 50 or more, following a local guide speaking Russian, German, French, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, or sometimes English. We had an early start, so avoided them for awhile. But they caught up to us soon enough.
Following our trusty Rick Steves guidebook walking tour stored on Katherine’s phone, we had our attention called to a few sites that we had walked by several times without realizing their significance. Then we followed Rick’s directions into the “Upper Town.” Katherine’s hotel is up there, so she was familiar with it, but we had not yet ventured there. This area was where Danish, Swedish, and German traders lived, apart from the native Estonians, in earlier centuries — and also the site of a huge Russian Orthodox church, built by the czars in the early 20th century, just to remind the Estonians who was really in charge.
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| Estonian Parliament |
The population of Estonia is about 60% tall, slender, very blond Scandinavian type people, native Estonians closely related to the Finns, but also those descended from Danes and Swedes who ruled here for several centuries. Roughly 40% are ethnic Russians, most of whose ancestors arrived within the past century, first under the czars, and then in huge numbers under Stalin. Many of these don’t even speak Estonian.
When we ate out with Katherine on Sunday evening, the empty seat at our table was taken, in typical European fashion, by a Russian woman — an administrator at a university in Moscow in town for a conference (the restaurant was full and there were few other seats). Her English was excellent, and she shared that we were probably more welcoming to her than if she had sat at a table of Estonians. There is tension among the two populations, more open now than in the Soviet era.
There was a mass underway in the Orthodox church, but we entered briefly and stood in the back. The tour continued to a couple of wonderful scenic overlooks that we might not have found without guidance. The cruise ship tours found them, however.
After completing the Rick Steves itinerary, and doing a little bit of shopping, we returned to the Old Town market square and had an early lunch with Katherine before she had to get back to the festival for afternoon and evening concerts. Then Mark and Mary set out to catch some museums and churches. We had purchased “The Tallinn Card” which gave us free access to about every church, museum, and attraction in town for 24 hours. I doubt that “The Tallinn Card” folks bargained on any two people hitting as many places in one afternoon as we managed:
We did the Holy Spirit Church (a really old Lutheran relic in the Old Town) and the National Historical Museum (better than expected), the KGB Museum (the old joke was that if you were locked in the basement you still had a great view, because you could see Siberia from here), and St. Olaf’s Church (whitewashed and made plain by the Anabaptists).
We continued down to the sea, past a huge Soviet era prison, to the Seaplane Museum — which oddly contains only one seaplane, but a lot of other maritime stuff, including Estonia’s one and only submarine, acquired from the British just after independence after WW I, and then taken over by the Soviet navy. It was a pretty interesting place, but we were growing weary, so we elected to take a bus back to Old Town.
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| Torpedo Room |
A few minutes sitting on the bus revived us a bit, so we sat a bit at the bus stop and waited for a tram to Kadriorg Park on the east side of the city. Sitting on the tram revived us further, so we walked a bit through the park to Kadriorg Palace. This is a mansion built by Czar Nikolas I as a cozy little summer dacha. It’s had a long history since then, but is now an art museum (though not a terribly interesting collection, so we moved through quickly).
We walked farther to the mansion of the Estonian head of state. It was built in the Soviet era. He should have kept the czar’s house — but maybe it’s better on the inside.
Walking farther, we happened upon the Peter I Museum. It seems that Nick built his pile on land that his great-grand-daddy had purchased from the widow of a merchant back during the war with Sweden, when he needed a spot for a bit of R and R. It’s a very unassuming little house, but quite fascinating. Who would have known?
Next was the KUMU, a very new, modern, museum of Estonian contemporary art. It’s a good thing we needed a place to get out of the afternoon rain shower, or we wouldn’t have stayed as long as we did. Maybe our mood was just bad because, by this time, we were totally spent. But we sure got our money’s worth off of that Tallinn Card!
After a tram ride back to Old Town, we decided we could handle one more museum, so we went to the one just across the street from our apartment, St. Nicholas Museum of Ecclesiastical Art. This was a 14th century church bombed out in WW II. It was restored, but after the restoration, there was no longer any need for it as a worshipping congregation. Yet is was full of six centuries worth of treasures. It was fascinating! We are so glad we found the energy to make one last stop.
After a bit of food and refreshment, we retired to the comfort of our apartment. We have seen a lot of Tallinn today, and we enjoyed it immensely.
1 comment:
What fun to read about your tour! You guys are really busy! I am many days behind you in ready but enjoying your trip!
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