Upon discovering that Tallinn, which hosts one of the best preserved "Old Town" sectors in northern Europe, was only a five hour bus ride from Rīga, I decided to pay Estonia's capital city a visit...
Tuesday 29 May
Upon arrival in Tallinn I was thrilled to find that its Old Town did indeed lived up to its reputation... I got off the bus and walked through the tower gates into Old Town to find my hostel. It wasn't that easy... true to its medieval layout, the centre has a numerous amount of narrow cobbled streets leading every which-way, complete with secret little passages through inconspicuous archways and gorgeous little courtyards just waiting to be discovered. My hostel had a perfect location - just off Town Hall Square and was rather cute!
Oleviste Kirik/St. Olav's Church In keeping with my new found hobby of torturing myself by climbing up the tallest building possible in each place I visit, I discovered Oleviste Kirik and went for gold. The Church is beautifully gothic... a narrow stone stairwell with nothing to assist the climb but a rope railing. The view from the top was my favourite so far - just look for
yourselves! On the way down I accosted another tourist and made him take a photo of me in the gothic stone passageway.
Inside the Church itself, I discovered it had experienced some modernization in the form of being well equipped with a whole lot of 25 inch TVs attached to the pillars around where the congregation sits and funny speakers straight out of Teletubby land. Interesting.
Exploring Old Town For the rest of the afternoon I did nothing but stroll around Old Town and see all its fabulous sights.
Raekoja Plats/the Town Hall Square, Paks Margareta Bastion/Fat Margaret's Tower, the town's defensive walls, Toompea (the elevated area of Old Town), the Russian Orthodox Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Toomkirik I spent a
lot of time just gazing down on the town from the various outlooks on Toompea!
As it got late I decided to indulge in something recommended by both Laura and my Lonely Planet Guide - sampling a traditional Estonian pancake at Kompressor. For NZ $5 I got the biggest pancake in the world, filled with bacon and cheese and accompanied by some kind of yummy side sauce, which was so filling that I didn't need anything until
the next evening. When I had another one...
Wednesday 30 May
Kadrioru Park Started off the day with coffee and pastry at the cute Kehrwieder cafe - it's the kind of place hobbits would eat. Take a look! After re-fueling for the morning I made for "Kadrioru" to explore the park, visit Kadrioru Loss/Kadrioru Palace and then the
KUMU Art Museum. Upon visiting Kadrioru Loss I decided that Estonian's must have a thing for pink... this, along with similar shades in the "pink" family, seems to be the dominant colour in Old Town and both Kadrioru and Toompea Loss are also adorned in a pink coat of paint.
KUMU Art Museum After enjoying a bit of a stroll around the park I managed to find KUMU - an absolutely fantastic art museum. Devoted to Estonian art, it manages to provide an art-based history lesson, and it was fascinating. I even took notes!
The third floor (the first floor of the exhibitions) consisted of Estonian art from the 18th century to the Second World War and it was really interesting to see how the mood of the times were portrayed in the art -
Melancholy by Johannes
Greenberg and
Destroyed Town by Elmar Kits were a couple that stood out in particular.
The fourth floor housed the collection of Estonian art from the end of the Second World War until the restoration of Estonia's independence. The collection here was also obviously influenced by the Soviet presence/oppression in Estonia. Many artists had to make the choice between painting what they wanted (and thus becoming an "enemy of the state") or conforming to the Soviet artistic guidelines of social realism. "Official" art during this period is referred to here as "Stalinist Socialist Realism - The Tale of Happiness" and involves images such as Stalin surrounded by the people and the Estonian Red Army with Stalin and Lenin. Modernism crept into Estonian art during the "Khrushchev Thaw" and within the Soviet Union, Estonia was apparently the only "satellite" where Pop Art took off. I particularly liked Edgar Viies' 1985 "Welder" - the head of a welder made with, well, welded iron!
The last floor houses the newest addition to the museum - Soviet art. Apparently it had only opened two weeks before I visited. My favourite part was the photography section in the first room. It told the
story of how, during the 1990s (after the dissolution of the Soviet Union) people in Kazakhstan (and the elderly in particular) were selling anything and everything in order to survive. The exhibit consisted of photographs of the strange collection for things on sale - from a single shuttle cock, to underwear, to individual nuts and bolts, to false teeth! The photographer also purchased an item in the photo from each individual and included it next to the photograph plaques on the floor along with a caption from the conversations the artist had with each individual. I loved it!
The Dominican Monastery Walking back to Old Town, I decided to visit the Dominican Monastery - situated rather secretly through another one of Tallinn Old Town's secret archways. It was so, so lovely... and inside it was lit by nothing but candles. The ancient woman at the "reception" (a nun sitting in the dark at a little table) spoke very little english and was absolutely charming (she also let me visit for the price of a child instead of an adult!) After wandering around this incredibly peaceful place for a while, I arrived back in the main room where the same
woman showed me her photos of the sky.
Kiek in de Kök Tallinn's formidable canon tower and most famous fortification - now housing a museum detailing the role the tower played in various wars since its construction in the 15th century. I found the history really interesting and the "trail" leads you to the top of the tower for some cool views out over Old Town.
Chocolaterie de Pierre I had to include this place in my blog because it was fantastic. They do a ridiculous number of different flavours of hot chocolates (including one with gorgonzola cheese!) and I was sad I was only staying two days as I would have liked to have gone back each day to try a new flavour - they were that good. I only got through their normal hot chocolate and a hot chocolate with rum, raisins and chilli - yum! It also has some really tasty (yet expensive) chocolate - I can vouch for the chilli and champagne flavours... The atmosphere is also very cosy and I took a picture of my culinary experience here!
Town Wall and its Defence Towers My last visit for the day (because after
my visit here I got saturated to the core in another torrential downpour - I had already had to change my clothes earlier that day after the walk back from Kadrioru) was to the town wall to the north west of Old Town. The section of the town wall here is accessible to the public and so you're able to climb up and peep out of the defence towers and also stroll along the ramparts - yay!
Last Evening in Tallinn Wearing the only dry clothes I had left - my "going out" outfit - I decided to make the most of it and accompanied a friendly Canadian I had met at the hostel to Estonia's
Beer House where I actually drank an entire pint of beer. Who would have thought we'd ever see the day? But it was their Medovar Honey beer which is probably the least beer-tasting beer they had. The restaurant was also a really cool place - we sat up on the mezzanine and were able to look down on the "beer hall" set up with its long tables, some kind of big beer making contraption and medieval serving wenches.
Thursday 31 May
My return to Rīga wasn't scheduled until midday and so I got up early to visit the one place I had managed to miss so far - Toompea Loss. And I'm so glad I didn't miss it... I had been confused by the gaudy pink extension visible from the Old Town side and upon walking outside the perimeter of Old Town I first spotted the impressive tower and then, as I rounded upon the site, the rest of it... Check it out! It was a great thing to see to mark the end of my time in Tallinn. I was sad to leave.
Pikk JalgView down Pikk Jalg coming from Toompea.
Estonia's Flag
Map of Estonia