Blogs from Tallinn, Estonia, Europe - page 24

I pøsende regnvær,ankom vi Tallinn,Estland fra Helsinki,Finland med båt.. Opp med ryggsekkene og på med regntøyet, så var vi klare for å finne en disent overnattingsplass..Fant et par hostel-options med dormrom som var billige & ok, og i tillegg et par strippeclubbs som nærmeste nabo,ergo suverent!!. Slengte fra oss sekkene, så var det ut for å utforske byen, ja fortsatt regnvær..Endte opp med etaplass så tilbake til hostellet for å vaske klær,skrive dagbok osv pga været som aldri ga seg.. Dag 2: super dag med sol & råkk ænd råll!! Startet dagen med en tur til togstasjonen for kjøp av togbilletter til St.Petersburg,etterfulgt av frokost på et digg bakeri.. Mette & klare for nye inntrykk, gøyv vi løs på byens Oldtown og dens gamle bygninger..Arti med trange gater & praktfulle kirker & katedraler.. EEENDEL sliitsomme turister ... read more

13 June: Today I'm getting a private tour of this town's most popular theatre company, Tallinna Linnateater (City Theatre). The company's veteran designer is my guide. It's his birthday, yet he spends an hour and a half taking me through some of the 26 (!) buildings surrounding a square that house this company's many venues, social and meeting rooms, library and offices. The main building of this large complex was first mentioned on records of the 17th century when it was first purchased and remodelled by a prominent merchant, but it didn't have its beginnings as a theatre until 1967. Since then, more than $50 million has gone into restoring the aged and war-ravaged structures to their former glory, and the various theatre spaces are amazing to behold by someone like me who comes from a ... read more

C est fou comme tout passe vite, cela fait deja pres de 5 mois et demi que l on est parti! Il doit faire deja pas mal chaud a Montreal... alors qu ici a St Petersbourg, on se les gele vraiment!!! (la premiere journee surtout) Avant que j oublie, bonnes vacances pour les courageux professeurs! De notre cote, pas de repos pour les vadrouilleurs, nous sommes en Russie! Passer la frontiere a ete clairement plus facile que d avoir notre visa touristique (encore une fois, merci a Manuel qui est alle au consulat russe de Montreal pour nous!)! En plus, pour le moment aucun policier ne nous a accoste... Mais bon, on verra bien une fois rendu a Moscou! On vous envoie quelques photos de nos aventures baltes et polonaises! Samedi passe (le 7 juin), apres ... read more

5 June: THIS HAS BEEN A STRANGE DAY. At the tourist information centre I ask where I may find out about my grandparents' residence from the 1920s to '40s. They direct me to the Ministry of the Interior. I'm not admitted to see anyone in person, but the security officer in the lobby gives me a number and points to a wall phone. The woman on the other end speaks English in a halting Russian accent. She keeps asking, "Why do you want to know where your mother lived?" Don't these people have any mothers to understand my motive? Or are they afraid this foreigner will lay claim to his ancestral properties? It has happened in the past with many refugees and their children returning. Come to think of it, I could be a wealthy landowner ... read more

When I told people that I would be visiting Tallinn on this trip, nearly everyone said the same thing. "You will love it. It is what Prague was five years ago before the tourists discovered it." Having loved Prague when I was there a few years ago, this certainly put me in the mood to see this town. I was not disappointed. The entire town is UNESCO protected and for good reason. It has mostly been spared from the ravages of many other Soviet holdings and I got a real sense of what life was like for the Eastern Europeans before the curtain had come down. To begin at the beginning, we had a delightful day. The sun was shining and the weather was warm, but not too warm. I had spent the morning on the ... read more