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Published: June 20th 2008
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Tallinn
A view of the town from the ship as we pulled into port. 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 ship not doing too much of anything, so when we were able to disembark, I was really looking forward to our excursion -- a walking tour of the old town.
It was a very short coach ride into the town and then we were off. We started at the Parliament House, certainly interesting as Estonia has only had its independence for some seventeen
years. Our guide was very well informed and, may I just say, had no real love for the Soviets. It was fascinating to hear her tell stories of how things have changed in just under two decades.
From there, we walked around the corner to see two churches. The first had been built by the Soviets; the second had been built by the Lutherans. The contrast was fascinating. The Soviet church was wildly colourful and decorated (although very low key compared to the ones we saw in St. Petersburg!); the Lutheran church was very simple and plain, decorated only with the coats of arms of the important families in town. In the second church, the organist was playing. I always count myself lucky when I walk into a church and music is playing. It just seems to complete the experience.
We walked around another corner (the old town was very small and cosy). Here were the residences of the politicians, the noblemen and the posh folk. Yet another example of capitalism. Some can afford to live in the old town; most cannot. We wandered through the streets until we came to a lovely little park that overlooked the
rest of the city. Under a tree was a man playing a balalaika. Now -- don't be impressed that I know that word. I've always called it the "Doctor Zhivago instrument". It was Lynn who taught me what it is called and, more importantly, how to spell it. Funnily enough, as we walked up the man was playing "Lara's Theme" which I just love and it set the tone beautifully.
Coming down from the overlook, we passed the castle walls where people were shooting bows and arrows. It reminded Lynn and me of our time in Italy, but we did not partake this time. Instead, we watched a woman in her 70s go to town. This woman would step up, pull back the bowstring and hit the bullseye every time. I was impressed!
From the castle, we ended up in the Market Square. This is where I fell in love with the town. Perfectly proportioned square surrounded by cafes and bars. While Mom and Lynn went to find the perfect cafe, I went in search of some local currency. Called Kroons, they are worth about twenty to one pound. Reminded me of the days in Italy before the
euro. I found the Kroons; they found the Troika cafe where we drank Saku, the Estonian beer, in the sunshine. The beer was cold and delicious and we sat for a while watching the world go by and some young men assemble scaffolding right next to us. It got a bit loud from time to time, but only added to the experience.
Feeling well fortified, we headed off to the Dominican Monastery. On our way, we passed the former headquarters of the KGB. As our guide so succinctly put it, "this building has bad karma". Over the course of the afternoon, she told us that her grandfather had been born in Siberia. I'm sure that, for her, that building has very bad karma.
We specifically went to the Dominican Monastery to hear a concert of medieval music. Really not my thing, but Mom loves it. I sat in the shade and did some writing while the others listened dutifully to a trio of young people play old instruments and sing songs. One had been written by Henry VIII, which even I thought was kind of cool. Turns out the man wrote music when he wasn't lopping people's heads
Tallinn
The city from the overlook. off. (To wit, I have just finished watching the first season of "The Tudors". Not exactly historically accurate, but fun nonetheless.)
At the same place, I saw a nun in full habit for the first time in a long time. As I was sitting on the ground, I got to see that under her habit, she was wearing jeans and trainers! I mentioned this later to Mom and Lynn, commenting on how much looser the church has become in terms of their dress code. Lynn pointed out that perhaps she was in costume. Hmmm -- a more likely scenario, but I like to think of a young nun hiding her jeans under her habit.
We ended our afternoon walking back through the town and stopping for hot roasted nuts covered in some sort of spice. They were delicious, and a perfect snack for the coach ride back.
I was so excited about the afternoon, that I went up on deck with Mom when we returned to the ship for cocktails BEFORE the martinis at the Commodore Club. Not surprisingly, the sun and the booze caught up with me and I crashed and burned at the end of
The Man and His Instrument
Playing the theme from Doctor Zhivago. dinner. It was well worth it. The first day of sun I'd seen in a long time and the best town I've been to in a long time. A wonderful day.
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