Fascinating Microcosm

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Geo: 59.4392, 24.7586

With the red skies of the previous day's sunset, I'd assumed "red skies at night, sailors' delight" would hold true, and we'd have nice weather this morning. Instead, we opened our curtains to heavy fog and a steady rain as we slowly approached the port of Tallinn in Estonia.

K and I had been to Tallinn back in 1987, a whopping 29 years ago. Sigh. We were there, however, by accident. As part of our visit to the Soviet Union as part of a class back at American, we were flying from Tbilisi, Georgia to Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) in January 1987. Our Aeroflot plane was diverted to Tallinn, however, by ice fog in Leningrad. It was a very surreal experience, as our tour director shared very little information with us. I recall they didn't even tell us where we landed, and we didn't know until we were taken off the plane (separately from the Soviets on board) and sent to a stand-alone terminal for foreigners. Only once inside did we see something indicating that we were in fact in the "Soviet Socialist Republic of Estonia." We were held sequestered in that building all day. When it was clear that they had to eventually feed us, we were put onto a bus with window curtains (all drawn, with instructions to not open them) and taken to a hotel somewhere in the city for a warm meal. K and I often "joke" that we came "close to death" in Tallinn, as when we finally returned to the airport, we were given no notice that our plane was finally leaving. Border guards emerged all of a sudden very late in the evening and ordered us to gather our things and move. We picked up our stuff and followed them downstairs. Next thing we knew we were at an open door and they were pointing toward a long line of Aeroflot planes, all of which looked alike. We had no idea what they were saying, but they were rushing us outside. We didn't even know to which plane we were heading, so we blindly followed others in our group who were ahead of us. We hadn't even had time to get our jackets, gloves or hats on, and the temperatures were well below zero. Our group of travelers found ourselves at the base of the outdoor stairs leading to the plane, but we were blocked from boarding as the Soviets citizens were not yet all seated, and they had to prepare our section of the plane, which was curtained off from everyone else. We stood there in the bone-jarring cold just waiting. When we finally boarded, we saw people who were bleeding from the cold, and we had worries about frostbite. Our takeoff, too, was the scariest I have ever had, as we rolled down the runway for an inordinately long amount of time, and I was afraid we'd never get off the ground. We saw no deicing equipment of any kind on the runway, so I was convinced the wings were coated with ice. We did takeoff, finally, though I also distinctly remember the terrifying landing in Leningrad, where we clearly skidded upon touchdown.

Well, even with the rain, we were returning to Tallinn in MUCH better weather, and under much better circumstances for everyone. We had booked a tour and could clearly see our meeting point from the ship. We watched as the first groups off the ship ran, as the rain had become quite heavy. We delayed getting off as long as we could, in hopes of better weather and, sure enough, the rain stopped right before we disembarked. Our guide -- Ethel...yes, Ethel -- was waiting for us. It was our same group of 10 from Stockholm the day prior. The old section of Tallinn is incredibly intact, especially considering that most of still still resides within the original medieval walls. The walls and several of the buildings date back to the 13th Century. We were the only cruise ship in port, though she said they have had as many as seven in port on one day. The city was full of people from our one ship, so I can't begin to imagine the crowds on a day with more ships. I can't imagine it would be pleasant. Estonia was about to celebrate it's 25th anniversary (25 August 1991) of independence and, interestingly enough, our guide was born that same year, so she never knew life under Soviet occupation. I particularly enjoyed how much time she spent telling us about Estonian culture and social practices. The entire country only has 1.3 million people, many of whom are still ethnically Russian, and more than 400,000 of the population live in Tallinn. They seem fiercely proud of both their independence and culture, and she was quick to highlight their membership in the European Union -- to include the Euro Zone -- and NATO. She shared many peculiarities of Estonians, to include their "extreme honesty," ineptitude at small talk," and "practical atheism." She joked that Estonians are the worst at making empty conversation and extremely naïve with dishonest people. She said that almost all the churches in town are Russian Orthodox as "only the Russians still go to church." She said most Estonians "worship" nature, and that closely held beliefs associated with nature permeate the culture. They are literal "tree huggers." In fact, Ethel told us her last name is the most common in Estonia and it literally means "oak tree hugger." She said most other Estonian surnames are based on flora and fauna.

Also consistent during our tour was talk about the occupations of Estonia. She recounted that aside from the past 25 years, Estonia was only independent for one or two years after World War I, and that they've been occupied by Russians and Germans for centuries.

Our tour routed us through the old city, past many palaces built by Catherine and Peter the Great which have housed Russian, Nazis, Soviets, and now Estonian Government entities in turn. The city was bombed by the Soviets during World War II, interestingly enough AFTER the Nazis had withdrawn. The Germans left without firing a shot or destroying things, but the Soviets then waited and bombed the city, presumably to prevent any thoughts of independence. They also went to great lengths to hide what they did, attributing the bombing to Germans in official texts and using the rubble to build artificial hills in the old city, on which they planted hundreds of trees. Ethel told us that much of the Old City was repaired and spruced up by the Soviets for the 1980 Olympic Games. They were based in Moscow, but all of the sailing events were held in Tallinn. She said those repairs, and the many repairs done since independence, have left the Old Town in its current very-well-preserved state. It was particularly interesting at one point where were stood at the base of hill next to a church. The hill had been carved out and the area flattened and paved with different color bricks. The bricks traced the outlines of houses which used to sit there, and which were bombed by the Soviets. Their rubble had been used to build up the artificial hill. Soon after independence the site was excavated and the area highlighted so as to "rub the Russians' noses" in what they had done.

The weather cooperated most of the time, with only sporadic drops falling, though the skies were grey, gloomy, and cold. We welcomed a short stop in a restaurant for coffee and cake, as well as to warm up. While at the restaurant, I visited the coolest bathroom I've seen in my life. It is built inside a 15th century chimney.

Tallinn is also home to the longest continually serving pharmacy in the world, dating back 600 years of operation. We visited, if only for photos and to see a small collection of medical oddities from over the centuries. There were, quaintly enough, locals inside filling prescriptions amidst all the tourists.

Rain resumed right as we met our tour bus on the far side of the old town. While it marred our short tour of the newer sections of town, we didn't miss much, as most of those sections are blocks of shoddy buildings left by the Soviets. We did deboard the bus to visit the Kadriorg Palace, which was built as a "private Versailles" for Catherine the First by Peter the Great. Supposedly he wanted her to like the city better, but he died before construction was finished and she reportedly lost all interest in the building after his death. It was finally finished by Nicholas the First in the early 1800's, however. The building itself is now an art museum, and we went primarily to visit the gardens. Neighboring the palace is a second palace, which now serves as the "Estonian White House," even though it is pink. The Vabariigi palace sits above the Kadriorg gardens. Surprisingly we walked right up to the front. There were two guards posted at the doors, and we witnessed a decidedly unceremonial changing of the guards, but aside from that, there was nothing to keep us at bay. We stood in the parking lot about 15 yards from the front door, which eventually opened, and stayed open for a while. A man in a suit and a military officer came out. They were waiting for a visitor, and as we walked across the grass a large armored Suburban drove up and an American military officer got out. It must have been an NATO visit, but still, I remain shocked at how easily accessible all of these government buildings were. Our guide joked that ISIS doesn't even know where Estonia is on the map. Interestingly enough, Ethel also talked about how Estonia has been actively trying to encourage some of the Syrian refugees to come to Estonia. Under EU rules, every member state is supposed to take a proportional number of refugees, and Estonia has been "actively recruiting" them to come to Tallinn. She lamented that, in grand total, only SEVEN yes SEVEN refugees have chosen to come. Her theory is that a) they don't know anything about Estonia, and b) the Estonian social net is far less generous than elsewhere in the EU and requires work to receive benefits.

We got back to the pier with less than 10 minutes before the final all-aboard call. There were a series of artisan stalls flanking the pier and we attempted to get some souvenir shopping done, but time was literally ticking away. I finally had Anna and K give me their items and go ahead to the ship. I stayed behind, paid, and then sprinted as best I could with my hip to the gangplank. One final bus tour, luckily, pulled up behind me, so at least I wasn't the literal last person boarding, but it was close.

By the time we reached our cabin, the skies were clearing and we even had sunshine as we departed shortly before dinner for St. Petersburg.

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Photos

Tallinn
You can see our cruise ship in the background

St. Nicholas Church
In front of this church, you can see where the ground was excavated to reveal the site of Russian bombing following World War II