Tallinn, Estonia

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This morning we visited Kadriog Palace ( Museum of Foriegn Arts) with our guide Nikolai. The Palace was built in 1718 under orders of Peter the Great as a summer residence. While he built many wonderful palaces in St Petersburg he liked smaller places which was unusual as he was 2m 3 cms tall . He also wore size 38 shoes and had small hands, so he had to use walking sticks to assist his balance. It was designed by Italian Nicole Micheti and was supposed to look like an Italian villa.

There is a selection of Western European and Russian paintings. The main attraction is the Great Hall which ranks among the finest examples of Baroque decorating styles.

There are forested parks, ornamental gardens, statues and ponds to explore.

After free time for lunch (we had a toasted sandwich and the best coffee that we had had since leaving home at “Roberts Coffee”), we went on a city tour.

There is a very strong tradition in Baltic countries of singing and today we visited the Singing Festival Ground where very second summer people gather to sing traditional and modern songs.

We then walked around the medieval centre of the old town, one of the few towns where the wall is still in tact. There are Gothic spires and twisting, cobblestone streets. We visited the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral (Russian), passed by the pharmacy which has been trading since 1422 and finished our visit with a visit to the Guild Hall with its historical displays of Estonian life.

Unfortunately our walk finished in the rain. It had to happen sometime.

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Photos

Toi toi
Potaloos

Comments

[Henri]

this is the flag of estonia with the coat of arms not finlands flag
finlands flag is a white flag with a blue cross not the estonian flag with the coat of arms

[Vic and Kev]

Thanks for that. I have updated it