So let me start by saying that there are buses and there are buses, and the experience I had in the 23 hour ride from Tallinn to Krakow far surpassed the 10 hour ride from Krakow to Prague. I am happy to report that at least it was not the other way around. I'd done a fair amount of correspondence, a blog entry, photo sorting, and the like when on the first bus trip. It had wifi. Spotty sometimes, but there nonetheless. My intent had been to make good use of yesterday's time as well. Alas, no wifi. So the time was well used looking out the window or reading my book. Poland has a beautiful countryside, I will say that.
I'm enjoying the land travel. I like the break of sitting and watching the world pass outside my window for many hours, and getting the day of rest I need after days of walking and exploring new places and meeting new people. I've not yet had someone beside me on the bus, so no new people met in transit. I'm happy about this though as people LOVE to recline, and my legs need to go somewhere.
I will also say that there are hostels and then there are hostels. I'm not sure about ELF yet. Too soon to tell. I'll let you know later, once I've got a better idea. And I should be able to do that as I'm here, I think anyway, another five nights before heading on to Budapest.
I believe I committed to three entries on Tallinn in my last post. I also expect you'll want to hear something about Krakow, though I don't think I said anything about writing about my visit there. But heck, if I don't write it, I won't remember it, and this blog is for me as much as it is for anyone else who cares to read it.
Right, so, time to make good on my committments.
Work on the sea fortress Patarei, meaning "Battery" began in 1828 and was completed in 1840, one of four forts planned for the Russian protection of the Baltic Region, and the only one ever completed. We can thank Czar Nicholas I of Russia for it. Thanks Nick. Think of Tallinn and Helsinki bookending a section of the Gulf of Finland, a nice safe distance from St. Petersburg. As a quick aside, in the past week I have heard people refer to St. Petersburg by that name and by Leningrad, as in "Is this bus going to Leningrad?" Huh.
In 1920 when Estonia won it's first War of Independence with Russia it was turned into a prison, and then twenty years later in 1940 when the Soviet Union occupied Estonia it came under control of the Soviet secret police and was used, to some extent anyway, as a holding area for prisoners being questioned before potentially being sent off to the Gulag.
It, like the rest of Estonia, came back under control of Estonia in 1991 following their independence and remained a working prison until 2002, with the hospital staying open till 2005.
It's now a culture park, being used for various events, but those only touch some of the prison, and the bulk of it remains relatively untouched. And wandering around, it also appears to be home for a fair number of (homeless) people. Don't quote me on that though. Supposedly there are guided tours, but I didn't take one, just paid a couple of euro and wandered around for a while. Here's an interesting article I found online that helped me provide even this rough a sketch, just in case you want to learn more.
It's photography heaven. I spent about four hours walking around and I'm pretty sure I took more pictures of this prison then I did of the Vatican last summer. Well, maybe not, but close. I'm starting to think I can't blame my Uncle Per much longer for this. It's not like he's Fallsview Casino.
If you've skipped to this point you'll be happy to know that this time I've got all my writing out of the way up front, so from here on in there's just pictures.
Promise.
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