Actually, no it didn't. It started with me getting off the ferry from Helsinki (only two hours but still a cultural festival of cover bands and karaoke) and walking through Tallinn's old town, popping out the other side, and wandering along until I arrived at my host Kai's apartment. Street address yes. Buzzer number no. So I guessed. I picked 7. I was wrong. It was 6. But Kai heard it, and her head popped out the window above, and soon enough she was down stairs and opening the door.
We quickly got acquainted and then I got acquainted with her young daughter Mae. Mae reminds me of the little girl in Despicable Me who screams "It's so fluffy!" not that Mae did that, but she's really sweet, and sings alot, and waves, and laughs, and giggles, and doesn't speak any English, but that's okay, I've recently had a good deal of practice with precisely this demographic. I like to think we got on well.
One of the great things about couchsurfing is that you sometimes get to do stuff you would normally have no idea is going on. Sure, if you thought about it a bit you'd figure that there's always stuff going on, that's how it is with people. But would you even know where to begin to try and find it? I wouldn't. Shortly after arriving such an opportunity arose. Kai had heard about a neighbourhood food thing going on in the Kalamaja district. Kala means fish, and maja means house. So Fish house district, named so because that's where all the fishermen and their families used to live. Now it's got hipsters. They seem to continue to pop up nearly everywhere.
It's actually got more than hipsters, and those fine folk were busy setting up shop outside their homes to sell stuff, kinda like a yard or garage sale. Mind you, what they were really selling the most of was food. And not food that had been sitting in their attics for 10 years in a box that hadn't been opened since they moved in. I mean fresh, yummy, homemade types foods like mushroom tarts, cakes, pastries, soups.
And that is where we headed off to, we three. And the mushroom tart thing was delicious, and the cakes were scrumptuous, and the soup was... well, the soup was good enough for me to want to take a picture of it.
While sitting eating said yummy soup the most wonderful of cats came to investigate. She didn't stay long as Mae was quite interested in investigating as well. The wonderfulness of this cat comes from her (at least I think she's a she) amazing two tabby look.
Kinda weird. But kinda cool.
We continued to wander around Kalamaja, which has some really lovely old wooden houses. I also came back and wandered around some more the day that I visited the prison. The following are some shots of the neighbourhood from both of those days. I'll try to keep quiet until the end.
Above is Boheem, a restaurant where I treated myself to dinner after my time at the prison and walking about. Amazing food. Really delicious "dumplings", which I really saw as tortellinni, but what do I know, Cozy, warm, homey, atmosphere. Really pleasant. Oh, and cheap. Cheap is good.
That's Kai and Mae. I'll let you figure out which is which.
The days in Tallinn ended up having a pretty nice pattern to them. Get up in the morning, have tea and some breakfatst with Kai and Mae, chat for awhile about whatever we fancied talking about, and then off I would go to wander about the city, usually without much of a plan about me, which worked out really well I think, as you'll soon see.
And we fancied talking about lots of interesting stuff. We talked shop alot of the time, as Kai works at the University on some interesting research projects having to do with learning systems, some of which are applicable to healthcare. You may recall I work in the healthcare IT field. But we also talked about Estonia, it's relatively recent history, it's future. And we also talked about ourselves, our kids, our lives, why I'm doing this trip. It's nice getting to know someone. And honestly, it's nice to explain this trip to people, how it started, what "the plan" was, where it's gotten to, the unknowns and uncertainties. And I don't force it on people, people just ask, and then they want to hear more, and have questions. And that gets me thinking more. I don't have the answer on cue cards, and with each telling it changes a bit, and I get to hear it and think about it and ask myself my favourite question: Why?
That's not for here though.
I wrote a little while ago about how what I've always naively thought of as "history" seems to be so much more "real" and "present" here. The singing revolution took place only 25 years ago. People remember. And people really remember before the revolution and the departure of the Soviets. And now people are keeping a keen eye on what is going on today, seeing similar patterns to 1940, and wondering if it could all happen again. Some people believe it can. Some people are afraid it will. Living in Canada we get to hear about all of these things, but they've, for me anyway, seemed to be "over there" and I've generally had a rather academic attachment to world events. I don't know how typical or atypical I am of a Canadian in that regard, I do know though that things are changing for me now. Things are becoming more real, and my eyes are opening up just a little bit more.
Enough on that though, as I'm very much in danger of talking about stuff I know so little about.
Back to pictures.
Below is the town square and town hall.
I climbed that tower with Poline, who you'll see later but meet now.
I was walking to the Tourist Information centre which is quite near the main square. Now, I've always though of myself as the type of person who would never use a tourist information centre. Why? I'm not one of those tourists. I can figure it out. I can find my way. I don't need help.
I'm an idiot. These info centres are the best thing ever, and now I pretty much beeline for them the minute I hit town. Get a map, ask about guided walks of the city, find out how the public transit systems works and where to by a card, or tickets, or whatever, ask if there is anything super cool I just can't miss while I'm visiting, say thank you, start to leave, turn around come back and ask how to say thank you in Estonian, Finnish, Polish, Czech, or whatever the language de jour is, learn it, say thank you, then remember that I'd just learned the word and say it again in the right language, then head out the door and promptly forget it because I suck at languages.
And that is precisely what I was on my way to do when I saw this lady with a map standing outside the info centre not looking to sure of herself. So what did I do? I asked if I could help. Of course, why not, it's not like I didn't know where I was. Okay, I didn't, but I'm pretty good with maps. And apparently Poline wasn't. Ya, so then I basically spent the afternoon wandering around town with her for a bit, and again later that evening before she caught her bus back to St. Petersburgh.
See, it's neat to meet people. People are fun. You get to learn from them, and you get to share stuff. Like exploring Tallinn. I got to do the same a couple days later with a family from Australia who I met on a tour I'll mention in a little bit. Ian, the dad, is a radiologist. We talked shop. I like talking shop. So does Ian. It worked well.
Whoever thinks that travelling alone is a lonely business is, to my mind, trying very hard not to meet people. People are everywhere, it's impossible not to meet them. I mean, I guess you could find ways, not speak, not make direct eye contact. Mumble. Grumble. Lower your level of personal hygiene to the "offensive" category. But honestly, that takes more effort. And really, people are the reason to travel I am beginning to understand. All of these places and things can be seen, in very great detail, for "free" online. On your phone. On the GO train on the way to the office. People though. Bit different.
Gosh I'm chatty today. Must be because I am staying in a hostel and have actually been keeping to myself for much of the time so far. Minus of course being out last night to a CS event, that included a puma. Another time though.
Anyway, here's a whole bunch of pictures of Tallinn.
To begin, the Viru Gates. While there is still plenty of wall and towers remaing, the Viru Gates are the foregates of what was a larger gate system that I know absolutely nothing about.
This is St. Catherine's passage, right next to the Dominican Monastery I will shortly get around to showing you.
When you wander around the old town you see various people all dressed up in their medieval bests. Minstrels included. And they sounded pretty good. I liked the pipes, even if they were short one or two drones. Perhaps they were off bombing Iraq or delivering something from Amazon. Or maybe both. Who knows what you can buy through Amazon these days.
This is Alexander Nevsky Cathedral.
It's Russian Orthodox. It's also only about 100 years old, and so it's kinda sad that it is one of the most photographed buildings in Tallinn, as historically, it's really not all that significant. Except of course if you know that it's built right across the street from the Estonian Parliament, and was commissioned by the Russian Czar, just to remind people of who really was still in charge.
And according to our guide, who has been giving tours for four years now, it always has scaffolding on it somewhere. Kinda like Less Nessman's bandaid I suppose.
That's the interior of St. Olav's. No triptych this time. In fact, here's a lesson. Take the picture when you can. You may think you'll get back another time, but you may very well not.
I just love street in old European cities. They bend. They defy grids. They are colour coordinated.
Question about freedom that came up in a conversation I was having with Paul, my host in Krakow. How would we feel if we were only allowed to paint our homes or other buildings certain colours? What if the palette was pre-defined and enforced? Is that infringing on our rights, our ability to express ourselves? But what about harmony? What about city planning and creating an environment that has a beauty through some common colouring? It makes for some pretty wonderful urban vistas. Isn't that worth something?
This is the courtyard to that Dominican monastery I mentioned, one of the oldest buildings in Tallinn, dating back to the mid 13th century. We (this is one of the spots I got too with Poline) got in on it's last open day before closing up for the season. Depending on the venue the summer season in Tallinn ends either September 15th or September 30th. It was the 30th, mid afternoon, we were cutting it close. And see, it's good to meet new people as I would have totally missed out on this place.
This is Freedom Square. It used to be a parking lot.
Now it's a square, commerating Estonia's independence, and is used to hold various outdoor events. You may recall me going to Wabadus Cafe, it's just off to the left.
This is the monument at Freedom Square. Apparently people don't like it much.
Why?
1. The top symbol kinda looks Soviet.
2. The whole thing looks like a cross and Estonia is decidely secular; my guide would argue pagan.
3. The image in the middle of the big soviet plus sign has an arm holding a sword and a big letter "E", which is for Estonia, but looks more like the symbol for the euro.
It does light up at night though, so that's something.
You'll notice a lot of tower peaks in this shot.
Here, let's get closer.
Tallinn was a very rich Medieval city. Good location on the Baltic made it ideal for trade and the residents exploited it to the best of their ability. So, people really like rich cities and want to own them, and the best way to do that is to attack and conquer. And that happened alot. So, walls. Walls are a good way to defend a city. And towers. Towers are good to see what is coming, to pour stuff out of, and shoot things from.
Tallinn had over 40 towers, I think the number was 46. They've still got, I'm thinking again, about 22 or so. Nearly half. Which isn't too bad. Not many other cities can say the same. They've all got names too, though I don't know them.
Nope, not a mistake. I actually meant to take that picture, and to share it here.
This is one of the first highrise hotels built in Tallinn, and it was built under Soviet rule. The rumour was that the KGB operated out of this hotel, and that every room was bugged. Turns out that at least some of that is true, as the KGB did operate from Hotel Viru. There's now a museum about them on the top floor; though I did not go.
And back to towers, just to restore your equilibrium before continuing.
That's a clock.
Check out the number four. It was pointed out to me and ever since then I've started noticing it on all sorts of other clocks. Apparently that was the fashion at the time, but only for clocks. "IV" was used everywhere else.
This is St. Nicholas' Church. It's the oldest church in Tallinn, dating back to the 13th century.
It had the heck bombed out of it in WWII, and when the people of Tallinn went to the governing Soviet's to request funding to restore it they were basically told no, as, well, the Soviet Union not being big on religion, wasn't big on fixing churches. So Tallinn said they were not restoring it to be a church, but to be a museum; a cultural museum. Yep, still no funding. No need for that sort of thing. And then Tallinn got super clever, said it was going to be a Museum of Atheism, and the money started rolling in, more money then they needed. Of course, they didn't want to actually open such a museum in such a church, so they really took their time with the project, and eventually things changed again, and they opened it as a historical museum of Estonia. At least, that is how my guide told it.
Look, another tower. Maiden's Tower in fact.
And, so as not to be too linear about it, here's a park and walkway leading up to the tower.
Incidently, Tallinn has a lot of great green space. Essentially the old city is kinda like a tear drop shape starting down near the water with Fat Margaret Tower (I don't have a picture of it but trust me, it's there) and then widening out as you head in whatever direction that is when you move away from the tower. (I suck with NSEW stuff.) The rest of Tallinn kinda wraps itself around the old city, with basically a big ring of green parkspace acting as buffer between the old and the new.
This is a view from the tower. Yes, you can go up it. It's a museum about medieval Tallinn. Honestly, not my favourite, so if you're in Tallinn and pressed for time, or just don't want to spend the money, skip it.
That by the way is Pikk Hermman Tower, part of Toompea Castle, which in turn is part of the parliament buildings. I did not go there. In hindsight, I wish I had.
At the top of the tower flies the Estonian Flag. They also raise the Finnish flag from time to time to say thanks for being so great to us in the past. Estonia likes Finland, so much so that they took their national anthem note for note and just changed some of the words to protect the innocent. The guide explained that whatever flag flies at the top of Pikk Hermann Tower defines who is in charge of the country. So, if you feel like shimmying up a flag pole one night you could find yourself ruling a pretty sweet part of the Baltics.
Just sayin'.
This is a cafe at the top of the tower. Pretty cool looking, but no clue as to how well they make a latte.
This is a shot from the bastion tunnels that are around Maiden's Tower. Also part of the tour if you're still interested even though I already warned you that it wasn't really worth it.
This is my Byron inspired photo of Toompea Castle.
I also have lots of pictures of ducks playing in the water just below the crop line of this shot in case anyone is interested.
Oh look, more streets.
Just on the left there is Jane, Ian's wife. She was kind enough to have me wandering along with them distracting her husband with work talk while she and their four girls took in the sights. And really, she didn't mind. She bought me a latte even, and invited me to visit Australia.
And this is up on the wall. Not that high up, and there's not a very long stretch you can walk, only a couple hundred metres or so. But still. If I'd had some boiling pitch I could have roasted me a hipster.
Actually, no, I couldn't. I only saw hipsters in Kalamaja.
Now this, this a weird and wonderful gem.
This is what is known as the Russian Market. Think of it as kinda an outdoor Honest Ed's meets hoarders jamboree.
Seriously.
It's just one of those odd places out there that is really worth a walk around.
You know, I haven't been getting out much at night, and when I do, I haven't been taking many pictures. Well, I mentioned I had met up with Joline again in the evening and we took the time to run around getting photos of the things we had gotten photos of during the day.
That's Poline. It was very nice of her to let me join her and gab away while wandering around the streets. Made for a fun day.
This was just on a wall.
This is the entrance to the Museum of Occupation.
If you're like me, then your first question might be, why do you need a museum about types of work. Seriously, I can be incredibly daft at times, especially when all I've got to go on is a name of a place on a map with no description. It is, of course, actually a museum for the history of the occupations of Estonia, once by Germany, twice by Russia. It's alot of reading, worthwhile, important reading, but dense, thick reading too. Big on reading, smaller on stuff to look at. Jeremy had actually warned me that that might be the case as he had been to a similar museum in another country, though I can't remember which one.
It was good to go though. My time in Tallinn was an interesting mix of medieval history, and modern history, and I think I said this already, but in the case of Tallinn, and as it is turning out, eastern Europe, it is the more recent history that I am finding most appealing. Architecture and stuff, totally, give me the old things. But names, dates, events, gimme this past century. It is what is really important to understand, for, like I said, it is not really history, as it is still present and active in peoples lives in a way that I am only beginning to properly appreciate.
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