After another rather long travel day, albeit on a well-equipped bus, we arrived in Tallinn and Ance took us on a walkabout. As mentioned in my last post, Estonia is almost more related to Finland (linguistically at least), but shares a distain for Russia as much as the other Baltic countries.
In this first batch, once you get past an old map of the country, and Old Thomas (who was a good archer) a top the City Hall spire, you come to the Russian Embassy in Tallinn and the many messages left outside for the Russian officials to read. The people are not pleased! In particular, they are very worried about what is happening in Ukraine, and that they could be next,,,?
There are stories that go with some of these pix, but I don’t remember them. Mostly, there just things I thought would make a good photo. But here’s the story of the Three Monks. And, while there are still many churches, apparently, according to our guide, the majority of Estonians are atheists. Near the end of this batch there’s a wall sculpture representing an Estonian breaking through the Iron Curtain, and I should be able to explain the whole story. But it is complicated…
This batch starts out with a pic of my roommate on this trip, Ted. He’s an economist from Australia and has been great to talk to! There are also some nice views of the the city and our tour leader Ance pointing things out. Near the end, I’ve drawn others into my ceiling selfie concept – Linda from New Jersey, and Ted with Zach & Natalie from Texas. (We found another Ukrainian cherry liqueur shop.)
One shop window and a bunch of sunset shots from another tall ex-Soviet hotel. One shot of a karaoke bar, but I didn’t stay to sing. Long day…
The next day, we took a vintage Soviet-era tram to the very large Kadriorg Park, just outside the old town, and visited a former palace of Peter the Great which now houses an Art Museum. Rather old and quite traditional paintings – and a few Picassos…
More of the museum – mostly stuff I’m drawn to, but the first framed painting is a Picasso. The last four pix come from a storage room of sculptures next to the toilets. One of the most interesting rooms in the whole building, altho’ the majestic ceiling in the ballroom may sway others…
After that, we strolled in the garden where preparations for a “Flower Ball” were being made. Note Ted with one of the flower belles. Anyway, went back to the hotel for a nap before our farewell dinner…
On our last night we had a “classic Baltic” dinner at the Old Hansa. The next day breakfast marked the end of our tour, but I had one more night in a different hotel. The walk there involved some classic medieval village sites and a passageway that includes a timeline of Tallinn history that goes into the future…
After checking into my new hotel (Meriton Garden), I walked over to the “Fat Margaret” an ancient tower turned into an Estonian maritime museum…
On the way from Fat Margaret to the Estonian History Museum, I stopped by a Ukranian support shop, and took in a few more sites of course…
This last batch features some pix of the Estonian History Museum, and ends with the Goofy Wiener Dog Bench…
Well, that’s enough of that. I stayed longer in Tallinn, then went to Helsinki, but I’ll save the rest for a conclusion post. Thanks again…!