I am a little late in getting this up, but I wanted to finish the Baltic cruise before we head out again next week on a Transatlantic from Dover, England to new York City.
Many of the buildings in downtown Tallinn are modern. Much of this has occurred since they received their independence from Russia.
Of course, Tallinn also has it's share of older buildings on the outskirts.
There is little left to remind everyone of the occupation by Russia. However, the Estonians decided to keep this monument as a reminder of a different time.
As we head to the older section of town, the rain is still on and off.
These buildings are some of the oldest homes still being occupied in Tallinn. Tallinn was first recorded in 1154, although the first fortress in the area was built in 1050. These obviously are not that old, but some date back to the 1600s.
We next head towards one of their parks which is used primarily for sports.
Another tram. They are all over Europe and come in a variety of colors and sizes.
This is our bus driver.
He was an interesting person as he had his bus decorated with all kinds of little items, such as this item.
Our tour guide had an interesting life. After Estonia's independence in 1991, the economy fell apart. Most of their industry was geared towards making military items for Russia. They quickly discovered that none of the plants were modern enough to compete in the real world and thousands were out of work.
There were plenty of buyers that wanted to buy staple items just to exist, but could not because the money was worthless.
His father is a Doctor and he said that during the first few years after independence there was plenty of work, but no money. He can remember as a young child going with his father many times into the woods to hunt for game or mushrooms just to have something to eat, just to survive. They also spent hours in the potato fields looking for potatoes that the farmers had missed when the harvested their crops.
We would learn more about the independence throughout the day.
Our first stop was at the Tallinn Song Festival Grounds. In 1869, the Estonian Song Festival was held and a new tradition was established with song festivals held every five years.
In 1959, the Tallinn Song Stage was built and can hold over 15,000 singers.
This is not an actual person, but a sculpture sitting on a bench pondering the event. looks pretty real, doesn't it?
Between Festival dates, the stage is used for concerts for international acts. Because of the size of the stage, the performance takes place in front of the stage and the audience is sitting on the stage.
Today, The area was closed because Elton John was scheduled to hold a concert there that very evening.
This marker was erected to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the festival.
On the outskirts, we see evidence of Russian apartments.
Near these apartments is a new Russian Orthodox church.
Estonia only has one radio/tv tower, and it played a major role in their fight for independence. It was originally built to provide telecommunications services for the 1980 Moscow Summer Olympics regatta event, which was held nearby.
There are still bullet holes in the base of the tower dating from the Soviet coup attempt of 1991. During the fight for independence, a handful of radio operators took over the tower and continued to broadcast about a free Estonia. They risked their lives to keep the station broadcasting. The story goes that they jammed a matchbox into the elevator door to keep it open. This required the soviets to climb the 1,000 steps to take it over. However, there is a rumor that they also had an oxygen-removing fire-fighting system at their disposal, which would have killed everyone in the tower, soldiers and operators alike.
Instead, the Soviets brought in tanks and lined them up in front of the tower. However, Gorbachev gave the orders to the tanks to not fire. At this time, his orders also included that no soldier was to fire against civilians. This led the way to more protests and the eventual reborn free Estonia.
After leaving the radio/tv tower, we headed towards the Olympic Village. On the way, we passed the old St. Bridget's Convent. The Pirita Convent dates back to the XV century. The only thing still standing form one of the old buildings is a front wall of the church.
This is where the Olympic Regatta event was held for the Moscow Olympics. Today it is the local boat club.
This is the original housing for the Olympians.
At the end of the jetty, they have a rescue training facility for the drilling platforms in the North Sea.
In 1893, the Russian warship Rusalka, "Mermaid", sank en route to Finland. On the ninth anniversary, this monument was erected with an angel pointing an Orthodox cross in the direction of the sunken ship. During the Soviet era, the cross was removed but has since been replaced.
They have a number of different religions and most people would immediately recognize the Methodist symbol on this church.
Now we head to the Medieval Old Town.
We parked near the Danish King's Garden, which is believed to be the actual spot where the local Danes first gained their own national flag.
Today, it is known as one of the locations that thousands of Estonians held a rally to gain their independence from the Soviets.
Tallinn's Medieval Old Town is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was built from the 13th to the 16th century. In all sense of the word, this is an old castle designed to protect the citizens and was situated on the highest point near the water.
Toompea Castle has always been a seat of power in Estonia.
Most of the old wall is still intact and we round one of the turrets to enter a gate.
Inside the walls is a little city.
This area is one of the biggest tourist attractions for Tallinn - Even Shrek shows up.
Plus, there were several character actors including this fool in the town square.
Many of the buildings around the courtyard were very ornate and beautiful.
The centerpiece of the fort is the Aleksand Nevsky Cathedral, which is Tallinn's biggest Orthodox church, with its golden onion roof-tops and luxurious interiors.
That finished our visit to Tallinn and our Baltic cruise was almost over. This was an interesting area and we learned much from those who went through the independence of Estonia.
I must be off!
No comments:
Post a Comment