18.9 → 20.9: Last days in Eestimaa

Friday in Tallinn was probably the worst weather I’ve had in Estonia (which means I’ve been rather lucky!!). In the morning there was very heavy rain and this continued in fits and starts into the afternoon. Still a bit worn out from the previous days activities, I was pleased to have a more laid back day, checking out some more cafes around town and catching up with writing.

On Friday evening I had booked to see the season opening of the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra. While classical music isn’t really my thing, you can’t beat a live performance and the Estonian NSO, particularly its conductors, are world renowned. The concert was indeed fantastic.

The crowd after the performance

For dinner I went to Kolmas Draakon, on old fashion style pub housed in some of the stone rooms of the town hall. I think the blurb on their homepage sums it all up pretty well: <http://www.kolmasdraakon.ee/index.php/en/>. A selection of foods were for sale, stored in large cauldrons and draws around the rooms. I had some soup, sausages, pickles, a most excellent mushroom pie and an apple pie for desert.

On Saturday I set off by train to the soviet port town of Paldiski with a bicycle I had hired the previous day in tow. The forecast was for partly cloudy and no rain. I alighted at Paldiski and set off to explore. Paldiski was originally home to Coastal Swedes, before becoming a Russian military base in the 1700’s. This use more-or-less remained through to the soviet era, when it was used as the training base for their nuclear submarines. Post independence, the town was very rundown, filled with derelict soviet buildings. Located 45 km to the west of Tallinn on the Parki peninsula. Being located at the terminus of a railway line from Tallinn, it is actually a very convenient and this has not gone unnoticed. There has been significant efforts to modernize the town and its port facilities. Despite still having a rather down at heel feel, perhaps its fortunes are gradually turning.

Alighting at Paldiski

I set off to explore, visiting a cemetery, a rather scenic abandoned building and some other sites geocaches led me to around the town. 

As I was riding out of town in a northerly direction, a slight drizzle began to fall from the sky. Not to worry, I thought. I’d left my rain jacket at home to save space but did have a plastic poncho in my backpack. So, I donned that and carried on, joining a path that followed the coast in a northerly direction, beside some large limestone cliffs. As I rode on the weather continued to deteriorate, with gale force winds blowing directly onshore and the rain increasing, pushing my light poncho well beyond its design specifications. I happened upon an old soviet bunker and ducked inside to ride out the storm and have some morning tea. Eventually the rain reduced enough to carry on. I was amazed to see several kite surfers in the large swell offshore. If it weren’t for the rain, this would have been a really nice, picturesque walk.

A bunker

The coastline

I carried on past some more bunkers, eventually arriving at the lighthouse at the tip of the peninsula. With my uncovered extremities now quite damp, I visited the lighthouse and was relieved to get out of the weather. The views of the windswept coast were spectacular. 

I ate my lunch in one of the windows of the lighthouse and pondered my next move. It did cross my mind that I could just return to Paldiski and catch the next train back to Tallinn. However, as I am not some sooky-la-la wimp, I pressed on! I was glad I did too. The rain stopped and once I rounded the peninsula into the aptly named merimets (sea forest) the wind dropped dramatically. Finding geocaches, I explored the beautiful forest, riding on little used tracks past some curious soviet infrastructure and a wind farm. I ended up beside the sea at some pretty sandy beaches. I found a nice soft mossy spot beneath some pine trees to lie and have a siesta before heading back inland to the nearest railway station to catch the train back to Tallinn.

Curious soviet thingies in the forest

Wind power 

What's this strange bright light?!? 

The coast on the opposite side of the peninsula from where I started

I spent a good portion of Sunday organising the accommodation and train journeys for the next part of my trip in Germany and the UK. In the afternoon, I went on a tour of the KGB museum at Hotel Viru.

Hotel Viru was built during the soviet times. During these times, this was the only hotel one could stay at while in Tallinn. It was effectively its own little state, with its own collective farm, radio station shops and many other obscure professions. It employed well over 1000 staff for ~700 guests. All of this was designed to showcase how good life was in the soviet union and, most importantly, bring in foreign money. A job at the hotel was one of the most prized positions within the soviet union, as it gave certain privileges that were unavailable to the average citizen. For instance, a hotel employee didn’t have to queue for hours each day to get food and other basics (sometimes only to find these not available). Despite the fact staff (except for a select few) were not allowed to communicate with visitors, they were regularly given gifts such as coffee for tobacco. Indeed, there is a whole generation referred to as ‘Viru Children’ – those born to staff who married guests. Marrying a foreigner was the only way to legally exit the soviet union. Thus, this was a fairly regular occurrence despite the authorities best efforts to prevent it. Indeed, one of my favourite authors at the moment, Sofi Oksanen, who has written several books about Estonian life and history, was such a child.

Despite obviously having 23 floors (one can count them), the official line was that the hotel had 22 floors… don’t ask questions!! Most of the hotels rooms, its restaurants and saunas were bugged. Waiters would occasionally be handed a special plate to be placed at a specific table. There are tales of guests who, upon finding there was no toilet paper, would vocalise their annoyance. Before they had a chance to leave the room to ask for some, the floor guard would be at the door with a new roll.

The soviets were indeed afraid of foreigners and their potential to spread western ideology. On the 23^rd floor of the hotel were extensive KGB offices. Here, all the guests in the hotel were monitored. The KGB also bugged telephone lines and monitoring Finnish radio channels from here. The Viru Hotel is indeed still functioning, albeit with far fewer staff (and microphones). It is still one of the most prestigious hotels in Tallinn. When Estonia became independent again, the KGB only had one night to pack up and leave, so much of their stuff was left in situ. Several of the original rooms were left untouched and these were visited on the tour.

Inside the room that doesn't exist

That evening (20.9), Helje and Mihkel Tammsalu, some more relatives of mine, had kindly invited me to dinner. They and son Oskar, who I thought looked remarkably similar to our Oscar (one of my younger cousins in Adelaide), live in an apartment in the Tallinn suburb of Kristiine. Though of modest size, it is in a very convenient location, with all the services they require at close reach. Helje cooked a most excellent meal and we spent the evening chatting about our respective lives. Mihkel is originally from Võru. When the weather is good, they regularly go to Võru for the weekend to spend time with family and friends. Indeed, they had just returned from Võru that day, so both Helje and Mihkel were quite worn out, while Oskar, on the other hand, was a ball of energy, having sat in the car all day. Thus, we didn’t have a late night but did have a most enjoyable evening in each other’s company.

16.9 → 17.9: Helsinki

Helsinki, the capital of Finland, is located 80 km to the north of Tallinn, on the opposite side of the Baltic Sea. I caught a passenger ferry, Linda Line, which departs from the old 1982 Olympic sailing venue in Tallinn.

Ferry waiting to depart from Tallinn

The boat set off at the early hour of 7.40 and it took 1.5 hours to make the crossing. Bar a few larger waves towards the middle of the gulf, the way was very smooth. In Helsinki I was greeted with rain. Upon disembarking one walks through the ferry terminal, passing straight through the extensive border check and customs points – a reminder of how good the Schengen agreement is. Fortunately the terminal was very centrally located, meaning it was only a short walk to the tourist information centre. I picked up some maps and other information before setting off to get some breakfast and plan the day ahead. I found a very nice little café in the old port precinct, which is now an indoor market. After devouring some delicious eggs, bacon and coffee, I set off to explore the town. It was still raining out but only a fairly light drizzle, meaning it wasn’t too bad. I decided to be primarily guided by geocaches. These led me, as they do, to some really interesting places around the town.

Finnish and Estonian language and, to some extent, culture are quite closely related. Certainly, when listening to Finnish without paying too much attention it sounds very similar to Estonian. However, when actually listening to a conversation, it doesn’t make any sense, as would be expected. Apparently many words are identical between the languages but have totally different meanings. For example, the word for a small hawk in Estonian refers to ones manly bits in Finnish, leading to some humorous situations.

To me, Tallinn and Helsinki are two very different cities. One could hypothesise that Helsinki is what Tallinn would be like if not for those pesky soviets. I’m not really sure to what extent this would be true however. For a start, Helsinki doesn’t have an ‘old town’ as exists in Tallinn. Helsinki however appears to be a much more multicultural place. Just walking around, one sees a much greater mix of ethnicities and restaurants offering various Asian and African cuisines.

Town hall with market out the front, beside the port

Main square, with orthodox cathedral in background

Inside cathedral (packed with tourists like me escaping the rain)

I think the general tourist demographic is a bit different in Helsinki. I saw many ‘selfie-sticks’ during my stay, compared to very few in Tallinn. Read into that what you will, I don’t know what to make of it.

The other major difference is geological. While Tallinn and its northwest coastlines are dominated by limestone, Helsinki and, I believe, much of the Finnish coast is dominated by granite. Granite is everywhere in Helsinki, from large outcrops beside streets and in the parks and gardens, to the guttering, streets, footpaths and buildings. This makes for some very attractive settings.

In the afternoon I visited the National Museum of Finland, which sets out the countries history from ancient times to present, through a series of well laid out exhibitions.

In the later afternoon, I checked into my hostel and dumped a few items of heavier baggage. I had left most of my things in Tallinn meaning I had only a backpack with me.

The final place I wanted to visit was the Temppeliaukio Church. This Lutheran church was literally cut into the granite bedrock. I thought this was arguably one of the most beautiful, and unique, cathedrals I have visited. The colours in the rock really were breathtaking!

Inside Temppeliaukio Church

I wandered back to the city centre to find somewhere to have a drink after a full on day of touristing. I found a nice bar which seemed to have a number of Fins in it. I also had dinner there. A not-so-traditional hamburger. It was very good though!

The other obvious difference between Tallinn and Helsinki is price. Everything is notably more expensive than in Tallinn. From my somewhat limited experience, the prices seem to be on par with those in Australia, but in Euros, so more expensive.

On my second day, I caught a small passenger ferry to the island of Suomenlinna, a short distance from Helsinki’s coast. This island is famous for its fortresses, which are World Heritage listed. I spent four hours wandering around the island. Geocaching again did a most excellent job of getting me away from the selfie-addicted tourists to some of the more remote parts of the island. I had a most excellent time exploring the fortifications, settlements (800 people live on the island) and nature.

Part of a 'natural memorial' to the Suomenlinna prison camp, constructed after the Finnish civil war of 1918/19 

The view on a rather bleak day

Local inhabitants taking their children for a walk

En route to a geocache on one of the remoter parts of the island

Fortifications

Walking over granite

View of some of the fortifications (not telling how I got to where I took the photo :P)

I caught the ferry back to Helsinki in time for another excellent coffee before heading back to Tallinn. Apparently, the Fins consume the most coffee per capita in the world. This probably explains why their coffee is so good!

Back in Tallinn that night, I went for a walk around the old town with some people from the hostel and got some nice photographs.

12.9 → 15.9: Tallinn

I had set aside my first day in Tallinn to sort out some odds and ends. To start with, I’d noticed that the vision in one of my eyes had changed a tad, and I managed to get an annoying scratch on one of the lenses of my glasses. So, my first port of call was an optometrist. It was all rather straightforward; I had an eye test and picked out some new frames. As it turned out, the cost of all of this was about on par with the gap I usually have to pay in Australia, so that worked out well.

The other thing I wanted to do was send some of the stuff that had accumulated in my luggage back home – about 3 kg worth as it turned out. This was also very straightforward and not as expensive as I thought it might be. For the rest of the afternoon/evening I found a nice bar to sit in in the old town and do some writing before heading home to cook some sausages for dinner. 

On Sunday, I did some of the more touristy things around the old town, the highlight of which was climbing the tower of the tower of Oleviste kirik/St Olaf’s Church. Built in 1267 and subsequently rebuilt multiple times, the spire of this church reached 125m and was the world’s highest building for about a century. The church has been Roman Catholic, Lutheran and, more recently, Baptist. There was indeed a proper service going on when I visited (shock horror, some Estonians actually go to church on Sunday!!). I watched for a little while before paying 2€ to climb the tower. The stairwell leading up was quite narrow, requiring one breathe in when passing someone approaching from the opposite direction. The views were pretty spectacular and fortunately the sun was out to make it all the better.

Inside Oleviste kirik

Ascending 

Views over Tallinn

Looking towards Toompea

Descending

Other highlights were watching others participating in a marathon which was being run through the centre and listening to Estonian bagpipes.

Marathon

On Sunday evening I hired a bicycle so I’d be ready to set off exploring the following day.

I decided that geocaching was the order of the day for Monday, so I set off in the rough direction of the Tallinn TV tower by bicycle.

The Tallinn TV tower is by far the tallest structure in town, built by the soviets to transmit the 1982 Olympics, which were held in the soviet union. As my Estonian salami had gone walkabout at the hostel, I was forced to have lunch atop the tower, which was most pleasant. It was really good to visit the tower, as it is possible to see Tallinn in its entirety, giving me a better impression of the layout of the city.

En route... 

Geocache :D 

Lunch atop tower

On the way home I passed by some more interesting geocaches. One, which I later found out was underground, led me to an industrial compound in Tallinn. I was standing in a carpark for about five minutes trying to work out how to get the cache when a guard dog must have woken up and spotted me. Soon three of the buggers set upon me and I hightailed it out of there, throwing in plenty of angry growling noises for good measure!!! Fortunately they must have been trained not to go outside of the property boundary and stopped, staring and barking at the entrance while peddled furiously into the distance!

The other highlight was a walk through the ‘remains’ of the ancient hill fort of Iru. When I say ancient, I mean like 3000-500 BC ancient. Virtually nothing remains of the fort itself, other than its raised footprint in the landscape. Apparently there are still some tunnels and other features which remain and archaeological digs have been fruitful. I did stumble upon some sort of bunker, but it looked more of the soviet variety to me. It was a really cool place to walk around, this large area of completely unused land in the middle of suburbia, almost surrounded by rivers.

Bunker 

River that surrounds fort area

I'd bet this stone is sacred

Geocache :D 

Cemetery nearby

Tuesday was a bit cold and rainy, so I headed in the direction of the Tallinn Art Museum. There were several interesting exhibitions by Estonian and international artists. I was particularly interested in the work by Estonian artists and found most of it to be appealing. Some of the stuff from the soviet times, though, was a bit creepy.

Estonian art 

That day I also rode around the large Kadrioru Park, in which the art museum, presidential palace and various other buildings are located. By chance I arrived at the palace as the changing of the guard was taking place. Not as spectacular as that in England, but still nice to see. I also found some geocaches and checked out the well manicured gardens when it was not raining. I found a nice big oak tree to sit under which sheltered me from the rain as I ate lunch.