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.