Estonia Archives - Wandering North

Europe Finland Russia Trip 2007

Wandering (Farther) North

Good morning from beautiful Helsinki.

We arrived at the ferry terminal in Tallinn one hour before our supposed departure only to find…our ship had sailed. I pride myself on being a bright girl- i’m in law school for crying out loud – and yet, I cannot tell time. I’ve never been particularly good at reading clocks, but I get by. One thing I have never been able to sort out is the bloody 24 hour clock. I had our confirmation which said we were leaving at 13:30, but somehow it had registered in my brain as being 3:30, not 1:30. I am retarded. Fortunately there was another ship leaving at 4:15 (sadly though this one did not have a cigar lounge). The ship was large and well-appointed and quite comfortable. The ride took 2.5 hours.

We arrived and a taxi driver with a penchant for “Cosby Show” analogies whisked us to our new abode: Gasthaus Omapoja, which is terribly charming and as our taxi driver noted, when I asked if it was a good location, “It is in the heart of the centre of Helsinki”. This may be our nicest lodging yet (with the possible exception of Amsterdam).

Due to the ferry mishap, we arrived a bit later than anticipated, so we simply went out for dinner and walked around the city a bit. Our location is truly excellent and both Betty Lou and I are quite excited to see what a beautiful city Helsinki is. There is much to see, so i’ll sign off here and get to seeing things.

Näkemiin (goodbye)

d/b

Estonia Europe Finland Russia Trip 2007

Countdown to Helsinki

We have been wandering around in the Old Town this morning. Had coffee and a cigar in the warm sun in the town square. Betty Lou bought a lovely painting from an artist set up in one of the alleys. I bought some (more) liquor and chocolates. I now have vodka from Russia and some Estonian liquor (which i’m sure will be disgusting, but it is the national drink or something), and a bottle of absinthe, which may get taken from me by Canadian customs, but it was so inexpensive I couldn’t help myself.

The opera last night was wonderful. Exquisite sets and costumes and, of course, beautiful singing. It hadn’t occurred to me beforehand, but the surtitles were in Estonia, so we had to make up our own dialogue, but with opera it isn’t too difficult.

We will catch a taxi to the ferry terminal in about an hour and a half and then it’s up to Finland. The trip takes about three hours and it is a beautiful day.

We will probably post tonight.

Happy Thursday!

d & b

Estonia Europe Russia Trip 2007

Afternoon in the Town & A Night at the Opera

Another day in Tallinn. Walked around the town some more. We went to the St. Nicholas Church – a medieval structure that has been repeatedly rebuilt following fires and bombing by the Nazis. It was quite lovely; very simple.

We also went to an old monastery – the oldest structure in the city supposedly. It was beautiful.

We had more coffees and snacks and then walked atop the remaining portion of the city wall, which afforded us beautiful views of the town and its red rooftops. The wall walk also allowed access to four towers, which one reached by climbing perilous, spiral stone staircases, which were dark and guarded by territorial pigeons.

We had lunch in the town square. It is beautiful and sunny today, but the odd gust of cold wind reminded us that we are in fact quite far north. After lunch/dinner Betty Lou joined me in a visit to the cigar lounge I found on our first day here. It was wonderfully relaxing.

Strolling along we stumbled upon a row of artisans selling their wares – mostly of the knitted variety. I purchased a lovely linen sweater and scarf. Finally something new to wear! (my existing outfit is growing a bit stale).

This evening we shall attend an opera at the national opera house. It will be a production of La Traviata, which neither of us have seen, but we both enjoy the music.

Time for us to go ready ourselves for the evening’s events.
Tomorrow we are off to Helsinki on a 3:30 ferry.
Until tomorrow,
dale & lou

Estonia Europe Russia Trip 2007

Teisipaev (tuesday)

Our first full day in Tallinn has been a thoroughly relaxing day.

We explored the Toompea region – the “Upper Town” part of the Old Town”. We visited the Alexander Nevsky cathedral, wandering by the Toompea castle (now government buildings) and went inside the Kiek-in-de-Kok tower – one of the medieval fortress towers that form the remaining wall around the Old Town. The tower was super cool; four levels with a narrow and winding staircase going up to the top. It was filled with some Estonian historical objects, but mostly it was the structure that was interesting.

We did a lot of wandering through the town, went to the Holy Spirit Church and back to the Town Square. I must explain that Tallinn is itself only a city of about 400,000 people and that the Old Town is its historical and medieval center. It is very small and everything we could possibly want to see is clustered within this area. Mainly it is the town itself, its cafes and shops that are the attraction. It is quite a nice break from Russia where we were running from one huge museum and palace to the next. Also, some of the buildings that I might like to have entered (such as the town hall itself or the St. Olaf Church) are only open from June to August.

During our wanderings we hit three more of Tallinn’s fabulous cafes. One was upstairs in a little nook (or was it a cranny?) in a rocky, medieval building, lit by candles. Another was just below ground level with super low arched ceilings, again with candles, but also sofas and seats with many cushions. We ate dinner at a cozy African restaurant – no blood sausages or head cheese for me, thank you. It was nice to have vegetables again after two weeks in Russia of eating mostly bread.

It poured rain today, until about 5. It was misty and moody this morning and we didn’t mind it one bit, but by the afternoon we were cold and wet, so we retired to our room for a nap before heading out for dinner.

As we walked here to the internet cafe there was in the town square a stage set up with a band playing what I suppose is Estonian music – accordion, violin/fiddle, and assorted other instruments. It was the sort of music you want to dance around to but do not unless you are a child, or are drunk. Betty Lou particularly enjoyed the music, it reminding her of Ukrainian weddings of her childhood.

Tomorrow, more wandering and poking around antique shops and artisan studios (they are very big into textiles, wood work and felt crafts here – there are some wonderfully whimsical felt hats), and of course, more coffee. We may go to the opera if we can get tickets.

Another day winding down.
The Wandering Norths

Estonia Europe Russia Russia Trip 2007

Entering Estonia

A new day and a new country.  We caught our train early this morning. It lacked the romance of the Red Arrow, but was certainly adequate. We had our own little room with folding bunks and pillows and blankets, a little table and a window where we could watch the countryside pass by.

I am pleased to report that the ride was basically uneventful. It was relaxing. I had been nervous about going through Russian customs & immigration, but it was fine. We spent a half an hour at the Russian border and then about an hour at the Estonia border. We showed our passport several times and they searched the train, including under the seats and inside the ceiling.

We arrived in Estonia at 1:00. Note that we are now only 10 hours ahead of B.C. time, not 11 as we were in Russia.

We caught a taxi to our new temporary abode, the City Guesthouse. It is just outside the walls of the Old Town and is in a newish building. Our room and its amenities are the most modern that we have yet enjoyed (i.e. normal looking showers).

We had to get a new currency, the Kroon (pronounced “krone”, but Mz. Kitty & Johnny Z have undoubtedly already researched this and were well aware). We now have five different types of currency in our wallets (Canadian, US, Roubles, Euros, Kroons).

It is so odd now to see signs that are written in familiar-looking letters, as we had gotten so used to the Cyrillic signs.

Most people here seem to speak English, which is useful, because I can’t seem to wrap my head or tongue around the Estonian pronunciations.

So we put away our things and made our way past the medieval walls and into the heart of the Old Town. This part of the city dates back to the 11th century. It is truly amazing. Tiny winding streets with treacherous cobblestones snake past impossibly quaint buildings. Everything looks as though it were straight from the pages of an illustrated book of Grimm’s fairy tales.

Betty Lou is positively in love with the place. “I am so happy I could cry,” she exclaimed with a flap of her tiny arms. We were walking down one street and entered a little courtyard that belonged at one time to a monastery. Down a flight of stairs we were led into what would have been a part of the monastery but is now a private art studio. The room itself was wonderful – so cozy and medieval with an enormous fireplace. Betty Lou was enamored with the art and may pick up a piece before we leave (i am holding her wallet).

The town is positively littered with cafes and eateries of the most alluring nature. Cafes so inviting that I stopped for three espressos in our first three hours. Handmade chocolate shops are everywhere. I found two cigar stores, both with lounges (one of which is fabulous and had an atmosphere in which I am sure to pass a few hours before our stay here is done).

It is comfortably mild out. The sky was sunny when we arrived, but now is raining.

Tomorrow we have some serious sight seeing to do.

Ok, we are going to go back to our room (there is only wireless internet at our hotel so we are using an internet cafe down the street).

Head Aega (that’s good bye in Estonian),

Dale & Betty Lou

Tag: Estonia