Tallinn, the third time
Waiting for our tour bus to leave this morning, I couldn’t help but admire the planted roof of the terminal building here in the dock. Those grasses reminded me of Skagen and are obviously a variety able to withstand exposed places with “weather”!
We’d changed our choice of tour at the last minute, not really wishing to revisit places we’d seen before. Unlike last time, when we walked straight from the ship into the old town, this morning we began with a bus ride. First landmark was the Fat Margaret tower, which had been added to the walls and is now the Maritime Museum.
Our guide Galina pointed out important landmarks as we passed by, so I was busy taking photos, scribbling in my notebook and trying enjoy the view as well! I’m glad I did, because I would otherwise have forgotten that this is St Johns Lutheran church (because I also added the word “yellow” in my notes!)
Next, we passed by Freedom Square, adjacent to the church, where the monument stands to the War of Independence and celebrations have taken place. Throughout our tour, Galina often referred to the eventful history of Estonia and I think most of us appreciated the insight.
We made our first stop in Toompea Square, home to the pink Toompea Castle, now home to the Estonian Parliament with 101 democratically elected members, and the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral opposite.
The cathedral survives as a functioning Orthodox church in spite of several attempts to remove it, after Estonia gained its independence. We took a short look inside, though I found the interior less spectacular than the exterior suggests, because of course, after the great Russian cathedrals, others tend to pale into insignificance.
As we turned the corner, I couldn’t resist another photo however, because of the effect that amazing blue sky has on the elaborate architecture there.
Contrast that too with the awful photo above of the Look into the Kitchen Tower in those walls, which I wanted to include because of that name!
Our next stop was in the square by the Cathedral of St Mary, where the oldest part of the building is the floor, because of the many gravestones which are there.
It was not far from here where we stepped up onto a raised area to get a grand view of the city. There, in the distance too, was Mariner.
Returning to the bus, Galina pointed out the Tall Hermann tower, a feature of Toompea Castle, where every morning the Estonian flag is raised with musical accompaniment.
Driving past Fat Margaret for the second time this morning, Galina pointed out the tallest church in the city, St Olav’s church with the distinctive green gothic steeple.
We drove on, through a parkland area by the name of Kadriorg which had been popular as a Summer resort for wealthy Russians and many of their original homes remain.
We continued past the site of the Song Festival, held here every five years and internationally renowned as one of the world’s largest events of its kind.
A small structure offered a picture of the event but once we’re able to* I’ll be interested to watch a video and listen to the sounds to get a better feel of it all.
(* You Tube and similar streaming services are unavailable on board Mariner)
Our final stop was possibly the least interesting of them all, but I’m sure there was a reason for it! We drove out to St Bridget’s Convent, the ruins of a 15th century religious community.
We actually visited the gardens of the current St Bridget’s Convent in order to see the ruins, learning that the community is rather smaller than previously: currently just 10 women live here, mostly from Mexico, Galina said. Some were sitting reading in the sunshine as we wandered through the garden.
Our drive took us back along the coastline, past the Olympic Village built here as part of the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games for the sailing events.
During that time, this road had been built and other improvements made. Spotting our ship right there too, we realised we didn’t have much further to go.
We passed by the figure I’d seen earlier and wondered about. It’s a monument to the sailors on board the Russian warship Rusalka which sank with no survivors on its way to Finland in 1893.
By now, we were almost back at the docks, driving through this recently constructed commercial area that has been built since our last visit.
We’d really enjoyed our morning, visiting different places in the city and recognising how much development has taken place in the last ten years.
The spirit of the city remains, however! Thank you Tallinn!
