In Tallinn

Arrived in Tallinn about 2:30 in the afternoon. Not much to customs, but they did have a nice black dog walking around sniffing suitcases at baggage claim. Looking for illicit doggie treats, no doubt. My friend Steven met me in front of the airport in his new Honda Jazz—something we don’t get in the US. A smallish wagon, probably Civic based. Steven dropped me off at my hotel, I grabbed a shower, and walked around the old town a bit.

Wow! Big stone walls, red tile roofed towers, medieval churches. I visited the newer—to Tallinn—Alexander Nevsky cathedral, a Russian Orthodox church.

Steven picked me up at 6:30 PM, and drove me around the outskirts of Tallinn to see more sights. Especially interesting was the “singing dome”, where hundreds of thousands of Estonians gathered, singing, to demand their freedom from the USSR, which was eventually won. I also saw some of the Soviet-era housing, a very gray monolithic contrast to the beauty of old town. We swung on by the beach at the Baltic Sea and the Bay of Finland, and watched the sunset over the shipyards and old Tallinn.

We found supper at a traditional restaurant, where Steven’s brother Ando joined us. He brought me a big box of Estonian chocolates as a thank you for showing him around the southwest several years ago. My meal was a spicy meatloaf with porridge (what we would call red-eye gravy back home), potatoes and beets. My appetizer was meat jelly (no comment) while Steven got smoked herring.

Had a great night’s sleep at the hotel, and wandered downstairs for breakfast. Big vaulted stone and brick ceiling and archways supporting the old restored building above. Lots of the expected foods, plus one not expected: caviar (also had this on the Czech Air flight in—these guys know how to eat!).

Spent the morning chasing down my ferry ticket to Helsinki for today, and also the bus ticket to Riga. Explored the Vilnius—Krakow connection, and it looks like flying will be the best bet if I want any time in Krakow. Train ride could total 16 hours.

Finally toured more of old Tallinn after a quick lunch in a bakery (it’s my vacation, I’ll eat what I want). It was rainy, so I ducked into churches and museums in between drops. Organists were practicing in several of the churches, including St Olev’s, whose steeple was the tallest structure in the world for several hundred years.

Tallinn has been an important port city for several hundred years, and its political commitment, shall we say, has bounced around because of that. In between periods of independence for the Estonian people, they have been ruled by Sweden, Lithuania and Russia, among others. Their port would not freeze in the winter, where St Petersburg’s would. Most recently, they fell to Russia in 1944 at the end of the second world war, and gained their independence in 1991. They have made great strides since then.

As I write this, I’m logged on to the hotel’s wireless at about $2.00 an hour. It let me upload pictures, but it won’t let me load the Java software to get them on the website—aarrrggh! So, maybe later this morning before the ferry, I can do it standing up from their free computer in the lobby.

I have an appointment in an hour with the dean of the United Methodist seminary here in Tallinn. I have passed by it a couple of times, and will get pictures today. They serve, I believe, all of eastern Europe and Russia. It will be good to learn more about what they are doing.

Then, after lunch, Ando picks me up for the ferry to Helsinki. Until later,

JP