My time in Tallinn

Tallin has a number of fine museums, including a city art gallery, a museum portraying life in Tallinn leading up to and including the 20th century (the Soviet-era kitchen was perhaps the most interesting display), and the maritime museum ( a plaque outside and display inside memorializes the sinking of the Estonia, a ferry to Helsinki like the one I’ll ride today ; several hundred lives were lost.

The cathedrals are astounding. St Olev’s , whose tower was once the tallest structure in the world, had an austere white stucco interior that inspired with it’s soaring interior heights; the Virgin Mary Cathedral held many large carved wooden plaques that seemed to be coats of arms; the Holy Spirit Cathedral and Alexander Nevsky (both orthodox, I think) were the most ornate, with many icons, gold, and other shiny stuff. Each of these were topped with a high dome, painted blue inside with gold gilt stars looking down. The pews in all the cathedrals were short of seat, tall backs set at 90 degree angles from the seats—no sleeping in these pews!

The streets of the old town are cobbled, some leading to dead ends, some with tourist shops and inns, many with tempting restaurants. Buildings range from freshly restored and painted to barely standing; an area near my hotel has been preserved to show aerial bomb damage from 1941. A decrepit building across from St Olev’s indicated that it would be turned into luxury apartments by summer, 2005—I believe it will happen.

I visited the Baltic Methodist Seminary this morning, where I was shown around by the dean, Andros Norak. The seminary has been in existence for 10 years, has about 140 students, and serves Russia and the Baltic states. Their first graduating class was the largest so far, made up of the many lay ministers that had come for formal training. Students pay about 10% of their fees, the remaining is supported through donations. About $1500 would cover a student for a year, an investment that many of us should consider making.

The building is new and beautiful, but is not yet completely furnished, again a need for funding. It is shared with the Tallinna Metodisti Kirik (Tallinn Methodist Church), a congregation of about 700, the largest of the 20 some-odd churches in Estonia. Andros pointed out the spot where the organ will go; he thinks at the current rate of donations, it will take 100 years to purchase.

The building includes a cafeteria, classrooms, a computer room, a library, and dorm rooms. The teacher’s office area is a series of desks in one large room. I stopped in one class, and met the youth leader for the Tallinn church.

Finally got pictures uploaded from the computer in the lobby of my hotel, so things on the web page are up-to-date for now. Typing this on my laptop to upload later, I’m starting to get confused about key location, thanks to the numerous variations from the international keyboards I’ve been using. I can’t wait to get behind the wheel of a car after two months of switching which direction traffic flows…

JP