We arrived mid-afternoon on Tuesday in Tallinn, Estonia after taking the “optional” slow 3-hour ferry from Helsinki. The capital of Tallinn is considered to be the country’s crown jewel. When we stepped on dry land in Tallinn, the distinction between the two capitals was immediate to us. From the newness of Helsinki to the quaint old world charm of Tallinn, we couldn’t wait to start exploring the “homeland”. Estonia is known for being one of Europe’s most friendly and forward-thinking nations. Nicknamed “E-Estonia” or the “European Silicon Valley”, this tiny Baltic country is now a world leader in high level cyber security; and, an Estonian was the founder of Skype. In two decades, Estonia has undergone a major transformation from a rather impoverished communist society to a free, forward-thinking transitional society. We also learned that it was the first country to allow online voting and 98% of it 1.3 million citizens bank online! This country exudes young entrepreneurial spirit; and, interestingly it holds the world record in “start-ups” per person. It was very clear to us that Estonia has certainly embraced independence enthusiastically.
Our hotel is just on the edge of Old Town. Tallinn is a compact, buzzing city of 400k (about a third of all of Estonia). Lesley’s father was an Estonian orphan at age 10. He was able to return to visit his brothers (who he hadn’t seen in 60 years) after the Soviet Union failed; and Estonia was free of Soviet rule in 1991. It was Lesley’s first trip to Estonia. This afternoon, we met with Kati, one of Lesley’s relatives, who was stunning, vivacious and looked far younger than her 43 years. Kati was in charge of planning some joint activities with all the relatives for the days ahead.
Tallinn is a balanced blend of medieval and modern and has lots of cultural allure. The city is shaded by 14th century churches and older buildings which hide a peculiar mix of restaurants, cafes, nightclubs, scenic ruins, galleries and boutiques within it’s stone walls. Old Town, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is quite nice compared to a number of other European cities we have visited. This small enclave within Tallin is a little Disneyesque with its pristine, multi-pastel building. It doesn’t feel like Tallinn’s Old Town area was “recreated” for tourism; as, it appeared to be the case for a few European countries we have visited. The locals are very friendly and most speak English as Estonian is only spoken within the country.
On Wednesday, we spotted one of the usual “free” tours of Old Town and decided to join them. It was a delightful and interesting 2-hour experience. Winding our way along the alleys with the group and periodically tripping on the cobblestone paths, we were soon in Old Town Square which was bustling and alive with day-trippers from Helsinki. In addition, there are many cruise ships that daily come in and out of the harbor. Tallinn’s town square, like all other European town squares is overflowing with restaurants and cafes. There were heavy medieval feasts offered thoughout the city; however, we found the modern Estonia fusion dishes to be a lot more appealing. Estonia has a very Nordic feel to it. Perhaps, it is because their language is similar to Finnish. (Finland is only 60 miles away across the bay). The Finnish and Scandinavian influences are clearly in the well-made handicarfts like the wooden toys and hand-knit sweaters that are displayed in Old Town shops.
After the long Russian occupation of Estonia, many of the Soviet & Russion monuments, etc. were destroyed. We made our way uphill to one of the few remaining remnants of Soviet occupation. It is a beautiful Russion Orthodox Church, the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, sitting high on a hill opposite the pink Parliament Building. The church and Parliament were absolutely spectacular. There were also two lookout points on the upper city that had extremely impressive views of the Gulf of Finland over the spires and red tiled roofs of the Lower Town below.
Later, we climbed the tower of St. Olav’s Church. The tower was the tallest structure in the world during the 14th and 15th centuries until, after being struck by lightening 8 times over many years, the church decided to rebuild the tower 40 meters shorter. The view was spectacular but the walkway around the outside of the roof was quite narrow (less than 2 ft wide). A number of tourists (including Lesley) that had made the long spiral staircase trek, were clearly uncomfortable on the outside edge of the tower.
Another element that remains here are the old Russian factories just outside the Old Town walls that were abandoned in 1991 and became a haven for drug addicts. About 6-7 years ago some younger people began moving into this inexpensive area. The area is called Telliskivi but it is more commonly called the “Creative City”. Now it has become an area of small shops, bars, restaurants and small company offices. The area was a little too funky (young?) for us; but, it is certainly rapidly growing and will probably take another 10-15 years before it fully realizes its potential.
Estonia has had a chequered history. Like that of its’ Baltic neighbors, it has been almost singly devoted to maintaining independence from its powerful neighbors, most notably Russia. The country also has been occupied at one time by the Danes and Swedes; and, there is also a strong German influence within the country. While the younger Estonians mix freely, we were told that friction between the older generations of Russians and Estonians is a throwback to the Soviet era. “Annexed” by Stalin, Estonia retained its language and culture far more strongly than many other members of the USSR. Who could blame the way the Estonians feel with all they went through during the nearly 50-year period of communist stagnation? Today, Estonia is making great strides with rediscovering their culture and reveling in their newly acquired relative wealth. We saw many expensive German cars along with Bentleys tooling around the streets of Tallin.
We were told that Tallinn is the most exciting gateway for weekends especially for the people of Finland. Everything is much less expensive in Tallinn compared to pricey Helsinki. There are many ferries that leave in the morning from Helsinki to Tallinn and come back by evening. On our way back to Helsinki from Tallinn, we saw people carrying loads of big packs of beer and other alcoholic beverages; as, there was a sizable “supermarket” on board our ferry/cruise ship.
