I remember a handful of years ago, my parents went to Tallinn, Estonia and I remember how they raved about it. So I've been looking forward to going ever since they talked about how much they liked it!
We were excited to explore the city when we got off the boat!
This was one of the first places we stumbled upon with that serious WOW factor. It's just around the corner from the Town Hall Square, and there are lots of restaurants and shops here.
That pulley system is pretty cool. Many buildings had these to help them load heavy items to the upper floors. But I can't get over the windows and arches and other random things on that facade! It's very asymmetrical.
Even thought it was cool and a little drizzly at times, it's still summer in northern Europe and you get to see all kinds of flower boxes!
We were excited to explore the city when we got off the boat!
We took the bus from the port to the city and entered near the Viru Gate. That section of the gate on the left looks like it's going to eat me! Chomp!
Inside of the Viru Gate, there were people passing out red and blue balloons. I'm still not quite sure what they were for, but my kids scored like 10 of them. And here's a little known fact about me: I hate balloons.
Tallinn might be one of the most photographic cities I've ever been in. It's colorful, it's quaint, it's historic... it's really the whole package!
Tallinn is also a little quirky, and we Baileys appreciate that. Super creepy baby doll is hanging out on a locked up tricycle outside of this shop. She's giving Todd a stare down.
This was one of the first places we stumbled upon with that serious WOW factor. It's just around the corner from the Town Hall Square, and there are lots of restaurants and shops here.
Why does Todd look normal and I look blurry! My name's blurry face and I care what you think (you know you're singing that song now!) Here we are at the Town Hall of Tallinn!
One of the restaurants in this square is the Olde Hansa. They're apparently excited that the hunters have caught a bear for you to taste!
That pulley system is pretty cool. Many buildings had these to help them load heavy items to the upper floors. But I can't get over the windows and arches and other random things on that facade! It's very asymmetrical.
Seriously, I don't know why I love it so much, but it's so cute!
Here is Todd in front of what they claim to be the oldest continuously run pharmacy (from the same building) in Europe! (Possible superlative, check!) However, it appears there might be one in Florence (opened in 1221) so that would beat this one, which opened in 1422. There's also one in Dubrovnik from 1317. The Raeapteek in Tallinn was owned by the same family from 1582 to 1911! It still functions as an Apoteke, which was good for me since I was battling a head cold and needed some tissues. I've been battling a head cold on every big trip we've taken this year so far, why not this one!?
Back in the day, people didn't necessarily know how to read, nor were there signs outside of the buildings telling you what the proprietor sold or did. To indicate a shop was a pharmacy, they placed a blue and red bottle in the window.
From Town Hall Square looking west.
Grant is missing a head but this is a panorama of Town Hall Square. I feel like this is a weird scene from the movie It. Natalie is definitely Pennywise.
The weather vane on the top of the Tallinn Town Hall (called "Old Thomas") has been there since 1530.
Every building in the Tallin Town Square is so unique.
My favorite dog in the whole world is the wiener dog, the dachshund. A dog after my own heart (and not just because I'm short legged and run super slow) but because I had one named Schätze when I was a kid. My little sweetheart.
The kids know if we were to ever get a dog, it would definitely be a dachshund. But no. That will never happen. We travel too much!
We walked over to this glorious garden in front of St. Nicholas church that was bursting with colors!
I can't get over how pretty these flowers were.
But, but wait... one more?
There are three monks that stand in the Danish King's Garden. People love to pose with them, although not many people are tall enough to pose with this one like he is! The monks names are Ambrosius, Bartholomeus and Claudius. Not sure which one this is!
This garden is called the Danish King's Garden because legend has it that this is the spot where during the Livonian Crusades on June 15, 1219, the Danish King Valdemar II and his troops swaggered into Estonia relatively unscathed - but then, unexpectedly, that night during their celebrations, the Estonian forces made a surprise attack. Valdemar dropped to his knees to pray during the battle, and miraculously, from the sky, a red flag with the white cross floated down. The battled turned around, and Denmark controlled Estonia all the way until 1343. I can't tell whether I should label this one, "Thoughts and prayers" or "Praise Be."
Through the gates of the Danish King's Garden, you head higher up on the hill to see the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. There are many churches dedicated to Alexander Nevsky (see our post in Sofia, Bulgaria for one of the most beautiful churches in the world.) This church of St. Alexander Nevsky is an Orthodox cathedral built in the very late 1800s when Estonia was still a part of the Russian empire. As with all churches in this area, it fell to near ruins with the rule of the Soviet Union but has since been beautifully restored.
If it's an Orthodox church, you can be sure it's going to be very aesthetically interesting. I appreciate the barber shop flair on the columns.
We wanted to check out the city walls and the bastions, so we walked back toward the towers and the wall. The Maiden's Tower that you see was built in the 14th century. While it's currently a city museum, it was once a bar back in the 1980s!
We strolled through the Danish King's Garden (ohhhhh, there are my flowers!) and finally saw the third of the creepy monk statues.
Purple is my favorite color so you know I'm going to take a lot of pictures of purple flowers. Here they sit, in front of the Maiden's Tower. This is now the entrance to a super cool museum and the bastion tunnels. A must see if you're in Tallinn.
Once you get your tickets for the museum and the bastion tunnels, you then walk along the old city walls to get to the museum. There's a nice view of the Danish King's Garden here.
Let's make our way down these stairs, along the wooden planks of the old city walls, and on to the Fortification Museum, shall we?
Todd understands now why they call it the Maiden Tower. Because only a maiden can fit into it!
Once in the museum, there were these little viking-type ships forming the Dannebrog, or, infamously, the flag of Denmark, which is the oldest flag in the world. Why? We are in Tallinn, Estonia! I mentioned the story above, but I'm still confused as to why the Estonians are proud of this! "Oldest flag in the world? Yeah, that happened here, even if it isn't actually OUR flag! They crushed us! We are so proud!" (What?)
Oh wait. Something weirder. The Russians invaded in 1710, but there was a pretty heavy plague going on at the time and the Estonians were too weak and depleted to fight back. Thankfully, there were plague doctors like the one above who "opened the buboes during the pestilence dressed in order to prevent the disease to infect them. A black cloak with a hood, goggles and a mask filled with aromatic herbs were supposed to protect them from foul vapors or miasmas that were believed to spread the disease at the time." (You know, not like fleas and rats as we know it was now.)
Todd's feet never would have fit in those super pointy shoes from long ago!
They have a neat little room that tells you the history of the Russian Empire after the Northern War and who the rulers were at the time. Grant is OBSESSED with wars and maps, particularly those in which Russia was involved. Also: Natalie's face.
A delightful view of the Old Town of Tallinn from the Kiek in di Kok. I can't believe I'm in a tower called Kiek in di Kok. My dad would be howling. Remember in German, when two vowels go walking, the second one does the talking.
The Fortification Museum is CHOCK full of super cool history. It's one of the better museums I've ever been in because it's concise. And it's full of visually interesting, anecdotally supportive exhibitions. And it's in English! My kids, who normally don't like museums, actually enjoyed this one!
What a cool shot of what Tallinn once looked like! Did you know that Tallinn used to go by another name? It was called Reval, which is what it was called after 1219. It was called Reval all the way up until 1918! It was changed to Tallinn when they gained independence. In Danish, the word "Taani-linn" means, "Danish Town." But, if you recall from Helsinki, the word "linna" means "fortress." So there's debate on whether that part means fortress or town. Other possible translations include "tali" which means winter and "talu" which means house. Is it winter fortress? Or house fortress? Or Danish town? Or Danish fortress? You can probably just decide for yourself what it means!
At last, we finally entered the Bastion tunnels. Baileys in a tunnel with a mannequin. What is going on with me. Oh right. My teeth don't go together anymore. Anyway, these tunnels were originally built and opened by the Swedish rulers in the 1670s as defense tunnels.
The passages in the Bastion are not casemates - meaning there are no openings to the outside for cannons. There are only air passages (which is absolutely necessary or people in here would die.) Over the years, the tunnels usage changed. As you move through the tunnels going backwards in time, you find that between 1991 and 2004, the bastions were used as either a meeting place for anarchists or a place for the homeless. When Estonia gained independence, it was difficult for many to find housing and jobs.
As we went back in time in the bastion tunnels, we learned that during the Soviet-era, they modernized these tunnels by making them bomb shelters and putting in a new ventilation system, beds, toilets, and a generator. People could be safe here from the threat of an American nuclear bomb.
The bastions were never used as they were intended. They were initially intended to be used as defense against the enemy. Instead, they were used as air raid shelters during World War II and the Cold War. People were taught how to use protection against chemical warfare.
The kids are making faces because they realized they were walking into the HALL OF DEATH.
As you approach the end of the bastion tunnels, there is a lot more light.
I only posted this pic because I'm hardly ever in pictures that aren't selfies, and Grant looks confused. Plus one or both of his feet are ALWAYS moving.
DANG IT! THEY GOT IT US AGAIN! (Slaps self on neck!)
After visiting the bastion tunnels, we ambled through the Komandandi Garden that is on the opposite side of the walls on Toompea (or "Cathedral Hill.") You can see the back side of the Maiden's Tower and the top of St. Nicholas Church.
Let's be honest. The name of this tower is Kiek in di Kok. Which techinically means "Peek in the Kitchen" but that's not the first thought that came to mind.
As we walked back toward the Town Hall Square, Todd took this nice pic of the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. Every time I look at it, I notice something new!
Manhole covers are my jam. Even the water company of Tallinn makes pretty covers.
We had to eat, and I had to get some Estonian food. Vanaema Juures translates to "Grandma's Place." Perfect. I'm trying to get some things on my scratch off food map and I need something authentic. And this is in a basement that looks like a cave so I'm all in. Plus that cast iron pan with the fake egg in it is pretty sweet.
The kids weren't super excited, but per the usual, Natalie liked the Estonia treats better than Grant.
I really liked it all! Verivorst is on the right. It's a traditional blood sausage and I really liked it. It was especially good with the cranberry/lingonberry (debate between me and Todd) jam.
We walked back to the Town Hall Square and Todd was delighted by this creepy doll head above a storefront door. And weirdly, there were others.
The kids, not delighted with Grandma's traditional Estonia food decided they wanted pizza in the Town Hall Square. We obliged, but only because it was probably happy hour.
After we were done with the kids lunch, we took a few pictures of Town Hall Square as the sun was finally out and it looked a lot more inviting!
Then we had to make our way to the final stop of the day: Freedom Square. On the way, you see the ruins of the Harju gate that are encased in glass and can be seen underground as you walk from the Town Hall Square down to Freedom Square. The plaque outside says, "It has not been established exactly as to when this gate was built, although mention of it was first made in 1355. In the middle of the 16th century, the city's south side fortifications were modernized and the Harju Gate was closed. It was reopened in 1767; however, in 1875, its main tower was demolished. During the renovation of the Freedom Square in 2009, the underground structures of one of the Harju Gate towers were put on display while the locations of the other towers of the gate complex were marked on the pavement."
You're never going to believe this. But Freedom Square was a parking lot before 2010. St. John's Church in the background was built in the 1860s, but the area in front of it has had many roles since then. And one of those was a parking lot.
One of the most important roles this square has held is being the other end of the Baltic Way. This peaceful demonstration on August 23, 1989 was a hand in hand demonstration against Soviet rule that extended from Vilnius to Riga to Tallinn (oh to go back to that day ... I had just started 8th grade!) It was a rough year. There were shootings at a neighboring high school where my first grade teacher's husband died. And a good friend of my parents had also been shot. It was right before the fall of the wall and the Velvet Revolution and the world was tense. And it was a summer of amazing music. Ask my best friends from middle school and they will probably still tell you the summer of 1989 was one of the best, musically. It was the summer of Dead Poets Society and Richard Marx's "Right Here Waiting." Rebecca Shaefer from "My Sister Sam" was murdered and Tank Man stood in Tienanmen Square. de Klerk was ousted in South Africa, eventually leading to Mandela's election. The Mendez brothers killed their parents and Nirvana released "Bleach" - changing the music world forever. And I went to the European mainland for the first time which completely changed me. I knew this is where I wanted to live.
Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia demanded independence from the USSR. For 600 kilometers, they stood hand in hand, showing solidarity for that independence. In less than three months, the Berlin Wall would fall and independence across former Soviet states would be guaranteed.
I don't know why he's running, but we just wanted to chill with him. He's supposed to bring you good luck if you rub the gold buttons on his coat!
We were finally making our way back to the ship, dodging the raindrops as we went past this super cool restaurant called Manna la Roosa. Next time!!!!
For my Largo High School peeps. I saw this van on our way back to the ship. Largo getting some love here in Tallinn.
Until next time, Tallinn!
