pictures:http://picasaweb.google.com/terricallaway/TallinnEstoniaNov2008#
Hi everyone, it has been a while since I have written I know, but I am finally settled back in Sylacauga. I am trying to be glad to be home but I must say I keep thinking about the things I wished I had done before we left Europe. Oh well.
Back in November we had a wonderful long weekend in Tallinn, Estonia. This city is partially walled and filled with old medieval buildings. Because it is a capital city, there are many embassies and government buildings in the old, walled section of town. There is a lovely port area and sections of town that are very modern - much what you would expect to see in any European capital city. We stayed in a rather basic European hotel – not much more than a closet with a very hard bed and a tiny bathroom. But it was clean; right on the edge of the walled city area, and it cost about 125 Euros, which is pretty inexpensive for hotels in Europe.
Getting from St. Petersburg to Tallinn was a six-hour adventure. We took the metro (subway) to the Finnish train station (not to be confused with the Moscow train station – I didn’t know the difference until that morning! Thank goodness for Elena, our Russian friend). One of our translators had purchased the tickets to Helsinki for us, but we got them so late that none of the six of us sat together. The rail car was full but Elena was able to convince several Finns and Russians to swap seats so we were able to visit during the five-hour train ride.
The difference in scenery between Russia and Finland was absolutely shocking. I have commented before that the weather in Russia was so gray and depressing, and that was why I thought the scenery was so dreary. However, once we passed into Finland, the homes were nicely painted, the yards were tidy, common areas were trimmed and trash-free, grass or vegetation covered most of the dirt (rather than mud everywhere), roads were in good shape. There was no difference in the weather; actually Helsinki is a little farther north and has a bit less daylight in the winter. It was not post-card beautiful by any means, but we were traveling through countryside that was well maintained. It is another example of how different life is in Russia than in the rest of the western world. I don’t know who owns the land – perhaps the government still does. Maybe it is rich Russians who live in a big city. But we passed houses (many were shacks in my opinion) and little towns in both Russia and Finland. Most Russians are used to tough conditions; they don’t have the means or the infrastructure to make their surroundings pleasant; they are happy with only slight improvements in their lives. It is sad, I know, but in a way it is a lesson for us. They appreciate their health, their families, their lives. But I digress….
Elena engaged cabs to take us from the train station in Helsinki to the seaport on the Gulf of Finland. Helsinki is a lovely, modern city with many lovely old buildings and plenty of new ones. We boarded a large, very well appointed ferry to take us across the gulf. There were cars in the bottom of the boat but most people were like us – just crossing the water. The three-hour journey passed quickly as the waiting area provided a full view of the water in a graduated two-story space. There was a snack bar with pretty good food and of course, beer and wine. We visited more and played cards.
I really didn’t know what to expect once we arrived in Tallinn. I only remembered a little about the Baltic countries from school days – the area is very old and has been a part of most all the countries in the region at one time or another. I think they were independent at the beginning of the 1900s but after the world wars, ended up a part of Russia. I think they were ‘semi-independent’ states and part of the communist bloc, but not like Poland. Regardless, when they became independent in the 1980s, much progress was made to become modern like the rest of Europe, and they have made tremendous progress. Much of the modern part of the city has been updated, and although it is not as modern as many places in Europe, it is improving.
Our first meal was at a local brewery – we walked to the medieval part of the city, and enjoyed roasted meats, vegetables, and sampled the local beers and wines. After about an hour, we were entertained with local traditional Estonian dancers who were young and very much enjoying dancing for us. I am not sure of the significance of the moose, but all seemed to enjoy him. The highlight for the guys was an appearance by the Jagermeister girls. We sampled a test tube full of Jager and Martha, please tell Ed, I saved a test tube for him! I cannot say I liked it, but it was fun. By this time, the restaurant was very full and we enjoyed listening to many languages – Russian, German, Estonia, Polish, and Finnish. It was a pretty popular place.
The next day it was delightful to walk around the old part of town. This area partially still walled – amazing to think about how long those walls have been there. There were many old churches – mostly orthodox, but many medieval as well – coats of arms of the prominent families of the time were on the walls the art was very old. Some churches were restored and grand, others were showing sign of considerable ‘love’, but were nevertheless, lovely. We did a little shopping – I got a warm hat and a lovely amber necklace; and some funky jewelry for the girls. Mid afternoon we ate ‘dinner’ at a traditional medieval restaurant. The food that was served were things available in the middle ages – several types of game plus fish, many root vegetables like leeks and beets (no potatoes – John said they actually came from the Americas), cabbages/sauerkraut, beans, etc. I cannot say I liked the food especially but it was tasty and a good experience.
On Monday we walked around for a little while and then headed back to the ferry. We spent the afternoon and night in Helsinki, but by the time we got to Helsinki, the sun was already down (it was setting at about 4 in November) so we walked around in the dark – the old buildings were beautiful but the pictures don’t show it. It was a little cold but we had fun. I did enjoy walking through Stockman’s the big department store in Helsinki. It had everything – clothes, shoes, home goods, groceries, appliances, books. I cannot remember how many stories tall it was but they were busy. Factoring the exchange rate, it was really expensive too. So we just looked.
We got up early the next morning and met the train back to St. Petersburg.
I hope to be sending you something once a week going forward to show the other things we did. If you want me to delete your name from the distribution, let me know. I am posting all the emails on a blog site (I still can’t figure out how to put all the pictures there. I need Clare’s help). The site is at Blogspot and can be reached at http://terricallawayinrussia.blogspot.com/. I am hoping to get a link to the pictures that go with the email on each posting. We’ll see. An expat I met in St. Pete also has a blog - http://fromrussiawithlurve.blogspot.com/ and hers is very interesting – and looks better too!
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