Tripping With Toby: Tallinn, Estonia Walking Tour

Oct. 5, 2018-Tallinn, Estonia Walking Tour

Added to wind and cold, we have rain. It was bound to happen. I thought we’d drive around the city and the guide would point out historic sites, but NO. We pulled up to a park where she launched into a lecture about the wonderful amphitheater where Estonians famously sang themselves into a revolution against the USSR and began a human chain of liberation that ultimately stretched to Vilnius, Lithuania. I was totally impressed until she decided we had to exit the bus to get a closer look. There are hills here, so we hobbled down the cobblestones over what becomes their ski hill in winter to take pictures of a plastic shrouded stage. I was first back on the bus.

The real entertainment was the city guide’s sense of humor. She told us that Estonia is about the size of New Hampshire and Vermont combined. The Estonian language came from tribes that crossed the Ural Mts. some 11,000 years ago. Some went to Hungary and some went to Finland, thus those languages are related. Those who stayed here speak a language with no gender distinctions and no future tense. She said that is why Estonians have no future and no sex. No one else in the world speaks it so it was used as code in WWI. Again, no one else in the world speaks Estonian so the youth tend to stay here. She said learning Estonian makes a good hobby after retirement. There are 14 declensions for each word. Have at it.

The next amazing site of a scintillating morning was the TV tower built for the Moscow Olympics. If you recall, the Games were boycotted by the US and others. The restrooms were most inviting and we were grateful to have a warm place to “rest.”

We continued our drive past a forest graveyard. Estonia is the most unreligious country in the EU, and some prefer their pagan roots. They believe that spirits of the dead return to trees. Indeed, they have walled cemeteries in the woods. It’s against the law to cut down the trees. Who knows, it may house the soul of your relative.

Estonians don’t have to deal with the same guilt about their Jewish populations as do the other Baltic States. In 1940, Russia deported the Jews to Siberia. When the Nazis arrived, there were none to be found. Estonia was declared to be Judenrein. Today, there are 3,000 Jews living there. We drove by a glass walled modern synagogue illustrating how secure the community feels. The annex was a large, three storied building for classrooms and community activities.

We rode up a large hill to experience the old city. It is built on two levels. The top has suffered fires and has been rebuilt, so it was the lower part that is older, more authentic, and more interesting. We skittered on the stones trying to hear the guide over the other tourists and through earmuffs. At some point I zoned out. All in all, it’s quaint, colorful, and charming. Souvenir shops and restaurants are in every nook and cranny. My ears perked up when the guide pointed out a restaurant favored by students (Kompressor). When the time came, a couple from Minneapolis remembered where it was. It turned out to be a pancake shop. Their pancakes are crepes. I finally got my mushroom soup and savory lox and smoked cheese crepes. We lingered, chatted, and exchanged stories until we were sated and warm. We took off in different directions nosing in and out of shops. Hot chocolate is big here and the locals go to McDonald’s. It was absolutely not as delicious as the hot chocolate we had on Mt. Etna. This could have been Swiss Miss instant. We rested our feet, used their toilet, and walked the 20 minutes back to the hotel which we actually found. We just had to keep heading downhill.

We all walked to dinner together. It was good but unremarkable, except for the young woman at a nearby table. Those facing her were intrigued by her décolletage. From the comments, I heard, she was very beautiful. Since I couldn’t see her, I pretended to take a selfie and took a picture of her. David didn’t approve.

Tomorrow we will ride the free public transportation to a park where we’ll trek through wet leaves to a museum of contemporary art.

Toby