Day 22, Thursday, May 6, 2015 Tallinn, Estonia

Estonia's capital city is only 53 miles across the Gulf of Finland from Helsinki, but for nearly 50 years, as part of the Soviet Union, it was ideologically a world away. That ended in 1991 when the Soviet Union collapsed and Estonia became the Baltic's smallest independent nation.

Today, thanks to its strategic position on the Gulf, Estonia's largest city is thriving. Tallinn, with a population of 410,000, is not only a major port but also a major industrial center. Timber, chemicals, electronics and information technology are all booming industries. Voice-over-Internet calling service Skype, of all things, was developed in Estonia. One of its creators: Jaan Tallinn. 


Tallinn, Estonia dates back to the 12^th century-- medieval days (the movie, Shreck, was inspired by the city of Tallinn).  Estonia has been under Danish rule , Swedish rule, German rule, then the Soviet’s took control,  then the Nazi’s took control, then the Soviet’s took control again and kicked out the Nazi’s in 1944.  Finally, Estonia received its independence in 1991.  The name Tallinn means “Danish Town”.

It was originally divided into two feudal communities, each protected by walls…the Upper and the Lower….now called Upper Old Town and Lower Old Town—which is where we spent our day.  There is, of course, a newer section of town with modern buildings, etc. 

We left the ship and made an all day walking trip guided by Rick Steves’ tour book.  He told us every turn to make and every street to take.  Most of the time was spent in and around Town Hall Square which once held criminals chained to pillories for public humiliation and knights showing off in chivalrous tournaments; todays it’s full of Scandinavians drinking cheap beer, and cruise ship groups following the numbered paddles carried high by their local guides.  We elected to avoid all guides except the paper guide book we had.

We entered the city through Fat Margaret Tower, so called for its thick walls and guarded entry into the town during medieval times.  We walked down Pikka Sreet into town past St. Olav’s Church (a Baptist Church today).  The KGB used the church’s tower to block Finnish TV signals.  The building nearby was once Headquarters to the  KGB, where “creative interrogation methods” were used.  Locals well knew that the road of suffering started here as Tallinn’s troublemakers (opponents of the KGB rule) were sent to Siberian gulags. The building was called the “tallest” building in town because when you are in the basement, you can already see Siberia. 

There were many old medieval looking buildings all over, along with the original walls of the two sections of the city.  Lots of local handicrafts, antique stores and cool stores.

Scenes: 

Basement of KGB Building

Climbing into top of wall

Dungeon shopping

on the street

Shreck city

KGB Building

Oldest Apothacary in Europe

St. Olav's Cathredral 

Town Square

Shops under the wall

On the Wall

We loved this place.  It was straight out of Shreck and so ancient.  Cool shops, great prices.  We found a couple of antique shops and found some real treasures.   We spent several hours walking and looking.  Took the narrow stairs up into one of the old walls and got a view of the city below.   Rain came so we walked back to ship—internet at the terminal but it was absolutely packed with people staring into their phones…almost comical. 

Tomorrow is St. Petersburg, Russia.