Day 108: Old Town Tallinn
Date: 18 DEC 2008
As I mentioned in my previous post, I am now staying in a community house which means many people live here. Well, I quite like the way they place the toilet paper in the toilet. It was very convenient. You can just grab any one and you will not miss. Very good for emergency!! Haha.
Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, lies on the southern coast of the Gulf of Finland, only 70 km south of Helsinki. At the historical heart of the city is the hill of Toompea, covered in cobbled streets and filled with medieval houses and alleyways. The lower town spreads out from the foot of the hill, still protected by the remnants of a city wall. Around the city wall is a series of well-maintained green parks, great for strolling.
While the old town has been astonishingly well preserved and was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1997, it is now in better shape than ever, with the bigger roads converted into fashionable shopping streets reminiscent of Zürich or Geneva, the new town sprawling all around is largely built in typical concrete Soviet style. The new center of town is Vabaduse väljak (Freedom Square) at the edge of the old town, and nearby is the giant matchbox of Hotel Viru, the former Intourist flagship and notorious den of Cold War intrigue (every room was tapped and monitored by the KGB!). Recently, Tallinn has received a boom in tourism, especially by daytrippers which visit it from its sister city across the Baltic Sea, Helsinki.
On my way walking towards the old town.
Interesting building!
The first place that I went to was the Xmas market. With only 1 week away from Xmas, how can I missed this market?
Kids playing with sheep
And ofcourse every kid wants to meet up with Santa Claus!
Lets see what they have here for sale.
Tallinn is a historic city dating back to the medieval times and it was first recorded on a world map in 1154, although the first fortress was built on Toompea in 1050. In 1219, the city was conquered by Valdemar II of Denmark, but it was soon sold to the Hanseatic League in 1285. The city, known as Reval at the time, prospered as a trading town in the 14th century, and much of Tallinn's historic center was built at this time.
Tallinn then became a pawn in the geopolitical games of its big neighbors, passing into Swedish hands in 1561 and then to Russia under Peter the Great in 1710. By World War I and the ensuing brief Estonian independence (starting 1918) Tallinn's population had reached 150,000.
Estonia was eventually annexed by the Soviet Union in 1940, only to be conquered by Nazi Germany (1941-44) and then retaken by the Soviets. In World War II, the city was quite extensively bombed, even though luckily the medieval town remains. The Soviet Union undertook a program of massive Slavic migration, and just over 40% of Tallinn's current inhabitants are Slavic (compared to an average of 28% for the entire country). On Aug 20, 1991, Estonia declared independence and Tallinn became its capital once again.
Today, Tallinn is a bustling, gleaming metropolis of 400,000 people. However, among the tall glassy buildings and corporate headquarters, Tallinn retains an inner charm seldom found anywhere else. Estonia considers itself a Northern European/Scandinavian country, with very close ties to Finland (ethnic, linguistic, and cultural), and visiting Tallinn you will find a mix of at least three architectures in this very visual city -- old Europe (the city walls and rustic buildings), Soviet brutalist (crumbling apartment blocks), and modern Europe (including McDonald's next to the city walls!).
Flag of ESTONIA.
I saw quite a number of this sign along the streets and I find it very funny. I guess its purpose is to caution people about bag snatching but the word "NB" with the "!" made me laugh non stop. It was as if the bag got snatched and the girl shouted "NABEH!!!" hahahaha... (for non hokkien speaker, NABEH is a form of swearing and we normally use NB in short). Thats why I laughed!! HAHAHA!!!
This is a very interesting building. Look carefully in this picture and you will see many bricked up windows which lies very close to the ground. Why? Because the KGB of the soviets used to torture people in these underground rooms and in order not to let passerby walking along the streets hear it, they sealed up all windows.
A walk along the city wall.
Interesting lamps.
The Xmas market and the Old town looks even more charming at night.
In my opinion, this is the best Old town among the Baltic States!! Love it. I then went back to my host's place to make dinner. I did not know that they normally have the habit of taking turns to cook for all. So I only made dinner for me and Joey. Turned out that everyone thought I was making dinner for all and so I was kind of embarrass cause I only made a small pot of cabbage soup. Opps!! So sorry.
Anyway, we had lots of activities going on after dinner. I played Chinese Chess with them. Was surprised that they have a chinese chess set (it was a gift from someone) and even more surprise that they can play it without knowing how to read those characters on the chess.
An Aussie girl was playing piano.
An interview was going on for some projects.
and so on. You will never be bored here and will always find something to do. Well, just in case you really have nothing to do, you can help them build bicycles. They build their own bicycles here and they even have a workshop for it. This girl from Australia used to be, just visiting, just like me but she like it here so much that she decided to stay.
Here are some photos of this comfy house.
Well, we have a birthday boy in the house today and they decided to bake him a cake.
So this is the birthday boy, giving his speech.
Its time for the cake. Forget about cutting it. Just grab a spoon and dig in!
Then its time to chill again!!
And that's me posing with Joey's travel mate, a yellow soft toy.
After the chill out session, we went out for a party held in an abandoned factory. It was an unique experience for me. The atmosphere was different. Just try to imagine clubbing in Old Changi Hospital . Live bands, DJ spinning drinks etc. Interesting yah?
*Click HERE to return to the Main Page of The Cold Journey.*
As I mentioned in my previous post, I am now staying in a community house which means many people live here. Well, I quite like the way they place the toilet paper in the toilet. It was very convenient. You can just grab any one and you will not miss. Very good for emergency!! Haha.
Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, lies on the southern coast of the Gulf of Finland, only 70 km south of Helsinki. At the historical heart of the city is the hill of Toompea, covered in cobbled streets and filled with medieval houses and alleyways. The lower town spreads out from the foot of the hill, still protected by the remnants of a city wall. Around the city wall is a series of well-maintained green parks, great for strolling.
While the old town has been astonishingly well preserved and was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1997, it is now in better shape than ever, with the bigger roads converted into fashionable shopping streets reminiscent of Zürich or Geneva, the new town sprawling all around is largely built in typical concrete Soviet style. The new center of town is Vabaduse väljak (Freedom Square) at the edge of the old town, and nearby is the giant matchbox of Hotel Viru, the former Intourist flagship and notorious den of Cold War intrigue (every room was tapped and monitored by the KGB!). Recently, Tallinn has received a boom in tourism, especially by daytrippers which visit it from its sister city across the Baltic Sea, Helsinki.
On my way walking towards the old town.
Interesting building!
The first place that I went to was the Xmas market. With only 1 week away from Xmas, how can I missed this market?
Kids playing with sheep
And ofcourse every kid wants to meet up with Santa Claus!
Lets see what they have here for sale.
Tallinn is a historic city dating back to the medieval times and it was first recorded on a world map in 1154, although the first fortress was built on Toompea in 1050. In 1219, the city was conquered by Valdemar II of Denmark, but it was soon sold to the Hanseatic League in 1285. The city, known as Reval at the time, prospered as a trading town in the 14th century, and much of Tallinn's historic center was built at this time.
Tallinn then became a pawn in the geopolitical games of its big neighbors, passing into Swedish hands in 1561 and then to Russia under Peter the Great in 1710. By World War I and the ensuing brief Estonian independence (starting 1918) Tallinn's population had reached 150,000.
Estonia was eventually annexed by the Soviet Union in 1940, only to be conquered by Nazi Germany (1941-44) and then retaken by the Soviets. In World War II, the city was quite extensively bombed, even though luckily the medieval town remains. The Soviet Union undertook a program of massive Slavic migration, and just over 40% of Tallinn's current inhabitants are Slavic (compared to an average of 28% for the entire country). On Aug 20, 1991, Estonia declared independence and Tallinn became its capital once again.
Today, Tallinn is a bustling, gleaming metropolis of 400,000 people. However, among the tall glassy buildings and corporate headquarters, Tallinn retains an inner charm seldom found anywhere else. Estonia considers itself a Northern European/Scandinavian country, with very close ties to Finland (ethnic, linguistic, and cultural), and visiting Tallinn you will find a mix of at least three architectures in this very visual city -- old Europe (the city walls and rustic buildings), Soviet brutalist (crumbling apartment blocks), and modern Europe (including McDonald's next to the city walls!).
Flag of ESTONIA.
I saw quite a number of this sign along the streets and I find it very funny. I guess its purpose is to caution people about bag snatching but the word "NB" with the "!" made me laugh non stop. It was as if the bag got snatched and the girl shouted "NABEH!!!" hahahaha... (for non hokkien speaker, NABEH is a form of swearing and we normally use NB in short). Thats why I laughed!! HAHAHA!!!
This is a very interesting building. Look carefully in this picture and you will see many bricked up windows which lies very close to the ground. Why? Because the KGB of the soviets used to torture people in these underground rooms and in order not to let passerby walking along the streets hear it, they sealed up all windows.
A walk along the city wall.
Interesting lamps.
The Xmas market and the Old town looks even more charming at night.
In my opinion, this is the best Old town among the Baltic States!! Love it. I then went back to my host's place to make dinner. I did not know that they normally have the habit of taking turns to cook for all. So I only made dinner for me and Joey. Turned out that everyone thought I was making dinner for all and so I was kind of embarrass cause I only made a small pot of cabbage soup. Opps!! So sorry.
Anyway, we had lots of activities going on after dinner. I played Chinese Chess with them. Was surprised that they have a chinese chess set (it was a gift from someone) and even more surprise that they can play it without knowing how to read those characters on the chess.
An Aussie girl was playing piano.
An interview was going on for some projects.
and so on. You will never be bored here and will always find something to do. Well, just in case you really have nothing to do, you can help them build bicycles. They build their own bicycles here and they even have a workshop for it. This girl from Australia used to be, just visiting, just like me but she like it here so much that she decided to stay.
Here are some photos of this comfy house.
Well, we have a birthday boy in the house today and they decided to bake him a cake.
So this is the birthday boy, giving his speech.
Its time for the cake. Forget about cutting it. Just grab a spoon and dig in!
Then its time to chill again!!
And that's me posing with Joey's travel mate, a yellow soft toy.
After the chill out session, we went out for a party held in an abandoned factory. It was an unique experience for me. The atmosphere was different. Just try to imagine clubbing in Old Changi Hospital . Live bands, DJ spinning drinks etc. Interesting yah?
*Click HERE to return to the Main Page of The Cold Journey.*
posted by ZeeVinCeZ at 6:55 PM
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