Estonia. Tallinn

  Tallinn was the highlight of our Baltic journey. We literally immersed ourselves in the world of the Middle Ages, wandering through the narrow streets and spacious squares of the old town, visiting all the observation decks of the castle part, and climbing the viewing platform of St. Olaf's Church spire...

 The path to the "old" town lay through its more commercial part - the "new" town...

  Featureless skyscrapers that, in essence, don't reveal where you are...   

 And then we leave the modernity behind and get a chance to touch history...

 Morning. Hardly any people. We are alone in the main square of the old town... Before us stands the Tallinn Town Hall, the only preserved medieval Gothic town hall in Northern Europe...    

  Around Town Hall Square...

  Town Hall Pharmacy is one of the oldest operating pharmacies in Europe, functioning in the same building since the beginning of the 15th century...

   The streets of Tallinn...

The Tall Hermann Tower of Toompea Castle, where the Estonian flag is raised with the sunrise to the sounds of the national anthem...     

   The domes of Alexander Nevsky Cathedral...

   Views from the observation decks of the castle part of the city...

   St. Olaf's Church is "head and shoulders" above all other buildings...

  Knights' armor, a staple of the Middle Ages...

   The fortress wall...

   The terraces of the fortress wall serve as places for cafes...

 Medieval-themed images...

   Harju Street...

   We loved spending time on this street the most... Super comfy benches and very beautiful views...

  The most beautiful panoramic views of the old town can be seen from the observation deck of St. Olaf's Church spire (Estonian: Oleviste), the main architectural landmark and the tallest building in Tallinn...    

   View of the port terminals ...

Our second day in Tallinn was rainy. All day long, heavy rain alternated with light drizzle. But the drabness brought by the weather was softened by the colorful medieval market...

   Cooking soup "the old-fashioned way"...

 

  Despite the bad weather, the town hall square was crowded...

  After the rain, the streets became even more contrasting...

  Cinema...

  Freedom Square, where stands the Victory Monument in the War of Independence 1918-1920 - the Cross of Liberty...

   The rain drove us into an underpass where, as it turned out, we saw a lot of interesting things...

   In the underpass, we were very impressed by an exhibition of works by local photographer Julia Bogacheva. She photographed the sea from the same angle every day, and each photograph was different... She wanted to show that in the daily routine of repetitive tasks, we stop noticing the details... She aimed to draw attention to the search for inner balance... The possibility of looking at monotony from the outside... And realizing its diversity... You can review her work online at this link, but it won't have the same effect as seeing the photographs displayed sequentially in a row...  

  Also, in the underpass, we were very impressed by the Museum of the Popular Front, which introduces the period of Estonia's struggle for independence...

   The most impressive idea in the museum was a "mini-cinema" on wheels...

   Inside a Soviet minibus "Latvia," a TV was mounted. Climbing inside, you could watch a ten-minute video about the "Baltic Way" action in 1989... At that time, 2 million residents of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia joined hands, forming a "live chain" 600 km long. The action was an important step towards gaining independence for the Baltic states, and this event was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. The short video, compiled from archival footage of the event, was so touching that it brought tears to our eyes...  

 We spent about an hour in the museum, watching several more videos of historical events from those times. Meanwhile, the rain had ended, giving the streets a more subdued mood, just as the museum had influenced us by showing the difficult times of our history...

 Having visited all the Baltic capitals, it is striking how different they are despite their geographical proximity... The overall impression of the Baltics is a case where you expect to see one thing but get much more...