The last post about our visit to Tallinn, which is about “everything else.” No matter how many new places we visited, Tallinn is all about walking its streets. As I mentioned, we started at the “back” of Kadriorg:

And that’s it about this last visit!

We visit Tallinn at least twice a year, but most times, we walk the familiar routes. This time, we agreed to do something different, at least partially.

I neglected to mention earlier that when we visited Zoya, she told us that her village was a part of the Soviet Union for eleven years after the WWII: the Soviet Union leased a big chunk of land for it’s Navy base, and there were actual border control crossing points, and when a passenger train had to pass through this territory, the windows would be boarded for that stretch. She also explained how pretty much everything had to be restored when the Soviet Union abandoned the lease. In Tallinn, Boris wanted to explore one area which he said was closed when he was a child, for a similar reason: it was a Soviet navy base. That being said, when we disembarked, we turned in a direction opposite to how we normally walk from the terminal to the city center.

Continue reading “Tallinn Like Never Before” →

I saw a skating rink on the way back to the hotel on Sunday evening, and sure enough, I wanted to skate. It was already close to 10 PM, so I didn’t do it right then, but I was hoping that they will open early enough in the morning. It turned out that they opened at 10 AM, and they had not only the skate rental but also all possible equipment, including socks and gloves :). I didn’t need them, so I just rented the regular skates. When I got on the ice, my first thought was that it was a mistake: since that was not an artificial ice, they didn’t do any resurfacing (although there is some “maintenance schedule”), so the ice was in really bad shape. Also, the skates were not sharp enough, and once again, my initial feeling was that it would be impossible to skate even for 30 minutes. I stayed just for the “check” mark – when else would I have a chance to skate by the 13th-century walls – and I moved very slowly.

Gradually, I started feeling more confident, even in the presence of grade-schoolers who were racing, bumping into the rink fence with full force, and immediately racing back :). I figured out how to manage on these bulky, dull skates and definitely took pleasure in the surroundings.

Continue reading “Tallinn- Skating And More” →

Yes, I have photographed each of these streets at least twenty times. Still, each time, it’s new. No matter how many other cities I visit, there will always be a special place in my heart, with full knowledge that I will never understand it and that I only see what I am allowed to see. With all its shameless catering to the tourists, amber, wool, and roasted nuts, a Medieval modest beauty is just around the corner – yes, that corner. And this one :).

Continue reading “Tallinn – Day And Night” →