Jax Stumpes: Viking Homelands: Tallinn I (9/3/2018)

Monday, September 3, 2018
We were able to sneak in an extra activity today because a) we arrived in Tallinn earlier than scheduled, and b) we received a call from Fernando and Josefina wondering why we were not at breakfast yet. They were still on UTC+2 time, when we had changed to UTC+3 time! No matter, as we got dressed and hurried to join them for breakfast. They were then willing to go on a non-planned field trip with our extra time.

Fog/cloud sitting on the city of Tallinn

The Viking staff never had anyone ask about how to get to the Song Festival Grounds, which I found surprising. And we learned that if we asked them to call us a taxi, it would cost money. No, thanks!
By the time we disembarked and walked off the dock, it was nearly time for the first Viking shuttle bus to leave. We took the bus closer to the city, but the shuttle bus staff did not have any advice about reaching the Song Festival Grounds. Also, it seemed the fog was unusual.
At the shuttle bus drop-off point, there was a tram stop, and using the transit map, we determined that the trams did not go far enough, but buses would take us to the Song Festival Grounds. Due to the time constraints, there were some votes to take a taxi, however, I was still hoping to use public transport. We hopped on the next bus going our way, and the driver waved us off when we tried to pay. As we stood on the moving bus, we saw the notice of a 40-Euro fine for not having a ticket. There was an online option to purchase tickets, but our phones were not cooperating. By then we arrived at our stop!

We took a dirt path to walk around the fence of the Lauluväljak/
Song Festival Grounds, looking for an entrance gate,
and passing this abandoned house

(Sorry, another wildlife picture that is a black spot!)
We told Fernando and Josefina that no one else on the Viking Star
would see a Erinaceus europaeus/European hedgehog today! (KSS)

Found an opening and a long walkway towards the rear
of the Song Festival stadium that appeared out of the fog (KSS)

Song Festival stadium and light tower (1959-1960, by Henno Sepmann,
Alar Kotli, and Endel Paalmann in Modernist style) is the site of the
Estonian Song Festival, first held in 1869 that led to the awakening
of national identity and the first Estonian independence in 1918

Now the Song Festival is scheduled every five years, but in between festivals in 1988, several hundred thousand Estonians gathered at the Tallinn Song Festival Grounds to sing patriotic hymns and national songs. The many days and nights of singing for freedom became known as the Singing Revolution, which eventually led to the end of Soviet rule.

Statue (2004, by Ekke Väli and Vello Lillemets)
of Gustav Ernesaks, an Estonian
composer and choir director

Mural at the entrance of the Song Festival Grounds,
a carrot-driven train?

Hedgehog mural with teeme ära/let's do it

On the bus back from the Song Festival Grounds, the driver did issue us tickets for cash payment.

Russalka mälestussammas/Russalka Memorial
(1902, by Amandus Adamson) is to remember
the 1893 sinking of the Russian warship Русалка/Mermaid

Russian Cultural Center (1954, in Neo-Classical style as the
House of the Officers of the Baltic Fleet)

Tallinn fortifications with the steeple of Oleviste kirik/
St Olaf's Church (12C), at first a center for Scandinavians.
then a Lutheran church, and now a Baptist church!

Whether or not the steeple was ever the tallest in the world in 1549-1625, it was tall enough to be used by the Soviets as a radio tower and surveillance point from 1944-1991.

Tallink Hotel (2007) with tiny glass balconies

The fog had lifted! We caught the 9:30 shuttle back to the ship, and had time to prepare for the included shore excursion, Tallinn Town Walking Tour. Tallinn has been very well preserved.

Tetrapod breakwater

First a motor coach ride to take us closer to the city center.

Paks Margareeta/Fat Margaret (16C), a cannon tower with 4 m/13'-thick
walls was built not only to defend, but to impress visitors arriving by sea

Vabaduse väljak/Freedom Square was so named from
1939-1949, and then again since 1989, with the
Vabadussõja võidusammas/War of Independence
(1919-1920) Victory Column (2009, by Rainer Sternfeld,
Andri Laidre, Kadri Kiho and Anto Savi)

Pikk Hermann/Tall Hermann (14C) was a defensive
and lookout tower for Toompea Loss/Castle, and
was where the Estonian flag was first raised in
1918, and then again in 1989

We were dropped off below Toompea Castle and walked up the cobblestone street.

Toompea Castle (1767-1773 in Late Baroque style during the time of
Russian Tsar Catherine the Great) on the site of fortresses built by the
conquering Danes in 1219 who was sold to the German Knights of the Sword,
then it was given to the Swedes in 1561 who passed it on to Russia in 1710

Today the Toompea Castle houses the Riigikogu/Estonian Parliament.

Aleksander Nevski katedraal/Cathedral
(1894-1900, by Mikhail Preobrazhensky
in Russian Revival style) (KSS)

Alexander Nevsky was a Kievan Rus, a Grand Prince of Vladimir (at the time the supreme Russian ruler), who had earlier defeated the Germans/Teutonic Knights mounting a northern crusade against Eastern Orthodox Christians in a battle at Lake Peipus located between what is now Estonia and Russia. Despite the history with Nevsky and the Soviet Union, Estonia has maintained this church for the Russian population who remain in the city.

We continued climbing on Toom-Kooli Street

Eesti Muusika- ja Teatriakadeemia lavakunstikool/
Estonian Academy of Music and Theater
moved to the former cathedral school in 1999 (KSS)

The relief bust (1979, by Jaak Soans) is of Voldemar Panso, an Estonian actor, director, drama teacher and theater critic.

Toomkirik/St Mary's Cathedral (1229-1240)
is the oldest church in mainland Estonia;
became a Lutheran church in 1561

The west façade of St Mary's Cathedral, with a sun dial

Eestimaa rüütelkonna hoone/Estonian Knighthood House
(1845-1848, by Georg Winterhalter in Renaissance Revival style)
was the meeting and festivities house of the German Livonian
Knights of the Sword who were able to stay through the Swedish
and Russian occupations, but privileges were cancelled in 1920

The Knights of the Sword was a branch of the Teutonic Knights who established Hanseatic League trade in Tallinn (called Reval at the time) and later in 1346 "purchased" the city from the Danes.

View from Kohtuotsa vaateplats/viewing platform on Toompea/Dome Hill

To the north you can see the row of towers
along the city wall (KSS)

Not only was the city surrounded by fortifications of walls and towers, but the hill itself was also fortified, separating the nobles on the hilltop from the townspeople below. Usually the nobles or ruling class were foreigners, and the town was Estonian.

A rear view of the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral

Authentic souvenirs, showing that there is not
just one traditional dress for Estonians, but many
representing different regions

A view of Kiek in de Kök/"Peek in the kitchen" Tower
(1475) from Taani Kuninga Aed/Danish King's Garden

The legend is when the Danish invaded, they were about to lose the battle in this spot, when the skies opened and a white cross fell into a pool of blood. With renewed hope, the Danes went on to conquer Estonia, and the white cross on a red field became their flag. When the Danes left, they took this flag with them. The name Tallinn supposedly comes from the Estonian taani linn, meaning Danish city.