Oldest capital in Europe

Thursday, May 29, 2014
Tallinn, Estonia
Tallinn, Estonia Thursday May 29It is a cold rainy day again. Our tour is not too early. We met the SPB Tour guide outside the gates. The large bus takes 23 of us into the Old Town. Estonia is also on the Sea of Finland. This is the oldest capital in Europe. It still has most of it's original wall. It is well preserved with cobblestones. It was founded in 1154. Education is free here but you need to get a masters degree to do well. They study Estonian, English and either German or Russian as their third language. There is a 99.7 literacy rate. They are a country of nerds. They encourage their citizens to have babies by paying there full salaries for years and giving job security when they do return to work. This is a quaint, nice town. The new part of the city is totally separate from this historic part. There are old walls, towers, gates, and buildings. We went out into Pirita. This was just outside the city. There were many prized wooden painted houses. We saw soviet built apartments. The Russians tried to get Russian speaking people to move here so that the population could become predominantly Russian speaking and they could take the country of Estonia back. Does that sound familiar. Luckily, the guide said, this did not happen. The average pay is about $1000 a month, not so much here. We pass a hotel built by the soviets that was used to spy on the occupants. The saying was it was built with stone and microphones. We pass the 1980 Olympic grounds that has now is a worn out hotel and an Olympic sign. We saw the garden and governors palace. This is now a museum. Next we go to see the Song Festival Grounds. Every five years the Europeans meet to sing together. It takes a year of auditions and practice to get to participate. All the countries practice the same songs for the year and sing together. We heard 30,000 or 50,000 participate. It is a BIG deal. The amphitheater is used for some other occasions. This country claims that only 12 percent here have any religious affiliation. When we started our walking the guide said one of the building was used by Baptists! Interesting. She says that religion was not practiced under the soviets so the children were not raised to go to church. Most churches are Russian orthodox or Lutheran. We visit St Alexander Novski church. We pass the guild building. This was super important in the day. You had to be a guild member to do business. One such skill was stone cutters who made stone marker for each home. It was placed out front and was like your address. Anyone passing by could tell who lived there by looking at the markings on the stones. None of the original are left. They were moved to make way for road work and such. There were replicas. Estonia was calmer and had a better feel than the other ports. There was lots of local art and craftsmen. There was a whole sections of knit wear...very beautiful. I also saw knit in linen.
  Another day done . Lots of walking, cool rain and mist but not too miserable. We liked Estonia.
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Comments

dwlp.travelkids
2014-05-31

Sounds like a good, lower key day for you. Glad you enjoyed it.

Pete & Stephanie
2014-06-01

We are so glad you were able to get in your visit to St. Pete and Talinn.
We liked Talinn a lot too. Safe travels.

2025-02-11

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