Musings on Tallinn
Months ago, I daydreamed of Tallinn. Online research revealed a city priding itself on medieval origins. Pictures feature a blustery skyline dotted with stone towers and bastions preserved over hundreds of years. I discovered all sorts of oddities, from centuries-old tunnel expeditions to restaurants that model their food & decor on a time where the Hanseatic League was ascendant. I read of Estonian craftsmen who seek to preserve tools & artistry from an era long past. That they have somehow managed to defy the press of a globalized economy to make such items marketable once more? It boggles the mind.
For the past few years, I have been fascinated with all things Renaissance and medieval. I’ve read books on vikings, Mongols, and Templars. I’ve mentally transported myself to the Byzantine Empire, Orthodox Christian lands, and to a time of chivalry in an age of knights and warlords. What’s more, Tallinn held the promise of a quieter coastal city after what came before. For the past month, it has felt like one massive landlocked capitol after another which, while awe-inspiring in the experiences we encountered within each one, I began to weary of.
In short, I was predisposed to like Tallinn and Estonia. Sadly, the nature of our trip did not permit us to see much of the countryside. I’m not going to lie; the medieval tinge to everything felt a bit touristic and shallow at times. We encountered multiple women and men dressed as barmaids and troubadours; their voices expressing lighthearted fun while their eyes often seeming to scream for help. The oppressive heat wave that followed us here was a frustrating opposite to the cool sea breezes I had hoped for.
Yet the wind continued to flutter the blue, black, and white of the Estonian flags that we passed beneath. The endless cobblestone roads of the old town were quieter than most, often echoing only with the cry of seagulls. The wood & stone architecture made me imagine what life here must be like as the snowfall comes in. The impressive quality of the history museums, from the Museum of Occupations to the Kiek in de Kök, prompted an even deeper fascination with the region’s past in me than I had going in.
Shout out to my parents, Fiona & Bob, who were kind enough to join us on this part of the journey! I’m especially grateful of their willingness to go along with us to all of the history nerd locations and eateries that I wanted to see. I, as always, can only look forward to traveling more with them in the future. :)
Altogether, I mark Tallinn and Estonia high on our list of places we want to go back and see more of. We did not get a chance to see the abandoned Soviet prisons, quarries, and statues. It was too hot to consider walking the trails of national parks and hills; we barely managed Kadriorg Park without suffering a heat stroke! But we leave now equipped with the knowledge that this amazing place exists for us to experience in even greater depth in the future, perhaps at a time when Autumn colors emerge and a hint of snow coats Tallinn in a new and different light.
As I write this, we trundle onward to Riga and Latvia. On either side, we can look out the windows of our (thankfully) air-conditioned bus and at the last bit of Estonian forest around us. Here’s to a new and exciting Baltic adventure that I can only hope will be akin to or even better than our time in Tallinn.
