Day 7 - Exploring the Old Town

​Today started off seamlessly. We had some delicious breakfast, which brought back so many memories. Rye bread, cottage cheese, cucumber and ham. Simple but damn it was good! We then started our little wonderings around the old town. We went to the Viru gates, to head to Viru Keskus and there was the flower wall. This wall has been in Tallinn for as long as I can remember, the first time I came here in 2001. There is an abundance of flowers people can buy for various occasions. It is tradition here that when you graduate, anything, friends and family will buy you flowers. These flowers are also purchased to make flower crowns for dancing, midsummer and festivals (I may get one on Sunday for the song festival). It just looks amazingly stunning and brings so much joy, seeing all the colours and variety of flowers.

​We then of course, started to find shops with all kinds of Estonian things in it! What I did notice is they have somewhat changed their “branding” from 4 years ago. It kind of reminds me of the branding down at Perisher Ski Resort with the snow flakes, but obviously these designs are based on Estonian patterns. They are really cute and I had to stop myself from buying all the things!! I have time, it is literally day 2 of 6 weeks, and I will be back, so I did leave most of the things there. Part of me really appreciates how Estonians are really patriotic, because it means there are products like the ones in the photos and so much if it that you really can take some parts of Estonia back home with you.

​Mum and I saw this little “Thai Spa” and with all the walking, and my inability to say no to a massage, we decided to get some massages. It was so good to just switch off for a moment and feel the soothing touch of a leg massage. Not that my legs were sore, it’s just something I really enjoy and this was a really good one. My massage therapist may just be out of the job, sorry Ben ;) no free ticket over here to help fix me up haha but seriously, it was a great decision, more to help mum be pain free, or minimised pain, when walking and it worked! We may just have to go back there!

Next up we headed to Viru Keskus, where we had to get our Estonian sim cards. This was mostly for the data but also so we could contact family here in Estonia so we could meet with them. It is a big shopping mall with all the modern things. It is strange, i generally do not associate modern day places with Tallinn, really only the Old Town, because that is what I come here to see. It was like we had been taken out of the old ways of life and into the modern times, but as we were walking back to the Old Town, I remember thinking to myself...Ok, I am going back in! To a place where I feel comfortable, safe and can just explore without any care in the world, and that is exactly what I did. But before we did that, we went to Prisma (another supermarket) to get some things for lunch. 

They had some Pirukad, black bread chip things and chanterelle sauce, which I am sure we will try at some point while we are here. It still amazes me of the things you can get here, that are so traditional or things I really like to eat, being Estonian, but we can't get in Australia and it is just here, available, ready to take in these supermarkets!

​After this little adventure in Prisma, mum went back to the apartment for a rest, and I just wanted to walk around and explore. I found some wonderful little shops I wanted to take mum back to. Just being there, in Vanalinn was wonderful. Watching people, seeing how they were having their own experiences and enjoying different parts and in many ways, really made me feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude that we are able to do this. Going in and out of shops, appreciating the wonderful käsitöö people had created, the old buildings that have been around for a very long time with some from the middle ages. There is just so much history here with some terrifying, horrific times as well as some of the most joyful moments in Tallinn’s history. I am so grateful I am able to explore Vanalinn, even with the war happening in Ukraine. Along my wonderings I did stumble across the Russian embassy, more on that later.

​On my wonderings, I found that Käsitöö shop on Pikk tv. This shop was different to the one I went in the previous day. The lady who was in there was so kind and helpful. She could speak English but was really patient with me in my grammatically incorrect Estonian. I spent some time in there looking at all the different things and wondering what I should buy. It is all just so beautiful. There were these two, somewhat rude, French women in there who kind of just pushed in and took a long time. This poor lady kept apologising to me in Estonian, but it was ok, I had time and I didn’t mind, it meant I kept looking at things I would like, or gifts for friends and family. I did get one gift in there, but I won’t share for who or what it was. I do remember, when I walked in I saw the map on the wall with all the badges! This looked so pretty and a beautiful representation of the different costumes from different counties in Estonia. Id love to have this on my wall at home! I might have to go through all the badges and collect them all and make this for my apartment. It was so cute and made me smile, to see how many different styles of costumes there are! The other thing that struck me about this store was they had ready made national costumes hanging there! The skits were about 270 euro but they also had the tops for some and Tanu to match. This was incredible. My Great Grandmother used to make national costumes, in Australia, using the loom and I felt this beautiful connection in that moment. I think, at these times, I am lucky these costumes probably don’t fit me, otherwise I would probably buy one!

​After I left this shop I realised what I saw before me. It was the Russian embassy. There was police stationed there all the time and barricades up with so many messages of anger, hate, war, realities of what Russia is doing to the Ukraine. I remember thinking to myself, this is such a devastating reality of the time we live in currently and (hopefully) I won’t see this kind of representation of anger again, but who knows. You can really feel the Estonian people standing behind the people of Ukraine in their fight against Russia. The Estonian people really want to shine light on the devastating effects of what the Russian Government are doing to the people in Ukraine through so many images, words, messages, and show people, tourists, etc the realities of this war. I took a moment, when I saw this, and really considered what was happening. I felt an overwhelming sadness that this could still be happening in 2023, a Government terrorising a nation, going unanswered and the horror that the Ukrainian people must be experiencing. Not to mention having to start there lives over again in another country, away from everything they know, their families and their way of life. This may be hitting somewhat harder as I am reading a book about a ladies experience during the Holocaust so my reflections and associations are probably somewhat stronger, bringing about more of an emotional response than they normally would. I just hope it ends soon, as do many people around the world. If you want to see more and hear about the devastating effects of the Russian Government, please watch this inspiring story done by 60 minutes, this week, with the Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas. Click this link to watch the 23minute video.

​After a short break and I collected mum, we continued on our little adventure. We went up stairs at Lühike Jalg (short leg street) and I was really impressed with mum, she did it without complaint and really just enjoyed the experience and of course, the shops along the way. When we got to the top, we went into this cute little t-shirt shop. When we arrived the lady who was working there was somewhat dancing to some Estonian Rap Music. I thought this was the best thing I had seen all day! She just didn’t care about anything and was enjoying the last hour of her work. We started talking to her and she was absolutely so lovely. Once we started speaking some Estonian to her, she was so helpful, trying to find me shirts that I liked and in my size. She kept telling me it was not a problem that I was bigger, especially in the chest area, because it means I am wealthy and many women would be envious of my body shape. She made me feel so comfortable and empowered, and we managed to find some shirts with Estonian designs on them. At one point I didn’t want to try on a shirt but, like a typical Estonian grandmother, she told me I had to and of course, I obliged. She was sharing stories with us about how that day some Russians came in and bought 10 shirts each (they are not cheap) and we pondered how they would have the money to do these things. She told us a story from many years ago that she used to own a fur shop in Vanalinn and one day a Russian couple came into the store and the man said to the woman, you can have what ever you want. 

She spent some time and chose what she wanted, and he just handed her the cash, no conversations, no questions, just a raw transaction. We had a little discussion about this and it is amazing how there is such a class difference in Russia. The rich are very rich and the poor are very poor. It is funny, due to the way I was raised and the stories, I am even hesitant to write to much about this because of how Russia operates and how it could be implicated, how weird!

Anyway, after this mum and I wondered around the top part of Vanalinn. We both had this feeling, at the same time, that my mum’s dad was around us, guiding and protecting us. He grew up here in Vanalinn in the early years and are staying not to far from where he grew up. It was a really calming, nurturing and protecting presence, as we wondered around, taking photos and enjoying the views of Tallinn.

​As we were walking up to the look outs, we came across this building. Currently it is the home of the Academy of Science. As soon as mum told me that, I was interested in what the purpose was. Mum wants to live there, the building is just stunning.

​We finally got to the top of the city and ready to take some wonderful photos at the look out. I was a bit sad they had put graffiti on the wall there but I did like the Estonian flag and the song title/words they had written. I had a moment of reflection here and thought to myself, tourists with limited knowledge of Estonia would never understand the significance of the flag and the words painted on this wall. Music and song are very much part of our culture and it is how we got our freedom in 1991. If you have not watched it or read about it, do yourself ad favour and watch “The Singing Revolution” it is a documentary on how Estonia gained its independence and all through singing and our connection to our culture. It is incredible, and at large, why the Song and Dance festival is still a big part of our world today.

​After our walk back down the hill we headed towards to beer house. This was a moment of nostalgia for us. We used to go there a lot when we are here with all our friends and family from Australia. It was nice just people watching and having a light dinner, watching all the different people walking past. I finally got to have my Estonian garlic bread. I was so happy it is so delicious and took me back to when my Grandpa used to make it for us. The rye bread was the perfect sweetness and the garlic sauce was amazing! We think it is made of sour cream, mayonnaise, garlic and dill. It was so refreshingly good. I can’t wait to make it again when I get home. We have had some amazing times in this beer house, it became a central meet up place for everyone during the times we had here. It is strange with just us being here this time.

After dinner we wondered back to Nimete Baar for a little cheap night cap before we headed back home. We were exhausted. My phone pedometer registered that I had done about 18,000 steps and about 12km worth of walking! No wonder I was ready for bed!!
Until tomorrow
​Marissa xx