4th Port - Tallinn, Estonia

July 12 – Tallinn, Estonia

Today was cloudy with a little rain, so we took our time getting off the ship hoping it would stop raining.  We had about 8 hours in Tallinn, one of the best preserved old towns in Europe.  This year is the 20^th Anniversary for Tallinn’s independence.  As we got off the boat there were booths set up and as we were browsing as it started raining harder and harder.  Our shoes and pants were soaked.  Luckily there was a Hop On Hop Off tour bus waiting, so we hopped on and toured Tallinn in the rain for a while.  It was hard to see out the windows since there were so many wet people on the bus, but at least we weren’t walking in the rain.

After about an hour it stopped raining, so we hopped off the bus and stopped in Tallinn’s “Upper Town” on Toompea Hill.  There we stopped at Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, a Russian Orthodox Cathedral.   The inside was full of icons, which are paintings of various saints and holy people.  The cathedral had the typical onion shaped domes. 

Also on Toompea Hill was St. Mary’s Cathedral, a Lutheran Church from 1233 (aka “Dome Church”).  Inside the church there were many coats of arms on the white walls. 

Nearby was St. Mikael’s, a Swedish Lutheran Church. The interior of this church was plain compared to the inside of the other churches we saw in Tallinn.  In the basement of this church there was a small museum with items from the founding church members.  When Estonia was Soviet, the church was used as a sports facility. 

We walked to the “Lower Town” and stopped at the Town Hall where we toured the museum.

On top of the Town Hall is a weather vane, the figure of an old warrior called Old Thomas.  According to the legend, the model for the weather vane was a peasant boy who excelled at the springtime contests involving firing crossbow bolts at a painted wooden parrot on top of a pole. Unable to receive a prize because his low-born status, Toomas was rewarded with the job of town guard for life.  Old Toomas would give candy to the children in the Town Square. When he died, the children constantly asked, "Where is Old Toomas?”, which led to uncomfortable answers about the nature of death. Once the weather vane was erected over the town square, parents would tell the children that Old Toomas was watching how they behave and would leave candy under their pillow for good behavior.

Town Hall

Old Toomas

We stopped for a short rest at a Café in the town square, just an excuse for Jay to try the local beer, Saku.  Next we stopped at the Holy Spirit Church which had a wood carved folding altar dating back to 1483.  Our final church that we stopped at was St. Oleviste  (St. Olav’s) a Baptist church, where there was a tower that you could walk up 258 stairs.  Jay climbed up the narrow spiral staircase to the top and I waited at the bottom.  Jay said the view from the top was good and would have been better on a clear day.

Folding Altar

View of Old Town from top of tower

On the walk back to the ship we passed Fat Margaret, which is a large short tower that was part of the defenses around the town.  There were quite a few sections of the original wall still standing around the town.  Tonight after dinner we went to a trivia contest and then caught the last half of “Secretariat” at Movies Under the Stars. 

Fat Margaret