Hi all!
Today we had a little bit of a lie in and then had some brekky. Had toast and cereal, but turns out due to my lack of understanding of the Estonian language we accidentally bought drinking yoghurt instead of milk - oops! Made for some interesting cereal!
Started today by walking up Toompea Hill. There was a really cool violinist busking inside a tower staircase on the way up. This hill, like so many others in cities in Europe, was used to build a fortification upon it to protect the city in the 10th century. Over the centuries it's been burned down, modified etc. Now upon the hill sits a 19th century palace with the Pikk Hermann tower and city wall the only remaining components of the 15th century modification.
We wandered around the hilltop for about an hour. We saw the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral and the Dome Church. Had to lay for the latter so cheaped out and just peered in for a while. Church count is up to 13 now! We saw the parliament building (sight of the old fortress) and the attached tower. Then walked through the gardens which were lush and green, so beautiful! And so they should be with all this bloody rain!!!
We then went to a few lookouts over the city. It's interesting comparing the old town and newer modern buildings in the background. I swear I have a 'talk to me' sign pinned to my forehead though. People always walk up to me and talk!! This time it was an English man off a cruise ship who wanted to talk about the weather and random buildings. Haha.
Next we went to the Danish king's courtyard. Legend says during a battle between the Danes and the Estonians that the Danish were losing and began to pray. Then a flag fell from the heavens and they won. This flag was red with a white cross on it and is the Danish flag as a result. This courtyard was really picturesque with a lovely old city wall and tower which we climbed. The staircase was very narrow and steep though, so we got stuck up the top for ages waiting for a damn cruise ship group to come up - I am fast becoming sick of them!!
Around the corner from here there was a busker that was AWFUL. He was playing a guitar and singing as if he were under water. His voice was raspy as well! Was honestly some of the most dreadful music I've ever heard. While we watched and tried to laugh as inconspicuously as possible, he successfully ruined the songs 'I Just Called to say I Love You' by Stevie Wonder and 'Hotel California' by The Eagles for everyone listening.
Up next was a tour I had booked of a tower and some bastion tunnels called Kiek in de Kök, which means 'peep into the kitchen', as in medieval times people could see into many kitchens from the tower. We did a one hour tour that you have tip prebook online. After witnessing some tourists be denied the tour due to not prebooking, we successfully picked up our tickets!
First we were shown a 10 minute video about the history of different countries taking over Tallinn and Estonia including Sweden, Denmark, Russia and Germany as mentioned yesterday. Then we were taken down into the bastion tunnels which were built in the 15th century. They were built to help defend and protect the city. After these times, the tunnels have since been used for many other purposes. We were taken on a walk back through time with various photos, videos and props. Over the years, homeless people have lived in the tunnels until they were cleaned up to be toured in 2005. When Estonia became independent in 1991, many people lost their jobs and hence homelessness rates were very high. As well, punks and punk musicians used them as a hiding place during the Russian occupation as punk was illegal! The tunnels were also used as a bomb shelter during World War II and during the soviet bombings on 9 and 10 March 1944 (when the Russians were trying to get the Germans out) saved the lives of 1000 people who sheltered in the tunnels. Approximately 500 people died during these bombings and 20000 lost their homes. Many buildings were partly or completely destroyed. At the end we went on this weird and unnecessary train ride thing about the future. Very strange. Then at the very end the guide told us about the "huge" spiders that live in the tunnel....that are the size of a matchbox. I'm from Australia. A spider the size of a matchbox appears in my bedroom every second day! Lol.
Afterwards we got to go to the tower museum which was six small levels about the bombings in 1944 and medieval times including the plague and armour.
Then it started to rain again - I am sick of rain!! We had a coffee or hot chocolate in a cafe and then went back to our lunch spot from yesterday. Mum and dad had broccoli soup and I had potato salad with frankfurts. Enjoyed a chocolate cake which I shared with mum!
For the rest of the day, dad had a beer and chilled out while mum and I went shopping at the nearby Vira Keskus shopping centre. On the website it boasted about how big the centre was, but I thought it was smaller than Eastland! Was pretty crappy really. Usually when we go to Europe, mum and I go into Promod and come out with about ten amazing purchases. Maybe their winter range is better than their summer one, because we came out of both there and Mango empty handed!!! We did however have a good giggle at a misprint on a jumper which read 'LIFE WILL GOES ON' - oops! We ventured over the road to H&M and I ended up buying two tops. One for teaching and another more casual one. New clothes to wear here - yay! I'm getting to the point where I'm quite sick of all my clothes.
We had dinner tonight in a pub that was recommended by the trainee cook on my Topdeck tour, Kahn. And I can say that tonight's dinner was exceptional. This pub is the oldest in Tallinn and was really atmospheric as it was down a staircase and in a very medieval looking area underground. I had a delicious blueberry cider and chicken cooked with cheese. It came with chips and veggies. Mum had baked potatoes and dad had Bavarian sausages. We watched Argentina take on Switzerland in the World Cup while we ate, and mum's hate for soccer was reinforced with a nil all draw. I had spent the whole game trying to explain offside and explaining to her how there aren't many goals due to this and the skilfulness, but she wasn't having a bar of it!! Haha.
Tomorrow we catch a train to Russia. I'm very excited but also a little nervous. It took the Topdeckers three hours to cross the border the other day due to so many checks. I've heard horror stories of people having to empty their entire case and even show border inspectors photos on their cameras before! Apparently it's easier on a train though so I hope this is the case. I'm not nervous about the whole Crimea situation at all as I think all the violence is occurring in the Ukraine or near the border of Russia and the Ukraine. I have my year 12 History of Revolutions Russian Revolution cue cards on hand to pass the six hours on the train. I was a bit of a nerd in year 12 (ok probably more than a bit...) and loved this subject to death. Can't wait to read all about everything I learned about again and see all the significant places where all these events took place!
Bring on Russia!!!!!
Love to all
Claire
Xoxox
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