It’s over a month after our BSR trip ended and I have still a lot of stories to tell you. In my last article you can read about our stay in Finland and get some info. on “The Moomins”. Today I want to share with you my impressions about Tallinn.
To be honest, very few people in Poland is enthusiastic about traveling there. Firstly, it isn’t popular a country for travelers, if someone asked me few months before what I know about this European state I couldn’t say much. Another reason for this are quite expensive cost of journey, e.g. for the same prize we can travel with some low-cost airlines to Italy, what seems more attractive to many people. So in fact I left Poland without any specific knowledge about this country. And finally, when I was on my way from a ferry to a hotel I was surprised by Estonia which amused me with its…let’s call it magic.
The tight streets with some people painting, or playing on different instruments, trying to sell you some woolly cap, scarf or gloves on the bazaars, knights who shoot an arrow or middle-aged vendors selling different kinds of nuts with spices and wonderful smell of gingerbreads – that’s how I see Tallinn now.
We started visiting the city with coming to the seaside. Even terrible cold didn’t discourage us from taking a short walk across the Baltic Sea beach and taking a fast look at rough sea. It was the obligatory point of our trip – for sure this was a real Baltic Sea Region experience.
We were sightseeing all day long. We experienced history of this city firsthand during crossing the Kiek in de Kök underground – as in the title- from the past to the future (if I want to be exact, we started in 1219 and ended in 2219). So Estonians even gave us possibility to travel in time. Is it possible in another place in the world?
What’s funny “Kiek in de Kök” means “a look into the kitchen”. From this high tower it is really possible to look into someone’s houses window, but to do so, you have to walk a long way up the stairs. I think that it’s worth, not only to burn some calories but also to see a beautiful panorama of the city which you can admire with a cup of coffee in the cafeteria on the top of the tower.
I noticed that there are many churches in Tallinn. Each of which we saw, had something special in its décor and of course in its story. Among them I liked the most Saint Nicholas’ Church. There we admired such artworks as Danse Macabre by Lübeck or a really impressive The High Altar made between 1478-1481 in the workshop of Hermen Rode. “Paintings on the outer flanks of this double-winged altar depict the life of Saint Nicholas, the central part and the unfolded wings expose over thirty wooden sculptures forming the so-called gallery of saints” as you can read in Wikipedia.
We had also an “not so pleasant” opportunity to visit a shocking place (definitely for people with strong nerves). I mean, the Fat Margaret tower, which was used as a prison in 1830-1917.
Fortunately our good mood came back when we visited the Seaplane Harbor. There we felt like real sailors in navy uniforms. What’s more, we were inside a submarine! In such a modern museum we could fly, sail and send messages in Morse code. It sounds like fun, doesn’t it?
So as you can see, I have a lot of nice new experience which I gained in Estonia, and if only I could stay there longer I would do it with all my pleasure. Now Tallinn is for me not only just a place on the map, but also an interesting city with a long interesting history and beautiful landscape.