Sunday, December 4, 2011

On the Road: Tallinn

During our 19-day fall trip, Doug and I had an opportunity to spend a day in Tallin, Estonia. It's a lovely historic city, which survived years of Soviet domination.

There are numerous reminders of Communism, like this sculpture in a beautiful park leading up to St. Mary's Cathedral in the Upper Town.


The weather was beautiful during our visit; there were several parks in the Upper Town.


St. Mary's Cathedral - also known as the Dome Church - is the oldest church in Tallinn and mainland Estonia.


During a tour of the Upper Town, our guide pointed out this section of the street because it represents centuries of history. The top right are original cobblestones, the crumbling bricks on the top left are from the Soviet period of domination, and the lower right are recent moulded cobblestones.


This is a view of Tallinn from Toompea, Tallinn's fortified hill. The city's intact city wall has 29 watchtowers, each topped with a pointed red roof.


After exploring the Upper Town, we made our way down to the Lower Town, beneath Toompea, for lunch at one of the many restaurants ringing the Town Hall Square.


Bob and Marion (center, from Princeton, New Jersey) joined us for a wonderful lunch at Kaerajaan.


The salmon with parmesan risotto was delicious!

(blog entries by Heidi Hutson)

1 comment:

magnusk750 said...

The sculpture is of the Johan Pitka, one of the leaders in the estonian liberation from Russia in 1917-1920. The sculpture was inaugurated in 2007.