Estonia: Tallinn

ISS(International Student Service) of my school kindly organized a trip for all exchange students to go to Tallinn. Since it was pretty cheap, decided to go for it over the weekend. For some reason, the Tallink boat ran aground so delay, but got a good deal-a gorgeous ship Victoria!



Cabaret! Ok, it was no Moulin Rouge but it was still enjoyable.
It was certainly a much better boat than the Vikingline boat I previously took to Helsinki. Better facilities and more activities.

Ok, some background knowledge first:
Estonia
-pawn in the geopolitical games of its big neighbors:Danish(1219), Swedish(1561), German(WW2), and Russian(1710 & after WW2) rule

Tallinn "village of the Danes", capital of Estonia
-undoubtedly the most modern city in the Baltics
-but managed to retain its old charm thru its Old town, which is a UNESCO World Culture Heritage Site
-Old town is an amazingly well-preserved medieval Hanseatic town



St Olav Church, the tallest & most obvious building from far



"Fat Margaret" foregate
-1 of the most remarkable fortified towers
-some parts of the walls are supposedly 6.5m thick!



Stolting Tower & Fat Margaret replica(in Minieurope, Brussels)



Town Hall Square-centre of the Tallinn downtown
Nearby was a 300-yr-old medieval pharmacy which sold not only drugs but also textile, gunpowder, precious stones...



Danish King's Garden
According to legend, a red flag with a white cross fell from the sky in a battle for Tallinn, when the Estonians were overcoming the Danes; this miracle encouraged the Danes to win the battle. The white cross on red background became the Danish national flag as well as the Tallinn coat of arms. Strange, isn't it? To have your conqueror's national flag as your coat of arms



Facade of Toompea Castle which houses the Estonian parliament
Anyway, Tallinn old town consists of 2 parts: 1.Toompea-located on a limestone elevation, belonging to nobility & state power and 2.Downtown



Tower of Tall Hermann with the Estonian flag



Ok, this is the most beautiful building in Tallinn, in my opinion.
Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. Its interior is beautiful and different from Catholic churches, with its iconostasis. Interestingly, Christianity reached Estonia simulaneously from the West and the East-Catholicism from the West and the Russian Orthodox faith from the East



Basically Tallinn old town just reminds me of Age of Empire, with its town hall, city walls and other buildings. I feel like I'm walking in the game that I used to play. Now I'm sure there's a bell somewhere which if i "click", all the townspeople will start running into the nearest building...



Adding the medieval feel

They even got guild houses which can only be joined by certain professionals eg. merchants, handicraftsmen. The guild even has cool names like Brotherhood of the Black Heads. So D&D! Maybe they have guild of thieves. Haha. (Too bad the Brotherhood of the Black Heads actually is a guild of unmarried merchants)



This is the common pic outside shops, just like the trolls outside stores in Norway



Estonia & its Saku beer



Very filling Estonian food

Do you know?
Melodies of Estonian & Finish national anthems are the same, though the lyrics differ