ELK SOUP AND SAND CAVES

Tallinn - Old Town viewed from Toompea Hill

There has been a settlement at what is now Tallinn for at least four and a half thousand years!  Like most places in the Baltic countries it has been fought over and changed hands many times.  It suffered badly in WW2 , especially with heavy Russian bombing in 1944.  It was not improved by the years of Soviet occupation when it was developed as a major industrial port and became the home for many thousands of Russians.  Since independence in 1991 much of the Old Town has been carefully restored and interestingly designed new buildings erected outside the walls.

Tallinn St Catherine's Passage in the Old Town

The Old Town is not a tourist museum but a vibrant centre with historic buildings, restaurants, Government offices and businesses existing side by side in the narrow cobbled lanes surrounded by well restored sections of the city walls.

Tallinn City Walls

Knitwear was on sale everywhere and several shops had manikins, like this one, displaying them outside their doors.

Tallinn - a typical  manikin

We had delicious elk soup and forest meat patties in a tiny cafe in a corner of the town hall.  It was rather dark being lit only by candles and had a very interesting toilet!  (Rather darker than it appears in the photo!)

Tallinn - toilet in Town Hall Cafe

Just outside the city walls is a poignant memorial called “Broken Line” commemorating one of the worst European maritime disasters – the sinking of the ferry SS Estonia on 28^th September 1994. 

Tallin - Memorial to those who died in the ferry disaster 28-09-1994

To this day nobody has been held responsible and no compensation has been paid to families of the 852 people who died.  The integrity of the enquiries that have taken place has been called into question and some evidence suggests that there may have been an explosion, possibly from the ship hitting a mine.

From Tallinn we travelled to Estonia’s second largest town Tartu.  In spite of the town’s size there is an almost intimate feel to the centre, dominated by the university which occupies many of the buildings.

Tartu University main building

The Town Hall Square ...

Tartu Town Hall Square

... has a delightful sculpture depicting two young people kissing under an umbrella in front of the Town Hall

Tartu - Lovers Kissing

And the Kivisilla Art Gallery really does lean at a very strange angle.

Tartu - Kivisilla Art Gallery!

Another interesting sculpture depicts an imaginary meeting between Oscar Wilde (1865-1900) and the Estonian writer Eduard Wilde (1865-1933) although the two never actually met.

Tartu - Two Wildes

In the building behind the sculpture a printing shop was founded by yet another Wilde – Peter Ernst Wilde - but it is now a café.

Travelling south from Tartu we visited the Piusa Sand Caves. 

Piusa Sand Caves

These underground caverns were dug out of the compressed sand by hand as the sand was mined for the glass industry from 1922 to 1966 when they started open cast mining.  The caves are now an important winter hibernation site for 3000 bats of five species, at least one of which is endangered.

And from there we continued south along the deserted roads into Latvia.

The road south