Sunday - Tallin - Song Festival Grounds

Another bitterly cold windy day.  Another music venue.  This is the Tallinn Song Festival Grounds.  Every four  years many thousands create a choir and many more come to listen and I assume sing along.  We took the bus from down town and walked around.

It seems to have been going on forever.  The oldest date shown here was 1869 and the most recent was 1994 but we know it still goes on today.  maybe they ran out of money to make stone signs.

aaxxaaaa

Saturday - Dinner with Marcus

We rugged up and braved the icy wind and walked the 500m to Marcus' apartment.  We brought gifts of red and white wine and the makings of fruit salad.  Marcus made a vegetarian pasta loaded with chilly.  This cause sweat to form on the top of my cheeks.  Megan cut up the fruit salad which we ate neat (no ice cream)

Friday

Friday started with a bus ride to "Freedom Square".  Walked up the nearby hill.  In the first photo Megan et al are reading a panel about a peaceful protest for freedom where 2 million people linked hands across 600km.  wow.

Lunch at pub - very nice hamburger
Walk through Katherine's passage
KGB Museum
Walked around shops with Marcus
Linnahall abandoned concert hall
Dinner with Marcus and Fraser at Manna la Rossa
Fire alarm

We walked in through here.  On the inside is a square and a cafe in the tower (didn't go in this time).

Friday - Tallin - KGB Museum

we were booked in for the KGB museum tour.  I was following google maps and expecting some desolate soviet building.  Instead we were facing a shopping mall and a modern hotel.   

The KGB Museum is on the 23rd floor of the
built in 1972 using Swedish workers.  presumably to ensure quality.  Apparently the joke was a new kind of concrete.  50% concrete and 50% microphones.

If you were an American, you always ended up in one of 60 rooms. 

Friday - Tallin Linnahall Concert hall.

So Megan sees these steps on the tourist map.  The text says "Linnahall Tallinn City Concert Hall".  Being a music enthusiast we just have to go there.  

The map left out one teeny weeny detail.  The place is abandoned.   It was built for the 1980 Olympics. I think for viewing the sailing.  It's a concrete monstrosity showcasing the best of Soviet architecture and building prowess.

You can read more here
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linnahall
and inside
https://www.failedarchitecture.com/photo-essay-how-long-is-the-life-of-a-building-tallinns-linnahall/

This is 4pm in the afternoon.  The photos make it look lighter than it was.  It was pitch black.  We actually overshot and walked along Rumbi street or road and came up against it side on.    There was a building site beside it but enough room to walk between the building site fence and the stairs.  Remember it's pitch black.  We walked up the stairs and this is the view at the top of the stairs.  Later we walked to the top of the stairs you see in the distance and took a photo looking out to sea.

And the view back to the city.

As we walked toward the second set of stairs (in the pitch black) we could hear voices.  A shadowy pair who turned out to be a second pair of tourists.  Later a group of teenagers,  Anyway voices in the dark on an desolate abandoned structure are a bit scary.

This is the view looking out to sea.  There is Tallinn city heliport. 

A couple more shots on the way back.  You had to be careful walking.  There were puddles of water to avoid and patches of ice to slip on.  The trick was to find the rough dry concrete.

and avoid the arctic breeze

Tallinn - Impressions

Tallinn is quite different to Utrecht and Amsterdam and the Netherlands in general.  The Netherlands seemed to have a consistency about it.  The tall skinny old style houses, bicycles, canals, lousy coffee and so on.

Tallinn has an old city and we are staying within walking distance of it.  It seems like it exists as tourist focused place and possibly a night out for locals.

In contrast, where we are staying the car rules supreme.  There is a strange smell here.  I suspect it is from the vehicles.  Maybe different oil or something. 

At the airport we saw a sign advising that pedestrians have to wear a reflector hanging off their coat.  Google / trip adviser confirms this. 

Thursday - Markets

After the medieval wall, Strolling around the old town.  Managed to convince Megan to pause the power tourism for a moment to buy a hot chocolate.

Continued strolling and found Marcus and some of his entourage.