March 16, 2001 (Day 9): Tallinn, Estonia – 8.30pm
Woke up this morning with a strange glow outside our window. Instead coming from the sun, its luminescence came from the reflection of light off the snow. Yes, snow. Anna wanted to sink deeper under the covers at the news. The downfall has been light but constant all day. With the temperature hovering around 0°C and a steady wind off the Baltic, it has been another day of dashing between coffee shops.
Day began with a lovely breakfast of porridge. It was perfect weather for it.
We visited the “oldest still-functioning pharmacy in Europe.” This would be, I think, the third “oldest still-functioning pharmacy in Europe” that we have visited, the others being in Dubrovnik, Croatia and Krakow, Poland. We are just covering the bases.
After much difficulty, we located the Tallinn City Museum. I am glad we were persistent. The museum provided a very informative history of the city from medieval times to the present. Well-designed display cases complimented with well-written handouts in English, which we were allowed to keep. Perhaps it is more accurate to say, “which we kept” since I am not sure they would have wanted mine back after I scribbled notes all over the margins.
Tallinn
Tallinn was a major port on the trade route between Novgorod and London and Brugges in the 16th Century. The city had two jurisdictions. The Upper or Old City (Toompea) followed the feudal rules of the Livonian Order. Because it was a member of the Hanseatic League, the Lower Town had the privilege of self-government granted by the Lübeck bylaws in 1248. These two separate municipalities existed until the Russians placed them under a single administration in 1889. One of the main points of contention between the two cities involved the status of serfs. The bylaws stated that a serf was considered a free man if he lived in the Lower Town for a year and one day. This antagonism led to the building of a large wall between the two towns – a wall that remains the only indication of where one city ends and the other begins.
I had the good fortune to have a bit of a guided tour. On the section dealing with the early 20th Century, one of the docents chose to practice his English. He walked me through the displays covering the independence movement in 1918 through the Soviet reoccupation at the end of the Second World War. There were patriotic posters in the 1940s, from the Russian authorities against the Germans, from the Germans against the Russians and a surprising number devoid of swastikas or hammers and sickles. These last ones were produced by the “government” that arose between the German retreat and the Soviet advance near the end of the Second World War. They encouraged people to rise and resist the Soviets and fight for an independent Estonia.
The museum did not shy away from uncomfortable facts about the beginning of the Second World War. The docent pointed out that many Estonians saw the Nazis as liberators from the Soviet Union. Hence some supported them during the war. This was not uncommon in Eastern Europe, but may not always be politically correct to admit.
Stopped for “kaffee and küchen” at a pastry shop reputed to be the oldest and best in Tallinn. Curiously, it was directly opposite the Russian Embassy. My mind filled with images of spies with expanding girth as a result of their missions monitoring the comings and goings from the embassy. As we left, we – that is to say, I – stopped, smiled and waved at the camera mounted by the embassy door. Anna expressed concern that this “indiscretion” would cause us problems entering Russia.
Dinner tonight was at a ‘beer hall’ with a large, roaring fireplace in the center. The food was good – nothing special – but ideal on a cold, snowy day.
Another good omen. While surfing available channels on the TV, I came across an episode of Kommisar Rex dubbed, I presume, in Estonian (it could be Hittite for all I know). This show was a favorite of mine while we lived in Germany. It is about a crime-fighting German Shepherd who single-handedly solves all the crimes in Vienna. It is kind of a live-action Scooby Doo except with a smarter dog, dumber humans, and no villains being unmasked decrying “those meddling kids”.
Editors note: Excerpts from Anna’s journal included.
Tallinn City Museum, relating the legend that the city of Tallinn will never be completed
Every autumn at some dark night an old little grey man emerges from Lake Ülemiste, goes downhill and reaching the gates of the town, asks the watchman: ‘Has the town been completed already?’ All the watchmen, however, have been compelled by the court of law to give the answer: ‘No, the town is far from ready. This is much to be built yet and it will take a good many years before everything is finished.’ The old man would shake his grizzled head and mutter in frustration, turn around and return to the lake. Should the watchman accidentally reply that the town is quite ready, the old man would send the waters of the Ülemiste down into the valley where the town is situated and drown everything and everybody in it.
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