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November 16, 2004
Taking Care of Business
Tuesday morning, Tallinn. Susanne and I grabbed a quick breakfast just before 8:30am; I'd hoped to get up earlier but the noise from the casino combined with a sudden return of jetlag had kept me tossing and turning until after 3am. I now had a series of meetings scheduled around town with various government officials and educators, so Susanne would have today and part of tomorrow for herself. We quickly went over a map of the Old Town, and I suggested a few highlights for her to hit. As it turned out, the hotel rented out audio guides, so Susanne planned to pick one up and explore the city.
My meetings around Tallinn ended just after 4pm. At some point during the day, the winds and rain had ended, but clouds were forming again. Perhaps there'd be snow tonight; it had been forecast for Wednesday.
I returned to the hotel and spotted Susanne sitting downstairs having some coffee. She called up to me, so I went to the basement café, where I found her sitting with her café au lait, a big smile brimming on her face. Apparently she'd had a good day touring Tallinn.
"So'd ya have fun today?" I asked.
"Tallinn is wonderful!" she exclaimed. "I had a great time." Susanne had rented an audio guide and followed it around the Old Town for about six hours, exploring every nook and cranny of the city. She recounted her day, describing the great churches and overlooks and alleys she'd visited.
"Tomorrow when I'm done with work you'll have to be my tour guide," I said.
Eventually I changed out of my suit and bundled up in more casual clothes so we could go out for the evening. This time, when we went outside, Susanne led the way; she apparently had the entire Old Town imprinted in her head. We walked up to Niguliste Church and then over to the town square, where we discovered dozens of wooden kiosks being unloaded from several trucks. Just beyond the trucks, a large fir tree had been decorated with Christmas lights, though it wasn't lit yet.
"Oh, it'd be wonderful if we were hear for the Christmas market!" Susanne said.
"Yeah, it would," I said, "but I have a feeling they won't be ready til this weekend, once we're long gone and in Berlin."
I then suggested we swing by my favorite haunt, the Hell Hunt, for a round of hoogvein, but Susanne was still too excited from her day exploring the town; she wanted to go for an extended walk instead. We walked uphill from the square past a new beer hall that hadn't been there in early 2002; the sign in front of the hall said it had opened later that year. Inside, we could see enormous metal fermentation bins; apparently it was a brewpub. I suggested we stop there for a drink at some point.
I followed Susanne as she led me through town, giving me tidbits of trivia along the way. "And there's the house where they say the devil got married," she said. "This town would be great for a Ghost and Goblins tour."
Soon we reached Luhike Jalg, or "short leg," a steep stone stairway that serves as a shortcut to Toompea, Old Tallinn's upper town. I held onto the metal rail as we climbed the wet stairs; they were still quite wet from this morning's downpours. Passing through a giant gate, we then reached a small plaza protected by medieval stone turrets. An Estonian couple kissed on a wet park bench while a small group of British tourists were told about the plaza by their guide. To our left, I could see Niguliste Church from above, its massive spire parallel with our elevation. We experimented with my camera, trying to take some pictures of it at night, but the plaza wasn't wide enough to let me back up the necessary distance to capture it well.
Walking through another stone gate, we arrived at the foot of Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. Constructed by the Russians at the turn of the 19th century, the cathedral sat just meters from Toompea Castle, and served as an ever-present reminder of Russia's dominance over Estonia over the course of two centuries. From the back of the cathedral, I spotted a light through one of its giant windows, so I suggested we walk around and see if the cathedral was still open.
"It's probably closed by now," Susanne wondered aloud.
"Maybe, but it's not even 6pm," I said. "The Baltic winter darkness is playing tricks on our inner clocks."
The cathedral was indeed open; in fact, a small service was under way. Entering the cathedral, I immediately noticed the smell of frankincense wafting through the giant hall, floating in the air along with the voice of a Russian choir. To the right of the altar, a group of several dozen Russians, mostly older women in headscarves, were standing in prayer, as a priest went back and forth behind a giant screen. The choir was performing from somewhere behind the screen, but I guessed there were about a dozen singers, dominated by male baritones and basses. Another priest then stepped out from behind the screen and began reciting prayers in a deep Russian monotone. To the left, a young woman wearing a white fur coat, white dress and white high-heel shoes walked slowly from icon to icon, kneeling to the ground, kissing each icon, and praying. In the center, a blonde man in his late 20s also walked from icon to icon, giving each a reverent kiss.
Susanne and I observed the service for about 20 minutes, eventually retreating to the adjacent gift shop as the main hall became more crowded. Susanne bought a packet of postcards showing the interior of the cathedral, since you weren't supposed to take pictures inside the cathedral; I grimaced, somewhat embarrassed, having done just that, though as discretely as possible.
Leaving the cathedral, we again attempted to take some nighttime pictures, but having left my mini-tripod at the hotel, weren't having much success. I suggested we try again tomorrow night with the tripod; we'd just have to hope for semi-decent weather. Meanwhile, Susanne suggested we visit the scenic outlook on Kohtu Tee, just passed the Finnish embassy and the EU mission. I followed her up Toom Kooli until we reached Toomkirik, the dome church, which gives Toompea its name. Unlike the Orthodox cathedral, Toomkirik was closed for the evening, so we took a right on Kohtu, following along the slippery cobblestone past the old mansion that now serves as home to the Finnish embassy. Across the street we past a row of amber shops; amber jewelry was a particular specialty of Estonia and the other Baltic countries.
A couple blocks later, we reached the scenic outlook, which I recognized the moment we arrived. A small plaza, lined with shops to the left and right, featured a spectacular view of Old Tallinn. We walked to the far end of the plaza and gazed out at the city. To the left stood Oleviste Kirik, which was the tallest building in the world for much of the 15th and 16th centuries. In the center, you could make out Raekoja Plats because of the spire of the town hall soaring above it. Behind it, New Tallinn loomed in the distance, with its modern skyscrapers and hotels mixing somewhat incongruously with the gothic forefront. And to our right stood Niguliste Kirik, the church by our hotel that we knew so well.
I spent a few moments trying to snap some long-exposure photos of the vista. The stone wall along the edge of the plaza served as an excellent impromptu tripod. Unfortunately, the camera's batteries would not cooperate, and after a couple of photos the camera promptly died. Though disappointing, it didn't stop us from trying to commit the view to memory. In fact, I still remembered it surprisingly well from the last time I was here, the only difference being that the buildings were all coated in a fine sheath of snow.
Retreating down Kohtu Tee, we hung a quick left until reaching Pikk Jalg ("long leg"), the sloping stone path to the lower town. The street's cobblestones were perilously slippery, but fortunately there was a thin strip of flat pavement on the far right of the path, allowing us a somewhat safer trip downward. If memory serves me, I fell on this street the last time I went down it, so I took my time the whole way.
Eventually, we reached the foot of the slope, in the heart of the lower town. I couldn't remember exactly which way was the best way to head towards the town square, so at first we walked in the wrong direction for about half a block before realizing the correct way. I suggested we stop for another visit to Hell Hunt, where I enjoyed yet another hot serving of hoogvein while Susanne accidentally opted for pear cider, thinking she was ordering apple cider. The pear cider wasn't bad, per se; it just wasn't what either of us were used to. We didn't stay terribly long this time; the bar's stereo was playing a particularly annoying Frank Zappa disc that started to rub me the wrong way after 40 minutes or so.
Finishing my drink and abandoning Susanne's, we left Hell Hunt in search of dinner. Once again, Susanne was determined to hold out and avoid Estonian food for a little while longer, so I suggested we try something ethnic. Our guidebook recommended a pair of Indian restaurants just east of the square on Vene Tee; a few blocks south, I knew of a Georgian restaurant that sounded intriguing. I'd lived on Georgian and Armenian food on my 2002 trip to Russia, prior to coming to Tallinn, and was eager to try it again.
First, we stopped outside Elevant, one of the two Indian restaurants. They had a large menu of classic Indian curries with some interesting twists, such as boar vindaloo and moose tikka masala. It sounded good to both of us, but just for comparison's sake, we walked a few blocks to Sauna Tee to check out the Georgian restaurant. A dark, deserted alley with bricked-up windows, Sauna seemed like a rather creepy street. Unfortunately, the creepiness took its toll on the Georgian joint, which was utterly deserted. The lonely atmosphere didn't seem very welcoming, so we retreated to Vene Tee to try Elevant instead.
Opening an enormous door, we found a wrought-iron spiral staircase, winding around three times before depositing us at the upstairs restaurant. From the moment we entered, we could tell that Elevant was engineered to inspired hipness. Mood lighting and acid jazz set the tone, as we sat in oversized wicker seats below eerie, life-like portraits of animals. Just above my head, a head-on portrait of a smirking peacock seemed to look down at us. "Ubiquitous gaze," Susanne joked.
We spent dinner lounging in the cool restaurant with several other couples scattered around the room, quietly chatting and eating excellent Indian food. We both started with a soup -- I had a lamb soup while Susanne had their vegetable soup -- before moving on to a chana masala and a chicken vindaloo. The chicken was a little dry, but the sauce was wonderful, and Susanne's chana had a fascinating aroma to it. Cinnamon and cardamom perhaps? With all the other smells wafting around the room it was hard to tell.
After dinner, we decided to pay a visit to Beer House, the giant beer hall just a couple blocks up from the town square. The Estonian brauhaus was busy, but not too chaotic, except for the waitstaff, who ran around with many liters of beer at a time. Susanne ordered a cider -- an apple cider, she clarified -- while I tried their martzen, which tasted fresh and a little smoky. At a long bench in front of us, a large group of Estonians feasted on a variety of sausages with liters of dark ale to wash them down; to their right, a waiter tripped and dropped a half-liter of beer, nearly slipping and falling, which would have showered at least another four liters of beer, glass and all, on top of him if he hadn't caught his footing at the last moment.
Around 9:30pm, we left the beer hall, cutting through the town square before continuing towards our hotel. I was having a great time just being out and about in the city, since I knew I wouldn't have as much time as Susanne would playing tourist there. Rather than going back to the hotel, I suggested we stop at one more place. We walked around trying to find another interesting bar or café, but several decent options appeared to have closed early. In the end we stopped at an Irish pub that served un-spiced hoogvein and flat beer. It was a bit of an anti-climax to what was otherwise an immensely enjoyable evening.... -andy
Posted by acarvin at November 16, 2004 8:56 AM
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