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After Denmark, we flew to Estonia for a
few days. This is the prop plane that
we took. At first I was kind of nervous
about it, but it turned out great, and
the food on Estonian Air was delicious.
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This is the beautiful old town section of
Tallin. It's still surounded by a medival
stone wall with lots of towers. The whole
place looked like it was straight out of
the middle ages. We stayed in a hotel in
the heart of the old town.
If you are going to travel in eastern Europe,
I highly recommend getting a travel guide
from the people at In Your Pocket.
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This is the old town hall, they say it
is an excellent example of gothic
style architecture. It was built in
1404.
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See the stones in the shape of an 'L'
at Jill's feet? Our guidebook said that
this is the site of a famous witch burning
in the 16th century.
Jill is having fun re-enacting the event.
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It looks like they still have a witch
problem in Estonia. I saw this
suspicious broom a few blocks away
from the town square.
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This pharmacy has been owned by the same family
for 10 generations.
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This is the Alexander Nevski Cathedral, a
Russian Orthodox church on the top of
a hill called Toopea.
I know the picture looks fake, but it's real.
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In the middle ages, Tallinn was like a
fortress. Estonia was getting invaded
be everyone, all the time, the Swedes,
the Danish, the Germans, the Russians.
The inscription on this cannon, in one
of the museums reads:
The council of Tallin named me 'Lion',
so that I'll devour their enemies;
Karsten Middeldorp cast me in 1559,
and this is indeed the truth.
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No, this is not some kind of Halloween
costume. This is actually a doctor's
uniform from the middle ages. They
used to wear this when visiting people
with the plague. I don't know what scares
me more, the plague, or medival doctors.
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Outside the city of Tallin there is a
wonderful open air museum, with lots
of farm houses from different centuries.
Jill and I stumbled on this group in
period costume doing some sort of play.
I think it was a dedication ceremony for
the opening of a new building. Everything
was in Estonian, but it was fun to watch.
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There are some wonderful doorways
in the old part of Tallinn. This one
is from the house of the 'Brotherhood
of Blackheads'. They were an association
of bachelor merchants in the middle ages.
Their logo, the blackhead, comes from
St. Maurice who was a Moor.
Go here to find out more about the Blackheads.
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One of the highlights of the trip
was the music museum. They have an
amazing collection of antique music
making machines. The cool thing is
that the ladies who work there will
play the machines for you if you ask.
Many are over 100 years old and they
still work great!
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