Choral Music Festivals

We stopped on the way back to the cruise ship at a location where people flock with their blankets to sit in a grass bowl to listen to music. Interesting enough, but we have things like that in Chicago. At first look, the stage area looked a bit large but otherwise just a nice clean white sound baffle.

But the scale fools you. Look closer. Closer than that. Blow up the photo. That is a just grandstand, almost big enough for a football game. When filled with choirs, that stage will draw in gigantic audiences for all-day songfests. We have nothing like that in Chicago!

One man watches every concert and watches the empty stage on other days. A favored Estonian composer who worked with the concerts here has been memorialized with a huge statue on the hillside, where he listens to the music . . . or the silence . . . every day.

A wonderful visit, Tallinn. Just one word about the next post: Russia.

Viewpoints

Several areas of the old town are in the lower portion of town, while some are quite elevated. The viewpoints from above looking down steeply or down and across are as pretty as seeing Brigadoon on a sunny morning. The sights are so easy to enjoy, they become difficult to leave.

But we did leave, of course, and found one other section of Tallinn quite interesting. We visit there in the next post.

Blonde and Costumed

The poem in the previous post and some words in an earlier post reminded me of how friendly and nice the people were. Most of the workers in the old city shops were wearing period costumes, some working at old-time crafts such as the blacksmith seen here, some selling curio pieces that brought out that feeling of classic, old-time values.

The young lady waving to the tourist crowd and offering to rent her Segway, of course, had a more modern look and found several riders interested in the Segway!

Tall Herman & Freedom

Tall Herman, the highest of the towers, anchors one corner of the old city in Tallinn. As our tour guide mentioned some of the names, she seemed to be leading us toward Tall Herman. And she was, for a great reason.

We came through a portal into an open area, looking up at Tall Herman, as she told us of the Estonian flag: three thick bars, with blue (for the sky), black (for the earth the Estonians love to work in) and white (for hope). She told us of the day in 1991 when they took down the red hammer & sickle, actually before the time the USSR collapsed. The new flag was rung up to the cheers of hundreds, maybe thousands, standing right where we stood.

The area was quiet, she had not said what I wondered. So I asked. Yes, she was there. My first thought was that it was like hearing someone who watched Thomas Jefferson finish writing our Declaration. A wonderful moment, a holy moment, in praise of freedom.

A poem was in the offing, and here it is:

PRESENT & ACCOUNTED FOR

Our Estonian tour guide, leading us on a walk through Old Town,
Among the several towers of differing heights from Short Martha
To Tall Herman, up and down cobbled streets and past shops
Each staffed with smiling young women, blonde and costumed.
Past several churches, Russian Orthodox to Lutheran and more,
Her short-cut bright red hair making her an easy person to find
And her facts and anecdotes making her east to follow and listen for.

We rounded a corner to see the flag high atop Tall Herman;
Three broad bars with blue at top to show us the sky,
Black in the center for the soil that they love to till,
White at the base because white stands for hope.
The flag that was illegal to display when Estonia was a
Soviet Socialist Republic, where the hammer and sickle
Gold on bright red field was flown for half a century.
Until the day, as the USSR was crumbling under its own weight
When thousands of Estonians gathered right here in this spot,
Cheering and crying as the red sickle was lowered and the
Estonian flag was raised for the first time, in defiance, in a
Move for independence. Thousands were here at this spot.

And were you here, she was asked. Sometimes the shortest answer
Shows the most emotion. She looked at me, smiling, “yes.”

Steeples of Tallinn

It occurred to me as we began our tour of Tallinn that I was visiting my first SSR. One of the 'overrun countries' of the Baltic, Estonia along with Latvia and Lithuania were the three countries known to me only as the three that were dominated by the Nazis in the 1930s and 1940s and then fell under the domination of the Soviet Union after that. More than a half-century passed before these people earned their freedom. We will have more on that topic in the next post.

Here I must comment on the beauty and the power of the steeples of Tallinn. For a country dominated by the officially-atheist Soviet Union, these churches are remarkably beautiful, kept up well, and welcoming. The Orthodox Church seen here, along with the Lutheran Church, were able to retain their identities and become once again places where Estonians can go in peace to worship God. It all made for a wonderful Thursday visit.

Tallinn Town

As I look back on the visit to Tallinn, I remember some major points and some historic events, some of which we will mention in upcoming posts. But among the most important impressions the city made on me was that of a homey, wonderful place to live as well as to visit. Much of the Old City was bustling with tourists, of course, and most of the Estonians I met were there because of us tourists, but the feeling of comfortable homeyness was palpable.

The narrow lanes with the brightly painted buildings, the smiling people, the modern us of the old wall (I loved the bike parked in the centuries-old nook) all gave a feeling of peace and prosperity.

More of Tallinn in the next post.

On to Tallinn

After we left Stockholm, we headed to Tallinn the next morning. An intriguing stop, the capital of Estonia was more of an afterthought on this itinerary to more famous places. To the surprise of no one, the unheralded stop was a wonderful place to visit.

The Old Town is surrounded by thick walls, and today's city surrounds that wall. Several towers, square or round, are the high points of that wall. Beautiful sights are in every direction, buildings and people, and it turned out to be a tremendous day. Details included in the next post.