Day 10: Tour of Saaremaa

I am on the Estonian island of Saaremaa in the Baltic sea. It rained all night and was still raining as we left for a tour of the island in the minibus. Our guide today was Kate who lived on a nearby island. I wasn't looking forward to the day as I imagined we would be in a steamy bus with someone on a microphone trying to educate us about the history of the island but I was so wrong.
















We visited a couple of medieval churches that were in excellent condition.

Preservation work was taking place outside. I was more interested in the wooden scaffolding. Not something I see at home.

Unfortunately the church was closed so we could only peep through an open grill.

This was the second church and Kate, our guide, had managed to find the key holder before we arrived and so we were able to have a look inside this 14th century church.

This relief inset into the wall depicts the scene at Calvary with Mary and John mourning the death of Christ. The crucified robbers are shown on either side of Christ. One of them listened to Christ and repented his sins and the other one didn't. The relief shows the moment when the souls depart from the robbers' bodies. One has an angel taking care of his soul and the other has the devil.










The ceiling is covered in strange signs. It is assumed that they were intended to keep the demonic powers out of the church.



There is a sign consisting of three legs. For the Vikings this was the sign of Odin, but in the Middle Ages it was the symbol of the Trinity.

 

I loved the moss covered stone walls which surrounded both of the churches we had visited.

Also stopped at a farmhouse where they produced soap. The owner was from London and had married an Estonian. Keen to get away from the hustle and bustle of life in London  they set up a small business making soap. They learnt by trial and error, neither of them having ever done anything like this before but it seems to be providing them with a good livelihood. he gave an excellent presentation. We stopped at a similar small business but here they were making mustard. Both businesses tried to make use of the plants that grew on the island such as juniper, birch, apples and so on.

Saw this field of cranes through the minibus window. Not sure which type of crane they are but this was the first real flock of birds we had seen. Apparently you see a number of different birds migrating here but maybe not at this time of the year.

We had lunch in a restaurant next to all these windmills.

We were then taken to the highest point on the island at 23m! It was a small cliff overlooking the Baltic sea. The wind was so strong we didn't stay at the top very long.

I was surprised to see these 3 swans out at sea as I assumed they were only found is fresh water but I was told it is because the Baltic sea is not very salty so they cope well in this water.

We spent some time having a look for fossils on the beach. A couple of people found one but I didn't have any luck.

We returned to Upa via Kuressaare and I saw this sculpture which I missed yesterday. I read on the Estonian tourist website that it is a sculpture of Suur Toll, a mythical hero of the island and his wife Piret. Suur Toll had a cabbage field on another island but he was able to reach it quickly from the peninsula here. When his wife made a fire beneath the cauldron, Suur went through the sea to his cabbage field and came back with cabbages just as the water started to boil. What I don't understand  is why the boat is full of fish and not cabbages!