Day 12: Tallin

This morning Vadim took us by tram to Kadroig Palace where he left us to explore on our own. It wasn't a very large palace but what we saw was interesting, especially its collection  of excellent paintings by Flemish artists.

 We then wandered around the gardens where they were placing oil lamps in preparation for tonight's light festival which will celebrate 300 years of the Palace as well as 100 years since Estonia's War of Independence.

We then went to see Kumu, the new art gallery of Estonia.  An impressive modern building that houses classic and modern Estonian art.

We both found it interesting. Many artists had left during the Nazi and Soviet occupation and you could see the influence that other European artists had on their work. I should have taken photos really but I didn't.

 

From the art gallery we got on a tram (now we knew how to pay!) to the rail station. Next to the station was a market with the most delicious looking mushrooms. So many different varieties.

Leaving the market we found our way  to Kalamajaan which used to be the town's main fishing harbour.  The word ' Kalamajan' means ' fish house' in Estonian. From the 14th century this area was dominated by fishermen and fish sellers. It all changed in 1870 when Tallinn was connected to St Petersburg by rail. New factories were built in this part of town  and there was an influx of thousands of new workers. Wooden houses were built for all these workers. The best of them were built in the 1920s and 30s.

These two to three storey houses  are made of two symmetrical wooden wings separated by a stone central staircase. About 500 of them still remain.

We walked through the area to get to Seaplane Harbour to visit the Maritime Museum. The building in the photo is the old prison.


Seaplane Harbour was built in 1916-1917 as part of the sea fortress system protecting Saint Petersburg. From  1918-1940 the huge concrete built hangars were used by the Estonian Air Force to store and repair seaplanes. Nowadays the harbour is home to the 100 year old icebreaker Suur Toll.  It was among the world's most powerful icebreakers and has flown the flags of the Russian Empire, Finland, the Soviet Union and Estonia. It is one of the three remaining steamer icebreakers  that used to sail the Baltic Sea at the beginning of the 20th century.

The vast hangars are now used as a high tech museum telling the story of Estonia's maritime and military history.

The highlight of the museum is the submarine.The British built Lembit submarine was built for the Estonian navy in 1936. It served in WW2 under the Soviet flag. It was in service for 75 years and was the oldest submarine in the world still in use until it was retired from service in 2011.

It was fascinating to walk through the submarine. How anyone could live in this confined space for any length of time is beyond me.

Every inch of space was used.

The museum wasn't very busy so we had the submarine to ourselves.

Outside on the quay we could see the huge cruise ships in the main harbour.

We walked back to the Old Town to get something to eat and go back to the hotel. After a short rest we returned to Kadroig Palace for the light festival.

There were lots of light installations.

Fire eaters.

I loved the colourful water fountains dancing to the music

When we'd seen enough we got back on the tram to the Old Town and met up with the others. We thought there was going to be a light show in the square but they were practising for the following evening.

 We took the opportunity for another group photo.