Last full day in Helsinki before the somewhat scary plunge into Russia.
Well, we keep talking to different people who have just been to Russia
and so many of them think it was rather unpleasant, except for a Latvian
couple who we met in Porvoo who said it wasn't as bad as they expected.
But whatever it is, it should be quite a contrast to the last month.
In a way, before hand, I expected Estonia to be a little bit like
Russia. I mean it was part of the Eastern Bloc and communist and all
that. Admittedly I really didn't know all that much about Estonia
before we went there. I remember reading stories years about about some
of the Baltic countries, Lithuania I believe, and there were a lot of
wistful things in that about years ago when we were free, and that sort
of theme.
I really liked the spirit of Estonia when we were there. At first I was
a little surprised by the tone of how they talked about the past, but
maybe it was more just an unfamiliar tone rather than being actually
surprised that they would feel that way. To us, growing up, anything
east of the Iron Curtain was just the Evil Empire, Reagan even joked on
the radio about nuclear bombing it out of existence.
But 1991 was a watershed year for them. So much there seems to be
measured starting then. 800 years of domination by one country or
another, and then a few short years of independence between WWI and WWII
until they were handed off to the Germans and then the Soviets until the
Soviet Union finally started to fall apart and they were able to assert
their independence again. Amazing that their national culture held
together for so long through all that, it must be the songs. And maybe
the fiendishly difficult language.
There were things all over Tallinn like that like plaques on government
buildings memorializing government ministers who were killed by
Communist terror. The lady who rented us the apartment talked about
traveling to the US in 1990, while the Russians where occupying the
country. We went on a 2 hour bike tour of the outer parts of Tallinn,
lead by a fairly young woman (22-23?) and hearing her talk about times
and events that happened before she was born or while she was still a
very small child, it put a whole new layer on the whole thing.
We saw the memorial the Soviets had built in the 70s as a WWII memorial,
but nobody really goes there anymore besides tourists and nobody cares
about it anymore and it is slowly decaying. Weeds are growing up
through the concrete, cracking it and pieces of it are falling off all
over the monument. That seems to be mostly how they handle those sorts
of things. The Communist things don't really get torn down, they are
part of their history after all, mostly they just are left to slowly be
forgotten.
The singing ground was pretty interesting too. That is one of the
things that really made a difference for them, the national songs and
the unity that created. In the late 80s and early 90s, they had a
singing revolution. Across the three Baltic countries, Estonia, Latvia,
and Lithuania, on one day, 2 million people joined hands. There had
been movements before, the late 60s started looking hopeful until the
movements were violently put down in other countries in 1968. But I
think I'll have to look for some Estonian music at some point, to see
what it was that they all came together to sing at the festivals, what
kept them together.
Anyways, on Tallinn, since we didn't really expect to be there, we
didn't really have all that many expectations of it, just a less
expensive place to rest and recover for a few days.
I did get sucked into the whole town card thing though. It is a
fiendishly evil markinging scheme those cards. Package together enough
free things that you really have to do a lot of them to feel like you
are getting your money's worth, or even coming out ahead and put a time
limit on it. It seemed nice in Oslo to have one, things were just so
expensive, it didn't seem that difficult to pick 3-4 museums as well as
free public transport to come out basically even on the deal. The 48
hour Tallinn card, it was pretty cheap, like 30 euros (the cost of a
nice meal in London). But the museums are pretty cheap too, although
with deceiving prices. Go up the church tower for 30 EEK, no that's too
expensive, hmm, wait, that's only about £1.50 or so.
But still I did it and then did an afternoon blitz. I saw three photos
in the photography museum which I absolutely loved, and the rest were
just sort of interesting, walked on the old town walls (refreshingly
unconcerned about safety and liability, crawling up crumbling steep
unlit stairways), a few towers off other sections of the wall with
different museums crammed into them.
My favorite and really totally worth the 30 EEK, even without the card,
was the St Olav church tower. 258 steps up and out onto the edge of the
tower, almost hanging over the edge, it was an amazing view of the city,
and slightly scary too. We even finished off that day with dinner at
one of the tacky theme restaurants, olde times and all that. The food
was pretty meaty and ok, sort of expensive by Estonia standards. It did
sort of annoy me that it was supposed to be a medieval theme yet they
had people playing Renaissance music. But maybe nobody else notices
things like that.
I guess the Tallinn card was worth it because we took a bike tour. It
was nice to be back on a bike again and to go out of the city and see
some nice things out there, and the ocean. We were early to pick up the
bikes and the Tallinn card reared its head again. 15 minutes to spare,
going for a walk, hmm, there's a museum, let's go in. Turns out to have
been a museum about mines. Dozens of old mines on display. I suppose
somebody must be into that, sort of a specialized trainspotting I guess.
But 5 minutes in there (well it was free with the card) and 10 minutes
in the maritime museum just a few doors down.
I would say I am happy about our stay in Estonia. We had a nice
apartment slightly out of the old town. Walking through the old town a
lot, it is just so full of old world charm but it is rather unreal after
a bit too. It is pretty to see but normal people don't live there.
Being in an apartment a bit outside of that was nice. It was nice too
just having less expectations and some time to rest and just not do
anything. A month solid of being on the move, seeing things, doing
things, it is nice to just chill out for a little bit.
We took the ferry over from Tallinn on Wednesday. The crossing was a
little bit rough. I generally don't get seasick but I was even feeling
it a little bit. All the fast boats had been canceled for the day
because of the winds and swells. We got to Helsinki and got on a bus
straight away and went an hour away to Porvoo. Our Finland time was so
shortened, we had to do something besides go to Helsinki. Porvoo was
supposed to cute and oozing with history. We just had less than 24
hours there and didn't get a chance to do much besides walk around the
old town. It is pretty charming and all, even the super famous red
houses along the river.
Helsinki, I've just had almost no expectations of things to do here.
Maybe I'm a little tired or it is Helsinki. I have been a little
disappointed so far. At least with the pedestrian signs. They are
exactly like the ones in Sweden, no alien heads like in Estonia, no
jaunty fedoras like in Norway. And in Finland, also unlike the other
countries we have been to, the pedestrian crossings are almost exactly
like in London, that is the only difference between it and any other
section of the road is there are lines painted on it. Norway, people
were great at stopping for you and even smiling about it. In Finland,
every crossing has been a few cars trying to squeeze past you before you
get into the middle of the crossing and then a grumpy expression if you
do finally get them to stop for you.
We haven't seen a whole lot of Helsinki yet, after one full day here.
We did go see Happy Go Lucky last night (subtitled in both Finish and
Swedish) and it was pretty good and nice to see London again, even if it
was north London and somewhat unfamiliar areas. It made me miss London
again more. We finally got the last of our travel vaccinations (which
we totally should have sorted out before leaving London). We tried to
get the third booster for Japanese Encephalitis in Estonia, but the two
clinics we went to, apparently they don't have a dose of it anywhere in
Estonia. In Porvoo, the nurse was out for a few days, but here it just
took a few minutes. So, that quest finally done. In terms of touristy
things, the big cathedral seems pretty from the outside, a bit boring on
the inside. I do like the look of it, it looks like a pretty grand
Monticello with an added cross on the top and stars painted on. The
government buildings around it are a bit dull, big and grand but a bit
bland. I just can't think of much else that I really want to rush out
and do. None of the museums seem inspiring enough to go to and I guess
I've had my share of them in Oslo and Tallinn. Maybe it is time for a
few cafes and just relax until we leave for St Petersburg tomorrow.
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