Tallinn - a Tall Story

Yes, I know - haven't done a blog for ages! So here's an uberblog on my choir trip to Tallinn to make up for it - either that or it will bore the pants off you!!

My 'lot' : Ann, Sheila, Jeff, Denise and me







Sunday 30th May - Day 1
Left Swansea about 8.20am. For some reason there had been a cock-up over the flights so we had to leave a day sooner and this meant staying over one night in Riga, Latvia. Funnily enough as this extra day cost us nothing we weren't unduly upset at this prospect. Better still we enjoyed excellent hospitality at Hotel Tomo when we arrived at 11.00pm, more or less taking over the bar - decent beer & very tasty snacks so a great start to the week.
And another thing ...
Our guide for the week Maciej had been very organised handing out all the key cards before getting to the hotel so we could go straight to our rooms without having to check in - with a group our size this usually takes ages. One small catch to this was that he had to read out everyone's name in full including the middle one for those who had them. So we now know that there is a Rufus amongst us and better still a Barrington! But you might find the And another thing ... for Thursday funnier still.

Monday 31st May - Day 2
Had a pleasant couple of hours in old Riga - being lazy I took it very easy and just sat in the town square taking pics, drinking beer and watching numerous tourist groups go by.
Then off on the journey to our proper destination, but what can I tell you about the route, particularly in Estonia? Well, the first thing you notice is the trees. And the second thing? Well more trees! We are all used to long distance travel along dual carriageways both in this country and certainly everywhere else I've been to, but the road from Riga to Tallinn was single lane all the way. And tree lined all the way. Now as much as I love trees you can get a bit too much of a good thing!
First impressions of Tallinn? Surprisingly affluent when you consider it's fairly recent history of soviet oppression, with a lot of quite fancy new build. After decamping at the hotel I think virtually everyone decided the short walk to the old town was the thing to do. Whilst it doesn't cover a huge area it is without doubt one of the prettiest places I have ever visited. On this occasion we were just intent on getting a brief feel for the place, and finding somewhere to eat. Being reasonably warm we found an outdoor eatery, but finally ended up in a 'beer keller' with a 'jolly' waiter. We were a bit silly at his point ordering 5 'grand' beers thinking these would be equivalent to 1/2 litre, just under a pint. Our 'jolly' waiter quite fairly assumed that by 'grand' we had meant 'litre', but did pull a fast one in bringing us probably the most expensive, equivalent to about £5.60 a pint!!! Fortunately, for me at least, it was delicious - just as well at that price!
And another thing ...
I need to point out a rather disappointing fact about tour hotel in Tallinn. Now don't get me wrong - by no means are all the choir and their friends & partners desperate for the next drop of alcohol (just some of us!) but we were of course there as a group and on past trips have enjoyed all getting together, to talk & sing, and drink if we wanted to, but even then often just coffee or a soft drink. So not surprisingly we were a bit put out (well gutted really!) to find out the bar closed at 10.30! I'm not even sure you could get coffee at that time and in any case I tried it one morning - bloody awful & bloody expensive too!

Tuesday 1st June - Day 3
Coach tour round the city starting at 9.00am - interesting enough but some of it did vere a bit too much towards political propaganda. One real high spot was visiting the open air concert area which every 5 years sees a mass choir of 30000 performing to an even bigger audience. Some of you may have seen a recent TV series called 'Sacred Music' where in one episode they visited Tallinn and had shots of the festival in ull flow. The choir stood at the top of the bank and sang Steal Away - perfect!
Then a walking tour through the old town, with two groups to cater for different walking speeds - very good idea, and if you wanted to go off on your you could as we were going to make our own way back to the hotel. Personally I find guided tours extremely tiring so whilst we started off with the faster group Jeff & I then wandered off to discover the town's delights for ourselves, and quite delightful it was too, as you can see from these shots.
Concert in the evening in a place which when translated from Estonia into English included the word Blackheads - I just kept conjuring up a vision of spots! But it went down very well with the audience. A joung mixed voice Estonian choir did a stint in the middle - very good and all without music, lead by a very dynamic & friendly female conductor.
As the coach dropped us back at the hotel we decided to eat nearby at the Zebra - Ann & I were bushed from standing so long on a very hard floor.
And another thing ...
Another rather interesting fact about the hotel - it changed owners mid week, so whilst we went in to the Reval Hotel Centrale we came out of the Radison Park Inn. But at least they had the sense to improve things straightaway with a sign saying that the bar would be open til 12 at the weekends!

Wednesday 2nd June - Day 4
Full day to Parnu, about 2 hours drive south - all in all not the most successful trip ...
This time the road was not so tree lined (still plenty of them!) but the third thing you notice about Estonia is that it is very flat - a few 'bumps' but blink and you'd miss them. At least we saw some cattle & horses, farms & houses, and so on that score definitely more exciting than the other road trip. What was not so good was the incessant commentary. The very pleasant female guide was the same as on yesterdays' city tour and started off giving some more general chat through the city centre & outskirts. That would have been fine, and even she acknowledged that some of us had been looking forward to a bit more shut eye. But for some reason she carried on, and on - a bit like the Chinese water torture she'd say something, stop for a bit and we'd all think 'great she's finished' be just about dropping off when she'd say something else!! Now I realise that we were a captive audience and obviously she wasn't going to miss the opportunity to tell as many people as possible in the outside world about her country. But we were on holiday, and I for one can only empathise for so long - arghhh!!! Once she actually stopped talking politics, housing, economics, rural activities, population statistics, industries & jobs etc etc etc to point out a fox - I missed it.
Parnu like Tallinn is on the coast, and it was a lovely day. Some people would have liked to have spent the day there, but this was not to be. It would at least have been nice to have a coffee in one of the cafes on the beach - that was not to be either. Instead we had the obilgatory coach tour - it's not a big place and I'm sure we went down some streets twice - and parked 10 minutes walk from the beach, stood there for about 10 minutes on a concrete slab having to listen to this other guide ('here's the sea' - what more can you say?!) and then got marched back to the bus. What was even more ridiculous was that we then drove to within in couple of minutes of the beach - double arghhh!!!
At least we had the rest of the afternoon free time but Parnu old town is even smaller than Tallinn - half an hour should just about cover it - so we were of course obliged to spend most of the time going from one bar to the next. I did have an ulterior motive - I wanted to be tired enough to go to sleep on the way back in case our guide decided to carry on where she had left off!
Jeff & I had a stroll up to old town square but returned to join the rest for a meal again staying close to home by going to the Bospherus, a Turkish restaurant literally opposite the hotel. Ate inside but even though a cool wind blowing had our final drink for the evening out in the last of the sunshine. And as with all establishments in Tallinn they provided blankets to wrap around you as it got colder - what a brill idea!
And another thing ...
By this time I had been gradually sussing out what to do for breakfast & lunch. Not a morning person so my idea of a perfect breakfast time is no earlier than 11, but most days we were going to be out by 9 at the latest. So the cunning plan was to have a little just to keep me going and then wrap up lots of cheese, to go with my favourite biscuits that Jeff though to bring with us, and a boiled egg, to eat later - just the ticket!

Thursday 3rd June - Day 5
Full day trip to Helsinki - had to be ready to leave at 7!!! Very foggy crossing and stayed that way for a while but by late morning this had cleared to reveal a lovely sunny afternoon. A short bus tour including two memorable visits :
the Rock Church - built out of an old air raid shelter, with a ceiling made out of one piece of wire curled round - middle picture below :





and Jean Sibelius sculpture, formed using large but different sized vertical metal 'pipes' doubling up as a musical instrument for anyone who doesn't mind looking stupid sticking their heads up them and making a noise.







Dropped off back in the centre we walked round the market on the quay, full of souvenirs, fish & gulls, and reindeer products, then to the cathedral square, and on to the station, in particular the Pullman Bar. This was brilliant on two counts : the decor was fascinating, straight out of Agatha Christie, and the range of drinks quite incredible plus I had the best lager of the week.
Meandered back to the coffee shop where we had been on the way up, but this time had a couple of drinks whilst listening to live music, a singer dressed up as a Cossack with his accordian player giving a mean rendition of Monte's Shardaz.
Back in Tallinn it was up to the old town again to eat, this time in the Peppersack where all the waiters are dressed as peasants from the middle ages. There was another restaurant that apparently served entirely authentic food (such as undercooked chicken!), with authentic lighting (candles so you couldn't see what you were eating!!) but I don't think our eatery went that far although I never did get to look inside.
And another thing ...
When boarding the seacat back to Tallinn I noticed that my boarding card had left off the last two letters of my middle name, which is Virginia - go figure!

Friday 4th June - Day 6
A lie-in!!!! then Jeff & I strolled around old town again, taking a ludicrous number of photos - Jeff was trying to take 1000 for the week but failed miserably with a mere 600 or so! Met up with Ann in the Hell Hunt - a very decent bar for lunch & a beer - then taxi back to the hotel to get ready for our final concert in Rapla. It took about an hour to get there which supposedly would have given us plenty of time to rehease, get changed ready to perform at 7. Slight communication glitch - the concert started at 6 which I found out at 5 minutes before! Pleasant enough hall but personally I felt the accoustics rather poor such that we kept going flat. However the audience were appreciative enough. This time we shared with two girl school choirs combined but with the same dynamic choir mistress - again very good, no copies (I think she must be very inspirational, she even got them moving!!)
The entertainment for our last evening was at a mock traditional Estonian restaurent - all dark wooden beams (and a bright pink Ladies!) The beer was cheap (good!) the food OK, but to start with the dancing for me left a lot to be desired. However it perked up considerably when the men came on to do a formal dance routine to a heavy metal number. After that it was more fun (and I'd had a few beers by then) which included the obligatory one when they pick on poor unsuspecting members of the audience eg Jeff, to go and dance with them - always good for a laugh. We were celebrating a number of birthdays so at the end of the evening there was champagne all round, so the bus ride home was very pleasant (I felt particularly glowing!), including a good singalong with a beautiful sunset as a backdrop. And as the sign had 'promised', back at the hotel the bar was STILL OPEN!
And another thing ...
During the week I got bored with taking sensible photos, so here's a collage of some of the sillier shots :

Saturday 5th June - Day 7
Last day, and went to Catherines Palace - sunny but a cool wind. After a cafe stop & a wander Jeff & I decided to try a tram back to town - a bit confusing but funnily enough another British couple were doing the same and they got into quite a muddle. At least Jeff had remembered reading that it was a bit cheaper - and simpler - if you bought tickets from a kiosk rather than on the tram.
Had one last meal at the bottom of the old town then a final wander to town square - a bit surreal as there was a festival of music on but whereas there had been classical stuff earlier we got there just in time to hear a forces band playing McCarther Park!!!
Back to blighty but from Tallinn rather than Riga - no more non-stop tree-lined roads, for now at least.
And another thing ...
That's all folks.

Les