Onward to Latvia

 Saturday, March 29th

 This morning I enjoyed breakfast with the couple from Brooklyn.  After checking out of our rooms we were on the bus with 'Magic', our bus driver, heading south to Latvia.  Simona let us know that we were expecting an unusual weather day for this time of year - warm (low 50's) and sunny!  With such good weather she arranged for a stop at Vitrupe Beach, on the Baltic Sea, so that we could at least see it up close and take some photos; we could even touch if we so desired.  While enjoying the sea breezes Simona had some special Estonian liqueur called Vana Tallinn for everyone to taste. It was incredibly sweet, and the herbal taste was hard to describe.  It didn't taste bad, but I did not finish my shot - reminded me too much of cough syrup.  

Back on the bus Simona told us about the sea.  It is known for the sand dunes that it creates along the shore as there are a lot of strong waves.  A unique feature of the Baltic sea is that there is only 7grams of salt per kilogram of water (very low salinity), due in part to the multiple, large rivers that flow into it.  When she was a child she used to spend her summers by the sea.  It was very common for Lithuanian families to do that back then, but prices have now risen (unsurprising) and many resorts have been built. For anyone who loves amber (fossilized tree resin used in jewelry), over 90% of the world's amber comes from the Baltic region!  As such, there are a myriad of amber options available all over Tallinn, Rīga, and Vilnus as they're a sought-after souvenir.  Pieces of amber torn from the seafloor (often during harsh winter storms) are cast up by the waves and collected by hand, dredging, or diving. There are nine countries with Baltic Sea access: Germany, Poland, Russia, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark. 

Latvia has about 2 million people and 300 miles of coast on the Baltic. There are many mixed families in Latvia (Russian-Latvian) because of their time under Soviet Rule.  Rīga has had a high population of Russians living there for many years, and in the 1980's it was nearly 50-50 (Russians-Latvians).  Still today there are a lot of mixed families because the Soviet Union chose Latvia to build lots of factories and sent Russians there to work. After the collapse of the USSR most Latvians chose Latvian passports (they had previously had both as the Russians allowed them Russian passports). As a result, you can hear quite a bit of Russian spoken today, despite Latvian not being a Slavic language or having anything in common with Russian.  As it was in Estonia, the Latvians are very pro-Ukrainian because of their not-too-distant time of oppression by the Russians.  Many of the Baltic countries are attempting to become more energy independent, despite the increased costs of doing so, because they do not want to support Russia by purchasing their oil and gas.

The capital of Latvia, Rīga (pronounced "ree-gah"), is known as the Art Nouveau capital of the world, and quickly became my favorite location on this trip.  I've also heard Rīga called the "Paris of the North" due to roughly 1/3 of the buildings in the city centre being in this delightful architectural style.  We arrived at our hotel (Radisson Blu Latvija) and shortly after I was heading to the Old Town for some wander-time.  

Gorgeous afternoon sun today and clouds in the forecast for tomorrow, I determined to take full advantage of the stunning facades and cobble-stoned streets around me.  Photo opportunities were abundant and my handy Maps.me app gave me freedom to wander without getting lost.  For those who don't know me well, despite having nearly 30 countries under my belt I'm still horrible with directions and am very, very easily lost.  The top of the St. Peter's bell tower gives you 360-degree views of the town, so the clear, sunny skies spurred me to do that today too.  The 9€ entry fee was well worth it on such a fine day, and my one dimensional photo cannot do the real view justice.

 

Rebuilt after WWII

 

The first mention of the church is from records dating to the early 1200's, but it's current footprint was mostly created during renovations in the 15th century.  With a history of that many years, the church took several hundred years to be fully built and has been partially destroyed and rebuilt numerous times (fires and wars, more fires and more wars).  The most recent renovations were finished in the 1980's, and the church was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1997.  At the back of the church they had a very fascinating display pertaining to the Reformation in this area of the world (St. Peter's is a parish church of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia).  

 We have an Old Town Rīga tour tomorrow, so I knew I would be able to get the "facts and figures" tomorrow, but I believe I hit the highlights today.  Back at the hotel I rejoined my group and we headed to Piazza Italiana where we enjoyed a lovely dinner together.  I sat with Irv & Roz (the more I get to know her the more she reminds me of my Grandma Barb), Bob and Bernadette (the couple with whom I had enjoyed breakfast this morning), Rose (from Chicago), and native Floridians Jack & Yvonne.  The food was delicious and the company was nice as well.

Touring Tallinn

 Friday, March 28th

As anticipated, despite the sleep deprivation of the last 28+ hours and an OTC sleeping pill, I barely slept last night.  I was able to enjoy my breakfast alone and read my Bible while enjoying a coffee, as is my usual at home.  Off to the bus where me met Kadi, our local guide for the morning.

Our first stop was the Tallinn Song Festival grounds, the home of a highly significant cultural event held every 5 years.  July 2025 will be the next festival and about 10% of the entire country's population will be on the festival grounds (the choirs have around 30,000 and the attendees are another 100,000 people).  Only the best choirs are admitted into the festival, and it is a celebration, not a competition.  

The ice was leftover from a skiing competition.

The very first Song Festival (in Estonia) was held in 1869 and it helped to unite the country during the period of the Estonian National Awakening.  The songs the choirs sing are Folk Songs, and Estonia is recognized as having one of the largest collection of folk songs in the world.  Estonian Folk Song Spotify Songlist.  The song and dance festival tradition of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania are included in the UNESCO list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity as a unique phenomenon in the world.  The statue (on the left) gazing out over the Song Festival grounds is of Gustav Ernesaks, the beloved composer and choir leader who they lovingly call the Father of the Song.  

On the grounds here, 36 years ago, the Estonians gathered to sing patriotic hymns and folk songs in what became known as the Singing Revolution.  The Russians didn't allow them to sing in Estonian (during WWII they were occupied by Russians, then Nazis, then Russians again), but the USSR couldn't stop them!  Kadi explained to us that this event (and the Baltic Human Chain) helped the world to know that Estonia, and her Baltic neighbors, did not want to be part of the USSR.  Within 4 years, by August 1991, Estonia had declared their Restoration of Independence (they'd gained their initial independence, also from Russia, back in 1918).  

Our next stop was the Memorial to the Victims of Communism.  As far as memorials go, it's relatively new, completed in 2018.  It commemorates those deported, imprisoned, or murdered due to communism (1 in 5 Estonians).  The entrance is a large, black walled "tunnel" inscribed, alphabetically, with the names of over 22,000 people who died - untold more were never heard from again, and the memorial is in their memory as well.  The list of names is by no means complete, but it is a start.  The inscription at the entrance explains the vision for the memorial, "The journey is a long corridor that symbolises the merciless power of the totalitarian system.  The home garden is the place where dreams, memories, and a longing for home intertwine.  The symbols of the home garden are apple trees and honeybees.  A monument to Estonian Officers who fell victim to the communist terror is a part of the memorial.  A wall as the place where they were executed stands as a reminder of their fate."  The outside wall, visible in this photo is covered in bees because they compare Estonians to bees since bees stick together and always find their way home.  The wall also has lines from the poem "He Flies Towards the Beehive" by Juhan Liiv which as since been put to music and is now sung at the Song Festivals as a song of mourning, resistance, and hope.  There are 22,000 honeybees in the swarm on the wall, one for each of the names inside the tunnel.

Kadi told the story of her great-grandfather who was a farmer with a lot of land when the Russians came.  He was deported in 1940 and sent to Russia to serve a 30 year sentence.  By the time he finally returned to Estonia there was nothing left for him.  his 65+ acre farm had long since been collectivized and his wife, assuming him dead, was with another man and had several more children.  He died within a year of his return, a broken man.  His name will likely never end up on a memorial, but the effects of communism surely led to his demise.

 Our last destination was Old Town Tallinn (tah-lin).  We sfirst aw the beautiful pink, Baroque-style Toompea Castle, the traditional seat of power in Estonia and home to their current parliament.  Opposite Toompea sits Alexander Nevsky Russian Orthodox Cathedral, built in the 17th century style of a Moscow church.  It was mainly built as a show of Russian power & oppression (its location, facing Toompea, is not accidental) and it still stands, thought not much loved by Estonians.

Moving from the Upper Old Town to lower Old Town we were shown St. Mary's Cathedral which was established in the 13th century and is the oldest church in Tallinn, and mainland Estonia.  It was originally Roman Catholic, but after the Protestant Revolution it became Lutheran.  It is also known for the different kinds of tombstones dating from the 13th–18th centuries.

St. Mary's Cathedral, Tallinn

 

Raeapteek, considered the oldest operating pharmacy in Europe

 

 

 

Protesting the Russian war against Ukraine

Around 12:15pm our tour ended and we had the afternoon to ourselves.  Kadi graciously led some of us to Viru Centre, a large shopping center with a grocery store in the basement level and Rahva Raamat on the 3rd floor.  I love visiting grocery stores when in other countries, and she told us this one had a vast array of inexpensive and delicious prepared foods.  It struck me as a very posh grocery store, but after procuring nourishment I headed upstairs to the bookstore.  They are the largest bookseller in the country and this particular store (they have locations in 9 different cities) was recognized in 2022 as the World's Best Bookstore at the London Book Fair.

After heading back outside I wandered a bit - it was chilly, drizzly, and gray today.  Many cobble-stoned streets and lane ways, and surely many building of significance of which I was unaware.  Tired, and still fighting off a cold, unsure what else I wanted to do (besides sleep, and be warm & dry), I headed back to the hotel.

  

The Tallinn Brotherhood of Black Heads, est. 1399

 Dinner as a group tonight was at a lovely place called Scheeli Restoran (pronounced "Shelly").  I sat with an entertaining couple from Brooklyn (Bob & Bernadette) who were very New York Italian and had very strong accents; a delightful couple from New Jersey (Irv & Roz - Roz reminds me so very much of my late Grandma), and the other solo travelers: Mary Ann, Rose, Candy, and George.  Simona also joined our table and we had a nice time getting to know a bit more back story to everyone.

 

Off to the Baltics (and Poland)

March 27th

Despite all the stress with Finnair (they canceled my Helsinki to Tallinn flight on Tuesday afternoon, but eventually rebooked me) over the "planned industrial action (which I assume from what I read meant a strike), I arrived in Helsinki early.  This was quite helpful as my newly booked flight gave me only 35 minutes to get from one end of the airport to the other, as well as go through passport control (I was entering a Schengen Area country).  For those unfamiliar with these terms there are Euro Zone countries (part of the European Union and using the Euro), Shengen Area countries (who have agreed to remove border controls, it includes EU and non-EU countries), and then countries in the European Union (sharing common institutions and a set of specific laws). Interestingly enough, Schengen countries may not share physical borders, as in the case of Cyprus and Ireland.

Terminology aside, the terminal was very quiet and I got no inkling that three trade unions were going to "demonstrate" in just 30 minutes.  My flight took off and across the Baltic Sea we hopped and almost before you knew it we landed in Tallinn, Estonia.  I caught an Über to my hotel with minimum fuss and was soon checked into my room at the Radisson Blu Olumpia.  Although I had been unable to sleep on the red-eye from JFK, I wasn't able to nap before the tour meeting; I tried, but it just wasn't happening.

Simona, our tour director, is also my age, and is a native Lithuanian, married to a Slovenian man.  They split their time between Vilnius and Ljubljana.  Our Welcome Dinner was pleasant enough, no matter the country, no matter the tour guide, the welcome dinners are pretty much always the same.  Details on how the tour will run, how to reach her, giving out the "whispers" (small devices with earpieces so that we can hear the guide without the guide yelling), and introductions.  Our group had 39 people in total, so full, but still a handful of empty seats on the bus to allow for some freedom of movement.

 A bit more about my first destination. The capital's name is Tallinn (pronounced tah-lin as Estonian always emphasizes the first syllable). Estonian is their only official language and it belongs to the Finn-Euro language group (related to Hungarian and Finnish). Unlike English, Estonian has no prepositions, they simply change the ending of their nouns (there are 14 cases or endings to their nouns). The letter A is always pronounced the same (ahh), no matter the location inside the word.  The colors of the Estonian flag are the colors of their winter: blue for sky, black for forest, and white for snow.