Time to move on, having spent almost a week in Kuressaare at the Cruising Association Rally. Before leaving, I went to the local hospital (as before, just a convenient 10 minute walk from the marina!) and had the stitches removed from my leg wound. I’m pleased to say it seems to be healing up fine.
There was much less wind than when
we arrived here; in fact the sea was like a millpond and we were forced to
motor all the way to our next overnight stop, Kuivastu, but it was at least fabulous weather –warm, sunny and blue skies …
… looking behind, our wake looked
perfectly straight for miles …
… and then onwards the following day
to Haapsalu, where we moored to a stern buoy at the smart new Westmer marina –
they have just raised the Union flag as we are the first British boat to arrive
today. All the marinas raise the
national flags of visiting boats which makes quite a nice welcome.
Haapsalu has an impressive castle
ruin …
… where you can have a quick game of
roller-blade chess!
Again, there seems to be a lot of
building work and renovation going on.
We noticed quite a contrast between large, smart homes with well-tended
gardens, like this one …
… which was literally across the street
from this much more modest, traditional home …
The next day, we set off for Tallinn
– another full day’s sail – but again we started off motoring, this time in fog
…
… past this rather sad line of
laid-up fishing boats …
Later, we did manage to get the
sails up and the fog lifted a bit, but it was generally a fairly grey arrival
in Tallinn – the city appeared dwarfed by the numerous large ferries and
massive cruise ships which call here …
The weather brightened up a bit in
the evening, so we went for a stroll to the Town Square …
… admired the famous dragon water
spouts on the Town Hall itself …
… and liked this colourful alley of
flower-sellers.
The next day it rained – and rained
– and rained – all day!! I didn’t do
much sightseeing apart from going to the local market to buy some cosy Siberian
lambswool slippers!!
However, luckily the following
couple of days were beautiful so we had ample opportunity to explore Tallinn
and see it at its best. The old city is extremely well-preserved within almost
intact city walls. Adjacent to it, but separate, is an unremarkable but
thriving modern city.
Here is St Olav’s Church …
It’s worth the 258-step climb to the
top of the spire for a fabulous view over the medieval city …
… and the port – we are moored in
the marina in the middle distance – just the other side of the parks from the
old city – an easy 10 minute walk …
This is the Council Chamber inside
the Town Hall – some of the paintwork on the nearest column is original …
… and this is the view from the Town
Hall attic of the Town Square on a busy market day …
Sometimes they have concerts in the
Town Hall – the cloakroom is rather novel – people hang their coats on
pikestaffs!
This is the interior of the Town
Pharmacy of Tallinn, which is one of the oldest continually working
apothecaries in the world and dates back to at least 1422 …
There are hundreds of fabulous buildings
in Tallinn – this terrace of three adjoining medieval merchants’ houses is
called the ‘Three Sisters’ …
… and a myriad little passageways
and cobbled lanes laid out in a haphazard medieval way.
This tower is called ‘Fat Margaret’
and now houses the maritime museum. It is by far the largest tower in the city
walls, measuring 25 metres across with walls 5 metres thick …
There is also, rather incongruously,
a massive late 19th century Russian Orthodox church, the Aleksander
Nevsky Cathedral, in the midst of all the medieval buildings. It is impressive
for its sheer size, and it certainly forms part of the recognisable skyline of
Tallinn, but does feel a bit out of place. There was a controversial plan to
demolish it in 1924, but it was never carried out.
Tallinn is quite ‘touristy’ and many
restaurants have their staff dressed up in Estonian national costume to attract
custom …
… but the food can still be very
good – we enjoyed a delicious wild boar casserole, but were not brave enough to
opt for bear steaks!
This is Tallinn’s equivalent of Betty’s Tea Rooms …
The other area I explored in Tallinn
was Kadriog Park, just outside the old town and a short tram ride from the
marina. The centrepiece of the park is
the magnificent 18th-century Baroque palace built as a summer
residence for the Russian Tsar, Peter the Great, who wanted it to look like an
Italian villa …
… with ornamental gardens and
fountains behind …
The palace now houses the Estonian
Art Museum’s foreign collection, and the ornate Baroque Great Hall is quite magnificent
...
Kadriog Park is also a pleasant
place for a stroll or a picnic – this is the Swan Lake …
This is Peter the Great’s cottage,
which he used as a temporary residence while the palace was being built – a surprisingly
modest cottage for a Russian Tsar …
And this is the magnificent Kumu Art
Museum, which houses the main collection of the Estonian Art Museum. I couldn’t help agreeing with the tourist
blurb which described its design as ‘a work of art in itself’ …
I worked my way up to the top floor,
which housed the modern art …
… then, by contrast, emerged back into
the park to discover an open-air performance of early English music, played on
original instruments by musicians dressed in costume! It was an excellent concert, especially as there
was quite a strong, gusty wind – the musicians had to hold down their sheets of
music with brightly-coloured modern pegs!
So that was Tallinn – off to Helsinki tomorrow!
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