I went to Tallinn, Estonia for about 10 days in the middle of March. In the first half, I wrote about the old town and its surroundings, and in the second half, I would like to introduce an area slightly away from the old town.
First, we will go to the Pirita district of Tallinn. The Birgitta Monastery ruins are a 30-minute bus ride from the old town. We did not buy tickets in advance for the bus and were able to board with a credit card.
The Birgitta Convent Ruins was a medieval Catholic convent for women, but now only the walls and some structures remain. There are no attendants; you pay the entrance fee with a vending machine and enter the site with a QR code. I was the only one there when I went, so I was able to soak up the fantastic atmosphere in the silence.
Leave the monastery ruins and head to the Marjamae Palace. This place reopened in 2018 as an interactive history exhibit facility as part of the 100th anniversary of Estonian independence. The permanent exhibits in the main building flow from “Independence from the Russian Empire (1900s-1940s),” “Soviet Occupation (1940-1941),” “Nazi Occupation (1941-1944),” “Re-Soviet Occupation (1944-1980s),” “Re-Independence (1987-1991),” and “Today,” with a focus on how the citizens focus on how they lived.
It is the kind of content that shows that before the Soviet occupation there was an affluent life, that during the Soviet occupation people lived in fear that their phones were being tapped, that they longed for Western culture and secretly watched Finnish TV, and that their children were subjected to Nazi education. I could roughly understand the trends that led Estonia to become the IT nation it is today, and to emphasize freedom.
I was not familiar with the “Singing Revolution,” a movement for democracy and independence that developed peacefully with song in the three Baltic countries in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and the “Baltic Way,” in which people built the capitals of the three Baltic countries hand in hand in 1989, also in the Baltic countries.
There is also a film museum on the premises. A red carpet is rolled out to the entrance, documenting and preserving the history of Estonian cinema and introducing filmmaking. Visitors can learn about filmmaking, including the roles of scriptwriting, set, editing, lighting, and sound, and even experience recording themselves on a green screen to act in a film. The recordings are sent to you by e-mail, so it was a good keepsake.
From the Palace of Marjamaje to the old town, we walked along the promenade along the Pirita beach. I heard that this area is very crowded in summer, but this time there were only a few people taking a walk here and there, and I walked home with the sea breeze blowing for about an hour. However, it was a bit noisy with cars passing by on the side of the promenade.
We also went to an area called Keira Yoa to do a mini-trekking. This area is about a little over an hour by bus from the old town of Tallinn and is famous for the Kejla-Joa waterfall. Kejla Joa is the third largest waterfall in Estonia, and although small, it is quite impressive. We started here and walked to the sea.
On the way from the waterfall to the sea, we saw the lovely Keira Joa Castle. It is now a hotel and restaurant with a small museum attached.
Walking out to the ocean and along the sparsely populated beach was a beautiful contrast to the still-frozen areas, and the birds lounging and relaxing were soothing.
Finally, a summary of what I liked about Tallinn. I saw ping-pong tables everywhere from the airport to the town. I collected photos of ping-pong tables and there were quite a few. I never saw anyone playing ping-pong, but I wonder if they will be utilized when the weather gets warmer.
When I got in the cab and told the driver that I was Japanese, his face lit up! He said, “I want to go to Japan, I love drifting. Japan is a mecca for drifting enthusiasts! He even said, “I want to go to Japan, I love drifting! Later, I found out that drifting is quite popular in the Baltic countries, including Estonia.
In common with Riga, Latvia, where I went last year, once you leave the touristy old town, you rarely see anyone but white people. I also did not feel unsafe in Estonia. There was a woman who left her laptop and bag in a cafe and went outside, something that would be very unthinkable in Paris. In museums and art galleries, you are told to hang your jacket on a coat hook and go inside, but in Paris, I would not be able to do that because someone might steal it. I was also very careful when I went out at night, of course, but I was not worried. All the places I saw were also clean. I know it may not seem like anything if you come from Japan, but compared to Paris, this safety and cleanliness was very comfortable.
Estonia is actively attracting film and television production, although not as actively as Latvia. At a local film production company, there were posters of Japanese TV dramas that I was involved in. The last of the three Baltic countries is still Lithuania, which is also actively involved in film and TV production, so I look forward to comparing the three countries when I have a chance to visit there someday.
I enjoyed being outside in Tallinn in mid-March when I was there because there were many sunny days, the temperature was in the single digits but only once or twice in the minus, and the snow had almost melted. Maybe it was the best season for me, as I don’t like crowds and heat? It was a quick 10 days of relaxing and seeing things here and there.
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