Also, for this trip "we" means Matthew and I and a family from IA. Darlene works in the elementary working with special needs and advanced students and Jim is on th school board. Their son is in the Junior high so we will both have him in class next year.
We took a pretty nice bus there so we got there around 3 in the afternoon. The one downside to the bus was that they played music videos the ENTIRE 6 hours of the trip.
A short walk from our hotel was the Toompea Castle. That huge wall runs around a large portion of Old Town. This existed as a wooden fortress in the 9th century. The tower is named Herman. :-)
Inside the walls was the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. We went in and it was gorgeous!
This building is where the Estonian parliament still meets today. So as we walked around we found tons of embassies nearby.
We found an overlook on the city and since sun rises for a long time and late in the day we were able to get this awesome picture!
The streets are cobblestone and twist in all directions.
US! Matthew got me the hat for Christmas. :-)
Matthew wanted to show how high the wall is that runs around the city. So if you see the group of people up by the railing, that is the rest of our group!
A cool door. There were tons of carved, sculpted, and painted doors around the Old Town.
A huge Catholic church in the Old Town. So many churches!
We've talked about snow removal before but here is an example of what we mean. This thing was about a yard wide and hanging completely over the building it was on. One good door slam would bring a massive amount of snow thundering down on whoever was under it. And you can see the layers that are in it as it built up.
Matt and Jim in a tiny door we found that led to a wood crafts store.
One of the churches we were actually able to go into was the Holy Spirit church.
It was gorgeous and the upper seating levels were covered in pictures from stories in th Gospels.
For one day, lunch was potatoes, sausage, and cabbage cooked on a wok outside at the market. You had to eat it fast so it didn't get cold but it was very good.
A sign across two towers at every entry point into the Old Town that welcomes you in for Yuletide.
The picture below explains these, but there is a road that is all hand crafted things (hats, paper, leatherwork, glassblowing) and the opposite side of the shops has these tombstones.
Our hotel. It was a nice hotel had a fun shape.
And on the way back we had a bus almost literally to ourselves. They booked six people in seats 5 and 7 and those were both in our group. So the company sent out a new bus and all of the overbooked people and our whole group were on that bus. But this is the sunrise on the way back!
When we got there we went on a walk to the Old Town (there is Old Town Tallinn and New Town Tallinn) city center and there was a Yuletide Market going on.
This town hall stands right next to the Old Town center. It is the best preserved Gothic building in North Europe. For dinner we went to this great place called Old Hansa. It was medieval themed and lit entirely by candles. The waitresses are dressed to the time and all the food was very themed to the time period as well.
Matt had a sausage plate with elk, boar, and bear sausage!
This town hall stands right next to the Old Town center. It is the best preserved Gothic building in North Europe. For dinner we went to this great place called Old Hansa. It was medieval themed and lit entirely by candles. The waitresses are dressed to the time and all the food was very themed to the time period as well. Later in the week we went to another place like this that had a swordfight!
Matt had a sausage plate with elk, boar, and bear sausage! 
The last day we were there we went skating at this outdoor iceskating rink. It is right under another huge and lovely church.
A short walk from our hotel was the Toompea Castle. That huge wall runs around a large portion of Old Town. This existed as a wooden fortress in the 9th century. The tower is named Herman. :-)
Inside the walls was the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. We went in and it was gorgeous!
This building is where the Estonian parliament still meets today. So as we walked around we found tons of embassies nearby.
We found an overlook on the city and since sun rises for a long time and late in the day we were able to get this awesome picture!
The streets are cobblestone and twist in all directions.
US! Matthew got me the hat for Christmas. :-)
Matthew wanted to show how high the wall is that runs around the city. So if you see the group of people up by the railing, that is the rest of our group!
A cool door. There were tons of carved, sculpted, and painted doors around the Old Town.
A huge Catholic church in the Old Town. So many churches! 
We've talked about snow removal before but here is an example of what we mean. This thing was about a yard wide and hanging completely over the building it was on. One good door slam would bring a massive amount of snow thundering down on whoever was under it. And you can see the layers that are in it as it built up.
Matt and Jim in a tiny door we found that led to a wood crafts store.
One of the churches we were actually able to go into was the Holy Spirit church.
It was gorgeous and the upper seating levels were covered in pictures from stories in th Gospels.
For one day, lunch was potatoes, sausage, and cabbage cooked on a wok outside at the market. You had to eat it fast so it didn't get cold but it was very good.
A sign across two towers at every entry point into the Old Town that welcomes you in for Yuletide.
The picture below explains these, but there is a road that is all hand crafted things (hats, paper, leatherwork, glassblowing) and the opposite side of the shops has these tombstones.
Our hotel. It was a nice hotel had a fun shape.
And on the way back we had a bus almost literally to ourselves. They booked six people in seats 5 and 7 and those were both in our group. So the company sent out a new bus and all of the overbooked people and our whole group were on that bus. But this is the sunrise on the way back!So overall a wonderful trip. It was nice to be able to go somewhere for fun adn not have to worry about visas or anything! Definitely want to go back next year!
What wonderful photos, Amanda and Matt! I served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Estonia in the mid 90s and have returned twice (in the summer!). I don't miss the winters but loved the people, arts, history and architecture I got to know while there. I went to high school with your dad who sent me your website link. Small world!
ReplyDeleteAlisa Zimmerman