Some distances are shorter than they seem from Patkuli...
HAVING BREAKFAST IN FRONT OF THE ABSURD FREEDOM SQUARE MONUMENT
In addition to being a recurring meeting point for local people, Liberty Square (Liberty Square) is a good place to start a tour that allows you to get closer to two important points of the basic route from the center of Tallinn: the church of saint john , a few steps away, and, a little further, the church of St nicolas. But before that, it is worth stopping to observe and the huge monolith that stands in this diaphanous square, located to the south of the historic center of the city.
The Victory Monument in the War of Independence is a huge concrete column inaugurated in 2009 and crowned by the Grand Cross of Liberty. It's about the country's highest award, so lofty that no one has ever received it.
The construction is covered with expensive glass panels with LED backlighting, and the invention has so far cost almost nine million euros to the Estonian taxpayer. Many of them, unfortunately, see in this column a corruption symbol more than a patriotic icon.
Symbol of freedom... or corruption?
FOR AN APPETIZER, ARCHITECTURAL MACEDONIA AT LOSSI PLATS
It is seldom seen that a medieval castle houses an institution as modern as the Parliament from a country. It is not that it can be verified at first sight in the Estonian one, but the truth is that here yes it happens. Thus, to the fortifications of the castle of Toompea , dating from the century thirteenth and fourteenth, one covers them baroque facade and, above, a striking color pastel pink. The fault, says the legend, is Catherine the Great.
Estonia was once a part of his huge empire and, whenever she had to meet among the austere stones of this castle to discuss political matters, well she gave him the downer . So Catherine reached out wallet (or whatever was the equivalent at the time) and she redecorated it to her liking, like someone who goes to Ikea to buy a Kallax shelf.
Hence the strange architectural mix of this square. From one end, stands the castle tower, called pikk hermann . The crucible is completed with the impressive Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, an Orthodox temple erected at the end of the 19th century and which is located just on the other side of the Lossi plats.
On the left, the pink castle; on the right, the orthodox cathedral
GOOD, BEAUTIFUL AND CHEAP FOOD AT III DRAAKON RESTAURANT
A place to eat in the heart of a city, that respects as much as possible authentic local flavor and be cheap is an entelechy in any european capital . But not in Tallinn.
The Town Hall Square ( Raekoja Plats ) and its adjacent streets are the heart of the old town From the capital. There is III Draakon , a restaurant where the waiters go disguised with the medieval version of the traditional costumes of the country, a concession to the tourist who, in this case, gladly forgives . Especially if you take into account that it can be consumed a tasty vegetable soup, a meat or vegetable empanada (there are several options for each) and a local beer for very few euros. Y without waiting in long queues, despite the popularity of the site.
medieval airs
**SPY AFTER TABLE AT THE VIRU HOTEL**
Before the fall of the iron curtain, all international personalities passing through the city they stayed in this 22-story hotel, only the site actually had 23. The last of them welcomed the “hidden” offices of the KGB , from where they watched over, among many others, most influential guests of the place. Legend has it that inside there was more microphones than towels.
The lie about the number of floors of the building, somewhat surreal, could be dismantled by looking at the facade and counting on the finger In any case, with the change in political orientation, Soviet intelligence agents They rushed out of the lodging, leaving a good number of instruments with which they spied to the staff. Now these devices are part of the permanent exhibition on the top floor of the hotel itself, which has become an interesting secret service museum One of those objects is a very retro red phone and without buttons, designed to answer calls from people so important that they did not receive those from anyone.
The visit can be done with a guided tour in english . One of the stories they tell in it gives a good example of the control that ordinary citizens faced in the most paranoid point of the capital, and explains that the hotel workers ran into wallet traps . They all had orders from their superiors to return lost items found in rooms without snooping on its content.
If these wallets (abandoned on purpose) were opened, a paint bomb exploded purple-pink tone that needed several days to disappear from the skin. The disobedient stayed like this exposed with no chance to hide his betrayal. The museum is also a 2x1, because it also serves as lookout with a very different perspective than patkouli, which we talk about in the next point.
Hotel Viru, an imposing presence
DINNER (VISUAL) AT THE PATKULI VIEWPOINT
Besides being one of the oldest points in the city and to offer one of the best panoramic possible, this viewpoint facing north recalls Tallinn's strong connection with the nordic world At some moments in history it turned out especially relevant . The blue horizon that accompanies the roofs, towers and walls of the capital seen from this watchtower belongs to the waters of the gulf of finland , a country that can be reached by ferry in just a few minutes.
In Soviet times, western television was one of the many things prohibited by the authorities. Nevertheless, the short geographical distance and the exaggeratedly large antennas of the neighboring country made many homes in the capital If you could tune in Discreetly, the Finnish channels. Some Estonians learned of the schedule a few days in advance, through word of mouth that reproduced the information from television magazines.
In 1987, this technical circumstance made Tallinn the Perpignan of Estonian society . Erotic movie broadcast Emmanuelle, an unthinkable event for the viewer of the USSR, brought together huge groups of people in front of the television of the lucky homes near this viewpoint. In the streets there were extra cars , from all parts of the country, and fewer people. Like in a Champions League final . Despite the enormous change experienced since 1990, the French film generates in the capital the same nostalgia that many Spaniards feel when remembering The last Tango in Paris.