On the way to Tallinn, we unexpectedly received a call from Kerrin's former colleague, who originally comes from Tallinn and whom we had previously asked for tips about the capital. He offered to introduce us to his brother, who lives in Tallinn with his family, so that we could possibly get some insider tips. Cool. We planned to meet in the early evening, so we had plenty of time to explore the city ourselves. This time it was 5 kilometers from the campsite to the city center, but with the beautiful weather and the city beach right there, it wasn't a problem.
We first arrived in Tallinn's Old Town 'Vanalinn', which has been preserved almost entirely from the 13th and 14th centuries and is now a UNESCO World Heritage site. The houses all look beautiful and in keeping with the setting, there were many tour guides in medieval costumes walking around Vanalinn. You could really feel like you were stepping back in time. The upper part of the city is called 'Domberg' and the climb was worth it, as you had an amazing view of the lower part of the Old Town.
Our alternative program in the Old Town was once again the creative part of the city, in this case 'Kalamaja'. In the heart of this district lies the 'Creative City' Telliskivi, where all the factory halls are being repurposed and are now a magnet for those who love unique restaurants, art exhibitions, creations by young Estonian designers, craft beer, antique shopping, alternative theater, flea markets, or simply going out. We had something to admire on every corner.
Wagons serving as restaurants In the late afternoon, we met Kerrin's former colleague's brother, who picked us up in a small cafe in the artist district and took us for a ride in his car. He believed that every city had churches and an Old Town, so it wouldn't be anything extraordinary. And he was somewhat right. So he drove us to other neighborhoods and told us about various buildings and their stories. There were also some nice viewpoints on the tour. Later in the evening, he dropped us off in the Old Town again, where we had some food. We also received some tips for our stay in and around Tallinn.Among them is the former prison 'Patarei', which has a very dark history. Built in 1840 by the Russians as a water fortress, it was already considered inhumane, as it was too cold and wet, and the soldiers all fell seriously ill. Later, from 1918 it was used as a prison and from 1941 as a concentration camp. The cells were sometimes overcrowded with 3 times more people than intended. The building was even used as a city prison until 2002. The visit the next day was very oppressive, especially when you read about the individual fates and the conditions in which the prisoners had to live for many years, if they even left this place alive. Many areas were still original and so we were able to visit the cells, where the original mattresses were still on the bunks, among other things. Afterwards, we took advantage of the bad weather and spent half a day doing laundry at a laundromat and playing card games to pass the time. Finally, fresh undies again! ;-)We also received a tip from our insider to visit another former prison about half an hour from Tallinn. The prisoners used to mine sand in the labor camp here, creating a huge hole next to a massive sand hill that was kept dry by pumps. When the site was decommissioned, it flooded and a large lake was formed with buildings and trees still visible on its bottom. The water is so clear that you can paddle on it with a canoe or SUP and admire everything beneath you.Unfortunately, we were there off-season and the place as well as the entire lake was closed off. There is a high prison wall around the entire lake, but we tried to get in. In reality, it wasn't so easy to break into a prison and we only got a few glimpses of the lake and the hill. But the weather was very bad anyway, so we continued towards the Baltic Sea coast. On the way, it happened again... car trouble. Our holiday nightmare, which is not completely unknown to us. Blinking engine control light and reduced performance. But as always, we felt well taken care of by the ADAC and within an hour and a half of providing our GPS coordinates, a tow truck arrived. It was a bit strange that we were towed about another hour and a half further south to Pärnu. There we were, at 8:30 p.m., in front of a closed door at VW in Pärnu and had to organize a hotel and a taxi. Late in bed, we naturally hoped that everything would quickly be back on track the next day and that we could continue, especially since Kerrin's former colleague had another great idea for us. A good friend of his lives on Hiiumaa Island and would have received us there and let us stay on his farm. That would have been another great opportunity to get to know the locals and exchange experiences. But as you can guess... VW couldn't repair the car immediately, of course. The EGR cooler was broken and since the parts for the workshop came from Kassel, it was only possible on Monday. So another 3 nights in a hotel :-(. It was quite nice in the wellness hotel with a view of the Baltic Sea from the 6th floor, but definitely not our way of life, this hotel life. <.figure> At least it seemed to be a good spot for surfing and kitesurfing and there was a lot for us to see with this wind. Everything went smoothly at VW and because we were such good customers, the employee even got us a thank you gift from the closet. You can't imagine how grateful we were for a bottle of sparkling water. The time we weren't in the spa area ;-) we could use for planning our further travels. Here in Estonia, after the dream weather we had for four weeks, it became rather unpleasant. You could also say, 'Winter is coming' ;-). Time for a little interim conclusion at this point. Estonia had something to offer us in every direction of the country. The east was very quiet and idyllic with its small villages and vegetable stalls by the roadside. The national parks were often not as accessible as in the other Baltic countries, as there were no roads through them. I think they are better explored by hikers. From our perspective, many Estonians live beautifully. There are large beautiful properties and the cutest houses, mostly clad in wood and painted in bright colors.<','. A good friend of his lives on Hiiumaa Island and would have received us there and let us stay on his farm. That would have been another great opportunity to get to know the locals and exchange experiences. But as you can guess... VW couldn't repair the car immediately, of course. The EGR cooler was broken and since the parts for the workshop came from Kassel, it was only possible on Monday. So another 3 nights in a hotel :-(. It was quite nice in the wellness hotel with a view of the Baltic Sea from the 6th floor, but definitely not our way of life, this hotel life.
At least it seemed to be a good spot for surfing and kitesurfing and there was a lot for us to see with this wind.
Everything went smoothly at VW and because we were such good customers, the employee even got us a thank you gift from the closet. You can't imagine how grateful we were for a bottle of sparkling water.
The time we weren't in the spa area ;-) we could use for planning our further travels. Here in Estonia, after the dream weather we had for four weeks, it became rather unpleasant. You could also say, 'Winter is coming' ;-). Time for a little interim conclusion at this point. Estonia had something to offer us in every direction of the country. The east was very quiet and idyllic with its small villages and vegetable stalls by the roadside. The national parks were often not as accessible as in the other Baltic countries, as there were no roads through them. I think they are better explored by hikers. From our perspective, many Estonians live beautifully. There are large beautiful properties and the cutest houses, mostly clad in wood and painted in bright colors. Everyone was incredibly friendly and spoke good English. The network coverage is damn good and there's WiFi on every corner. The only catastrophe is the use of caraway in things you're supposed to eat. You're excited because there's a cookie with your coffee and then it turns out to be a caraway cookie :-o. The coast of Estonia definitely didn't get enough attention from us, which we will definitely make up for during the summer season. All in all, a beautiful country. Since, as mentioned, autumn had now arrived here with temperatures around 6°C at night, we made a quick jump through the Baltics with a little stopover in Siauliai. This place is home to the Hill of Crosses, whose tradition dates back to the Middle Ages. It was then a place of prayer and sacrifice. At all times, the Lithuanians placed crosses on this hill to remember the deceased or pray for their wishes. But during the Soviet era, the Hill of Crosses was a thorn in the side of the regime, as the Lithuanians memorialized the victims of the Soviet Union there. The collection of crosses was promptly destroyed. But the citizens continued to place crosses and it became a kind of pilgrimage site and a symbol against communism. The destruction was repeated several times (the last time in 1975), but new crosses were always put up. It was a powerful feeling to be at this place and read all the wishes on the crosses. Somehow, the resistance can still be felt. After this visit, we quickly continued in the bad weather, always with the motto of not stopping again until the weather was good. That was the case in Krakow in southern Poland. The sun peeked out a bit here and we didn't want to leave Poland without a stopover. In the next entry, we'll have information about Krakow, the city of Olli's favorite sausages.
Sorry Leute, dass der Blog dies Woche so lang geworden ist. Das Wetter war nur die letzte Woche nicht so schön! ;-)
Sebastian
Also mein Kaffee ist noch nicht ganz leer und ich könnte gut noch weiterlesen :)
Schön geschrieben,sodass man richtig Bock bekommt wieder los zu fahren!!! Lasst es euch gut gehen und ich drücke die Daumen, dass das Urlaubs-Unwort nicht mehr ausgesprochen werden muss ;)
Cornelia
War wieder super spannend eure Erlebnisse hautnah mit zu erleben!
Anne-Marie
Nur 1,5h auf nen Abschlepper gewartet, da sollten wir uns hier mal nen beispiel sammeln :)! Danke fürs teilhaben lassen :)))!!!
