On Friday afternoon, Riikka Pasanen, one of the YFU orientation leaders who also lives in Rauma, drove me and Meredith to her apartment in Helsinki so we could catch the ferry to Estonia on Saturday morning.
At night, I was almost too excited to sleep- tomorrow I would be reconnecting with some of the greatest friends I had ever made.
On Saturday morning, I woke up at 7:30 AM to pack my belongings and get ready for Estonia! Riikka, Meredith, and I caught the 8:42 AM train and headed to the main railway station in Helsinki to meet the other FUSYE scholars.
On the cruise to Estonia!
The proud Estonian flag.
After stepping off the cruise, we immediately headed to our hotel, the Tallink Express, to drop off our luggage. I shared room 429 with Caroline! Unfortunately, the tight schedule did not afford us any time to sit and relax for too long.
Walking to the center of Old Town.
Me in Tallinn!
Reaching the center.
We met up with our tour guide in the center of Old Tallinn and she began to introduce some of Estonian history. It turns out that Estonia does not have a proud history, but rather a humble and trying history. Estonia was always the "conquered" nation rather than the "conquering" nation, which resulted in a stifling of unique Estonian culture. After the Danish invaded Estonia in the 1300s, it has been repeatedly conquered by various other nations, such as Sweden in the 1600s (often labeled the Golden Age) and Russia during the Soviet era of expansion. Despite Estonia's humble history and beginnings, it was still a beautiful country.
Medieval Marketplace
More of me in Tallinn.
Famous narrow cobblestone streets
Four red-roofed towers
Hiking up the stairs was so difficult, but the view was worth it!
More of the view
"The times we had." Featuring Anna!
Alexander Nevsky Orthodox Cathedral. We were not allowed to take photos in the cathedral.
Presidential Palace across from the Cathedral.
Kiek in de Kok Museum. It was a fascinating exploration of Estonian military tactics and gear from the medieval age to the modern era.
This picture was taken close to the marketplace.
Dinner at the historic Peppersack restaurant.
Estonian food is hearty!
Raspberry ice cream cake! Which ended up being ice cream cut in the shape of a cake.
After dinner, we were allowed free time to roam around Old Tallinn! Kimberly, Caroline, Meredith and I found some very interesting pieces of architecture.
At night, all the FUSYE scholars gathered in Anna and Kimberly's room to watch the Brazil vs. Netherland's game on TV! Both Anna and Kimberly wanted Brazil to triumph (they thought it would be nice for the host country to win), while the rest of us rooted for the Netherlands.
The next day, the program consisted of going around the rest of Tallinn, since we already explored Old Tallinn the previous day.
Representative of Soviet era architecture. Riikka told us that this structure was created in preparation for the 1980 Moscow Olympics, which 64 nations boycotted. The sailing competition was to be held in Tallinn, and the Soviet Union wanted to "show off" its preeminence in building concrete structures...
In a sailor's uniform at the Estonian Maritime Museum.
Lunch at the Museum's restaurant.
Another ship museum.
No comments:
Post a Comment