Saying 'So Long, Summer' with Lights

This past Wednesday there was a Light Festival in Kadriorg Park. It's how people in Tallinn say good-bye to summer. There was music (this is Estonia, of course) and lots of different lights: tikki torches, snowflakes, ropes, globes, snowflakes and candles. It was quite lovely.

The weather has definitely turned here. I'm wearing coats and sweaters. But what I've really noticed is that every day there is less and less light. When I first got here, if I woke up at 3:30am dawn would be breaking or if I'd go to sleep around midnight, the sky would be the navy blue of twilight. Now when I get up around 6:15am, the sky is just turning pink and it's usually an inky black by 8:45pm.

Winter is coming....

The Singing Revolution Come to Life

Every five years, Estonia holds its Song and Dance Festival. It played a large part in keeping the independence movement alive when the country was occupied. Some of you may have seen the documentary, "The Singing Revolution," which chronicled how singing these folk songs in the Estonian language kept the independent spirit alive.

I happened to be in Tallinn for the 26th Song and 19th Dance Festival, known here as Laulupidu (which, I'd translate as song party). The theme this year was "Touched by Time, The Time to Touch." I admit, I'm not a big fan of that theme, but it's from a folk story (get your mind out of the gutters -- which admittedly, is where my mind went when I first hear it).

It took me awhile to warm up to a song festival. Choral groups are not my thing. But it was hard not to get caught up in the excitment. People at work were participating in the dance or the song party. The parade at the end of my street and it was interesting to see all these people wearing traditonal outfits, be it Estonian or Latvian or Swiss. (The Swiss men's group dressed up like they should be hiking up some mountains. They were kind of hot.)

I told myself, "I'll just watch the parade." And it was  a long parade. The first groups started walking around 2 pm, and the last ones around 5:30pm. I ended up following the parade to the Song Festival grounds, about  a 30 min walk from my apartment. And before you knew it, I was buying a ticket to enter the festival grounds.

It was crowded and watching the singers file in and take to the amphitheater took a lot of time. The warm up/killing of time consisted of a couple of waves from the top of the amphitheater to the back of the crowd.

But there was a nice opening ceremony, and when the singers started it was this beautiful sound echoing back. And people in the crowd also started to sing. It was quite lovely.


I didn't stay for the entire concert. I have a limited tolerance for choir music, no matter how beautiful the singing. And I had hit it. It also didn't help that there was a lot of time in between songs because some choirs came off the stage and others went on. I don't envy the logistics of moving 10,000 singers. Plus, I also knew I could watch from the comfort of my own apartment, which is what I did.

Excuse me, Have You Seen the Magical Fern Blossom?

Midsummer or Jaanipaev is a big holiday in Estonia. This year if fell on a Tuesday, so it's essentially be a long weekend. Many Estonians spend midsummer eve at their summer house with friends and family. They build a bonfire and watch the sun set and rise in the course of a few hours.

I didn't go to summer house, but I did trek to the wilds of the Tallinn suburb to witness Jaanipaev festivities. The Estonian Open Air Museum was open in the evening and had a few bonfires going, along with food, dance, people in costume explaining Estonian farm life. There was also plenty of rain.

Even though summer solstice was on June 21, Jaanipaev was celebrated 24 June.  Supposedly, if you find this mythical fern blossom, you'll have great luck. And if you don't manage to stay up to watch the sunset and sunrise, you'll have a horrible year. I know I should have tried to stay up -- I could use the good luck -- but I fell asleep at around 2am -- about an hour before the sun was due to rise. My luck can't get any worse, and frankly, I needed the sleep.

 The bonfire gave off a lot of heat, which was nice since it was a chilly night and the rain didn't help matters.

 The rain gave way to a beautiful rainbow.

This was the night sky around 1:30am. It hasn't really been very dark at night. The thing that scares me most is that this might be how bright it is during the winter..

I Can See Russia (Just Not From the Hotel)

Work sent me to the northeast corner of Estonia the other week. The city of Narva lies on the west side of the Narva jõgi (river in Estonian) and the eastern side of the river is Russia, officially known as the Russian Federation. The population is predominantly Russian-speaking. I speak not one word of Russian, so the co-workers I traveled with tried to get me up to speed with some pleasantries: welcome, thank you, good-bye. My pronunciations made them laugh. Yes, I was that bad.

Anyway, I did get to see a lot of the city after work (ok, really between one work event and then the other).

We went to Narva's Alexander cathedral where you could go up inside the bell tower. There is an observation deck and some exhibits as you wind your way down the stairs to the different floors. (You can take an elevator, too.)

We also took a walk along the river, including this little spit of land in the middle that is Estonian. But it's amazing how close it is. It's also interesting to see Hermann Castle (Narva Castle) on the Estonian side of the river and Ivangorod Castle right across the water from it.

The one with the white tower is Hermann Castle. Apparently, all along the river on the Russian side are border guard towers. And if you swim in the river, and apparently some people do, best no stray too far from your own shore.

I think my favorite was the tour of Narva College of Tartu University. It's on the square, but it's this modern riff on the classic Estonian building.

And inside was beautiful. The library had this interesting feature in the middle where you could essentially walk up one side of a stadium type seating on one side and computers on the other, and down the other. It was fun. And kitty corner to the new school is the old town hall.

Apparently the new building caused quite the stir. But I like the juxtaposition of the old and the new.

The other interesting tidbit about Narva. It's reportedly the only place in Estonia with a statue of Lenin still standing. It's inside the courtyard of the Narva castle & museum.

Looked pretty intimidating to me!

A Giant Block Party

My second weekend in Tallinn happened to coincide with Kalamaja Päevad or Kalamaja Days.  Kalamaja is a neighborhood in northern Tallinn. Everyone at work calls it a hipster neighborhood. It's a cute area with these old wooden buildings, some painted in bright, candy colors. Anyway, there was a festival-flea market feel on Saturday.  I got some lunch there and listen to Marten Kuningas. It was warm and sunny and a great way to spend some of the afternoon (before I had to go into work). Marten Kuningas (I'm not sure if I should refer to it as band, since I think that's the lead singer's name) lost power during the last song. It was kind of funny, but it was enjoyable to see them try and power (or is it acoustic) on. There was a guy standing by the stage, I don't know if he was just random old guy or their manager, but he was air guitar-ing and air drumming through the entire set. It was funny.

On Sunday, people opened up their homes, really their backyards and sold food. It was like a giant scanvenger hunt, complete with a map.

There was BBQ, burgers, quail, quiches, cakes and cookies galore. It was a lot of fun and a nice opportunity to see some cute backyards.

It was fun to see all the people that were out and about for this event.  I even got to break out my Estonian to ask for food. Although, if there was something I was unsure of, most people understood English.  My favorite was one of the houses that was selling baked good. Instead of opening up the backyard, they opened up a window. It was a walk-up window (there were two wooden slats you had to step up to to give the money and get the goods) selling brownies, lemon bars and chocolate cake, among other things!

It's Been Awhile I Know

You wouldn't guess it by this blog, but I have continued to bake, run and travel over the last year. The try-something-new-that-gets-me-abroad bug hit and now I find myself in Tallinn, Estonia.

I have been told by many people that I am lucky and will love it here. I guess we shall see. But as ou can tell from the photo, it is quite charming looking. I've spent most of my time in the Old Town wandering its cobblestone streets. It is quaint. I'm looking forward to exploring a bit more in the coming days. Stay tuned.