We completed out last big day of cycling for this trip, how sad. We biked 132km from Pärnu to Tallinn and tomorrow will be taking the ferry to Helsinki. This ride probably took us the longest amount of time because we were hit with enormous headwinds as soon as we started out and rain as soon as the wind died down a little bit. But at this point we are so used to it, we just pushed through to our couchsurfer's doorstep.
Yesterday we hung around the very large old town, most of it was preserved during the Soviet bombings so, as many guide books state, it has charm by the bucket-load. There is a lot going on in the old town and a lot to see. So we took another free tour like the one in Rīga to sort of get our bearings.Estonia is one of the least religious countries, between 10-16% actually identify with some kind of organized religion, the rest are atheists. We saw an old church that had been destroyed in a fire, then rebuilt by the Soviets as an Atheism museum, but now it's a science museum.
We learned a lot about Estonian history and the importance of the port as a strategic advantage in the Baltic area.
We also saw the Estonian parliament, which underscores the high profile nature of Estonian politicians - which is to say not at all. We were told that the president has no entourage and travels with only 2 bodyguards. He even attended the Positivus music festival in Salacgrīva. Too bad we didn't know that or we would have looked for him. We were able to go right up to the parliament building and observe the Estonion flag flying out in front. Our guide pointed out that presently, as of last year, this is the longest that Estonia has ever been independent.
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Our guide explaining the Estonian flag in front of the parliament building. |
We also learned that Estonia is still changing its borders. As recently as last year even, they signed a treaty with Russia to realign some parts of the border to include more Estonians and fewer Russians in certain areas (the total surface area remained unchanged).
After the tour the weather was so nice that we decided to ride around the city for a while. We visited some parks and found a working lighthouse for the huge cruise ships that sail into the harbor.
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| Mylène at the lighthouse watching for ships. |
The city is littered with statues everywhere. Bronze figures on benches, walls, sidewalks, in the grass, wherever. They are often charming and sometimes symbolic.
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| Statue of a choir director overlooking a huge amphitheater where
hundreds of tens of thousands of people gathered to sing Estonian songs
and protest the Russian occupation in 1989. |
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| A look at the city from a point close to the port. New buildings on the left, old on the right. |
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| Then we biked over to the beach and walked out on a jetty. We
realized that this is one of the most northern points in continental
Europe. |
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