feb 1 was a good day. started off slow. went to the Kaarli kirik (church). This is actually the last of the landmarks that I'd only seen through paintings. There is a beautiful image of the church in the snow on the wall in my home office which I will post when I return. I wanted to get a picture while it was snowing, but unfortunately it has snowed little since I arrived.
spent a good part of the afternoon in the galerii. they were preparing for today's big show. That was actually quite difficult for me. I looked at so many of the Tallinn city views as a child, but they all seemed very unreal - with the steeple and all the towers and walls, it seemed like a view more appropriate for a fairy tale. After seeing the city for a few days, all those paintings look quite different. I am still happy they are being returned to Estonia and will be appreciated more than when in storage closet in the US, but it hurts to let them go.
on the way to the galerii, we passed a couple of monuments. This rock is a very popular monument here. After declaring independence from Russia in 1991 (August 20th is known as "Re-independence day" here.), this boulder was moved into the street to slow down the Russian tanks if they came back. they never did. The other monument was a Soviet statue remembering those who died in WW2. There is a huge controversy here now about that statue. The government and people want to move the statue out of town center, but the russian locals want it to stay. Apparently the Russian government has threatened to cut off oil to the Baltic states if they remove WW2 monuments. For a year there were guards at the monument 24 hours a day to prevent vandalism and protesting. It seemed pretty quiet when we walked through.
went out last night to a couple clubs that were recommended as places "you have to go" in Tallinn. Somehow I almost exclusively ran into Russians. They don't have the
same positive outlook as the Estonians. I guess that's from going from being in charge to second class citizens here. They can vote now, but there still is a lot of racism. the estonians I've met are fairly tolerant, but it is obvious there is still a lot of hatred yet to be undone here.
Oh and then wandered into an Irish pub only to find a drunk American/Estonian singing "King of the Road" by Roger Miller. He was shocked to find someone who knew the song. He is a professor at Tallinn University, but grew up in Creekskill NJ. I had a very good time explaining the song to people - the hobo train hopping culture as romanticized american folklore. people here still mostly know our culture from TV, and are pleasantly surprised to learn there is a bit more depth to us. Actually, Toomas Ilves, the president of Estonia, also grew up in New Jersey with all the important exiles. He graduated from Leonia high school and Columbia University. Unfortunately he cannot make it to the opening because today is the anniversary of treaty of Tartu, which sealed Estonian independence form Russia in 1919 (Independence Day).
Spent groundhog day morning wandering around the local galeriis. This Loore Varte's work amused me. All influenced strongly by american media culture. I posted a picture but didn't talk about the mcdonalds in old town by the gate. Liis (and I'm sure others) are kind of disturbed by this intrusion into the historic site (maybe like how there is a Gap store at the corner of Haight and Ashbury). I think that is the influence for this picture.
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