Month: July 2018

Tallinn – First Week

Tallinn – The first week
(by Christa and Michael)

(Michael) : The first sightseeing tours in Tallinn were a bit sobering – there were rubble everywhere, desolate houses, crumbling quay walls, lots of construction sites …. And that should be the wonder town Tallinn, where there are the world’s most startups???

Well – to be fair, there are not only desolate, more or less dilapidated, but also beautifully renovated homes. What you see are the traces of its history, in which Estonia has been occupied again and again – by Denmark, Germany, Russia (the list is certainly incomplete). In particular, the Soviet era has left unsightly marks. And the many construction sites just indicate that they are working hard for a more beautiful status. And in the very beautiful old town nothing to be seen of all this … .

Estonia is on the upswing – and since there are virtually no natural resources, it has focused mainly on IT etc. It’s a trailblazer in many ways – I’m just mentioning e-residency here. And in addition to the old districts, there are also new ones and others with mixed buildings – with super-modern buildings. They indicate the upswing.

After a while, these appearances fade into the background – because of course there are also the Estonians. At first they are quite introverted, but then they turn out to be very warm, obliging and hospitable. An example is the invitation described in the previous post to learn the Estonian way of celebrating Midsummer’s Eve. From another side we got tips for worthwhile excursion destinations – and were even taken there in their car.

Love for nature seems to be very much in the foreground here. In my time-lapse recordings of the summer night (previous contribution) some stayed at the beach until 3:00 am and at 4:00 the next ones came to see the sunrise. I can only like them …

After all, there is our university, because of which we came: Everything starts (of course) with the registration and many hellos. We meet many participants from the previous year in Barcelona and the joy of reunion is great every time. And there are a lot of new participants to welcome – the number of participants has tripled. Everything has become far more professional. The team has worked incredibly hard.

From the thematic site, the first week is mostly dedicated to Estonia: Sights, history, human character, weather (not to forget) – and especially e-residency. An e-resident can open a bank account and a company in Estonia within a few minutes, as well as use services in Estonia. The program is aimed primarily at location-independent entrepreneurs – such as software developers or authors. Everything is done online. Here Estonia is a pioneer. A great opportunity for the Digital Nomads – and some participants took the chance. Again, the Estonians are very helpful – really nice and pleasant.

A small downer for the pioneers who were already in Barcelona last year: Although everything is perfect – due to the large number of participants and the distance of the speaker to the audience (in Barcelona there was no stage, the speakers were almost in the audience) everything is also far more anonymous. The pioneers, however, are still connected and continue to meet each other with warm hugs – how beautiful ….

(Christa) : Tallinn – Impressions from the second week

Anyone who has been to Mindvalley U Barcelona feels the big difference to Mindvalley U Tallinn.

Barcelona City is overflowing with happiness and liveliness. The many cafés and restaurants along the wide boulevards which we often passed through, communicate closeness and familiarity, and the people put us in their frolic. The warmth – oftentimes heat for us – makes people open and free. So it was in the university too. After a week everyone knew everyone and we met each other with warmth, hugs and many conversations.

Tallinn is different. Here it is windy and cool. The people are quiet and closed. Only in the old town, where mostly tourists strole around, it is livelier and louder. The University 3 times as many students this time and you only know a few. Also through the stage on which the speakers stand – away from the audience – it feels impersonal, which does not diminish the high quality of the lectures. And the familiarity will certainly grow with time.

The city of Tallinn is striking for its contrasts. The old town is beautiful with its squares, old buildings, many churches and cafes. She lives on the tourists and is madde up for the tourists. A bit away from the large squares, there are still the old wooden houses, some of them are beautifully restored. A particularly old well-kept building is the 500-year-old pharmacy on the edge of the Town Hall Square, which is still in operation today.

Yes, the old wooden houses, they fascinate us especially! The further we get to the outskirts, the more we discover. They exude warmth and coziness and sometimes still have the wooden beams of the hoist at the very top. But many of them are also decayed, their inhabitants probably lack the money to look after them. If you look into the windows, you will be amazed by the beautifully made up “inner life”. In such a wooden house we live for 5 weeks, in the Kalamaja district near the Kultuurikatel, where there are still many of them. It is cozy and we feel comfortable here. I particularly enjoy the proximity to the small harbor we look out the window to and where Michael made the night video. But unfortunately there are also some completely dilapidated, long-abandoned wooden houses, and I then imagine how living in them has been.

It looks very crazy when every so often an old wooden house peeps out between the skyscrapers of the new industrial city, where it did not let displace itself!

These are exactly the contrasts of Tallinn. On the one hand the styled old town, the cuddly wooden houses and then the new districts of the emerging economy and industry. I did not feel well there when we walked back from the beautiful Kadriorg Park and had to cross this part of the city with its skyscrapers and heavy traffic.

Kadriorg Park

Kadriorg Park is a particularly beautiful facility in the east of Tallinn very close to the sea. To a very dear Tallinnin, who works there, it was important to show us the park. She picked us up and accompanied us with her twins a bit – to the playground – through the park. The old, partially deformed trees have particularly tied us, meadows with wild flowers and then the Japanese Garden. There is a lot of water, hearthstones and beautiful flowers – a meditative mood. Thanks to Katriin !!

Right behind the park runs the Pirita tee, the wide boulevard / promenade to the Olympic center with the marina.

Hello Tallinn

Hello, Tallinn, 22.06.2018 – 24.06.2018
(by Christa)

Our journey lasted 2 days and took us via Travemünde and from there by ferry via Helsinki to Tallinn. On the way it was mostly rainy and very windy, so we did not like to spend too much time on deck. Finally we arrived and took our cozy room in a wooden house in the district Kalamaja in possession. We were tired, but a little stroll through Kalamaja to see where we live plus a few purchases had to be.

On Saturday we then took the first stroll in the old town: A small square with many cafes, a young girl playing the violin – very good and clean! A good, nice atmosphere. A small, old church from the 14th Century attracts us: Beautifully worked pulpit, figures on the side choirs, altar, organ …….. a very intimate atmosphere and good charisma. Including a third world shop with wooden beads necklaces, figures, jewelry. We do not like the Rathausplatz next door very much – too much crowd for our likening.

Then contact with Mihkel Sepp and an appointment for the evening: Invitation to the midsummer night in the country house of his parents and grandparents.

We drove along the coast to the east, first on the highway, then overland. Widely scattered here are wooden houses, partially still from the time of the Russian occupation and beautiful large manors from the time of the Teutonic Orders. Midsummer fires were burning everywhere on the properties.

We were warmly welcomed by all members of the family, and Mihkel showed us the house, which also has a long tradition. There were busy preparations in the kitchen and everything loaded onto a small homemade car and driven to the fireplace. With narration, food, laughter and photography the evening passed by very fast. But still the summer night was far from over. We were surprised with a coffee-cake board in the living room to strengthen for the night walk. At midnight we left, grandfather had proposed a tour along the beach. The sea was incredibly quiet. On the beach and in the sea are large stones / boulders on which birds spent the night and in one case were scared of by us. The sky turned deep red without getting dark. The silence and the devotion of the night enveloped us and did not allow for fatigue. Can we make it until sunrise at 4:00? Exactly there we arrived back at the house, a blood red ball ……… and then we all fell – now dead tired – in the beds! We guests on top of the store on the dormitory, where we had a large selection of matraces to choose from.

The party ended with a sumptuous breakfast, at first rather quiet, until everyone was awake and sharing old stories. The feast of the family, the hospitality and cordiality with which we “strangers” have been received were remarkable.

Thank you, Mihkel, and thanks to your grandparents, parents and siblings and the wonderful house – all this allowed us to experience an/your old tradition.

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The special thing about these Nordic nights is that the sun goes down – but it does not get really dark. At the remaining “sunset” the movement of the sun can be followed until it finally rises again. Of course, Michael had to record that in the following nights from the beach near where we stayed: