Tallinn, part XIII - Patarei Merekindlus (Soviet Sea fortress) - inside (ii), and Toompea

Toompea

Patarei Merekindlus

In my last entry, I was on the outside, looking in; now I am inside, looking out, but thankfully for me, this is not a permanent state.

It began to drizzle ever so slightly when I entered the Patarei grounds. I was informed, by an irritable middle-aged woman sitting in a dilapidated booth that barely qualifies as a ticket vendor, that I had to pay 10 euros (or something like that) to enter. Yeah, thanks but no thanks, I said. Bad vibes.

From Noblessner

I need to get out of here, and fast. What was it I said to someone earlier today? I always get what I want. I always get what I want, whether through fair means or foul, and I know what I want.

Lunch at Lido, and I think we've established by now that I am bad at taking foodies.

The rule of thumb whenever you're out and about, is to climb staircases whenever you see them, and to open doors and go through archways and follow the paths. Especially if you don't know where they'll lead you.

Tallinn, part IX - Solaris Keskus & Lido, and Estonian Maritime Museum

I asked Nate, who'd visited a few years prior, if he could recommend any good restaurants here - 'and budget priced please, I'm not very well off -' and he suggested Lido.

So I walked there, and it looked straightforward enough on the map, ten minutes walk from the hostel right outside the Old Town it said on Google Maps. It still took me a good twenty minutes of walking and searching to actually get there.

I rather liked Lido, and ended up having lots of meals here, because as much as I liked elk soup and wurst and cucumbers, it was a bit monotonous, eating that day in and day out. All the potatoes you could imagine, and for under 3 euros. A serving larger than my face.

I found a table to myself, which was easy as there were loads of empty tables, and sat down to eat my potatoes and creamed and braised chops, and read Cursed Child.

Estonian Maritime Museum

Lido - yes please sauerkraut and potatoes

Lido.

Tallinn, part VIII - More Raekoda, Kalev Candy Shop/Café Maiasmokk and Toompea (ii)

I'm exhausted. This is no way to start off the week.

Things that I want and need. you know what I want and need. It can be bought by money, ish.

I hate my office seat because I'm seated in the front row and people keep walking by in front of me and even though they don't see what's on my screen I still find it a violation of my personal space.

In 1, I hated the surroundings there too, and was not happy until I'd moved to the eleventh floor. After I moved to the eleventh the days just slid by, like butter on a heated saucepan.

That's how much difference it made.

I can barely even remember what I did on the eleventh.

Easing into the day, as always.

I took more photos of Tallinn from Toompea. Heli told us stories of Estonia under Soviet rule: of how they'd been issued a blanket ban from reading or saying anything English, particularly American, and how her mother and her mother's sisters would crouch together in the attic, reading contraband Rolling Stones magazines, not understand a word but thinking that if they read out the forbidden words, this would act like a cursebreaker. And it worked, didn't it - laughed Heli; in 1991 they gained their independence from the USSR.

Look, she said, that tall building on the horizon line - that's the KGB building in which enemies of the State were held and interrogated.

And that cathedral spire - it's the tallest in the town.

Then Kalev Rotermanni šokolaadipood ja meistrikoda. Also known as Café Maiasmokk (Sweet Tooth).

The birth of the Estonian confectionery industry dates back to 1806 when a pastry cook, Lorenz Caviezel, opened a confectionery business in Tallinn at Pikk Street, where the Café Maiasmokk (Sweet Tooth) is located.
In 1864, the business, which had changed hands many times, came into the possession of Georg Johann Stude. After ten years of operation, Stude decided to expand the business: he bought a neighbouring house and in place of these two houses constructed a new and more solid building, which is still there.
Out of Stude’s production, marzipan figures and hand-made chocolate candies were in especially high demand. Stude’s sweets were known outside Estonia. Thus, for example, the court of the Russian tsar was a regular customer at the turn of the 20th century.
Recipes and working methods originating from Stude’s confectionery are still held in great esteem in today’s Kalev – to this day the marzipan figures are hand-made candies. (source)

I actually did try some Estonian marzipan, though not here because it was expensive as. I went to one of the normal supermarket express shops to get a slab, and I ended up having to give away about half of it because it was too sweet for me to finish, and speaking as someone who is usually a sucker for sweets, that's saying a lot.

Café Maiasmokk

Toompea

View from Toompea