Lahemaa National Park and Tallinn

Thursday, September 27

The rain and gray skies of yesterday had given way to a sparkling clear day this morning – probably blown to Siberia by the fierce and constant wind howling forcefully outside our windows; it was a perfect fall day to explore some of Estonia’s natural beauty.

Lahemaa National Park lies about an hour east of Tallinn and includes forests, marshlands and four peninsulas extending into the Baltic Sea.  As we traveled on a four-lane divided highway through very rural countryside, we noted  with some amusement at the bus stops, many without any obvious means of  access, along the freeway.  

We stopped at the Visitors’ Center, which is located inland on the grounds of one of the former German manor houses that dot the area.  The narrow lanes passed alongside green fields that were lined with stone walls and shaded by huge trees, reminding us of the rural roads we loved so much in Connecticut.  After watching a video presentation about the park’s various ecosystems, we decided to visit a couple of areas along the coast.  

We’d hoped to visit Altja, a traditional fishing village, but the access road was blocked by a fallen tree.  (I told you about that fierce wind!)  We headed instead to Kasmu, known as the Captains’ Village, which had once been home to a maritime training academy.  Today, it’s a lovely small village, much like New England seaside summer colonies that are oriented toward the shore and become very quiet once autumn arrives.  The single road that passes through Kasmu ends in a small parking lot and trailhead.  We walked along a wide trail through a pine forest bordering the shore.  The waters along the Kasmu coast are strewn with boulders left during glacial movement eons ago; on this windy day, the interplay of the whitecaps and the rocks was dramatic and Tom’s camera shutter was clicking nonstop.  As we walked, we were as windblown as the water, rocks, and trees – and the beauty of it all.

We decided to return to Tallinn so we could spend most of the afternoon back in the Old Town.  We began by walking back up to Toompea, the Upper Town, stopping along the way to take in the views of the Lower Town and some of the wall’s towers.  Unique among the medieval towns we’ve visited, Tallinn’s walls not only encircle the town, they also separate the upper classes in Toompea from the common folk down below.  

The Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, with its many onion domes topped by gleaming Orthodox crosses, dominates the Upper Town and the view from below.  Inside, candles burn, votive lights glow before the iconostasis, and we were able to listen to the chanted prayer of a robed priest as he blessed a couple of men standing before him at a side altar.

Toompea is a compact maze of narrow, unevenly cobbled streets, winding among government buildings, churches, small hotels, and a number of embassies and ambassadorial residences.  There are also several viewing platforms affording panoramas of the Lower Town, the port, and beyond.

Back in the Lower Town, we roamed through some of the less touristic lanes, as well as an area outside the walls, which really enhanced our understanding of their defensive capabilities.  We were also interested to see a row of what appeared to be currently occupied “townhomes” built into the exterior walls.

With that, we headed back to our apartment for happy hour, dinner, and preparation for tomorrow’s departure for the island of Saaremaa. Tallinn, despite the enormous cruise ships delivering hundreds of visitors to the Old Town every day, still feels very much as if it had been transported from the Middle Ages, rather than a Disney-like version of a walled town.  Even if you’ve never heard of it, you might want to put it on your travel bucket list!