Saturday, August 11, 2007

Medieval Tallinn

I wind my way up a hundred – no, maybe a thousand stairs on my way to Toompea, the big hill in the Old City of Tallinn, Estonia.

Through narrow passages, past centuries old churches, I come upon a man sitting on a ledge, strumming a guitar in a soft and quiet way. The wistful notes of that ancient melody, Greensleeves, fill the air and the small space between the buildings, floating up into the blue sky and out over Tallinn’s medieval town.

I sit on a bench in the half sun, half shade, beside the Nevski Cathedral, a structure I can’t help finding out of place in this quiet little town. As beautiful as it is, it just doesn’t fit. I enjoy much more the coppery topped towers and the stone buildings that line the narrow cobbled streets. The church feels a little too sleek, too modern, too Russian. It feels forced.

Later, I walk around, searching until I find the crepe restaurant my friend Sean told me about. I walk in and am face to face with signs advertising erotic dancers. Quickly, I duck back out, sure I have made a mistake and walked into some kind of strip club instead. I check the window, but no, it is the creperie after all. Timidly, I venture back in, into the strangest creperie I’ve ever imagined, let alone walked into.

There are curtains and drapes hanging from the burnt orange walls, and more brown curtains billowing down from the ceiling in a decidedly Middle Eastern way. There is a trio of large hookas by the window; Turkish carpets cover the floor. A large flat screen TV with an ornate, gilded frame around it is playing some sort of Scandinavian technicolour anime. I sit on the curvy couch that winds around the interior. The air is heavy with perfume. While I wait for my crepe (to go), I gawk. It is all very strange.


The crepe, though, is delicious. I eat it sitting on a green patch of grass, staring at the turrets and fortresses around me. I have been to many old cities in Europe, but this one is the most ancient, the most fanciful, the one that most makes me believe in fairy tales. I love it.

Tower near the entrance to the old city.







Town Square.







Archery practice.








My mysterious creperie.